By Matt Vevoda I
t had been close to 21 months between Francois Beauchemin’s first and second acts as an Anaheim Duck. But when he played his first game back in Anaheim in early
February, he couldn’t help but feel he had never left. Beauchemin had been playing with the Maple Leafs during that time, having been
signed as a free agent by Toronto in the summer of 2009. But last February 9, he was given the chance to return to his familiar surroundings in Orange County when Anaheim reacquired him in a trade for Joffrey Lupul, Jake Gardiner and a conditional draft pick. “It feels like we’re home,” Beauchemin says. “My family and I were all excited to get
back. We loved it when we were here. There are a lot of new faces, but the same group of guys with Getzlaf, Perry, Bobby Ryan, Teemu, Marchant are still here.” Beauchemin’s first stint with the organization began in 2005 as an unproven
rookie, who current Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray (then the Senior VP of Hockey Operations) insisted be included in a trade that sent Sergei Federov to Columbus. He quickly jelled in a pairing with future Hall-of-Famer Scott Niedermayer and estab- lished himself as a strong defenseman at both ends of the ice. “For him, it was a great opportunity,” says Marchant, who was also brought in from the Blue Jackets six days after Beauchemin. “Sometimes that is all it takes for a lot of guys, just getting a chance. You couldn’t ask for a better partner than Scotty. Beauch made the
most of it.” The guy teammates call “Boom Boom” or “Frankie” spent four successful seasons with
the Ducks in all, each culminating with a playoff appearance (the longest postseason streak in club history) and one with a Stanley Cup title in 2007. In fact, it was during those play- off runs that Beauchemin had some of his most memorable moments with the club. In Game 6 of the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals, he took on Flames captain
Jarome Iginla in a fight that went decidedly in Beauchemin’s favor, which proved to be a turning point for the Ducks in a series they would go on to win in seven games. He would later dominate his next playoff fight too, fracturing bones in the face of former Red Wings forward Tomas Kopecky in Game 4 of the 2009 Conference Semifinals. The memory of Beauchemin arguably most etched in Ducks lore is his goal in the Cup-
clinching Game 5 of ’07. Anaheim had a 3-2 lead late in the second period, when he ripped home a slap shot on the power play. About an hour later, he and the team were parading around the ice holding the Cup over their heads. “That was huge,” Beauchemin says. “It was so exciting every year. We had a great
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