The Western Conference Final:
(6) Minnesota Wild vs. (7) Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Analysts and hockey brainiacs are scrambling to explain Minnesota and Anaheim: hot goaltending, commitment to defense, coaching, confidence, chemistry, karma, blah, blah, blah...
The truth is, nobody knows how the Ducks and Wild got this far, leaving the NHL's biggest stars and fattest payrolls in their wakes. But both teams have put on quite a show: Clutch scoring, impossible saves, ridiculous comebacks, new heroes, fanatical backchecking, night after night and week after week... Anaheim's Steve Thomas, a 17-year veteran, put it best after the Ducks buried Dallas with yet another stunning, late goal: "Surreal is an understatement."
Maybe this is one of those years when the difference between first place and sixth or seventh place isn't so great. A solid but unspectacular team, well coached, a little lucky and peaking at the right time, is capable of almost anything. It happens all the time in the playoffs, especially when teams like the Stars and Canucks seem so determined to give the underdogs every opportunity. But it's impossible to predict.
After what they have achieved, it goes without saying that both the Ducks and Wild are relentless and methodical at both ends of the ice. Anaheim has the better goaltending, although the Ducks were more than a match for Dallas even when Jean-Sebastian Giguere wasn't stealing games. Minnesota has more speed, which killed Vancouver.
Both teams can sniff out a panic point, exploit a lazy shift and make an opponent pay for not coming back to help out the defensemen. Minnesota has overcome more adversity. But Anaheim is healthier, luckier (4-0 in overtime), has more skill and can lean on Giguere in hard times.
Mighty Ducks win in six games.
Previous page: The Eastern Final: Clash of Generations.
