Well the Ducks earned it, there's no doubt about that. They did everything better than Ottawa, and game three was an aberration that Anaheim should have won. Anaheim was bigger, faster, stronger, and smarter. Ottawa was out-coached, out goal-tended, and out-scored, out-hit and out-played in every facet of the series. It's tough to turn that into a winning formula.

I could barely even get myself to look up at the TV during tonights game. Ottawa still couldn't get their legs under them, even though it was a do or die situation. I suspect that fatigue set in after the conference finals and they just couldn't recover.

Anaheim's "kid line" of Penner, Perry, and Getzlaf was probably the most influential line of the series. They provided an endless supply of energy to the Ducks, something which Ottawa just couldn't counter.

Also of concern, is that Canadian teams are now on a three-year run of losing in the Stanley Cup finals. This is the kind of thing that curses are made of. What is it going to take for the Cup to be won by a Canadian team again?

Labels: NHL, Ottawa Senators, sports, Stanley Cup, The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim