Cost of keeping Giguere could be high
If Giguere's asking price is through the roof and Burke perceives the goalie to be the team's cornerstone and perceives him to be a player without whom the Ducks can't win then who wouldn't Burke trade to free up money to re-sign Giguere? The answer is nobody. Even Scott Niedermayer (owed more than $13 million over the next two seasons) or Pronger (owed in excess of $18 million over the next three seasons) could be dealt.

Burke's mandate is not necessarily to win a Stanley Cup every year but to make sure the Ducks are competitive enough to be in the hunt for a championship season after season. Niedermayer is a year older than Pronger, but if I was Burke and push came to shove and one of these stars had to go for financial reasons I'd trade Pronger.

The Niedermayer brothers playing together in Anaheim give the team a real boost. Pronger also was suspended for a game in the Western Conference finals and a game in the Stanley Cup finals for a blow to the head of an opponent. The Ducks won both those games, but those were selfish acts on the part of Pronger and they could have ended up costing his team.

Burke will work hard not to have to part with either of his two star defensemen. It's hard to figure how Anaheim wouldn't be worse off by playing next season without either Niedermayer or Pronger. The Ducks can't figure on being the team to beat in the West if they don't have both these blueliners back.

A challenge that could prove crushing
Even if the Ducks return next season with a virtually identical roster the proposition of them repeating is stocked with difficulties and challenges. Every opponent will be gunning for Anaheim during the regular season. There's far more desire to beat a team when it's in possession of the Stanley Cup.

Ducks win first Stanley Cup      Ducks crush Senators in Game 5  |    Images Scott Niedermayer wins Conn Smythe     Opinion: Sweet Finn-ish for Selanne     Schwarzenegger joins over 15,000 in celebration Ventre: Ducks could spark other SoCal teams Opinion: Ducks won't repeat  |  Why not? Sens' 'screwup' on Ducks' key goal  |  Uh, oh Notebook: Carlyle to savor first Cup       Discussion boards: Sound off on Ducks' Cup Previous Stanley Cup champions

The Ducks will find it so challenging emotionally and physically day after day and game after game in the regular season and then with each test in each round of the playoffs. Getting to the Stanley Cup finals is like running a marathon, only it's a contact marathon, every step some opponent is trying to hit you and knock you down if not out.

There's also the challenge of coaching a team to back-to-back championships. Randy Carlyle has the ability to challenge his players and get the same results out of them tested every time Anaheim hits the ice. If Carlyle uses the same method, is it going to work a second time around? Burke is confident his coach can come through again and he showed it by signing Carlyle to a one-year extension through the 2008-09 season.

Anaheim had the pieces necessary to win the Cup this past season. It may have those same pieces back next season, but that's far from a guarantee it will again be the last team standing at the end of next spring's playoffs. Still, I wouldn't bet against the Ducks.

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