Ducks vs Flames Game 1 PREVIEW: Unfinished Business

Round #1 - Game #1

Calgary Flames v. Anaheim Ducks

Thursday, April 13th, 7:30 PM PST

Honda Center

TV: NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, PRIME

Radio: AM 830, AnaheimDucks.com

Your Enemy: Matchsticks & Gasoline

This preview brought to you by the Foo Fighters - Pretender

It’s go time.

The Ducks are in a familiar position - they have just quietly surprised the hockey world by taking their fifth straight division title. But they are also painfully aware that division titles mean about as much as a ticket on a United Airlines flight in the post-season [Ed. Note: JEEZ. JOHN THROWING SHADE. -JC].

Well new/old coach, new playoff mentality. Hopefully...

I don’t need to reiterate in detail all that we have said in the build up to this series but for those that missed it - the Ducks need to get the match-ups they want and they need to avoid being goaded into retaliatory penalties by the likes of Tkachuk.

The biggest unknown facing this team is how they handle missing Cam Fowler. Defensive pairs used in practice seem to indicate that both Montour and Theodore will be in the lineup with Montour making his post season debut which, as a collective fanbase, I think it is safe to say we would applaud. But, as has been the case all season, Randy Carlyle has been want to go against logic.

Given this is the playoffs (AKA- the cold war of hockey operations reporting) - I think it is safe to say we won’t know which defensemen are in the starting line up until puck drop.

Plenty of barbs have been thrown back and forth between the Ducks and Flames over the Giordano incident, so tensions and emotions will be high; but let us hope that the Ducks keep their focus and use the additional buzz to execute and play a flawless game.

I hope you didn’t shave this morning folks, the adventure starts here.