IRVINE — John Gibson planted both feet firmly on the ground and spoke his mind one day during training camp. He said he was tired of losing. He said it had become too widely accepted among his teammates. He said it was time for some of them to play larger roles. He didn’t waver, speaking with conviction, with passion.
“I just want to win,” said Gibson, the only two-time All-Star goaltender in Ducks’ history. “The last few years, I’m tired of it (losing). Hopefully, going into this year, we can start off right and turn the ship around because I think if you ask anyone in there (the dressing room), they’re tired of losing.
“I know I am.”
Gibson was just getting warmed up.
“I’m tired of being at the bottom of the division and being out of things when there’s still three months left to play in the season,” he said. “I think it goes back to my first five or six years here. Maybe I was spoiled and I didn’t really realize everything. We just knew how to win. Winning was natural. We didn’t know how to lose.
“Now, we’ve accepted losing.”
Gibson paused only briefly.
“We have guys who have been here for three or four years now and it’s time for them to step up,” he said. “We have some core guys who have been together for years and then we have some young guys who aren’t so young anymore, and it’s kind of time for them to take things to the next level.
“If they do, I think we’ll be a good hockey team.”
Coach Dallas Eakins was pleased to learn of Gibson’s frank commentary.
“Good, excellent,” Eakins said. “It should be right across the board. If we have anybody who likes losing or accepts losing, we’d like them to move forward. Whether it’s a staff member or a player, please step forward so that we can move you along. You have arguably our best player who doesn’t want to lose, who wants to compete more and doesn’t want to accept losing, and I think to a man it’s got to be that way.
“It’s just that ‘Gibby’ had the courage and the strength to say it out loud.”
Adam Henrique, a veteran Ducks forward, agreed that it’s about time for the next generation to assume a larger role.
“At some point, if you want to get paid, you’ve got to go,” Henrique said. “Really, that’s kind of the bottom line. There’s a difference. We have so many of those guys who can take the next step, and I think they will. It’s fun to watch and to be a part of it. My job is to help bring those guys along.”
Henrique acknowledged the many steps that must be taken before the Ducks are competitive again.
“Big staircase,” he said.
The Ducks were a Stanley Cup contender when Gibson made his NHL debut late in the 2013-14 season, shutting out the Vancouver Canucks in his debut April 7, 2014 at Honda Center. In time, he would win the net and become the latest in a line of superb Ducks goalies.
The good times ended with a first-round sweep at the hands of the San Jose Sharks in the 2017-18 playoffs, though. The Ducks haven’t had a winning season since then, tumbling into last place in the Pacific Division with a franchise-worst .384 winning percentage and 17-30-9 record in 2020-21.
Going into this season, outside expectations are for another losing season. The Ducks are no one’s idea of a championship contender and it’s anticipated they’ll miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, a franchise first.
“We’ve got to turn the tide,” Gibson said. “I think you have to go into every year fresh. If you go into this year dwelling on last year, you’re not going to have success. So, I think you’ve got to come in fresh every year and go into it with the mindset that we want to be a competitive team and want to make the playoffs.”
Losing has been a shock to the system.
“I think if you look at all the teams that have success with a core group of guys, it gets broken up one way or another,” Gibson said. “It’s never planned, but there comes a time where change is needed and you’ve got to do it. I think it’s natural, and you can respond quicker.
“In our situation, our stance here, it’s taken a little bit more time. We have a lot of good, young guys here. It’s just about having a complete season and having everyone pulling on the same rope together and having guys step up. Nothing has changed for me. I’ve got to keep the puck out of the net.”
Like many of his teammates in recent seasons, Gibson’s statistics aren’t what they were when the Ducks were a perennial playoff qualifier. Gibson had a 9-19-7 record during the coronavirus-shortened, 56-game 2020-21 season. His .903 save percentage was the worst of his career.
Anthony Stolarz, 27, and Lukas Dostal, 21, are expected to serve as Gibson’s backups this season, after Ryan Miller retired at the end of last season following a Hall of Fame-caliber career. Stolarz and Dostal could ease Gibson’s burden in 2021-22, or make a trade possible.
Gibson, 28, is signed through 2026-27 at $6.4 million per season and has a modified no-trade clause in his contract, according to the website capfriendly.com. Gibson can submit a 10-team no-trade list to Ducks general manager Bob Murray, who certainly could fetch a great deal in return for him.
When he delivered his state of the team address, Gibson sounded committed to the Ducks and to being part of the solution, part of a turnaround that would return the lost luster to the franchise. He said he had no intention of cutting back on his usual heavy workload.
“I don’t like sitting on the bench,” he said. “If I’m healthy, I want to play. I think the more I’m out there, the more comfortable I am. I kind of get into a groove and I just go with it. I put in the work in the summertime to make sure I have a heavy workload. There are things throughout the year that are uncontrollable.
“You need some luck. Look at us the last couple of years, whether it’s freak incidents or injuries, it happens. Sometimes you get unlucky. All you can do is put in the work in the offseason so that when the season starts you’re in the best shape possible and ready to play.”