
Ducks 2, Canucks 1
In the irony of all ironies to end this one, a team that was based on a brother duo – the Sedins – for most of the season (hell, the Sedins ended that 4OT game in the Dallas series) gets run out of the playoffs for good by another, less-heralded-overall brother duo. Rob Niedermayer deflected a puck in the second overtime over to his brother, Scott, who poked it through Roberto Luongo to end another overtime battle between these guys.
Even though the series ended up 4-1 Ducks – they’re headed to the Western Conference Finals, awaiting the winner of Red Wings vs. Sharks – it was actually closer than it appeared. This makes us sad, when cities with one professional team of record get bounced. Look, I mean it sucks to be in Dallas right now (Tony Romo can’t hold snaps, Dirk is growing a man-gina, the Rangers haven’t been relevant since – well, ever, and the Stars lost to Vancouver itself in the first round of the NHL playoffs). But it might suck to be in Vancouver, because now you have nothing, unless you’re fans of the Warriors because the Sonics have ceased to be relevant, and, you know, well, the Grizzlies kind of left and all.
We’ll say this much: at least Luongo got his first-round win, right? At the very least, that happened. And Ducks vs. Sharks, if it happens – the battle for Paul Kariya’s Metaphysical Soul – is going to be a barn burner.
[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]