Stars-Ducks: Battle for Pacific Bragging Rights

The regular season is now complete and the quest for the Cup begins.

For eight teams this marks the beginning of their respective goals, all of that culminates with the hoisting of Lord Stanley's Cup. For the fans of the Dallas Stars, it's a quest to rid the team of their recent playoff woes.

Dallas and Anaheim, both from the NHL's Pacific Division, meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking the first playoff meeting between the two clubs since the 2002-03 season.

Since that season, both teams have gone through many changes—Anaheim decided being "Mighty" wasn't "cool" anymore, and for Dallas, it began the streak of playoff losses that Stars fans have been continually are faced with.

This was the last season in which the Stars made it past the first round of the playoffs, and it, ironically, was the Ducks who beat them that season in the Conference Semifinals.

Will that continue this season? According to many of the "playoff preview" articles out there, the Stars chances do not look good.

Almost 100 percent of the major articles out there have the Ducks beating the Stars in pretty much all categories but special teams. Those same articles seem to sit on one crutch, which you see in almost every playoff season.

It is that old "Hey they're the defending Cup champions, therefore they're favored again" crutch.

It is something I have never been able to buy into.

Granted I am biased towards the Stars, I am approaching this in a manner as impartial as possible. I don't see the Ducks winning this series.

The Stars are coming in off of a big win against the Pacific Division Champion, San Jose Sharks. They are also coming into this playoff series with a 5-3-1 record against Anaheim, which looks like a positive record.

Nevertheless, it's going to come down to special teams and defense, two things that the Stars have. Chris Pronger is back from his suspension, but one defenseman does not make a team.

In the past few games, the Stars have called up many of their young defensemen to stand in for the last few games of the season. It was, obviously, to give their starters a little more rest, and see what "diamonds in the rough" they may possess. To further emphasize that point, in the past three games the Stars have scored a total of 10 goals, five of which have been by defensemen.

To say the Stars defense hasn't been producing, would be an understatement at best.

Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that Pronger is coming off a suspension. He can be a loose cannon at times, which makes him a liability should that side of him appear. You can guarantee the Stars are aware of this, and will send Brenden Morrow, Matt Niskanen, and Steve Ott out to really try and rub Pronger the wrong way.

With special teams, there is no doubt the Stars have the edge—statistically the best team in overall special teams.

Anaheim is in a serious hole there. The best "equalizer" Anaheim has to its lack of special teams is strong output from its forwards.

Again this series will come down to special teams and defense. With every season, Marty Turco gets a new chance to clear his playoff demons, which began with this same Ducks team. Of all the times to do it, now would be the time.

Prediction: Split in Anaheim, Stars take two at home, Anaheim wins game 5, and the Stars win the series in 6.