MIGHTY DUCKS VS. NEW JERSEY TEAM MATCHUPS POSITION-BY-POSITION MATCHUP AND PREDICTION.Byline: - Rich Hammond Rich Hammond Los Angeles Daily News sports writer. Instrumental in bringing the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization closer to the fans. He is the atypical "what a guy" to Kings fans everywhere. Rich Hammond on himself. ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS
Mighty Ducks is a half-hour Disney animated series aired on ABC and The Disney Afternoon in the fall of 1996. Twenty-six episodes total were produced. - NEW JERSEY DEVILS The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Devils have won the Stanley Cup three times, in 1995, 2000, and 2003. OFFENSE Both teams are excellent counter-punchers, experts at sitting back and waiting for the other to make a mistake. The Ducks have a game-breaking player in Paul Kariya Paul Tetsuhiko Kariya (born October 16, 1974 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), is a professional ice hockey player who plays for the St. Louis Blues. Personal life and have displayed excellent scoring depth in these playoffs, while the X-factor for the Devils might be Patrik Elias, who scored a team-high 28 goals in 81 regular-season games but has just two in 17 playoff games. Both teams take advantage of excellent speed. EDGE: DUCKS DEFENSE The Ducks strengthened their blue-line play by acquiring All-Star Sandis Ozolinsh Sandis Ozolinsh, or Sandis Ozoliņš in his native Latvian (born August 3, 1972 in Riga, Latvia), is a Latvian ice hockey player, currently playing in San Jose Sharks. from Florida in February, and Keith Carney Keith Carney (born February 3, 1970 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League. has developed into an extremely dependable defenseman. But the Ducks have allowed an average of almost 36 shots a game in the playoffs. The Devils' success is predicated on strong defense. Scott Stevens For other persons named Scott Stevens, see Scott Stevens (disambiguation). Ronald Scott Stevens (born 1 April 1964, in Kitchener, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League. remains among the league's best, and he's supported by Brian Rafalski Brian Rafalski (born September 28, 1973, in Dearborn, Michigan) is an American professional ice hockey player who plays defence for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League, having been signed as an unrestricted free agent from the New Jersey Devils. and Scott Niedermayer Robert Scott Niedermayer (born August 31, 1973, in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian ice hockey defenceman, who is currently suspended by the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. . EDGE: DEVILS GOALTENDING goal·tend·ing n. 1. Sports The act of protecting a goal, as in hockey and other such sports. 2. Basketball There's the potential for a magical showdown here. The Ducks' Jean- Sebastien Giguere is the story of the playoffs in his first postseason, but the Devils counter with Martin Brodeur, who has won the Stanley Cup twice in three tries and is 11-6 with a 1.93 goals-against average in 17 Finals games. Giguere has been terrific, but it's impossible to predict how he will perform in the biggest games of his life. EDGE: DEVILS COACHING It's a rookie coach, the Ducks' Mike Babcock, against the Devils' Pat Burns, a three-time winner of the Jack Adams Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL's best coach. Babcock already has outlasted one of the league's top coaches in Minnesota's Jacques Lemaire, but Burns has been to the Finals before, with Montreal in 1988-89, and even though he lost, that experience could give him an edge: in a tight series. EDGE: DEVILS POWER PLAY This is the one area in which the Ducks have faltered; they have scored six goals in 52 chances for an 11.5 percentage that is ranked 13th among the 16 playoff teams. Adam Oates, with three, is the only Duck to score more than one power-play goal. The Devils have converted 15.9 percent of their chances, but New Jersey had the least-effective power play in the regular season out of the 30 NHL NHL Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, see there teams, at 11.9 percent. EDGE: DUCKS PENALTY KILLING Don't expect many goals here. The Devils' unit ranked first in the regular season, killing 87.9 percent of opponents' power plays; the Ducks ranked second, at 87.4 percent. New Jersey again holds a slight advantage in the playoffs (88.9 percent to 87.8 percent), but the Ducks are coming off a brilliant effort when they shut down the Minnesota Wild power play, which had been the league's best in the playoffs. EDGE: DUCKS OVERALL Game 1 will be crucial to see whether the Ducks got too much rest or whether the Devils didn't get enough. If the Ducks take the first game, their confidence will remain high. If not, it will be interesting to see how they respond to trailing in a series for the first time in the playoffs. The Devils looked vulnerable in the conference finals but also showed an ability to regain poise in a tough series, a challenge the Ducks haven't yet faced. PREDICTION: DEVILS, 4-2 CAPTION(S): 8 photos, 3 boxes Photo: (1 -- 2) OFFENSE: Paul Kariya - Patrik Elias (3 -- 4) DEFENSE: Sandis Ozolinsh - Keith Carney (5 -- 6) GOALTENDING: Jean-Sebastien Giguere - Martin Brodeur (7 -- 8) COACHING: Mike Babcock - Pat Burns Box: (1) ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS (2) NEW JERSEY DEVILS (3) MIGHTY DUCKS vs. NEW JERSEY: Best-of-seven series |
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