2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Chicago (SCF)- Keith, Seabrook, Toews, Kane, Hossa, Kopecky
Philadelphia (SCF)- Timonen, Pronger, Richards, Bartulis
San Jose (WCF) - Boyle, Heatley, Marleau, Thornton, Pavelsky, Nabokov, Greiss, Murray
Montreal (ECF) - Plekanec, Markov, Halak, Kostitsyn
Anaheim
Selanne - 19 points in 17 games +12
Koivu - 19 points in 18 games +8
Niedermayer - 11 points in 18 games +8
Getzlaf - 8 points in 10 games +/-0
Perry - 17 points in 20 games -3
Hiller - 13 starts/GP 2.84 GAA .916 SV% (Season 2.40 GAA .918 SV%)
Whitney - 11 points in 19 games +7
Ryan - 15 points in 19 games +5
So every single player who went to the Olympics for the Ducks that year came back at or BETTER than their performance prior to going to Vancouver. Yes, individual stats don't mean that the team as a whole was playing cohesively, but I think its a gigantic load from Carlyle that the Olympic participation by his star players was the reason they missed the playoffs. I would buy the argument that the players who DIDN'T play for a month were the ones most affected because they sat around and weren't able to continue any sort of momentum from the season and essentially started at training camp all over again.
The Ducks finished the year 9-7-4 in March/April. A ~90 point pace. One of those wins was in the shootout. So they won 8 of 20 games in regulation.
Coming in to the Olympic break the Ducks were 30-24-7. A ~90 point pace. Four of those wins came via shootout. So they won 26 of 60 games in Regulation.
I think the far more likely conclusion to why the Ducks missed the playoffs was that their bottom 6 wasn't very good that year. JS Guigere played like crap prior to his trade to Toronto on January 31. And Carlyle just gets to pass the buck.