It can now be told

With the signing of Frankie Beauchemin to the Maple Leafs, and the end of his tenure with the Anaheim Ducks, I can now talk about my favorite Ducks player. Years ago I developed a superstition. I used to talk about my favorite players, and then noticed something. Bad things started happening to them. Rucchin eventually was traded and that's when I said this ends today!

Since then I really didn't have just one favorite player, always cheering and admiring the team as a whole. Then we traded Federov one season, and a new name made our roster. Francis Beauchemin came to Anaheim and a "throw away" player. I say this because I was immediately impressed by his scouting report. It said he would never be a good skater or defense man and probably would not have a career in the NHL. That's what it said. Well as you can imagine, I kept my eye on him. Game after game, Frankie got more and more ice time. He had moments of greatness when he started using his now patented 'Hip Check' that made life a painful misery for some opponents. I'll never forget being at the game the night he clobbered Jarome Iginla and cemented himself into Ducks lore!

Since that moment, Frankie became one of our elite Defense men, and without him, the Ducks could not gel as well as they did in 2007 to win a cup. His loss to injury was felt by the team last season, as was evident when his miraculous return for the playoffs provided a much needed boost.

Yes, it was inevitable that Brian Burke would purge some of our defense men, and Frankie was the obvious choice. After skating along side Scott Nieds for nearly 4 years, he is well enough to go lead a defense corp all himself.

So I raise my drink to you Frankie, #23, and say thanks for the memories, and I'll be rooting for you in Toronto, because after all, the experts said you would never be here today enjoying a 4 year 3.8 million dollar contract. I guess they were wrong.