The Ducks put pressure on their players to spend the summer in Florida

NHL teams are well aware of the rules in place, but once in a while, some teams decide to bend the rules, and they often get caught.

Such is the case with the Anaheim Ducks, who were caught “heavily pressuring” their players to spend the summer in Florida.

Elliotte Friedman revealed this information on Saturday, in one of his 32 Thoughts.

The first thing one wonders when hearing this information is: why Florida? Well, it’s because the players would have spent the summer with coach Mike Barwis, who specializes in the physical and psychological training of professional athletes worldwide.

According to Friedman, Barwis and Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek are very close and have often worked together, hence the idea of strongly suggesting that the players train in Florida.

Unfortunately for Verbeek and Anaheim, the NHL and the Players’ Association were made aware of this and the organization was fined $50,000 for the infraction.

The idea is a good one and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it, but the NHL probably didn’t like the idea of the players almost being forced to go.

A good summer of training wouldn’t hurt the Ducks, who are coming off an atrocious season when expectations were a little higher for them.

Trevor Zegras has only played 31 games this season and hasn’t been as flamboyant as usual when he could play. The team’s many young players didn’t make the leap they’d hoped for either, resulting in a penultimate-place finish in the Pacific Section standings.

The best thing that happened for them this season was the trade for Cutter Gauthier, who could become an important cog in their attack in the years to come.

Pat Verbeek may have looked bad in this story. Forcing players to do something doesn’t really seem to be his style, and he even received compliments from Adam Henrique when he traded him before the trade deadline.