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Freeway Faceoff would tantalize
By Randy Youngman
February 9, 2010
ANAHEIM — The Angels and Dodgers had Southern California baseball fans buzzing about the possibility of playing in the first I-5 World Series a few months ago, before both teams fell one series short of that momentous event.
But have you thought about a Stanley Cup playoff series this spring between the division rival Ducks and Kings?
Remote possibility, you say? Not necessarily.
It probably sounds far-fetched to local puckheads who know the Ducks and Kings have never even made the playoffs in the same season. The Kings have missed the playoffs seven seasons in a row, a span in which the Ducks have made the playoffs five times, including two runs to the Stanley Cup Finals.
But this year could be different, a provocative possibility driven home Monday night at Honda Center, where an enthusiastic bipartisan crowd watched the Ducks extend their home winning streak to 10 with a spirited 4-2 victory that snapped the Kings' franchise-record, nine-game winning streak.
Granted, it is the Kings (36-20-3, 75 points), currently fifth in the Western Conference, who have established themselves as a legitimate playoff contender this season, while the wildly inconsistent Ducks (28-24-7, 63 points) are trying to make their traditional second-half push to get into the top eight.
After knocking off the Kings, the Ducks were only three points out of the last playoff spot, but the standings and conference rankings seem to change every day among the top 12 teams in the West.
If, however, recent trends continue, the Ducks should make the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. As hot as the Kings have been, it might surprise you that the Kings and Ducks have the same record (12-5) over the past 17 games.
That brings us back to the tantalizing possibility of a Kings-Ducks playoff series. Unlike in baseball, where the Angels and Dodgers couldn't meet until the World Series, our local NHL franchises have three chances to meet in the conference playoffs if they keep advancing.
At the moment, a first-round matchup doesn't seem likely. That's because the Kings probably won't catch the San Jose Sharks (87 points) and win the Pacific Division, which means the highest L.A. could finish is No. 4 in the West. And that means the Ducks would have to have a torrid finish after the Winter Olympics break to finish No. 5.
After the first round, however, the odds of a freeway series improve dramatically.
What would it be like if it happens? Multiply the electricity at Honda Center on Monday night, and at Staples Center this past Thursday, by, well, at least seven.
Can you imagine seven consecutive playoff games between the rivals? Teemu Selanne, the leading scorer in Ducks franchise history, says he can.
"It would be, not only great for both franchises, but for hockey in California. It would be unbelievable," Selanne said after Monday's victory, his eyes widening as he allowed his imagination to run wild. "Even if both teams were in the playoffs at the same time, it would be huge. But to play against each other, that would be the highlight of hockey in California.
"I think hockey out here would explode even more."
Selanne, however, said the Ducks can take nothing for granted the rest of the season.
"We've been playing well, but we have to keep doing it, just like last year," he said, alluding to a season-ending 10-2-1 surge that enabled the Ducks to sneak into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed and set up their first-round upset of the top-seeded Sharks.
"When you build momentum going into the playoffs, nobody wants to face a hot team. You can't switch it on in the playoffs, you have to build momentum. Hopefully, we can do it again. We've always been a good second-half team, but we have to keep pushing."
That means the last three games before the Olympics, beginning tonight against Edmonton, are just as important as the last 20 regular-season games after the break. And it sounds as if Selanne would love to play the Kings in April or May.
"They have a lot of young, hungry players, and they play a very good system," Selanne said. "I think what they have done is great for L.A. hockey. And even though they are our rivals, I'm very happy for them."
Until they meet again.
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The wish of an Avs fan from the Windy City
By Jeffrey Wolf & Kim Christiansen
February 9, 2010
DENVER — For practically his entire life, Jeremy Campus has been a loyal fan of the Colorado Avalanche.
"I hope they go to the playoffs and the Stanley Cup," he said.
The 11-year-old has been to a couple of games, but never to practice in Denver. He is actually from Chicago and first became an Avs fan while playing video games.
After he started to play hockey on actual ice, his family knew what would be his one wish.
"One of the things was being a professional hockey player for the Colorado Avalanche," Ann Marie Campus, Jeremy's mother, said.
It was a wish that came true, but not before he got some bad news first.
"We noticed that his one leg was swelling up," Campus said.
After more than a year of chemotherapy and radiation to treat his cancer, the Make a Wish Foundation made Jeremy's dream come true.
"[I'm] gonna high five all the players, be the last one out the door and skate right to the middle of the blue line," Jeremy said on Tuesday night as he waited inside the tunnel in the Pepsi Center. "It's pretty cool. It's exciting."
Then the boy from Chicago, crazy for the team from Colorado, joined them on the ice.
"Coolest thing I've ever done," he said.
He beat cancer and says he wants to be a goalie. But Tuesday night, he just got to enjoy the present, where he lived his dream with the Colorado Avalanche.
"It's been rough. It's been rough going through treatment and everything, just to see him do stuff like this. It's good. It's very good," Jeremy's father Dan Campus said. "[I] like to see him out there, being a kid again. It's awesome."
Jeremy's parents, grandmother, brothers and sister came along for the trip.
They all say they are extremely thankful.
"Indescribable feeling," Jeremy said.
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