Ducks are Stanley Cup Champions!!!!

Would I have rather it been the Los Angeles Kings who won the Stanley Cup?  Of course!  But at the same time, I love hockey, especially when it's played so well, and the Anaheim Ducks played VERY well.  More than anything, I'm proud that the Stanley Cup is coming to a West Coast team for the first time... and it's in Southern California!

Apparently, the third time's the charm.  This is the third time that a SoCal hockey team made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, and finally... the Cup is coming to Southern California.  The Anaheim Ducks, one of the early season favorites to win it all this season, thoroughly dominated the Ottawa Senators in the 6-2 win.

Except for about ten minutes in the second period, the Ducks controlled the play on both ends of the ice.  The first period saw Anaheim take a 2-0 lead on goals by Andy McDonald (the Ducks' leading goal scorer in the playoffs) and Rob Niedermayer.  They never lost the lead and never looked back, answering two goals by Daniel Alfredsson in the second period with two of their own by Travis Moen and Francois Beauchemin.  Moen's tally was a fluke goal that he never even touched when Senators' star defenseman Chris Phillips passed the puck under Ray Emery.  The Senator goalie slipped on the puck and pushed it into his own net.  This was the difference in the game.  All the momentum that the Senators seemed to have just dissipated.  They mounted a few more attacks, and Alfredsson scored his second, but it didn't seem like their spirit was in the game anymore.

The Ducks finished off the scoring with Travis Moen's second goal of the game (one that he actually touched) and a final one by Corey Perry... then the celebration started!  Captain Scott Niedermayer raised the Cup for the fourth time after graciously accepting a well-deserved Conn Smythe Trophy.  All in all, a triumphant, celebratory night for the Ducks.

I'm most happy for Teemu Selanne.  The veteran Ducks' forward truly resurrected his career and dispelled all the naysayers who felt like his career was over by finally winning his first Cup after 14 seasons in the NHL.  Chris Pronger, much criticized for his move from Edmonton to Anaheim last season also won his first Cup.  Much like Scott Stevens and Chris Chelios, Pronger is a warrior who plays on the edge (sometimes to the point of a cheap shot here or there), but there's no doubting how he can dominate a game.  Perhaps the most sentimental moment was when Scott Niedermayer handed the Cup off to his brother Rob, one of only three Ducks from the 2003 team that made it to the Cup Finals (and lost to Scott's New Jersey Devils).

So congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks!  Ownership and management has proven without a doubt that building a winner is WAY more successful than just creating an entertaining team.  I hope Disney was paying attention.