Should we really be surprised that the Ducks are taking it to the Sharks?
Anybody seen a panic button? The San Jose Sharks are in desperate need of one.
Not that the Sharks are out of it now that they have lost the first two games of the Stanley Cup playoffs opening round against the Anaheim Ducks, at home no less, but the fact they have never in their history come back from a 2-0 deficit does not play in their favor.
But before we call for the dismantling of the President's Trophy winners based on their play in two games, how about tossing a little credit in the direction of the Ducks. Some believe this just might be the best No. 8 seed ever and the fact they won back-to-back games against a powerhouse like the Sharks shouldn't be so surprising.
The No. 8 seed has eliminated the No. 1 seed seven times since the NHL has used the current playoff format. In deed, the Sharks have twice been responsible for sending a top seed home early, in 1994 when they bumped off the Detroit red Wings in seven games and again in 2000 when they did likewise to the St. Louis Blues, also in seven.
Could the Anaheim Ducks be the eighth team to turn the trick?
This has, unquestionably, been a turbulent season in Anaheim. The 2007 Stanley Cup champions threatened to come apart at the seams, but have somehow survived to suddenly look like a club that could go deep into the playoffs.
Start with the Brian Burke saga. Everybody in hockey knew he was a lame duck GM heading into the season and that he would ultimately end up running the Toronto Maple Leafs. In fact the NHL said it would monitor all Anaheim transactions carefully while Burke was still in charge. Exactly why the owners of the Ducks let the soap opera go on as long as it did is anybody's guess.
When Burke finally handed the torch to new GM Bob Murray, it wasn't clear which direction he would take the team. The thing is, the Ducks still had a healthy crop of Cup-winning veterans, but did they have enough to take a realistic shot at going deep into the playoffs? If not, then perhaps it was time to strip it down and attempt a quick rebuild.
There was even talk the Ducks would trade star defenceman Chris Pronger, the feeling being with one year left on his contract, he would be worth a lot to a team that thought it had a real shot at winning the Cup this season. Scott Niedermayer's name also came up in trade talks, but both players remained with the Ducks.
Still, the Ducks did quite a makeover shipping out Travis Moen, Sami Pahlsson and Chris Kunitz and acquiring Erik Christensen, Petteri Nokelainen, Ryan Whitney, Mike Brown and Sheldon Brookbank.
At the end of the day it was tough to say if the Ducks were better, or simply different.
Then again, it hasn't all been a giant tale of woe for the Ducks. The emergence of rookie Bobby Ryan into a bona fide frontline player is one of the more refreshing stories of the year. Ryan, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2005 NHL entry draft behind Sidney Crosby, had five goals and 10 points in 23 games with Anaheim last season, but did little to suggest he's be an impact player this season. And when the team ran into cap problems, he was sent to the minors.
Upon his return and assignment to the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, Ryan took off and wound up leading all rookies in scoring with 31 goals and 57 points in 64 games.
As the season wore on one thing remained consistent -- and sadly, that was the Ducks inconsistent goaltending. The Ducks gave veteran Jean-Sebastien Giguere every opportunity in the world to win back his crease, but ultimately it was Jonas Hiller with absolutely no NHL playoff experience to his credit that won the job. And it is Hiller who has played superbly through the first two games of the playoffs, stymieing the Sharks at every turn.
That's good news since Anaheim continues to take too many penalties. Luckily for the Ducks, the Sharks power play has come up empty going 0-for-12 thus far in the series.
Right now the Ducks are in the show-me stage, but with each passing victory the rest of the playoff teams will begin to take them more seriously. And if they knock off the Sharks, who knows how far they can go. Confidence can be a real driving force.
So while it has been a chaotic year, any team that has Pronger, Niedermayer, Whitney and Francois Beauchemin on defence; Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Teemu Selanne, Rob Niedermayer and Todd Marchant up front can't be all bad.
The Ducks are starting to believe in themselves at the same time the Sharks are suddenly looking for answers. Sounds like the perfect formula for an upset.
