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The big freeze Two games without a goal have the Ducks on the ropesPosted: Saturday May 31, 2003 8:59 AM
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- In a perfect world for the executives who own Disney and the Mighty Ducks, DVDs of the films that gave the hockey team its name would be flying off video store shelves this week, and people like me would be drawing connections betweent the real-life Ducks and their feelgood fictional forebears. Instead, as the series shifts from the outskirts of New York to the outskirts of LA, Anaheim trails the New Jersey Devils 2-0 in the Stanley Cup finals. If you must have a cinematic reference to describe the series so far, try a forgettable comedy of a few years ago named One Night At McCool’s. The Ducks have actually endured two nights at McCool’s. The Devils’ Martin Brodeur stopped all 32 shots he faced in the first two games of the series and became the first goalie since Toronto’s Frank McCool in 1945 to pitch shutouts in the first two games of the Cup finals. (Ominously for Anaheim, McCool also blanked the Red Wings in Game 3 that year.) Brodeur has obviously been solid, but it’s hard to imagine postseason shutouts coming any more easily than these. Only a handful of those 32 shots -- 16 each in Games 1 and 2 -- could be considered quality scoring chances. New Jersey’s lethal trap defense has prevented the Ducks from entering the offensive zone with speed and kept them from, as coach Mike Babcock and his players like to say, "managing the puck." Anaheim’s attack has been completely dismantled by the Devils’ defense, and the Ducks are beginning to sound like a throughly defeated and dispirited team. On Friday, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere responded to a question about his team’s lack of emotional intendity by saying, "Maybe we think we don’t deserved to win." When Babcock was asked if his team had shown the Devils too much respect he answered, "It appears like that." It seems certain that the Devils will capture their second Stanley cup in four years. (Only three of the 40 teams that have fallen behind 2-0 in the finals have come back to win the Cup.) The questions remaining in the series are 1) How long will it take Jersey to clinch; and 2) Are the Ducks a fluke, or are the Devils even better defensively than they’re given credit for? The Ducks should get an energy jolt from a raucous home crowd in Game 3 on Saturday, and don’t be surprised if Babcock switches some of his line combinations around in an effort to get Paul Kariya (who didn’t have a shot in Game 2) away from John Madden’s ferocious checking line. As they looked ahead to Game 3 on Friday the Ducks insisted that their ineptitude in the series has been the result of their own lack of effort, not the Devils’ domination. "The tough part for us, and we’re not trying to take anything away from the Devils, but we haven’t played," Babcock said. They can't wait beyond Saturday to start. Sports Illustrated staff writer Stephen Cannella covers the NHL for the magazine and will contribute frequently to SI.com throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. |
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