Archive for the 'Conference Semifinals' Category

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16
Apr

No Respect…Still

By Daniel 1 Comment
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Ducks, Game Reviews and Hockey

Again, the Ducks get no respect from anyone. The only people covering the team seem to be the local media outlets and the media in Minnesota. They are up 3-0 in their series even though most said they would be tested by the Wild, some even saying they would fall to them. This is a total lack of experience, it has to be. I guess being a west coast teams really gets you the shaft, oh well, Minnesota respects them now, though they do whine a lot.

Game three was another dominant performance by Anaheim. I feel like a broken record when I say they were more physical and had a good forecheck, but that is what happened. Tuesday is going to be an exciting game to watch, because I think the Ducks will come out flying so they can wrap up the series. Layoff should not matter to this group with the veterans they have, you would have to imagine they can pull a locker room together. Motivation shouldn’t be a factor either, only Scott has won it all. I bet he wants to win this year more than any other so he can hand the cup to his brother.

I am not really sure what to think about game 4 though, will Minnesota play desperate or will they fold up and not care. If they care, I bet they can sneak in a win, but if they play like they have been it will be over on Tuesday. If Minnesota complained less after the game and scored more on the many power plays chances given, maybe the series would be different.

12
Apr

That’s a Goal That Shouldn’t Be On the Board

By Daniel Closed
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Ducks, Game Reviews and Hockey

 Cry me a river, jesus. The puck didn’t look to be covered by anything that the goalie was controlling. Maybe if your own player didn’t slam in to you, it would be OK. I thought it was an excellent game, it was full of good hits, chances on both sides and some down to the wire action. Backstrom sure saved the Wild from getting blown out though, the Ducks beat the Wild up and down the rink. The forecheckers were finishing every check and you could just tell that the Ducks were ready for the game. They were flying out there. If Minnesota doesn’t adjust, it should be another beating in game 2. If anyone can say that Minnesota was the better team in game 1, I would love to see some facts on that.

I will admit that I am a homer, I want the team I follow and pay money to go see, win. I really liked what I saw on Wednesday night and can not wait for game 2 on Friday. I simply do not see Minnesota being able to handle this team at all, their best player was smacked around a bit, I know he didn’t like that. The team defense didn’t work all that well, Anaheim just kept crashing the net, winning along the boards, winning down low and the scoring chances were quality. The Ducks powerplay looked good as did the penalty kill, Minnesota didn’t look that hot on the contrast.

I watched the game a non-biased opinion, the Ducks were the better team. Let us see if that continues for the rest of the series.

PS: What nice passes by Beauchemin and Getzlaf to set up the goals. Beauchemin’s pass looked similar to Rollison flip pass to Mike Peca in the Conference Finals last year.

09
Apr

The Quest Begins

By Daniel Closed
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Ducks, Former Ducks and Hockey

Finally, the time of year we have been waiting for since Pronger knocked the Ducks out of playoffs last year, since he was traded and since the hype began, playoffs. An interesting series against Minnesota this time, I find it hard to believe it will be a snooze like 2003 when the Wild scored one goal in four games. While I think they will score more, I think the goal mark will stand for the amount of wins they conjure up during the series.

The Ducks will do what they always do against a good team, pound the hell out of them. If they dress the Boogey Man, he takes up a skilled player roster spot, so do you match the physical play or try and run with the Ducks? The goalie is a rookie backup who has played well after filling in for Fernandez. The defense has a couple of ex-Ducks in Keith Carney and Kurtis Foster and Brent Burns has the most points, 7-18=25, on the blueline.

The Wild have a good team, they took the 4th least penalties in the league, 6th best power play and allowed the fewest goals of any team but were .500 on the road. So what do I think all of this means? It will be low scoring more then likely, but that will only help the Ducks. Minnesota has such a good defense because it is the definition of team defense, when you bang a couple dirty goals home, you force a team like the Wild to open up. They do not want to open up, they only want to counter on your mistakes. If the Ducks get a two goal lead early, it might be all she wrote. Anaheim is no slouch when it comes to defense.

In this series the Ducks have size, speed, defense and two goalies who can shut you out every night. I wont say that the Ducks are faster then Minnesota, because Gaborik is worth two Ducks, expect a lot of Sammy in his face, being physical. But I was surprised to see Minnesota has 5 skaters with 20+ goals and another with 19. So they can run a little more with the Ducks this year, but I don’t think they want to get in to a shootout with Anaheim (not the kind of one on one).

Rattle the rookie goalie early and often, pound the defensemen on the forecheck and make sure Gaborik knows he can’t run around with little care. Brett Hull and Ray Ferraro both predicted a longer then expected series. Was that of the sweeping kind?

Anaheim in 5

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