Ducks vs. Jets is hockey, not ice dancing
Jets center Mathieu Perreault knocks down Ducks right wing Jakob Silfverberg as they battle for the puck in the first period.
Even before Bruce Boudreau completed his off-day interview session with the media, he had raised the temperature on Twitter and greatly annoyed dancers and fans of ballet.
Et tutu, Bruce?
The Ducks coach certainly never thought he would be taking on the ballet constituency when on Friday he referred to the physical nature of the Ducks-Jets playoff series and thought it would continue, saying: “I don’t think Winnipeg or us are going to turn into a bunch of ballerinas.”
Game 2 Saturday night at Honda Center ended after deadline for this edition of The Times; the Ducks won the opener Thursday to take a 1-0 series lead.
The responses to Boudreau’s comment came fast and furiously on Twitter.
@Ashonice: “Boudreau must not have a lot of faith in his hockey players. Ballerinas are hardcore.”
@CouchTarts: “I guess they have no understanding of how tough a ballerina really is.”
@Classlicity: “spoken like someone who has never worn toe shoes.”
Then again, hockey skates aren’t exactly the most comfortable footwear, either.
Boudreau wasn’t questioning the toughness of ballerinas when he referred to the hard hitting displayed by the Jets and the Ducks.
The teams combined for 83 hits in Anaheim’s 4-2 win, and conventional wisdom suggested that they could hit 100 in a game by the time the series was completed.
Either way, the Ducks were prepared for another level on Saturday night from the Jets.
“Most of it is all mentally,” veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin said. “You just got to be mentally prepared to out-battle them. I’ve never heard of a team that wanted to go home 0-2. They’re going to be desperate. They’re going to be more physical than last game. It’s just going to be a matter of us getting ready.”
The Jets made something of a surprise move for Game 2, inserting Mathieu Perreault, a former Duck, back in the lineup. Winnipeg Coach Paul Maurice had classified Perreault was a game-time decision for Saturday.
Perreault, injured in the second-to-last game of the regular season, appeared to have been targeting Game 3 in Winnipeg. Apparently the signs were properly aligned for Game 2.
“It’s been getting better every day,” he said after Saturday’s morning skate. “If I’m not good to go today, I’m sure tomorrow will be even better and then after that I’ll be surely ready to go.
“The last thing you want is to be in the lineup, play a couple of shifts and the next thing you know, I’m out the rest of the game and we’re short a player. It’s one thing you want to avoid.
“So I want to make sure to get in the lineup and play a full 60, not just a couple of shifts.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
