Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 46

EDMONTON JOURNAL Playoffs in Canada unbeatable Selanne VICKI HALL Journal Sports Writer EDMONTON PI AY III Flf 5 D4 FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2006 II fl I I 1 7 1 If FT" 1 A Jf Teemu Selanne opted to play out the sunset of his storied hockey career in California, not the gusty Great White North where he broke into the NHL. But who can blame the Finnish Flash for his about it. Sun, surf and year-round golf? Or snow, ice and mosquitoes? Selanne knows life on both sides of the 49th parallel he played with the dearly departed Winnipeg Jets in 1992. But there's a benefit to playing hock-eyinCanada onethathithomefor Selanne this week as this Anaheim Mighty Ducks battled the pandemonium produced by 16,839 delirious fans at Rexall Place. "It's so loud with the fans like that," Selanne said.

"It's unbelievable. That's why hockey belongs in Canada." According to Selanne, nothing quite matches the experience of playing the frozen game in small-market Canada, where hockey is religion, not a diversion from basketball, baseball, and NASCAR. "It's awesome here," he said. "The fans are unbelievable.lt brings back memories of when I played in Winnipeg." Anaheim defenceman Scott Nieder-mayer was born in Edmonton, but he shares little of the warm nostalgia expressed by Selanne. In fact, Niedermayer feels the effect of the crowd on the opposing team can be overstated.

"I've been fortunate" he said, in the Anaheim dressing room after the morning skate. Tve played in all the Canadian cities except Vancouver now in the playoffs. Hockey is hockey in Canada. People get excited, so it's fun. "But I've never really had trouble playing against a crowd.

I don't know. I've never been hit by anybody in the crowd yet." The Ducks took the crowd out of the game early on Thursday, going up 3-0 in the first period before leaving with a 6-3 victory over the Oilers. "It's a privilege to play for a Canadian franchise in the playoffs," Oilers centre Michael Peca said after the morning skate. "Even when we've been down at times, the fans have still been so loud and so supportive." While he appreciates the support, Peca admits he can't hear a thing when he's on the ice. "It's like swimming underwater and then coming up for air," Peca said.

"It's like you're wearing earplugs. When the puck goes in the net and the light goes on, the earplugs come out and you're aware of the crowd, the noise and all your surroundings. "It's a pretty incredible experience." yhalKffthejournal.canwest.com MARK AVERY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Mighty Ducks winger Joffrey Lupul gets an elbow from Oilers defenceman Chris Pronger at Rexall Place on Thursday night. Lupul scored twice in the Ducks' 6-3 victory. The Ducks don't stop here Lupul scores twice to force Saturdays Game 5 Penner, who has come "from beyond nowhere" as Ducks college draft expert David McNab says, after being cut from every team in his Manitoba hometown of Winkler and going unnoticed until he wound up at the University of Maine for one year, got them rolling, getting one in off Jaroslav Spacek's skate to make it 1-0 and beating Roloson in tight later in the first.

Getzlaf some things on the offensive side of the puck, going back to the regular season," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "But the playoffs are a more intense situation. They've made big contributions, though," added Carlyle, who had Penner on left wing with Todd Marchant and Teemu Selanne Thursday, Lupul with Andy McDonald on a second line, and Getzlaf playing the point on the power play. Getzlaf, who blew a 5-on-3 shot past Rolo-son and looked like he might have tipped Rus-lan Salei's long point shot but just blocked his view, played 18 V2 minutes; Penner, who scored the game's first two goals, 15 minutes, 66 It's game, but, somebody's come back nothing, as well Ducks winger break, but we deserved one (in the series)," said Penner. "On the second, (Chris) Prongerwentdowntoblockmy shot, but I was able to wait him out and get it away." Lupul got the back-breaking goal, whipping one past Roloson with 90 seconds left in the middle period to make it 5-3.

Marchant won a faceoff, and Lupul swept in and ripped one over the goalie's arm. "It was kind of a set play it was supposed to be a one-timer opportunity for me, but the puck hung in Ryan Smyth's skate," said Lupul. "He couldn't find it but I was able to pull it out and shot it quick, over Roloson's glove. They probably would have blocked my one-timer, though, the way they've been getting in the way of all our shots." They badly needed Lupul's goal. The joint was jumping in the second as the Oilers stormed back to make it 4-3.

"They came really hard for five to 10 minutes in the second period man, they were all over of us for a bit," said Lupul. "But fortunately we weathered it." So the forecast of an Oilers sweep didn't pan out. The skies are a little brighter now for the Ducks. "It's only one game, but, you know, somebody's going to come back from three nothing, and it may as well be us," said Lupul. jmathesonS thejournal.canwest.com only one you know, going to from three and it may be us.

Joffrey Lupul and Lupul, 1356. All quality ice time. "It's a step in the right direction. It's been well documented how we haven't won here in years (since February 1999). Now that's out of the way, and we have to go home and take care of business," said Lupul, who knew he was under the gun, along with Penner and Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

They're the future and the now for this Ducks team. JIM MATHESON Journal Hockey Writer EDMONTON The price was right for Joffrey Lupul after he dug into his pocket and forked out almost $3,000, so his family and friends had ringside seats at Rexall Place. "It would have been a bit of a nightmare, me coming home and us getting swept," said the Anaheim Mighty Ducks winger, who popped the clinching fifth goal and a sixth into an empty net Thursday night to tie Fernando Pisani and Patrick Marleau for the NHLplayoff scoring lead with nine goals. Tickets in May are a little more expensive than October at the Drugstore, though. "Yeah, 15 of them and $198 a pop," shrugged Lupul.

