Ryan Getzlaf is on pace to have one of the best seasons of his amazing career this season. The captain of the Anaheim Ducks has played his entire NHL career in southern California. The Ducks are off to a great start this season and Getzlaf is one of the biggest reasons why they’re a major player in the Western Conference.
Getzlaf is from NHL talent pipeline of Regina, Canada, which is a province of Saskatchewan. As a youngster Getzlaf played several other sports (football, baseball and volleyball) but excelled at ice hockey. He comes from a very athletic family as his older brother Chris currently plays in the CFL for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The younger Getzlaf was drafted in 2003 by the Ducks in the 19th overall pick and he made his NHL debut in the 2005-2006 season where he had 39 points in 57 games. The following season he helped take the Ducks to the Stanley Cup Final as he led the Ducks in the playoffs with 17 points in 21 games.
Getzlaf was named an alternate captain prior to the 2008-2009 season before taking over as the captain via a team vote after Scott Niedermayer retired before the 2010-2011 season. Getzlaf leads his team in points (36) and assists (20) and has teamed with Corey Perry to make a lethal scoring combination. With the addition of former teammate Dustin Penner, Getzlaf and Perry have re-formed the “Kid Line” which was a key to the Stanley Cup victory in 2007. After slumping for a couple of seasons, Getzlaf has come back into form over the last year and is once again among the elite centers in the NHL. Earlier in March, he signed an eight-year deal that keeps him in an Anaheim sweater until the 2020-2021 season.
Getzlaf and the Ducks look poised to challenge for another Stanley Cup this season. With Teemu Selanne’s last season in the NHL, Getzlaf and company would like nothing more than send him out with a bang. Anaheim has taken over first place in the super-competitive Pacific Division. With the San Jose Sharks sliding in the wrong direction, the Ducks and their hated rivals in Los Angeles are now second with two games in hand. With the traditional focus of the NHL on the Original Six teams, southern California has one of the best rivalries in hockey with the Ducks and Kings. In the center of it all is Ryan Getzlaf, with his soft hands and mean streak a mile wide. With his fast start and the success of the Ducks, Getzlaf is a lock to make the Team Canada roster for the Sochi Olympics in February.