It’s Only the Beginning for the Mighty Ducks

The Mighty Ducks have already learned so much from their first playoff experience, responding to the worst pressure--the specter of elimination--with the best effort they had left in legs that only a few days ago felt too heavy to hold them up.

They were trying to avert a sweep by the Red Wings and were tied, 2-2, in overtime Thursday at the Pond, a spirited performance against a team they acknowledge is deeper and more talented. They fought off checks and they fought off the weight of Stanley Cup playoff history, which has only two victors among teams that trailed a best-of-seven series by the 3-0 margin the Ducks had faced.

Whether Thursday’s game was the beginning of a rally or merely a generous parting gift to their home fans, it will become part of the greater lesson the Ducks are learning, a milepost on a journey that will shape their future.

From now on, the Ducks have a choice. They can be complacent and rest on their laurels and their gate receipts, or they can realize that even though they gained so much ground and so much respect this season, they aren’t yet halfway up the mountain.

They can decide it’s enough to make the playoffs and make a pile of money, or they can decide they want to make a major impact on the NHL landscape.

From all indications, they intend to use what they learned this season--and are still learning this spring--to become a smarter and better team. They may be a few years away from accumulating the depth that gave the Red Wings an endless parade of fresh legs and scoring threats, but the Ducks now know it also takes heart and resilience and so much more to become a champion.

“Every playoff game you learn so much,” center Mark Janssens said. “Guys in this room, especially the young guys, now realize how hard it is, how little time you have to make a play, how hard it is to get a shot off. Playoff hockey is so much more intense. Once you experience it, you know for next time.”

And there will be many next times. If Paul Kariya doesn’t win the NHL’s most valuable player award this season, he almost certainly will claim it in a few years. Teemu Selanne has regained the superb form he showed before an Achilles tendon injury slowed him. Guy Hebert has carried a team and stolen games. Whatever they may lack on a depth chart, they are not lacking in character and competitiveness.

“We’re closing the gap every year. That’s what I look at, how much closer we are,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “We made some huge progress in closing the game on the elite teams. We’re not an elite team but we’re right under that, and that’s important.

“You learn there’s a big difference from the regular season to the playoffs in terms of intensity and physical play, being persistent. Players learn that it’s difficult enough winning one series, let alone two, three or four. It might cue some people to prepare more. . . . Then maybe we won’t have as many injuries. . . .

“Even the Red Wings had to go through this three years ago when they lost to the Sharks [in a first-round upset]. They underestimated the Sharks. The next time they played the Sharks, they drilled them, 6-2, 7-2. That’s what we’re all learning. All the teams that have gone on to become not necessarily dynasties, but solid teams every year, you don’t just come out cold and go into the finals.”

They may not go past this round this year. They may not go past Saturday, when Game 5 is scheduled to be played at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena. But if they open their minds and their hearts to what they are experiencing now, they will go far in the future.

The Ducks learned enough about losing to know they don’t want to keep doing it. To that end, there will be--there must be--some changes this summer.

They must re-sign Kariya, a restricted free agent, and Wilson, whose contract expires July 1. They must find second- and third-line offensive help. They must find a physical defenseman who can add an element of menace they now lack; Luke Richardson of Edmonton, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, would fit that role nicely. In defensemen J.J. Daigneault--who will be an unrestricted free agent--and Dimitri Mironov, a restricted free agent, they have a duplication of elements; they may keep one but not both.

“Every team in this league, every time it doesn’t win the Cup, there are changes,” Dollas said. “Every year there’s new faces, new thoughts on what direction the organization wants to go. The nucleus is probably 10 guys. We’ve got a good core of 10 guys and we can build around it. Right now this team is built around Paul and Teemu, and the best thing [management] could do is complement them.”

The Colorado Avalanche, last year’s Cup champions, didn’t become winners overnight. Nor did the Red Wings, who--if they win--will face the winner of the Colorado-Edmonton semifinal for the conference title.

“They’re a playoff-hardened team. They lost last year and the year before to the team that won the Stanley Cup,” Wilson said of the Red Wings. “I don’t view them as failures. There are a lot of good teams out there.

“You want to plant the seed. We don’t have any seeds in our garden yet, so nothing can grow.”

Oh, but they did plant a seed this spring--a seed of hope. With proper care and feeding, it will bloom for years to come.