ARTHUR:
The history books will tell you that Canada's English settlers instituted hockey's traditional handshake line, hoping to imbue the rough and tumble game with an air of sportsmanship. However, I prefer to believe, as I do about fighting, that the practice has its roots in the lacrosse tradition. Tribes would settle their disagreements on the field in ferocious competition, but the field is where the disagreement stayed. You battled as hard as you could, but you accepted the final score, if not out of respect for your opponent, then out of respect for the game.

We respect the handshake line here at Anaheim Calling, and we would like to continue the handshake tradition we started in 2009.  So, Daniel, Jen, Robby, walking through the line of Predators players and the Predators coaching staff, what are the positives beyond 'good game' that you would like to express?

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DANIEL:

From the second the Ducks won game 4, one thing became very clear, they were going to have to win 2 in a row to win the series. While it is discouraging to give up a tying goal in the final minute and lose a game in overtime, that fact hasn't changed. The Ducks need to find a way to win two games in a row. In order to do that, they need to solve Nashville's forecheck. To solve Nashville's forecheck, Randy Carlyle is going to have to abandon his love of 7 defenseman and go to a full 4 line rotation.

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ARTHUR:
The above video is provided for your review. While I expect some sort of discussion of late hits, blindside hits, and various Zapruder Film breakdowns in the comments, I don't have too much to add as far as my opinion. I think Ruutu catches the outside shoulder, but that doesn't mean he doesn't also catch the head. I also think Ruutu approaches from a lateral angle, but that doesn't mean he didn't establish himself in front of Erat at all. Argue as you see fit.

Honestly, though, it's just not the kind of hit that I feel sparks a discussion; it's not all that impressive. I'm not even sure that he intends to do anything untoward (though I can hear the rabble-rousing Predators fans grumbling the name 'Ruutu.') If Erat spots Ruutu in time, that's not even going to be a hard bump. Doug Weight smoking Brandon Sutter-- that's a hit worth discussing, a hit where the guy is absolutely erased, and you have to ask yourself what the game loses for the sake of that danger and what the game might lose if a player cannot be secure in his ability to put his shoulder into another player's chest (regardless of whether or not he does, in fact, get the chest at which he is aiming).

What I actually think is worthy of discussion is Bob McKenzie's tweet afterwards:

That's right, folks. By video review, Ruutu is exactly 0.3 seconds late. Now, if we can just get the 3DHD footage and isolate the .5 second frame, then we can determine whether Ruutu continues to build speed toward Erat at the 0.5 mark or if he holds up at all. Does he make an angry face during the 0.3 seconds? Obviously, if he continues to build speed and sneer at Erat after the .5 seconds in which he is, by NHL law, required to understand that it will be a late hit, then we can infer malice aforethought and involve the Nashville authorities.

He is NINE frames over the legal limit, your honor. Why is the TSN 'video guy' wasting his time in broadcasting instead of working for CSI Toronto??? . . . the world is an imperfect place.

ARTHUR:
I don't take Bob Murray's recent "We have to start diving" comments to the OC Register seriously. Mostly because his final quote in the article notes that his scouts are currently in Europe, and maybe he should ask them to bring him back some [Euro] divers. Now that he's managing the first Murray-roster ever to make the playoffs, you'd think he'd realize it isn't 1997.

The officiating in the Ducks/Predators series has been frustrating, for sure, and for both clubs. Still, let's go to the statistics. Behind The Net tracks penalties drawn per 60 minutes at 5 on 5 for the 2010-11 campaign.

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4. The Ducks can win it all if "the unattended grease fire that is Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne ignites the rest of the team, and the goaltending doesn't extinguish that flame." - Arthur Javier, AnaheimCalling.com

San Francisco Chronicle - April 14, 2011

ARTHUR:
I've never been quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle before, and it is (as you might expect) a big deal for a hometown boy. Accordingly, I expected Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne to have their coldest playoff series on record and for Dan Ellis to set a new mark for consecutive playoff shutouts. History will be made, indeed.

Fortunately, I've been spared that embarrassment thus far, but it's a constant danger when you're asked to sound bite yourself.

Case in point, last season, a writer from the Lanigan Advisor in Lanigan, Saskatchewan asked us if we could contribute some quotes on native-son-made-good Sheldon Brookbank on the heels of a piece that Daniel wrote on the Ducks defenseman. After our reply, Brookbank re-upped with Anaheim, and following that, the blueliner proceeded to struggle through much of this year's campaign-- and not just because Daniel jinxed him.

The Lanigan Advisor asked us to comment again, recently (I did the honors this time), and I thought I would reproduce my quotes here following a steady Game 2 outing by Shelly.

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DANIEL:
Anaheim calling to the hockey world...

The rumblings about this series have already started. It's easy to say it's going to come down to the Ducks' top line against the Predators' top pair. In situations like that, it is much more likely that it'll be a wash. As such, I've come up with some other factors that will determine the outcome of the series. Some are more obvious than others...sorry.

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ROBBY:
With Chicago losing to Detroit, the Anaheim Ducks are set to host the Nashville Predators in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. As luck would have it, Nashville was the one team that most of us here at Anaheim Calling were hoping to avoid in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. A good deal of that reasoning has to do with the way Nashville plays overall, and our particular contests against them this year. With that in mind, I wanted to take a quick look back at the four-game set against the Preds this year to see what we might learn in advance of the first-round matchup.

Being a non-division Western Conference opponent, the Ducks played Nashville four times this year, twice at home and twice on the road. In those four games, the Ducks went a combined 1-3, with the Ducks' sole win in the series coming at home. Here's a high-level breakdown of the series:

I've got to admit, I'm a bit surprised at these numbers. If you omit Goals, it sure seems like the Ducks had the better statistical play. However, this doesn't mesh with my memory of these games. At all. Join me below the fold for a more in-depth look at each game.

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ROBBY:
In the interest of full-disclosure, this post was originally going to be focused only on the Ducks' potential playoff matchups. When I floated this idea to Arthur, he said it was on par with "Dewey Defeats Truman" in terms of magumbo-baiting. He also said it was something Daniel would do (okay, that last part is a lie, but I just wanted you to understand the level of violation we're talking here).

While the Anaheim Ducks still have the unenviable task of actually qualifying for the playoffs, some teams in the Western Conference have been top-seeded locks for some time. Vancouver, Detroit, and San Jose seem relatively safe bets for the first three spots in the Western Conference. In the interest of making this post nicely symmetrical, I'm also going to boldly predict that Dallas nabs that fourth spot. They led the Pacific for a good deal of the year, and they're currently only a couple of points out of fourth.

As the regular season winds to a close and the chase for the Stanley Cup playoffs ratchets up, I thought it would be a good idea to start looking at potential first-round matchups. Below the fold, you'll find a quick look at each of the top-seeded teams as well as regular season records for each of the contenders against each of the playoff locks.

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