Ducks/Wild: I need a break

On a personal note, this series started to get pretty inconvenient for me somewhere early in the third period last night. Or to say it more accurately, somehow this series was on its path of ultimate alignment with my coming schedule, but the improbable synchronicity could not be sustained.

You see, my brother is getting married in SoCal this weekend, and I am the best man. Thursday (G5) I will be tied up in the wedding rehearsal, and Saturday (G6, if necessary), I will be locked in to the actual wedding itself. I have made a best-man-vow to my brother (who is by no means a Ducks fan or even a hockey fan) that I will not be obsessive about the Ducks during this stretch, and now that Anaheim will not be facing elimination, I intend on keeping that promise. As I told my brother, “Hey, at least you didn’t pick a wedding date during the cup finals.”

Therefore this will be my last post until next week; my next post will either be a G7 game-day-post or if the Ducks win one of the next two games, a preview for round 2. A few bullets to leave you with, though:

• By no means does this mean I should be off the hook in terms of trash-talk or chastisement for anything that goes down in the remainder of the series. I certainly have demonstrated high levels of hubris and have been a bit careless with karma (for instance, the image I used in the G4 GDP to invoke a sweep was the exact same image I used last year when the Ducks avoided getting swept at Rexall), so feel free to insult me (or Brad May) in the comments.


• Another karma note: even though I suck at growing facial hair (I’ll blame my half-Korean ancestry), today is the first day I’m clean-shaven, also in preparation for wedding day.


• Is a comeback possible? For sure. Every year around this time we get reminded through one series or another that yes, only two teams ever have come back from an 0-3 deficit, and while I’ll agree the odds are long for the trailing team, I expect that I will live to see it happen again (hopefully not in this series). It’s kind of like flipping a coin four times, except with the added factor of momentum, and I don’t think of four wins as an impossible outcome, especially when games have been this close.


• Hey, but there are bright sides to a G4 loss. Having a G5 in Anaheim should give the Ducks a little more money available to try to re-sign some UFA-combination of Selanne and Giguere, and historically, a dominant sweep with a week-plus of layoff has never been that good for Anaheim. In ’03 after sweeping the Wild and outscoring them 9-1, the Mighty Ducks had 11 days off before G1 in New Jersey, and managed to score zero goals while losing the first two games of the SCF. In ’06 after sweeping the Avalanche and outscoring them 16-4, the Mighty Ducks had 8 days off before G1 vs. Edmonton, and managed to score two goals while losing the first two games of the WCF.


• As it pertains to last night’s game, playing without Frenchie Beauchemin was a pretty tangible blow, as I saw a lot more Huskins / Dipenta / Rome than I’m usually comfortable with. The Wild’s offensive outburst wasn’t that troubling to me—there wasn’t really a goal that I thought Bryzgalov had a real good shot at stopping, and it should be noted that Sammy Pahlsson was on the bench for all four MIN goals (the four that counted; I have no idea why that 5th goal was called off).


• I don’t really have a lot of answers for G5, but here’s some shot-in-the-dark guesses to some burning questions: (a) will Beauchemin be available? (Yes, sparingly). (b) who will start in net for Anaheim? (Giguere). (c) how many games will Brad May or Shawn Thornton be suspended? (May: seven, Thornton: one). (d) do I hate the Wild now? (not yet).


• For more Ducks coverage, you can check out Girl With a Puck, Anaheim Duck Fan, Duck's Blog, or On the Pond. For more Wild coverage, check out Wild Puck Banter, Puck Wild, or Wild Hockey (A Guide for the Casual Fan) .

So, enjoy the next game or two without me, and have an extra "toast the couple" drink on Saturday; I’m sure there will be more Sharks and Stars content here to keep you amused, and I’ll stop by occasionally in the comments section. For now, the next thing I’ve got to write is my long-put-off best man speech.

Go Ducks.