Kesler Reflects on a Difficult Season for Him and the Ducks

By his own admission, Ryan Kesler can be a moody guy, and you'll excuse him if he wasn't all smiles during a somber day that officially closed out one of the more frustrating seasons of his career.

Kesler sported a black short-sleeved hoody, plain black hat worn backwards and camo pants during the annual exit interviews day at Honda Center. It's a tranquil day when players meet with the coaching and management staff one last time, clean out their lockers, sign some memorabilia for charity and chat with media before heading out the door.
It's the fourth straight season since he arrived in Anaheim that Kesler spoke on this day of playoff goals not ultimately met, but this one came on the heels of his toughest season since he became a Duck in the summer of 2014. The 33-year-old had major surgery last offseason to remove pieces of floating hip capsule, which had put limits on his mobility the previous season despite one of his best offensive campaigns in Anaheim.
The surgery required an extensive and arduous rehabilitation that didn't allow Kesler to return to action until last December 27. Kesler never looked to be quite at his peak in that second half as he scored eight goals and added six assists in 44 games. He added two points in Anaheim's disappointing First Round sweep at the hands of the San Jose Sharks.
Kesler was asked today how close to 100 percent he felt after his return and he simply said, "Good enough to play. Obviously it's known that I had hip surgery, and it was tough coming back from. Learning how to basically skate again and coming back behind the 8 ball when everybody is in midseason form and you're in training camp mode was hard, but it's not an excuse. I'm way better off now than I was before the surgery.
"I'm still getting up to 100 percent, and this long summer will help that. To be honest, I felt really good in the playoffs. That was probably because of the shots I was getting."

That was as close to a smirk as Kesler allowed in his 10-minute session with the media, in which he made sure to offer glowing praise to the Ducks medical staff and the team as a whole for aiding in his recover.
"The team was good the whole year, and I can't say enough about them," he said. "They allowed me to take the days off that I needed and go to battle with my teammates. The medical team that we have here, and the team at Newport Physical Therapy have been unreal to get me where I'm at, and keep me on the ice."
Kesler admitted his speed and quickness "probably wasn't where it should have been," and he revealed that he actually took off a significant amount of weight from his physique in about a month leading into the postseason.
"I cut 20 pounds before playoffs just to get a little extra pop in my step, and I thought it helped tremendously," said Kesler, who is listed at 6-2, 202 pounds. "You do it smartly, and you do it over a period of time, it helps. It wasn't like I stopped eating, but I was doing the work at home and off the ice that no one else sees, and it fell off pretty easily. I'll probably play at this weight next year."
Kesler reflected on just what went wrong for the Ducks in their quick exit from these playoffs, citing discipline as a major factor. "For whatever reason, we were taking penalties and they capitalized," he said. "Our power play wasn't good enough early on, and to be honest, we looked shorthanded when we were on the power play. But it got better as the series went on. Game 4, we should have won that game 1-0.
"There are a lot of things that happen from game to game, but at the end of the day, top to bottom we weren't good enough. I don't think anybody in that room would say we were good enough."

Kesler longs for an offseason in which his body allows him to train the way he's used to. "I really couldn't squat last summer or even leading up to coming back. I couldn't really build up any leg strength off the ice," he said. "I'm looking forward to that. I'm gonna work with Fitzy [Ducks Strength & Conditioning Coach Mark Fitzgerald] until I end up moving back to Michigan for the summer. We have a good plan set in place. The guys I work with are very smart people, and we're going to attack this thing and get me back to where I should be."
For now though, Kesler just wants to get away from it all and try to move on from one of the more trying years of his life.
"I'm gonna take time off. I'm gonna go on vacation somewhere, probably not bring my cell phone and just relax," he said. "This year, on and off the ice, has been a hard year on me and my entire family. I'm looking forward to the future."