Ducks’ Ryan and Festerling take a road trip
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
‘Twenty Four Hours in Bakersfield’
The new Quentin Tarantino movie? Nope, it’s the latest road trip for the Ducks’ Bobby Ryan and Brett Festerling.
This is no ‘Pulp Fiction.’ Ryan and Festerling flew in from Iowa on Saturday, played in Anaheim on Sunday and were shipped off to Bakersfield on Monday.
By sentencing, I mean sending, the two players to Buck Owens’ hometown for a fun-filled day and night, the Ducks will save about $12,000 against their salary cap. Using the NHL’s math, that amount could balloon to about $60,000 come trade deadline. Because the Ducks have an affiliate in Bakersfield, Ryan and Festerling will be off the books for one day.
Every penny counts for a team flirting with surpassing the $56.7-million cap. The Ducks ended last season $21,000 under the cap, or a season’s worth of fines for Sean Avery.
Ryan and Festerling drove to Bakersfield on Monday and were required to check into a hotel to prove that they were there. Talk about taking one for the team.
No word whether the two were required to eat at McDonald’s to save some per diem.
-- Chris Foster
