From A Waddle To A Soar
The Anaheim Mighty Ducks came out of nowhere to be a serious contender in the NHL's Western Conference.

But instead of moving the coach, Burke made players disappear. Some deals were risky; others smart and the Ducks took flight. Since a 7-10-4 start, Anaheim has gone 31-13-8 and they sit fifth overall in the NHL's Western Conference with ten precious days remaining in the regular season. 

Burke came to Anaheim from a strong but at times controversial tenure as the GM of the Vancouver Canucks. He's a lawyer, and we won't hold that against him, but there is no mistaking that he will continue to deconstruct the old Anaheim regime until the team is totally his vision. 

As the team wallowed in mediocrity, he took a bold stroke and moved high profile and high priced Sergei Fedorov to Columbus and sniper Peter Sykora to the Rangers. 

For a team that was struggling with offense, it raised more than a few eyebrows in the OC. 

Make no mistake; if you want flashy play, you're not going to be visiting the Arrowhead Pond anytime soon. Burke has whittled down the number of Europeans on the roster and is acquiring players, through trades and the draft, more in the Todd Bertuzzi style than Jaromir Jagr. 

The two remaining Russians on the teams are the hard hitting Ruslan Salei and Vitali Vishnevski; emphasis on hard hitting. It's not that Burke is hanging out a "No Europeans Allowed" sign outside the Pond; he just wants the ones with an edge to their game. 

It took some veterans leadership and some new blood injections in the body but Anaheim is ending the season playing as good as anyone in the West. 

An underrated part of the Fedorov deal at the time was the inclusion of defenseman Francois Beauchemin. The former third round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 1998, was a spare part for the last place Blue Jackets (he was a healthy scratch seven times in Columbus). 

He rode the pine three of his first four matches in Duckland too but was given a shot by Carlyle after the Anaheim scouts said he could make a contribution in the league. Since Thanksgiving he hasn't missed a beat, or a game, and figures prominently in the defensive corps, often paired with Captain Scott Niedermayer on the first defensive pairing and the Ducks have won 32 games since his acquisition. While Burke's track record on trades has been hit and miss, he certainly got the better of this exchange.

TEEMU'S TEAM

When Teemu Selanne returned to Anaheim over the summer, the thought was that it was a move as much for public relations as it was for his on ice production. The Finnish Flash was a shadow of his former self during a tough 2003-04 season, scoring a career low 16 goals for the Colorado Avalanche and there were whispers that at 34 years old, a storied NHL career was over. 

He did not play during the lockout and had surgery on a painful knee that slowed his game greatly. Even though he worked hard to get back to 100%, few teams took notice and Burke took a flyer on him with a one year, $1 million deal offer to the unrestricted free agent. Burke would have been happy with the increased ticket sales from Teemu's fans and 15 goals and therein lies the tale. 

As the second season draws near, Selanne leads the team in scoring with 36 goals and 81 points. He's a plus-31, leads the team in powerplay goals with 15 and since the Olympic break he's second in the league in scoring behind Washington wunderkind Alex Ovechkin. 

In addition to his phoenix-like rise from the ashes, he's made his running mate Andy McDonald (29, 40, 69, +27) a star. In Carlyle's system, he routinely pairs two forwards and then drops in the third forward at his direction. The combination of veteran prowess and youngster speed has carried this team over the last 50 games. They have a special knack for scoring key goals; last week against Dallas, Selanne made two great moves behind the net to set up McDonald for a game-tying goal that set them up for an overtime win. 

Selanne's numbers make him an obvious choice for Comeback Player of the Year and his performance will raise an interesting question at season's end. His numbers will warrant attention (and green) from a number of franchises, but will he stay and remain loyal to the team that gave him a shot or scoot off to a Detroit or Los Angeles? 

Selanne has taken seriously the role of senior statesman for the team and his maturity will help offset the absence of Keith Carney's leadership, as Keith was swapped out for Sean O'Donnell at the trade deadline. 

But two players hardly can take credit for such a meteoric rise in the standings. Before Sunday's Ducks-Vancouver clash, we spoke with the fine Ducks' radio voice, Steve Carroll. 

Carroll, now in his seventh year with Anaheim, has seen the best (the Stanley Cup run in .02-.03) and the worst (no playoffs the following year). His perspective on the team on why this team has been so strong down the stretch is that it was just a matter of time. 

A VIEW FROM BEHIND THE MIKE

"A couple of things happened," Carroll said. "The team came together at once; everyone started playing well at the same time. The weird thing is that we have a tendency to fall behind early in games and that's something the staff would like to correct. We've got great goaltending (from the tandem of J.S Giguere and Ilya Bryzgalov) and our defense tightened up. 

"Upfront, we finally got the right line combinations because the coach was experimenting a lot early in the season. Selanne and McDonald have been great together, Andy's having a career year, Teemu's skating like he's 23 years old and has become more of a leader in the room." 

While every winning has a number one line, Carroll thinks that it's the contribution of the lesser lights on the roster that has delivered a big impact as well. 

"Todd Marchant and Joffrey Lupul have played well together and now guys like Samuel Pahlsson are starting to produce, too," he said. 

The direct impact of former GM Bryan Murray's drafting has come to the fore with the unexpected success of youngsters Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Both rookie wingers had issues adjusting to the speed of the NHL game early and it showed. Burke and Carlyle smartly agreed to send then down to take a deep breath and when the second call came to the big club they were more ready. 

