Alter: Patience pays off for Cup-contending Ducks

TORONTO - It was only a few weeks into the season. Like other teams, the Anaheim Ducks were off to a slow start. But the pressure was already on in Southern California. There were calls for head coach Bruce Boudreau's head. After a 1-7-2 October, the Ducks went into November with only 10 goals, having been shut out five times - twice in back-to-back games.

Captain Ryan Getzlaf remembers it all too well.

"North of the border I was getting beat up, but that's expected. I don't go around with any illusion that I don't have things going on my shoulders. We're like anybody, we're (in) a results-based business and if you're not performing, you're going to have to take scrutiny with it and you're going to have to deal with it," Getzlaf said. "Fortunately in Anaheim we can quietly deal with what we need to deal with and it doesn't get overwhelming."

Panic

Many were quick to write off the Ducks' season. In this day and age, a slow start - or a prolonged slump - can become a death sentence when it comes to making the playoffs. The NHL's points structure ensures it's difficult to make up ground on opponents, not knowing which teams will be involved in two- or three-point games.

It's why management for most teams can escape blame for pulling the trigger on a coach after a slow start. But the Ducks showed patience still matters.

"Obviously ownership and the group showed a lot of faith in us for a long time and didn't blow things up. We had some changes at the deadline that kind of helped us," Getzlaf said. "The thing about it is if you blow it up and change things you don't quite have that same experience from earlier to build on right now because the same people didn't go through it. We went through it together and obviously stuck together through the tough time and now we've got to prepare to do things well here down the stretch."

Coaching carousel

This season's provided examples of coaching changes that have and haven't worked.

After an 0-7-0 start, the Columbus Blue Jackets fired Todd Richards and replaced him with John Tortorella - a different kind of personality. Tortorella hasn't been able to turn Columbus' fortunes around, as the team sits second-last in the East, but he'll have another opportunity to try.

In Pittsburgh, meanwhile, the Penguins have seen the results they were looking for after disposing of head coach Mike Johnston on Dec. 12. Despite a 15-10-3 record, there were signs of cracks, with Sidney Crosby off to his slowest start and on track for one of his worst seasons statistically. Columns were written questioning whether Crosby's career was in decline.

Today, with Mike Sullivan behind the bench, Crosby is third in scoring with 78 points in 74 games. He has 15 goals and 22 assists in 27 games since the All-Star break, shooting 17.9 percent.

Cup dreams

The Ducks are one of the more compelling teams heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs. They survived adversity and stuck together. When they lost their ability to score, they adjusted their style of play to remain one of the NHL's elite teams in its tougher conference.

"We had a lot of meetings. We had been shut out like five out of our first 10 games where we figured if we weren't going to score we'd better find out how to win 1-0. Consequently, they bought into that and they started to win 1-0," Boudreau said. "It's about us defending and learning how to play the right way and when we do that we're having success because we're still one of the lower-scoring teams in the league."

Patience still matters. The Ducks - and Crosby - are proof.