All Mighty Hockey Talk

Hello, my name is Adam and I’d like to welcome you to All Mighty Hockey Talk, a blog dedicated to my musings on my favorite sports team: the Anaheim Ducks. I am a recent MBA graduate with a background in economics, accounting, and marketing, but I have always had a fascination with sports and numbers. As a kid, I gravitated toward the sports page of the newspaper, not to read the articles, but to scour the numbers and box scores from all sports. Batting averages, rebounds, goals, assists, it really didn’t matter what it was so long as it could be represented by a number.

Over time, my interest in sports has remained, but I have developed a serious passion (OK, an obsession) for the sport of hockey. At first, it was mainly an appreciation of the sport itself. The finesse, the physicality, the speed, the selflessness, the drama, it was such a unique combination of skills and theater – I couldn’t get enough. I played roller hockey and ice hockey growing up, and while I never reached a high level, it only made me appreciate the sport more.

When I stopped playing hockey in my early teenage years, I started to dive deeper into the off-ice realm of hockey. Little did I know that the implementation of the salary cap in 2005 would accelerate my interest in the sport. It added more numbers to the game, and it created an extra puzzle for me to solve as a fun mental exercise. How much money is this player worth? This team can’t afford this player, so where would he be a fit? This player is superior to this other player, but the other player is much cheaper, who is more valuable to the team? It created a never-ending source of intrigue, and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon. CapFriendly is one of my favorite sites as it allows me to see a snapshot of every contract and every team’s current financial position relative to the salary cap. This information supplements my game-watching experience with extra context on players I’m seeing in real time (EDIT: CapFriendly has recently been purchased by the Washington Capitals. Puck Pedia is likely the next best alternative). I have also played fantasy hockey for well over a decade, which helped grow my interest in teams besides the Ducks. I like having a general familiarity with every team in the league, but my allegiance remains with the Anaheim Ducks.

Why the Ducks?

Growing up in Orange County, I had an innate connection to both the Angels and the Ducks. I was fortunate enough that my parents would take me to games when I was a kid, and those games created my earliest memories. I was at Game 6 of the 2002 World Series (5-0 comeback). I was at Game 6 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals (Paul Kariya legacy game). I was at Game 5 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals (California’s first cup). Those are moments that will be with me for the rest of my life, and I am forever linked to both franchises, for better or for worse.

Now that I’m in my late 20s, I don’t go to as many games as I used to, but I’m just as invested as ever. My interest in the Angels has waned recently, but my passion for the Ducks is as strong as ever, no matter how low they finish in the standings. I watch as many games as I can, and for the games that I can’t watch, I obsessively refresh Twitter (or X or whatever) for the latest updates. In my spare time, I think about the team, what they are doing well, what they are doing wrong, and what I would do to improve the team. It’s a perpetual psychological exercise that I cannot escape, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Why Should You Listen to Me?

This is a very good question. I’m new to this so I’m figuring out what my lane is and what my strengths are. I am not a writer by trade, but I am confident in my ability to tell an unbiased, honest, data-driven story that can hopefully shed some light on topics that I personally find interesting.

I like to think of myself as a logical, reasonable fan who can take a step back and attempt to minimize personal bias when analyzing the team. I have my homer moments, but I rarely let my emotions take over my opinions. I’m open-minded and always willing to hear views that contradict my own. I just love to learn about and discuss hockey. Ideally, I would love for my posts to become discussions. My blogs will share my own ideas and thoughts, but I welcome responses from all respectful Ducks fans out there.

So now I’m thinking about the answer to my question again. If you are looking for a seasoned Ducks writer who can craft a well-written story on the latest Ducks news, then I would suggest you check out Eric Stephens of The Athletic (@icemancometh). If you want a boots-on-the-ground Ducks beat writer who gets firsthand information from players, coaches, and management, then Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune and The Hockey News is your guy (@Derek_Lee27). And if you want more perspective on the nuances of systems and the more technical aspects of the sport of hockey, then I would like to point you in the direction of Patrick Present of The Hockey News (@PatrickCPresent). I’m not a writer, I don’t have sources in the organization, I’m not at every practice, and I don’t have a great grasp of the minute mechanical details and tactical strategies of hockey. So where does that leave me? At the end of the day, I’m a fan, so my posts will be from the perspective of a fan, not a professional writer. My thoughts should hopefully be relatable to many of you. I hope that you can learn something from me, and I hope that I can learn something from you. Think of me as your teammate, not your coach. See you soon.