Mighty Ducks Are Sitting in Familiar Spot

Picture it.

Ron Wilson and his assistants sitting in front of a TV in his office, the players gathered at a nearby sports bar. All of them watching while other teams decide whether the Mighty Ducks will be going to the playoffs.

It could happen again.

The biggest difference is the Ducks are almost in playoff position as the season enters its final stretch, not racing pell-mell from way behind.

With 18 games left going into tonight’s game against Ottawa, they’re tied for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

Last season, they were in 11th place, eight points out, and even a 12-4-2 stretch run wasn’t good enough. They missed the playoffs by one point.

The scary thing is the scenario is much the same. So many teams, so closely bunched.

“Look how tight it is. It’s just like last year,” Wilson said of the Western Conference standings Tuesday. They showed his Ducks are tied for eighth with Phoenix, which was Winnipeg a year ago.

If the season ended today--the Ducks can count their lucky stars it doesn’t--Phoenix would win the tiebreaker because it has more victories. Just like a year ago.

“We were hoping to be in a different situation this year than last year,” goalie Guy Hebert said. “Still, last year I think with 18 or 20 games left, we were eight or 10 points back. We’re definitely in a lot better situation being in the thick of things.

“This year, if we win the games we’re capable of winning, we should be in the playoffs. Last year we had to win and win and just hope. The scenario is the same, but I think the circumstances are a little different.”

It’s true, the Ducks have a five-game unbeaten streak, and six of their next seven at home. But they still have their longest trip ahead of them and five games left against the conference’s elite teams--Colorado, Dallas and Detroit.

They also need a cushion at the end, or else it will be Sweatin’ In Front of the Tube Time again.

Why? Because the Ducks play their final game of the season April 11 in San Jose. Phoenix also finishes its season that day.

Then on April 12, Calgary plays Toronto, Edmonton plays Vancouver and San Jose plays the Kings.

And on April 13, St. Louis plays Detroit, Chicago plays Dallas and the Kings play Colorado.

The Ducks can only hope they’re watching those games to see who their first-round opponent is, not whether they’ll have a first-round opponent.

It would be best to be five points up on the Kings, and three on the other competition. Otherwise, the Ducks could end up in tiebreaker hell.

As the teams enter the stretch, you can try to handicap the race by saying that Chicago is hot, Edmonton is not, Vancouver is on the skids, and Calgary is on a long trip with a road record as ugly as the Ducks. But then you could end up doing what Wilson did, when waiting to hear the prognosis on a knee injury to Chicago’s Chris Chelios. (Only a few days, as it turns out.)

“How about Chelios?” Wilson said. “He could be out for the year. You hate to go like this . . . “ he said, crossing his fingers with a half-embarrassed laugh.

What the other teams do matters, certainly, but you can’t control it or predict it.

“You never know,” left wing Paul Kariya said. “I think if we take care of every game, we won’t be in that situation. We’re feeling that way earlier than we did last year.”

The best approach? Just win. Forget the 1-8-2 start when Kariya was injured, forget the 9-18-5 record on the road.

“Whatever our record is, it’s not going to improve much,” Wilson said. “Or our record the first month of the season. It’s all behind us. What we do here on in is what matters to us.”