Lupul and two other young Ducks, Dustin Penner and Ryan Getzlaf, had five of Anaheim's six goals in the resounding 6-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. They also had 13 of the 46 shots on beleaguered Oilers goalie Dwayne Rolo-son, who had so many people knocking on his door he must have felt like a kid in the neighbourhood who gets a new car. Everybody wants a ride. And, Lupul, Penner and Getzlaf were big wheels as the Ducks stayed alive after losing the first three of the series. "We've known for a while that the younger players had the ability to do Blue-collar PIERRE LeBRL'N The Canadian Press BUFFALO, T.

It is one of hundreds of letters from school kids that line the hallway walls outside the Sabres dressing room at HSBC Arena. You Did Your Best, Sabres, Good Luck. You Rock. signed Jessica. With every win and every injury, the Buffalo Sabres continue to garner the warm embrace of a city starving for its first-ever championship from either of its top two professional teams.

A win against Carolina in Game 4 of the NHL's Eastern Conference final tonight (CBC, and the Sabres would be one win from the Stanley Cup final. Sabres fever has hit Western New York, a love affair that pairs a blue-collar community with a largely no-name hockey club. It's a perfect fit. "They haven't had a winning team made it 3-0, and Lupul finished it off. "We have so many young guys on our team, and if we don't play well the team's probably not going to be successful," admitted Lupul, 22.

"Yeah, there's pressure on us to do the job, but that's fine." "We've all been rookies in this league for a while now, and it's time to stop using that as an excuse for not scoring. We had to start playing better," said the six-foot-five, 245-pound Penner, who looks like a young John LeClair. He caught a break on the first goal after a good cycle with Marchant and Selanne. "I think we earned that one. Good "It seems that the fans here always embrace the guys that come out of nowwhere, the guys that are ready to do anything to win, not necessarily the big superstars but the guys that had to work their way through," said Briere.

"I think they can relate to our team." You can't buy a ticket no matter how much the prices go up. Every game in this series sold out in a hurry. The all-sports radio station is nearly all hockey all of the time, adding a hockey-only show for two hours each morning to accommodate all the callers. "The team's run at the Stanley Cup has captured the imagination and unified the community in ways not seen since the Bills' successive runs at the Super Bowl," stated a Buffalo News article. "And this time, the community's attection is focused on a team that embodies some of sports' most wholesome qualities." Defenceman Brian Campbell says he feels the city's support.

Morrison heads to Hall NAME-DROPPER CAM TAIT Journal Sports Writer EDMONTON Rogers Sportsnet managing editor Scott Morrison is heading to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Morrison was informed officially Thursday of his induction into the Hall as a recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for a career of distinguished hockey writing. "I got a phone call last night that kind of hinted I might be named," said Morrison. "Then I got a call today officially telling me the news." Morrison said the most rewarding part of the news of the induction has been warm handshakes from friends. The CBCs Elliott Friedman was bom in Toronto, but has roots in the West.

"My grandfather was the mayor ofWdkie, and I have relatives in North Battleford, said Friedman. In Edmonton, keeping his father, Brian, in line was 17-year-old Brendan Burke. The son of the Mighty Ducks GM is a Grade 12 student who will be attending university next year in Ohio. These fans in Edmonton are something eke," Brendan said of his first visit to the city. They're really loud." ctait thejoumal.canwest.com city loves its never say die Sabres "Once you start living in this community you start to realize what these people are about and what they want out of you," he said.

"And I think you just bring that in the locker-room. "It's a hard-working city that likes to have its fun and loves its sports." It's a team that has had different heroes nearly every night in these playoffs. Briere, fellow-centre Chris Drury and goalie Ryan Miller have been prominent, and others have shared in the glory. Jason Pominville ended the series against Ottawa with a short-handed goal in overtime in Game 5 not bad for a guy put on waivers earlier this season. Still, the loss of Tallinder with fellow blue-liners Teppo Numminen and Dmitri Kalinin already out presents Buffalo with its biggest challenge of the season.

All three play huge minutes. "Sure it's pushing it, but we're not going to quit and it's going to be even that more rewarding," said CampbelL Carolina at Buffalo 5:30 p.m., CBC (Sabres lead series 2-1 here, Bills or Sabres, in awhile in this city," fan favourite Daniel Briere said after practice Thursday. "The fans are excited about us winning right now." If not just that the Sabres are winning that has captured the imagination of hockey fans, it's how they're doing it. Injuries continue to mount. The latest casualty is top defenceman Henrik Tallinder, who is out for the rest of the playoffs with a broken left arm.

Yet, the Sabres march on. Tallinder was an important part of this team, but the fact that most fans outside Buffalo don't know who he is points to why this lunch-bucket team has won the hearts of area hockey fans..