Experience Doesn’t Hurt

As the Ducks enter their first postseason series since 1999, the hands-on, hard-knocking experience that was either purchased or acquired in trades will prove invaluable.

Petr Sykora, Fredrik Olausson and Sandis Ozolinsh all have won the Stanley Cup. Adam Oates and Rob Niedermayer have reached the finals. Keith Carney and Steve Thomas have skated deep into the playoffs.

For months, the Ducks have talked about the wealth of playoff experience at their disposal and the time has come to spend it.

“It’s great when you look around the dressing room and see Oatsie and Sandis and Steve Thomas and Petr, guys who have won the Cup and have a lot of playoff experience,” said team captain Paul Kariya, who has played in 14 playoff games. “They are only going to help the guys around here who haven’t been through this before.”

Their advice varies.

Sykora won a Stanley Cup championship with New Jersey in 2000, then reached the final the next season. He had nine goals in helping the Devils win the Cup and 10 when they reached the final. He also went goal-less last season, when the Devils were bounced in the first round by Carolina.

“You just can’t put pressure on yourselves,” Sykora said. “Just enjoy it. You just go in and play the game. It is simpler than it looks.”

Niedermayer, who reached the final with Florida in 1996, reminds his teammates about the stamina that is needed to go deep into the playoffs. Even going two rounds can be a monthlong ordeal. Making the final requires a two-month commitment.

“There is nothing quite like it,” Niedermayer said. “It’s a long grind and you play a lot of hockey. You have to really take care yourself. You play one night, fly home, getting in at 7 a.m., then have to go out and play the next day.”

Ozolinsh, who was on the Colorado team that beat Florida in the ’96 final, said that failure was inevitable. The key is having a short-term memory. The Avalanche lost in overtime to Chicago, falling behind 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals that championship season. Two days later, the Avalanche won in overtime, starting a three-game winning streak that closed out the series.

“Everything about the playoffs is hard.... What is important is to let the bad things go,” Ozolinsh said. “If you lose a tough game, you can’t take it with you into the next game.”

In the end, though, only one piece of advice is playoff tested.

“I’ve been on teams that went deep into the playoffs and I can’t tell you any common thing about them,” said Oates, who reached the final with Washington in 1998. “You just have to go through it and keep working.”