Anaheim Ducks: Ownership took far to long to communicate to the fan base

Anaheim Ducks Owners Susan and Henry Samueli finally sent a formal letter to their season ticket holders and partners detailing the team’s difficult season and empowering General Manager Bob Murray to do whatever is needed to get the Ducks back to contention. However, their message was long overdue.

Imagine that you are a heavy investor for a high profile company and you buy stocks of that company. You experience the highs and lows throughout the year of the company as there are good and bad days at the market. This has been the case for years.

Although this year, you see the company has been performing poorly on a consistent basis (with the exception of one strong month). As an investor, you are saddened and disappointed with the company’s performance; even worse, there is no public communication between management (owners, general manager) and its investors about what’s coming next.

Investors are left wondering and among the questions asked are, “Will there be any significant changes made to turn this thing around? What is the direction and future of the company in the midst of a downturn?”

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This was how Ducks season ticket holders, like myself, were thinking when it came to this Ducks team this season. Is change going to happen? Will longtime players Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Cam Fowler be on their way out? This team’s on-ice product has been unbelievably bad for a while and nothing was being said or done to improve the team’s fortunes in the near or long term.

A franchise worst 12-game losing streak, followed by a brief two-game winning streak, and now on a current seven-game skid, the third losing streak of at least seven games this season. Not to mention, an ongoing seven-game home losing streak.

While The Samuelis finally issued a formal statement regarding the release of Ducks coach Randy Carlyle and the surprise appointment of Murray to the head coach, it is one that should have come sooner. The Ducks fanbase already saw how badly this team was performing prior to the All-Star Break when they played their last two games against the New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues.

Outshot, outplayed, and outworked was an understatement of how the opposing teams dominated the Ducks. Thirteen shots overall against the Blues. Shut out against the Islanders.

Pathetic.

The Ducks were not hungry enough to win and it reflected in their play. That in itself is inexcusable for professionals who make thousands of dollars to perform in front of hundreds of people.

At that time, the Samuelis could have issued a statement on the state of the team and how they intend to empower Murray to make transactions to improve the on-ice products and results of the team. But they chose to hold off.

Next game after the All-Star break came a 9-3 drubbing against the Winnipeg Jets where the Ducks simply gave up playing early on, allowing six goals in the first period. Six! John Gibson was left out to dry and there is no excuse for that.

To have your team have three consecutive opening periods where they don’t put up a fight says a lot about the team’s lack of readiness, but also about the coach. The Ducks simply weren’t responding to his game plan anymore; they weren’t showing they wanted to be competitive.

Its been too often this Ducks team doesn’t show up to play and its about time the Samuelis issued a statement on the difficult state of the team and how they hope to return it to being successful and winning once again.

Losing 19 out of the last 21 games, something had to finally be communicated to the Ducks’ disappointed and angered fanbase. I myself still do not completely understand why it took this long to communicate something to the fans; As the Ducks got blown out game after game, I often saw other Ducks fans wonder like myself, why is nothing being communicated to them.

When will the poor play be addressed? When will changes be made?

Ducks fans thought they were being treated as an afterthought where they felt they deserved to know what was going on; In other words, underappreciated.

I mean, we Ducks fans go to home games, we pay for tickets, food, parking, we pay and cheer to see the Ducks perform well. And most importantly, play their hearts out. We want the experience of any Ducks game to be worthwhile. We want the players to want to win more than the fans and coaches do.

We pay for Ducks merchandise, meet and greets, and so much more. Fans are the livelihood of the team and there is no Ducks team without its fans. Ownership knows this.

Yet the timing of their message to fans was way off.

Ownership completely forgot about its fans, leading to robust anger among its fanbase. Ducks fans deserved better and much better much sooner. It’s not so far as to say that ownership’s lack of communication may have ruptured the very trust and belief Ducks fans had in the organization.

After a lackluster two-thirds of the season and a Ducks team that is most likely to miss the playoffs for the first time in seven years, I wouldn’t be surprised to see many current season ticket holders decline tickets for next season.

The Ducks often use the word “dedication” often to show how important the fanbase is to the team; if only management was more dedicated and honest with its fanbase sooner, fans maybe would have been more understanding of the team’s tough situation.

Many Ducks fans are irritated and disappointed at what they have seen so far, and rightfully so.