Interesting, how one season after the Oilers faced the Hurricanes, the trend has changed. And perhaps GMs around the league should have had a little more patience with their futures, to take notice that last years finals may have just been an aberration due to the big changes facing the league.
While the rest of the hockey world went nuts prior to the trade deadline, trying to imitate the success of of our most recent finalists, neither Ottawa nor Anaheim took that path.
Names such as Roloson, Weight and Recchi must have been ringing in the ears of teams like Atlanta, Nashville, and the New York Islanders as they packaged up prospects and first rounders in order to become contenders over night, but instead they just took a more noticeable bow at the end of the first round.
The biggest name acquired by our current finalists might arguably be Mike Comrie of the Sens. However, all it took to get him was a disgruntled Russian that had long ago took his pads and left North America before checking in at his local AHL assignment. The Ducks on the other hand, who appeared to be a buyer of game ready talent, picked themselves up a first rounder instead.
Patience is definitely the trend with these two clubs, who can thank the past offseason retooling for where they sit today. The acquisition of Chris Pronger, and the decisions to let Zdeno Chara and Martin Havlat go, not to mention the retaining of Bryan Murray and John Muckler after the city of Ottawa was ready for a witch hunt back in the fall.
So where do we go from here?
Ottawa has been the seemingly more dominant team up to this point, squashing playoff demons of the past. However, winning the Wales might look great on paper, there is one more hurdle standing in their way.
To figure out the root of the problem for the Senators in playoffs past, we need to look no further than the Pat Quinn lead Maple Leafs that ousted the favorite 4 straight times. In retrospect, it seems that all 4 series were the result of inferior goaltending, a plethora of playoff no-shows by Ottawa regular season stars, and of course, the raw end of the physical spectrum.
Many people still question Ray Emery and his ability to lead the Sens to the holy grail, but I am not one of them. Emery has shown my more than one full season that he has deserved to be just where he is today.
Ottawa’s big three have shown enough to discount their playoff pansy reputation, however the Pens, the Devils nor the Sabres exhibit the type of physical presence the Ducks can bring to the table.
For the first time the big three in Ottawa will face a defensive pair that can match them. Perhaps even defeat them. And the rest of the Ottawa club will have much to prove to survive the type of beating the Ducks can put on you.
This series will come down to Captain Alfredsson, who has played Conn Smythe-worthy up to this point. And as good as he’s been, I suspect he might fail.
Ducks in 6.
