Warning to Hockeytown: A new sheriff rules rivalry

Sorry, Detroit.

You can’t call yourself Hockeytown anymore.

Not when Joe Louis Arena hasn’t been sold out for any of the Red Wings’ six home playoff games this spring and the Ducks are riding a 28-game sellout streak.

Not when the Red Wings, who rely heavily on 45-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios and 42-year-old goaltender Dominik Hasek, had to mobilize their walkers to rally past the spineless San Jose Sharks in six games in the second round.

Not when the Ducks, who won each of the first two rounds in five games and are rested for Friday’s Western Conference finals opener, don’t fear playing at “The Joe,” as the downtown arena is known.

“I like the boards, the ice. The atmosphere is good there,” defenseman Sean O’Donnell said. “I like everything about playing in Detroit.”

The Ducks will absolutely love it after they end the Red Wings’ season short of a Stanley Cup title, as they did in 2003.

“We’re going to have to earn every inch we get on that ice,” goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said, “but I know as a team we can do it because I’ve seen us do it. When we play our best I know how good we are, and we can do it.”

Four years ago, Giguere began establishing himself as one of the finest goalies of his generation with a 63-save effort in his playoff debut, a 2-1, triple-overtime playoff victory at Detroit. In a spectacular performance that launched the Ducks’ trip to the Cup finals, Giguere stopped 165 of 171 shots in a series sweep -- and he has gotten better since then.

So has the team in front of him.

By signing Scott Niedermayer as a free agent in 2005 and trading for Chris Pronger in 2006, the Ducks added unique elements of speed, creativity, physicality and experience. Niedermayer and Pronger, vying with Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom for the Norris trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman, make for a front-loaded defense but the Ducks have built a solid supporting cast.

Francois Beauchemin, who thrives when the hitting gets hard and has a fearsome shot from the point, plays pressure-filled minutes. O’Donnell is averaging nearly 21 minutes and has a plus-3 defensive rating, second among the Ducks’ defensemen only to Pronger’s plus-4.

In putting together a trio of Travis Moen, Sammy Pahlsson and Rob Niedermayer, the Ducks created a stopper line that also has a knack for scoring big goals.

By finding and developing youngsters Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Dustin Penner, the Ducks added youth and speed they didn’t have in 2003.

They’re too swift and deep for the aging Red Wings, who lost defenseman/power-play catalyst Mathieu Schneider to a broken wrist in the second round. Lidstrom, 37, is in fine form, but he and Chelios can’t carry the defense by themselves.

“I think maybe we can take advantage of that by using our speed and maybe being physical on these guys,” Beauchemin said. “We’ve got to play a physical game.”

The Ducks will try to add miles to the collective odometer of Detroit’s defensemen by getting the puck in behind them and bumping them when possible. But they must be assertive without being overzealous and must avoid the careless penalties that led to them being short-handed 29 times against Vancouver in the second round.

“We’ve got to stay disciplined and play five-on-five as long as we can and be patient because they’re an experienced team that doesn’t give up a lot,” Beauchemin said.

To center Andy McDonald, the key is not being lured into playing the Red Wings’ game.

“They’re a puck-possession team. If you’re going to play into that, you’re not going to beat them,” he said. “For us, it means being physical on them, stopping the progression. If you’re going to chase them all over the ice and run all over the place, they’re going to pick you apart.

“We want to finish our checks so they can’t play that give-and-go hockey. And be physical. They’ve got some key guys that we can wear down as the series goes on.”

Since 1997, when the Red Wings won the first of their three titles in six seasons, they’ve had a core of grit to supplement their formidable skill. Grinders Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby were as instrumental to Detroit’s success as anyone, but they’ve got a lot of miles on them now too.

Mike Babcock, who coached the Ducks during their 2003 Cup run but left for a better offer from the Red Wings in 2005, has the Red Wings playing a tighter defensive game than in the past. For scoring, they count on the line of Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and the ever-pesky Tomas Holmstrom, and they’ll try to plant Holmstrom at the edge of Giguere’s crease for deflections and rebounds.

The Ducks can’t let him annoy them into taking penalties, and they know it.

“The worst thing I can do is try to slash him or try to fight him off because that’s taking me out of the game,” Giguere said. “So I’m going to focus on seeing the puck and making saves and whatever is around me, I’ve seen it before, so I’ve just got to deal with it, just like before.”

And just like before, the Ducks will win.

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.