"You look at the second tier of our scoring during this prolonged streak and it's come more from those two than anyone else," Carroll conveyed. 

For all the good tangible deeds on ice, he truly thinks that it's the intangibles that have created good times by the Pond. 

"The biggest thing is the leadership in the locker room. I don't think we've ever had strong leadership in the past. You've got Scott Niedermayer, he's unbelievable. You don't see how great he is until you see him play every night." 

We've watched Niedermayer for over a decade in New Jersey and we concur. He's making a strong bid for his second consecutive Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman. Scott has established a new career high for points (12, 48, 60) this season (his previous career-high was 57 points in 1997-98 with NJ), as well as establishing assist and point club-records for a defenseman. 

Carroll also thinks that patience, in this case, was truly a virtue: "It takes time for a new coach to come in, install a system and figure out what players are best to play in it," he observed. 

Can the Ducks. faithful expect another run deep in the playoffs like in 2003? From his vantage point, Carroll says it's too early to tell, but with a qualification, "it's eerily similar to what happened a couple of seasons ago. 

"The team was playing well as the season ended and everything took off. The goaltending was good and while Giguere will never play like he did during that run, this year he's been solid; he keeps the team in the game and that's all you can ask from your goaltender. The goalies here know the expectations of the coaching staff. When you have the success we've had over the past few months confidence grows in the room." 

But what makes them most dangerous to opponents is their blue collar approach to the game, they've not taken a night off. Other teams you may seem them take 5 or 10 games off during the course of a season. The work ethic has been there every night regardless of the result on the ice, while Coach Carlyle concurs, "this is the hardest working team I've ever been around at any level."

The race for the final eight spots is still topsy turvy, but with if the Ducks finish strong there is an opportunity for the Ducks to finish fifth in the West. They have home games with Los Angeles and Dallas this week and then face a tough five game road swing before ending the season at home against Calgary.

Keeping in mind the old hockey cliché, "sometimes it's not the best team but the team that's playing best," the Ducks have things rolling. There are weaknesses on this team, specifically depth; man for man they don't compare with a Detroit or Dallas and still are basically a one line team offensively. But if they can finish strong and grab the five spot, it sets up a potential delicious first round match up with Nashville Predators. That's the Paul-Kariya led Predators. Sometimes revenge is a dish best served cold, preferably on ice. 

ANSON IS DANCIN'

At the end of the 2003-04 season, the only thing that Anson Carter's play would have earned him was his photo on the side of a milk carton. The big right-winger seemed to have played himself out of the league with mediocre performances in New York, Los Angeles and Washington; when a player wears three uniforms in one season, it's never because of stellar play. 

The highlight of his stint in Washington was that he can tell his grandchildren that he was once traded for future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr. His time in Los Angeles was as painful; high expectations upon his arrival gave way to a 15 game goalless stretch and put his career in limbo. Vancouver Canucks. GM David Nonis took a flyer on the 31-year-old unrestricted free agent and the gamble paid off. With five games remaining in the regular season, Carter leads the Canucks in goals with 31, not Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi or a Sedin of your choice; if I had only laid a $20 bill on that proposition in Vegas in September.

Carter, who has the size and strength (6-1, 200) to be a major power forward in the league, seemed to be on the cusp of greatness during his tenures in Edmonton and Boston. He registered three 20 goals seasons over six seasons with the Oilers and Bruins, but never had that bust out season from 1997 to 2003. 

The woeful 2003-04 season seemed to culminate a career of unfulfilled potential, but his play suffered more to do injury than anything else. A nagging groin injury pestered him all season, an ailment that takes the power out of the power forward. With few offers on the table, he signed a one-year, $1 million offer with Vancouver, now arguably the best UFA deal of the off season. 

The lockout once again proved to be an elixir for an older player. His body was away from the rigors of an 82 game regular-season, he also declined to play overseas last season and returned to the good fortune of playing with offensively gifted teammates. Carter would be overwhelming choice for comeback player of the year if not for the performance of the aforementioned Selanne. He's routinely teamed with the Sedin twins (the Swedes Daniel and Henrik) to give the pair a physical presence to complement their finesse game. The Sedins' superior passing ability has made it easier for Carter to be in position for opportunities down low and he's rarely missed the mark. 

He's hit the 30 goal plateau for the first time in his career, tallied 14 powerplay markers, seven game winners and has an outside chance to establish a career high in points with a rush in the final 5 games. Although Bertuzzi has more points, Carter has had the better season over all, he is a plus 2 through 77 games, while Bertuzzi has a forgettable -14 while the boos from the Steven Moore incident still ring in his ears. Like Selanne in Anaheim, it will be seller's market for Carter's services this summer.

HERE AND THERE

Conspicuous by his presence in Southern California this weekend was former Detroit Red Wings coach Dave Lewis. On the scouting trail for the Winged Wheel, the drumbeats are getting louder that Lewis could be behind the bench for the Los Angeles Kings next season. If you watched the Kings on their recent western Canadian road trip, their "freedom" from former coach Andy Murray is not helping interim coach John Torchetti's audition. Lewis has both the resume and the style the Kings need in a headman.
 

Dennis Bernstein, the man behind SCORE! Media, is a columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com and the Los Angeles Correspondent for The Fourth Period Magazine.