The Feel-Good Story of the Year

By Diane Pucin

May 17, 2003 12 AM PT

It is these moments of unexpected accomplishment that make sports addictive, that make us able to put up with the sideshows, the contract disputes and strikes, the disloyalty -- of owners and players -- the sometime-sense that only money matters. Not winning, not fans, not the sport or the competition.

Then Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the tall, strong young goalie with his wide-eyed wonder and flexible limbs and nerveless expectation that only good things will happen, put his arms around Paul Kariya as the two Mighty Duck players traveled at the end of the most heart-warming of sports traditions.

They were skating through the line of vanquished Minnesota Wild players. Kariya, whose hair is now thinning, whose heart was broken during this season when his father died, whose quiet class through years of bad management and bad hockey is worthy of great praise, was receiving real, emotional, honest congratulations from the opponents. But it was the bearhug from his goalie that made Kariya giggle.

Good guys do get rewarded. That was what Giguere’s hug said. Class counts. Loyalty matters. Patience pays off.

Peek carefully out the window this morning. Make sure something is out there.

Because shouldn’t the world have ended? The Mighty Ducks are in the Stanley Cup finals.

Put your umbrella up. Sure, the sun is out. But elephants must be flying. The Mighty Ducks are in the Stanley Cup finals.

The Ducks beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1, Friday night at the Pond. For those keeping score, that’s two 4-0 series sweeps for Anaheim (defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit went out in four games too). The Ducks aren’t just winning, they are romping, stomping, crushing the hearts of these shocked opponents who come here convinced the Ducks are lucky or blessed or will soon be overwhelmed by the moment or overcome by the enormity of the occasion.

But they aren’t.

They aren’t because of Bryan Murray, the kindly, soft-spoken white-haired man who stood at the back of the press box after the second period. And because of 28-year-old always-a-Duck, always-an-optimist Kariya.

Murray, the general manager, looked at the jam-packed stands and smiled. He spoke of Adam Oates, the 40-year-old center, with admiration and affection.

Oates scored Anaheim’s two goals Friday night. Two power-play goals conceived with guile and experience and the clever understanding of hockey gained over 18 years in the NHL.

When Murray signed the elderly Oates as a free agent last summer the typical reaction was, “Huh?”

How were the dreadful Ducks to get better with 40-year-old centers? And why would an accomplished star near the end of his career come to a franchise where even the most loyal fans were giving up?

“First of all,” Murray said, “Adam Oates is a good person.”

Good people yes, but more. Oates brought leadership into the locker room. And an understanding of how to win. And how to act as a winner even after losses, how to travel through a season of ups and downs, slow starts and fast finishes.

Murray has been watching Oates for more than 20 years, since Oates was in college. Murray knew that he, alone, couldn’t persuade Oates to sign. So he had Kariya recruit Oates. “Paul and Adam had several conversations,” Murray said. “Adam was very impressed with Paul’s commitment.”

What Murray had told Kariya and what Kariya told Oates was that there was no five-year or four-year or three-year plan in Anaheim.

“Oh, no,” Murray said. “After being here last year, seeing the empty building, understanding what was happening to the franchise, how we were losing our fans, there was no thought of anything but trying to win as soon as possible. We didn’t have time.”

All the time it took for Murray was one season. One magical season.

All the time it took for Kariya was almost a decade. Almost a decade of being the franchise player for a franchise that often didn’t know what to do with him or for him. It gave Kariya another superstar to play with, Teemu Selanne, but refused to give him any of the other parts a team needs. Then it took away Selanne and gave him nothing but castoffs. Then it gave him the wise Murray, and it gave him Oates and Steve Thomas and Rob Niedermayer and Petr Sykora and Keith Carney. It stayed loyal to Steve Rucchin just as Kariya had stayed loyal to the Ducks. It nurtured the mystical Giguere.

And now it’s time for the Stanley Cup finals. In Anaheim. Pigs are flying too. With the elephants.

Diane Pucin can be reached at [email protected].