Shaun Best / Reuters

Scott Niedermayer and the Ducks are poised to win the Stanley Cup again, NBCSports.com contributor Bob Duff writes.

Much is made about Anaheim’s penchant for playing it rough — some might even say dirty — but the Ducks’ ability to play rugged hockey has nothing to do with dropping the gloves and everything to do with dropping the hammer upon the opposition, a tactic that wears out the other team as a series progresses.

"We like to play a north-south game and we play physical, but intimidation to us is you have to win a puck battle," Carlyle said. "It's not always about the fisticuffs and whatnot. It's about the ability to take a check, to make a play and to make the right play and to be physical and to stop progression and play our game."

That’s what brought the Ducks fame and glory a year ago and it’s exactly the formula that will return them to the top. But the key to getting there, according to Carlyle, is for the team to forget what made them famous.

To stop considering themselves to be champions.

"I think when the playoffs start, we're not the Stanley Cup champions anymore," Carlyle said. "We're competing to be.

"I think the mind-set we'd like to have is to remember how difficult it was and remember the things that you had to do and remember the sacrifices that you had to make and remember the bounces that you got.

"It was because of the hard work and the commitment that the team made, not because you're the Stanley Cup champions. People are out there to earn it and there's no easy way. You have to win 16 games to get to that pinnacle and the first one is the most important and every one that goes beyond that will become the most important."

Most significantly for the Ducks, after a rough flight to begin their journey, they look to be themselves again and whether Carlyle likes it or not, they are champions until some other team proves otherwise.

"We turned it around," Schneider said. "We feel like we're playing well. As long as we come together at the right time of year — and this is the time — I think we're right there with any team."

That's the route the 1991-92 Penguins eventually traveled back to glory.

The Ducks appear to be finding their way toward a similar path.

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Heading to the Cup finals

Adam Henrique scored off a wild scramble in front early in OT and the New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 to advance to their first Stanley Cup finals since '03. The new Eastern champs will face LA next.

NBC Sports

Highlights: OT goal delivers Devils to Cup finals

  Check out highlights as the New Jersey Devils advanced to the Stanley Cup finals by defeating the New York Rangers, 3-2, in overtime.

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