DUCKS' WINNING IS BASED ON BELIEF CHANGE IN ATTITUDE HAS PUT TEAM WITHIN GRASP OF CUP.

Byline: Brice Nixon Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - There have been times when a career spent with the Mighty Ducks seemed more like a cruel prison sentence with no possibility of parole.

Now, it stands for an unusual commitment in professional sports, one that finally has paid off for Steve Rucchin and Paul Kariya.

The 10-year-old franchise reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time after completing a sweep of the Minnesota Wild with a 2-1 victory Friday. The Ducks will open in either Ottawa or New Jersey as early as Saturday.

Kariya and Rucchin have been with the Ducks for nine years of frustration that included two sniffs at the postseason. Now they have a legitimate chance to bring the Stanley Cup to Anaheim.

The transformation from last-place team to Stanley Cup finalist took two years, two coaches, lots of new players and, above all, a new belief system.

That attitude change came from first-year head coach Mike Babcock and first-year general manager Bryan Murray, who coached the Ducks last season. It picked up steam through the regular season and has carried the Ducks full throttle through the playoffs.

``Somebody asked us when we started believing,'' Ducks center Adam Oates said. ``It was a process all year long.''

Oates did point to Games 1 and 2 against the Detroit Red Wings in the first round as a major step.

``Jigger (Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere) set the tone we have been riding ever since,'' Oates said. ``He's carried us this far.''

Giguere stifled the star-studded Red Wings as the Ducks, swept by Detroit in their two previous playoff appearances, returned the favor with a first-round sweep of the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Dallas Stars managed to win two games in the second round but were frustrated by Giguere every step of the way. In the conference finals, Giguere limited the Wild to one goal, the fewest ever in a four-game series.

Giguere has been the Ducks' backbone, but he's received essential support from players such as Oates, Steve Thomas, Kariya, Rucchin and Keith Carney.

That list could include the Ducks' entire roster.

``Our ability to generate offense from a whole bunch of different people has been the best part of what's happened,'' Babcock said.

At one point in the playoffs, the Ducks received 10 goals from 10 different players.

``We have been able to make everybody on our team important and get great contributions,'' Babcock said.

Veterans Oates and Thomas are glad to be a part of that. Both have a chance to win their first Stanley Cup after nearly two decades in the NHL. Oates is in his 18th season and has been to the finals once. Nineteen-year veteran Thomas has never even been that far.

From Oates and Thomas down to rookies Kurt Sauer and Stanislav Chistov, there has developed a commitment to the team and the ultimate goal. That goal wasn't realized when the Ducks won the conference championship, as evidenced by their refusal to touch their prize, the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, which was left at center ice while the Ducks filed into the locker room.

The Ducks are focusing on the only Cup that matters, but the value of even reaching the Stanley Cup Finals wasn't lost on Babcock.

``It's pretty special,'' he said. ``Any time you have success and your team has worked like our team has to get better, it's pretty special to be involved with a good group of guys.''

It also could also a special experience for Ducks winger Rob Niedermayer, who went to the Finals with the Florida Panthers in 1996.

Niedermayer's older brother, Scott, is a defenseman for the Devils, who hold a 3-1 lead over the Senators in the Eastern Conference finals.

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The Ducks credit goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere (35) for setting the winning tone in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press