Posted 7:20 PM by John A. Seafisk

Bandwagonesque

Go Ducks!

I admit I'm not a die-hard fan of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, but I do enjoy ice hockey. And I always root for the team who isn't supposed to win. (This is not too difficult, as I am a graduate of Northwestern University.)

At first, I was amused & kind of proud of the Ducks for sweeping the Detroit Red Wings in the first round. Then I found myself a good spot on the bandwagon and cheered as Anaheim faced the Dallas Stars, a team I'm not particularly fond of. When it comes to the NHL, I have a slight irksomeness toward the teams that have relocated from colder, hockey-appreciative areas to warmer, hockey-indifferent-but-might-like-it-as-a-novelty places. I realise there's profit at stake, but I don't care much for the business/corporate side of sports. Bunch of killjoys. Anyway, these teams I'm not that fond of:

Colorado Avalanche (was the Quebec Nordiques)
Dallas Stars (was the Minnesota North Stars)
Phoenix Coyotes (was the Winnipeg Jets)
Carolina Hurricanes (was the Hartford Whalers)

I have more of an affinity toward the Avs & Stars because of their success & superstars. I'm a iconoclastic hockey fan. Or maybe revolutionist, I'm not quite sure.

But anyway, it was great seeing the Ducks in those overtime thrillers beating Dallas. The Ducks won the series on a goal with about a minute left in Game 6. Bye bye, Modano, Hatcher, et al.

Then it was on to the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Wild. I honestly would have been happy if either the Ducks or Wild won this series. Like the Ducks, Minnesota wasn't expected to get this far. But I admired the way they did arrive at this point: In the first round, beating the Colorado Avalanche in overtime of Game 7 after being down 3 games to 1 in the series; In the second round, beating the Vancouver Canucks in 7 games after being down 3 games to 1 YET AGAIN. Most importantly, I think the Wild have a cool jersey. I'm glad to have it as one in my collection.

Sadly for the WIld, goaltender Jean-Sebastiern Giguere kept up his amazing hot streak by registeing 3 straight shutouts as the Ducks advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in a 4-game sweep.

Now those Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are facing the New Jersey Devils (and another team whose jersey I own). The first 2 games were 3-0 Devil victories, and it looked like the Ducks magic had run out. But wouldn't you know it - when the series came back to Southern California, those Duckies swung the momentum around with 2 straight overtime victories. They're now 7-0 in overtime playoff games. Game 5 is tomorrow, and I need to find me a TV set somewhere around 5 p.m. Pacific.

I hope the Ducks can do it. Disney ownership & camera shots of Emilio Estevez in the luxury box aside, this is a team I can root for. There are no star players, except for Paul Kariya, and he hasn;t been lighting the lamp too much. These are guys working as a real team, depending on each other when no one really gave them a chance. Just like the Angels, another bandwagon I hopped on last October & November.

Well, here's hoping Keith Carney, Steve Thomas, Steve Rucchin, Ruslan Salei, Stanislav Chisnov, Dan Bylsma, Jason Krog, Sandis Ozolinsh, Marc Chienard, John LeClerc, JSS, PK and the rest of the guys will be the one hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup over their heads.

I better get me a jersey.