I’m not quite certain, but these aren’t the Anaheim Ducks.

Yea sure, they have some of the qualities and characteristics of this team that I once knew, but these aren’t the same guys.

The guys I’ve seen playing in Anaheim lately have their act together…for the most part. I mean, these guys are playing to win games and they’re playing some form of smart hockey. It’s mind boggling really. The scoring, the defense. Where did it come from?! Someone must have swapped these guys out overnight, because I don’t recognize them anymore.

They’re battling hard and pushing the envelope. They’re shooting the puck and defending against it when they need to. Long gone is that ridiculous brand of dump and chase and it has been replaced with an infusion of passing and cycling that I’ve yet to see before in Southern California.

I can’t imagine that this is the same Ducks team that I saw play in the month of November…AND December. It couldn’t possibly be the team that was at one brief point in last place in the West and has been sitting pretty in 14th for a loooooong while now.

I don’t know about you, but I was gearing up for a first overall pick.

Correction, I’m STILL gearing up for a first overall pick.

I’m sorry, but I still can’t bring myself to accept that this is the same team. I can’t find it in my heart to say that things have truly CHANGED. Do I want that to be the case? Most definitely. Am I appeasing the Hockey Gods? You bet your ass I am.

The truth of the matter is, there HAVE been changes in Anaheim. I don’t know how many games you gave new Head Coach Bruce Boudreau to find his way and to make his mark, but it’s quite possible that it has happened.

21 games into the new coaching era and there are great differences to this team. To the way they play the puck and to the way the team is played as a whole. The third and fourth lines are seeing ice time unimaginable in the Randy Carlyle era. The power play mentality and formations are completely different and, once again, we’re seeing great things come from having star players like Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan on the penalty kill. Take Perry’s shorthanded goal against Phoenix as a great example.

They may not be a different team, but they’re sure doing their best to pretend they are.

The return of Jason Blake has seemingly done wonders for a third line desperate for a boost. Individually, players like Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino are behaving as if they’ve played alongside Blake for years.

Is it because of Boudreau’s positivity that the Ducks are seeing a different light? Do they really feel the need to prove Bob Murray a worthy GM? Will Murray seek changes despite the recent winning ways?

Does it all really matter if this is just a fluke, a flash in the pan…a case of imposters in Anaheim?!

I am still hard pressed to accept that there has been a corner turned, a hurdle overcome, a new lease on the season. I can’t bring myself to look past a top draft pick, or a season that ends outside the playoff bubble.

Do I see the positive changes in Anaheim? Definitely.

But I’ll be dammed…I just can’t believe it.

GO DUCKS!!!

SK