Ducks sign Ray Emery

The Anaheim Ducks have signed the goaltender whom they defeated in the Finals of their 2007 Cup-winning season.

Although, Ray Emery is probably not in the same condition now as he was when he backstopped the Ottawa Senators to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final.

Anaheim and Emery have agreed to a one-year, two-way contract reportedly worth$500,000 in the NHL and $105,000 in the AHL. Emery hasn’t played since suffering a serious hip injury with the Philadelphia Flyers last season. He had surgery in April 2010 to repair the condition (avascular necrosis) which saw the near-complete degradation of the top of the ball in his hip joint. Translation: not the best injury to have if you are an NHL goaltender. But the Ducks feel that Emery is worth taking a chance on.

“Ray Emery has been a solid NHL netminder for several years and is only 28 years old,” said Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray. “We are going to give him a chance to go to Syracuse and establish himself again. He’s worked hard to get back into shape and we are looking forward to seeing what he can do.”

This may confuse some Ducks fans. Their All-Star goaltender Jonas Hiller was side-lined after a poor performance in his first game back following his All-Star weekend. The reason Hiller has been given time off is because he was suffering from fatigue and lightheadedness. But if Hiller’s leave of absense is only supposed to be day-to-day, why would the Ducks need another goaltender?

“We’re ruling out things as we go,” Murray said of Hiller. “He feels a little bit better today, but we wanted to try something else today. He has gone to see the doctor. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.  If it was a concussion from the puck in the All-Star (Game), we had to rule out that. He’s having no concussion symptoms. He was just talking to me. He says he feels fine, but just a little off. We don’t want to put a goalie in net who is just a little off.”

Concussion? I don’t think too many people were aware that that was even a possibility. Emery may just be an insurance move, but it could end up being something much more. In six NHL seasons with the Senators and Flyers, Emery is 87-51-15 with a 2.70 goals-against average and .907 save percentage. But he has a long road ahead of him before he can get back to those numbers.

photo credit: Garyisajoke