Anaheim Will Have Another, With Ice

Is there the slightest doubt that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks are a team of destiny and will win the Stanley Cup? I mean, come on. Do you need a sack of pucks to fall on you? Does it even matter who they play in the finals?

Like most of you, I’ve been a h-u-g-e Ducks fan since, oh, at least mid-April. That coincided with them knocking off the Detroit Red Wings, the defending champs, in a four-game sweep. It was clear after Game 1 of the series that the Ducks were the chosen ones. Good grief, that goalie with the Freedom-Canadian name stopped 63 Detroit shots and the Powerful Fowl won in three overtimes. Sixty-three saves in one game? That’s more shots than Ducks’ goalies used to stop in a week.

If you’re a team of destiny, things like that happen. No matter that you finish seventh in your conference during the regular season, as the Ducks did, and have to beat three higher-up teams (including Nos. 1 and 2) to make it to the finals.

I telephoned Harrah’s in Las Vegas to see if the Ducks would be favored to win the Cup but didn’t hear back. As if it matters. Oddsmakers are unemotional types, interested only in betting lines. They can’t always spot teams of destiny.

And of all the teams of destiny, the Ducks are the most destined of all.

How do we know?

Duh. Maybe you remember a little group last fall called the Anaheim Angels. Nobody thought they’d beat the Yankees, but guess what? Nobody thought they’d beat Barry Bonds and the Giants, but guess what? Behind 5-0 in Game 6 and facing elimination, but then the Rally Monkey got cranked up and Scott Spiezio came to bat and the rest is ... destiny.

Don’t you see? Same town. Same owners. Both teams connected to movies. Neither team expected to sniff at the championship. Both teams knock off big-name teams on the way to the title, winning improbable games.

Isn’t it obvious?

The casual sports fan might wonder how a team becomes a “team of destiny.” Who decides? Actually, the answer is extremely complicated and involves philosophical concepts that I don’t have enough space here to explain.

But one of the best dissertations I’ve come across came while surfing the Web. Toronto Sun hockey writer Mike Ulmer, while musing last year about the Toronto Maple Leafs being a team of destiny, noted: “Being a team of destiny means that enough elements fall neatly into place that the future appears nearly preordained.”

That is pretty heavy stuff, and some people probably discounted it after the Leafs went on to lose their next series to the Carolina Hurricanes.

But wait! The Hurricanes also were a team of destiny. Who knew? Truth is, they were a team of more destiny than the Leafs, when you consider that many people had no idea they even played hockey in North Carolina. Just what they’re saying about Anaheim.

Also note that a writer said of the Hurricanes that their team logo was “seemingly designed by a kindergarten class.” Sound familiar?

And get this: The Hurricanes also knocked off two established powers on the way to the finals: New Jersey and Montreal. And whom did Carolina play in the finals? The Red Wings?

Enough symmetry for you? Still questioning the Ducks’ destiny?

And how long did it take the Hurricanes to polish off the Red Wings?

Checking the record ...

Let’s see, Carolina won the first game and then, uh, Detroit swept the next four to win the Stanley Cup in five games.

Rats.

Maybe this destiny stuff is trickier than it seems. Maybe it’s true what they say: The only thing better than destiny is a hot goalie.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He can be reached at (714) 966-7821, at dana.parsons@latimes.com or at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.