ANAHEIM, Calif. – Belief is not a fickle thing. It is a deep conviction, and it’s something the Anaheim Ducks have had since the very first days of this season.
“I feel like we can say we’re out of the rebuild, and we’re here to make the playoffs,” Cutter Gauthier said at the start of September’s training camp.
That was a belief that was backed-up by the longest-tenured Duck, Troy Terry, proving it wasn’t just a piece of youthful exuberance from Gauthier–the same 22-year-old that went on to lead Anaheim with 41 goals in his sophomore season.
“Saying it in the past, it's felt sort of like, ‘oh, well, you know, hopefully, myself included, like some guys can take steps.’” Terry said to open training camp. “It's less guessing hopefully that it all kind of comes together. It's a team that I think knows what it's capable of now.”
What happens when that belief is proven to be true? When there is not just the thought that it can be done, but the knowledge that it has and can continue to be done?
That is the world of foundational fact the Ducks are now living in. It’s the base that Anaheim laid by accomplishing that first goal of making the playoffs for the first time in eight years and has now built upon by winning its first playoff series in nine years.
It is a springboard into the future of this franchise, which may just be right now as the Ducks open the second round in Vegas on Monday against the Pacific Division champion Golden Knights.
“I think we think we are (a team of the future) Win a lot of championships in the future, I think,” Leo Carlsson said after the Ducks’ series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Edmonton Oilers last Thursday. “And this year too. Why not?”
Okay, that may be some youthful exuberance, but it isn’t completely unfounded.
Anaheim just eliminated the back-to-back Western Conference champion Oilers and the–albeit hobbled–best player in the world, Connor McDavid. It was a series that saw the shock-and-awe of the first playoff experience ever for 13 Ducks players, but a steady growth of belief and comfortability, as Anaheim built up to its six-game conquest.
“I think a ton (of growth over the series),” said Jackson LaCombe, whose presence as a No. 1 defenseman was announced to the world in his shutdown of McDavid. “Even in the first game, we started out a little hesitant. We were just unsure, seeing what it felt like. Second period (of Game 1), we kind of came out and started playing our game. That’s when we started to gain confidence and trusted each other. I think each game, we just got better and better.”
That confident game was on display, as Carlsson, LaCombe and Terry’s transitional speed and skill were on full display, in addition to Gauthier’s firepower, Beckett Sennecke’s creativity and the kick-in of the Ducks’ power play–which converted 50% of its opportunities in the first round.
The high-octane offense is all well and good and quite impressive, but that’s not what finishes off playoff series.
“There’s been a lot of talk about their speed and skill, but there’s a lot of size,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said at the series conclusion. “They forecheck hard and win battles. They have a lot of ingredients to be a good team.”
And that is what fosters an even greater belief.
There are plenty of narratives about the Ducks gaining valuable experience by just making the playoffs. This season’s goal was making the playoffs, and win, lose or otherwise, it’s just a worthwhile venture to play in those games. Anaheim could take that on-the-job experience and apply it to next season.
On the other hand… why wait?
“I’m already excited to apply some of these lessons everyone’s picked up in their first playoff experience,” Terry said. “The little details is what we talk about with the learning experiences, but at the end of the day, I don’t want that to be taken as we don’t think we can play with anyone. I think when we’re at our best, we’re a really good hockey team. We’re explosive. We’ve got these guys on the back end that you just saw could play with two of the best players in the world. There’s a lot of belief in our room.”
As Chris Kreider noted, that confidence has grown through every stage of the season, as Anaheim strung together winning streaks after losing skids, set franchise records for comeback wins and claimed NHL records for tying/winning goals in the final two minutes.
It’s the kind of confidence that makes a veteran say strike while the iron is hot.
“We’re going to try to win hockey games. Doesn’t matter what age,” Kreider said. “I think this is a great opportunity. You don’t know how many of these you’re going to get, so we’re going to run as long as we can.”
On those little details that Terry mentioned, it was the Ducks rising to the challenge, according to coach Joel Quenneville. Again, a facet that helped Anaheim shut down the high-powered Oilers and give them belief against a deep and experienced Vegas side.
“Checking was the challenge. Checking is our challenge,” Quenneville said. “We certainly got tested (against Edmonton). Having a chance to win Game 5 and that helped us going into (Game 6) with the lesson of being ready and playing big games, big moments and getting our exposure that it can go either way.”
These Ducks are now battle-tested, they have belief and headed into the second round, they might be counted out again–at their opponent’s, league’s and pundits’ peril.
“I don’t think a lot of people believed in us, and that helps a lot,” Carlsson said. “It’s easier being the underdogs. Coming in, we have nothing to lose.”
“We know we can be a good team now too, even in the playoffs. It’s huge for us.”