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SergeiFedorov

Even though it's only early November the Ducks seem to off to another dismal start. The question is will it continue or will the Ducks be able to regain the momentum they had at the end of last season when they narrowly missed winning the Stanley Cup?

Before the start of last season many believed the Ducks to be the most improved team in the NHL. This season the Ducks may have moved backward instead of forward. However we won't know that officially until the season is well underway and there is some indication that wins will be difficult to obtain.

First off the Ducks lost Paul Kariya to free agency when they failed to give him to a qualifying offer. Former All-Star center Adam Oates, signed to just a 1-year deal in 2002 is also gone. Trade deadline addition Steve Thomas who gave the Ducks a big lift at the end of last season and played a big part in the playoffs was not re-signed.

To replace them Ducks management was able to sign former Red Wing star center Sergei Fedorov and enticed Vaclav Prospal to leave the Tampa Bay Lightning. At first glance this would appear to be a near even swap of talent, and expectations are high, but so far Sergei and Vaclav are still feeling their way around the Pond. 

Sergei is off to a somewhat mediocre start with 4 goals and 7 assists and -6 in 13 games, which doesn't quite reflect his previous success offensively and defensively. He is getting less than 22 minutes a game which reflects in his performance thus far. Sergei has stated he wants to be the go to guy and play more minutes but that won't happen until he regains form.

Vaclav Prospal is off to a much slower start than last year and needs much offensive improvement if he is to have anywhere near his last and best career season he had in 2002-03.

The Ducks, short on offensive punch early on, are counting on second year and hopefully future star Stanislav Chistov and rookie Joffey Lupul to provide additional scoring. Chistov failed last year to live up to expectations as an early favorite for the Calder Trophy but still had very reasonable season for a rookie.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere is also off to a slow start after the holdout but seems to be improving game by game. His slow start is helping put the Ducks further behind the top teams in the west in Detroit, Dallas, Colorado, and St. Louis.

Ducks could be heading down the same road as last season with their once again slow start. The slow start might prove overbearing if it lingers much longer and unfortunately in hockey history often doesn't have a way of repeating itself, at least not in the exact same way. Look for the Ducks to improve as the season continues but to fall short of last seasons unbelievable success and playoff run.