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About Curtis Zupke

Curtis Zupke grew up in Los Angeles and got hooked on hockey (along with thousands of other Southern Californians) upon Wayne Gretzky’s arrival to the Kings in 1988.

He covered the Anaheim Ducks for the Orange County (Calif.) Register from 2006 to 2011.

His work has also appeared in The Hockey News, Associated Press and QMI Agency (a Quebec-based wire service that serves 250 daily and weekly newspapers in Canada).

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Ducks, Giguere dodge rumors as season worsens Print
Pacific
Written by J.P. Hoornstra   
Monday, November 16, 2009 16:40
Maybe it wasn’t “The Real Hockey Players of Orange County,” but it was the most dramatic week to hit the Anaheim Ducks since the season began.

It all started with a simple question: “Have you been approached about waiving your no-trade clause?” Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, sitting in his dressing-room stall next to teammate/friend/rival Jonas Hiller after Monday’s practice, deferred the answer to his general manager, Bob Murray.
The next question — “when you see your name in print in a trade rumor, how do you react?” — elicited a more interesting response, one that went viral and set the rumor mill in motion for a week.

“One thing is for sure here,” Giguere said. “Something needs to happen. You’ve got a guy like Hillsie who’s going to be a free agent at the end of the year, and myself making the money I’m making ($13 million between this season and next), either I’m leaving or he’s leaving. Something needs to happen.

“At this point, I want to play. I’m not made to be a backup goalie. I never want to be a backup goalie,” he continued, straight-faced and straight-voiced. “I’d rather retire than be a backup goalie.”

Though consistent with Giguere’s attitude since Hiller wrested the No. 1 mantle last season, the latter comments elicited quite a backlash toward the franchise’s longest-tenured player. “Watch out for splinters in your arse riding the pine, Mr. Back-up,” wrote one commenter on the Los Angeles Daily News’ Web site, which broke the story. “He’s no longer committing himself to quietly winning this job,” wrote another. “He’s trying to force Murray’s hand to make a move.”

Soon after the team touched down in New Jersey to start a four-game road trip, Giguere, then head coach Randy Carlyle, then Murray, attempted to clear the air.
“I’m not about to retire. I was being a little sarcastic about that,” the goalie told reporters. “I want to be part of this team … I don’t want to force the issue.”

“We’ve always made the statement that we want people competing for positions. We think it’s healthy,” said Carlyle.

Murray acknowledged to the Orange County Register on Thursday that he had spoken with Giguere’s agent, Bob Sauve, about that no-trade clause — but added that there is no current plan to make a trade. Nor did Murray feel like his hand was being forced. “(Giguere) is showing emotion and it shows me that he cares,” he told the paper.

As the Ducks lost three straight to start the road trip, less substantial rumors arose — that Carlyle would be the first to go, that captain Scott Niedermayer was on his way to New Jersey — that the GM was also forced to dispel. It stands to reason that Murray’s week would have been much quieter if the 6-9-3 Ducks weren’t sitting dead last in the conference standings at week’s end.
On the ice, meanwhile, Hiller struggled while allowing six goals Saturday in Detroit, leaving the door open for Giguere to reclaim the starting job.
Here’s the irony: Aside from their “Big Line” of Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, the goaltending position might be the Ducks’ most stable. Every other forward line, and every defense pairing, features one or two players who were not on the team’s roster to begin last season.

That — along with the Ducks’ record — should be enough evidence to point to a “rebuilding season” in Anaheim.

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Last Updated on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 00:45