Two Stanley Cups in the last five years will certainly breed a championship pedigree. Naturally, a lot of talking heads and so-called experts are already predicting a Chicago Blackhawks comeback in the Western Conference finals.
But the Anaheim Ducks say that they're trying to do the same thing as Chicago in creating a winning postseason culture. They've already rewritten the team's recent playoff history, which hasn't seen them go this deep since 2007, their Stanley Cup winning season. Now, up 3-2 in the series with an opportunity to end it all and advance Wednesday night in Chicago, they think they're doing a good job of that.
So stop counting them out already, would you?
"We expect it, and I think they deserve it in terms of what they've done," said Ducks winger Andrew Cogliano. "But we've played good this series. I think we've played really good and the series is as even as it could possibly get. I think that all games could have gone either way. ...
"In order to reach our final goal, you have to beat the best teams. Chicago is one of those teams that you have to go through."
Or maybe you should count them out, on second thought, because it just makes the chip on their shoulders grow even greater. The Ducks have responded to all three postseason losses with gritty wins and they've done so by channeling their anger. Three losses followed by three wins make the results hard to argue.
Coming out of the locker room before overtime in Game 5, the Ducks exuded a quiet confidence and most importantly, a high level of anger.
Chicago, we have arrived. #LetsGoDucks https://t.co/Am8EZ13oOb
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) May 27, 2015
"When this team gets mad, we make strides on the ice," center Ryan Kesler said. "You can see right off the bat we were mad and we were playing mad. And we scored right away."
The key in Game 6 is pretending they're still upset.
"That's the goal," Kesler said. "We know the situation. We know they're on the brink of elimination and they're going to play their best game and we have to up our level too."
Coming in Hot
Coming into the playoffs, Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau had been characterized as a textbook over-thinker. His personnel decisions on a game-to-game basis in the playoffs had always come under fire (see: Jonas Hiller vs. John Gibson, 2014). But he was insistent that he had learned from past mistakes and it seems he did, as none of his lineup decisions this season can really be argued.
Tomas Fleischmann and Emerson Etem have rotated in and out of the lineup while Chris Wagner saw a little action and is threatening more. Jiri Sekac was inserted into the lineup during the Western Conference finals to be able to match Chicago's speed. It's been a very effective rotation, mostly because of how hard each continues to work off the ice in anticipation of getting in.
"I think they're ready, because the guys that don't play practice really hard," Boudreau said. "It's not like they're out there golfing and waiting for their chance. They're working really hard to get into the game."
We can't get enough of these #MyPlayoffsMoment videos! Relive last night's OT win through your videos: http://t.co/vUvfYC4DUm #LetsGoDucks
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) May 27, 2015
Fan favorite defenseman James Wisniewski has yet to get in, but Boudreau has hinted at possibly putting him in soon. Should they take him off the shelf, he'll be prepared.
"Wiz was asking the other day, 'I need more one-on-ones,' just in case he gets in," Boudreau said. "I mean, they're all prepared to play when called upon. That's what makes it an easy decision sometimes. You know the guys are ready and they're going to do a good job."
Bobby and Beleskey
Matt Beleskey celebrated his game-winning overtime goal with a Bobby Orr-like celebration, kicking and waving while still down on the ice. However, his teammates didn't exactly give him a perfect 10.
"I think we've all seen that picture," said winger Corey Perry. "Talking to him this morning, I think he said Bobby Orr had a little more grace to him than he did last night."
