LOS ANGELES — From the time Ryan Getzlaf was 12 years old, through his standout junior hockey career and deep into his evolution into a top-line NHL center with the Ducks, he heard the same advice from nearly every coach. Shoot the puck more often. You've got a great wrist shot. Don't always go with your instinct to pass.
Bruce Boudreau was among the many observers who tried to change Getzlaf's thinking. "Believe me, as coaches, there's times during the course of the year we could wring his neck because he doesn't shoot it," Boudreau said during the Ducks' Western Conference final playoff series against Chicago in 2015.
Getzlaf would listen and maybe take a few more shots than usual before reverting to his playmaking mentality. "The only people that don't tell me are my linemates," Getzlaf joked a few years ago.
