No choice now but to take it to Game 7

* EDITOR’S NOTE: As a special feature, Guy Hebert, a Newport Beach

resident and former goalie for the Mighty Ducks, will write regular

diaries about the team and its experiences throughout the Stanley Cup

finals.

There is something special about home ice advantage, isn’t there?

I had alluded to that earlier on, during the playoffs, and it has

certainly come to light here in the Stanley Cup finals. Both teams

have played their best games of the series at home, and this has

resulted in the home team winning all five of the games to this

point.

You ask how this can be -- how can a team play better at home than

on the road when both teams remain constant and only the surroundings

have changed? It is exactly that. The surroundings are what makes one

team feel comfortable and the other, well, a little out of sorts.

Unfamiliar ice surface, different bounces off boards and other

little idiosyncrasies add to the change in environment. However, what

constitutes the biggest and most affecting change are the fans and

the role they play in the game.

No doubt for the Ducks, they entered an arena filled to the brim

with veteran playoff fans who knew that their team was absolutely

desperate to win Game 5.

Game 5 is historically the winner-take-all game. So as not to

confound you with stats about how many teams who lost Game 5 ended up

losing the series and the Stanley Cup, I will simply state to you

that it is a daunting task to lose this game and win the Cup.

But this is the year of the Mighty Ducks, and they will have their

chance to set loose their fans and their own wrath upon the visiting

Devils for Game 6 today. If all holds true and the Ducks win because

they are at home and have all those intangibles on their side, there

will be a winner-take-all Game 7. That game will be held in New

Jersey -- but wait, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Game 5 was not exactly what anyone expected -- not me, not the

players and certainly not the guru of hockey, Barry Melrose. We were

all dumbfounded to witness the Ducks jump all over the Devils in the

first two minutes and take a 1-0 lead and a 6-0 shot advantage in

those first few minutes.

The Ducks looked like they were poised to keep the momentum

rolling, take a 3-2 series lead and wrap up the franchise’s first

Stanley Cup at home in Game 6.

Unfortunately for the Ducks, the Devils sprang back to life, tied

up the game, took a lead and then lost it to end the first period

tied at 2.

In that frantic opening period, we all witnessed more scoring

chances and more mistakes by both goalies than we have seen all

series. As a goalie myself, I could easily recognize that both

goalies were not on top of their game and, with quick strikes against

them, they were put back on their heels. What this means is that

their confidence had been shaken and they were now a little tentative

in their movements.

J.S. Giguere had some bad bounces go against him, but he was not

as sharp as he has been. He normally would have adjusted to the

bounces off the back dasher boards, making himself aware of where the

pucks were coming back out from. For the first time, Giguere was

faced with some bad bounces instead of some lucky breaks. It was

interesting to see how he reacted.

At the other end, Martin Brodeur was beaten by his low catching

glove hand a few times. It seems to be a weak spot on him at least

for now, and the Ducks have exposed his vulnerability. Both goalies

knew of the immense significance of this game, and the pressure got

to them.

This may be as harsh as I can be on my union partners. They both

have been terrific in the playoffs and instrumental in getting their

teams where they are today. Without these two goalies playing as well

as they have, I would probably have more tee times than I already do.

The Devils eventually began to take over the game and, as in the

first two games of this series, they became too big and too strong

for the Ducks to handle. Don’t get me wrong, it was a war out there,

with bodies flying everywhere and no lack of intensity. It boiled

down to this: The Devils got too many chances and, at least for this

game, they had gotten to Giguere.

The great thing about hockey and hockey players is that once the

game is over, you analyze your mistakes, make your corrections for

the next game and move on.

With a minimum of one game and a maximum of two games left in this

season, you will see the players come out refocused and play like

there is no tomorrow. Well, there really is no tomorrow and, as an

old saying goes: Don’t worry about injuries. You have the whole

summer to get better.

The Ducks will be ready to sacrifice everything so they can play

in that final game, a Game 7 winner-take-all.