Ever since the beginning of time, the rivalry between Northern and Southern California has existed. Shamefully (or not), for many years, I have been a part of this. I can safely say that my college campus is not the least bit short on “Which is better? Norcal or Socal?” discussions. The arguments are long, well thought out, and surprisingly deep for a subject so trivial. On Thursday, however, this triviality ends. It is time to stop taking the civil route of respectful exchange of ideas and arguments. It is time to throw down the gauntlet and “Wham! Bam! Thank you ma’am!” our way to a verdict. And hopefully after all the dust and nuclear fallout have settled, the Ducks, representative of the better part of California, will be victorious.
But really, you’re not here to participate and support my shenanigans, you’re here for playoff predictions.
Ducks in 6.
The last 3 years the Sharks have been a fantastic and consistent team (something the Ducks wish they could lay claim to). However, they haven’t gone far in the playoffs any of those years, so I’m not banking on them to go far this year either. On paper, the teams look pretty even – the Ducks with the deeper defense, while the sharks with the deeper offense. However, the Sharks just simply lack the extra gear. Sure, they have Rob Blake and Dan Boyle, but last year they had Brian Campbell and Craig Rivet – a slight but not substantial upgrade.
I attribute the Ducks early playoff exit last year to a lack of chemistry. This lack continued into the first half of this year during which, as boxscores would confirm, we played like garbage. Coming into the playoffs, I think this problem has been put behind us, as the team is gelling quite nicely, especially our top line.
Should this not be the playoffs, I would call it Sharks in 5 or 6, but because the intangibles are so important in a playoff series, and the Ducks’ “extra gear”, I’m going to have to say that the Sharks’ Stars will fizzle and the Ducks will be the Kings of California (couldn’t work in the Coyotes into this sentence, sorry).
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