Steady yourself for an onslaught of Golden State clichés. 

The song California Dreamin’ will be front-and-centre.  You can pretty much count on Hockey Night in Canada to air that one over a montage of hockey highlights.

How about Come to California by Matthew Sweet?  That’s what the NHL Playoffs are doing this spring, as for the first time all three California-based NHL franchises are headed to the post-season.

That’s one more team than the entire country of Canada is sending, though the population of California is over 37 million, about three million more people than the entire Motherland of Hockey (C).   Maybe the NHL should move the Coyotes to San Diego, and the Thrashers to Fresno .

The Anaheim Ducks have enjoyed the most playoff success recently, having carved their name on the Stanley Cup only four seasons ago, while the Los Angeles Kings haven’t had the pleasure yet, only making the Final way back in 1993, when Kurt Cobain was still alive, OJ was just an ex-football player, and Wayne Gretzky was a young monarch.

The San Jose Sharks were born out of a divorce in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and for two decades plus they’ve been even less successful in the playoffs than the Kings.  The Sharks are one of the few NHL teams never to have placed a skate on Final ice.

This year, the Ducks are a trendy pick to do some damage in the playoffs, but that may all hinge on the health of their goaltending.  The Comeback Kid, Ray Emery, is always and forever one bad bump away from a lower body injury.

The Sharks may finally be off everyone’s expectation radar, after seasons of coming up small in the post-season.  General Manager Doug Wilson has copied the Stand Pat routine pioneered by famed baseball GM Pat Gillick, when he ran the Toronto Blue Jays in the late 80’s.  Gillick put together a number of talented teams during his watch, and was reluctant to make changes just for the sake of change, even when the Jays came up short time and time again in late September.

Then again, Gillick only won the Big One in baseball when he finally deviated from that plan, and made a big splash one off-season, trading a couple of star players (Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez) to the San Diego Padres for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar.

Alomar joins Gillick in the Baseball Hall-of-Game this July.

Wilson should probably be in the hockey equivalent for his stellar work patrolling the blue line for the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1980’s.  He may get there yet, rewarded for his managerial skills, a resume that will only be taken seriously if he can add at least one Stanley Cup to the masthead.

The California Dreamin’ part, of course, really kicks in if two of these teams meet up in the playoffs.  Particularly the Kings and Ducks.  That could still come to pass, but the first round will feature the Sharks against the Kings.

When it comes to regional rivalries, hockey has the Rangers and Islanders, it has the Flames and Oilers.  It has the Maple Leafs and Senators, when both teams actually put a good product on the ice.  Maybe next season.  The Maple Leafs and Sabres are also a good regional matchup.

It had the Canadiens and Nordiques, but that’s history…for now.  Detroit and Chicago are close, geographically speaking, and certainly historically, so you can add that one to the mix. 

Boston and Hartford once had a thing goin’ on, but that was more like big brother Bruin endlessly beating up on Whale Boy.  Except for that 11-0 thumping the B’s took a long time ago at the hands (fins) of the Whalers.

The Hartford Whalers began life as the New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association, and they initially played out of Boston.  But that’s all dusty history now.

The Kings and Ducks would put on a marvellous show for hockey fans across North America.  The Freeway Faceoff Playoff Edition might even make a few front pages in Southern California.

The Ducks have their own modern day version of the Triple Crown Line.  The Mighty Mallards?  The Quack Attack?  Huey, Dewey, and Louie?

The Kings’ attack has been hampered by recent injuries, though their goaltending appears to be in better shape than the Ducks, unless Mr. Hiller can come all the way back.

The popular choice would probably be the Ducks in that matchup.  Especially considering how Anaheim handled L.A. during the final weekend of the regular season.  Try getting a ticket for that series.

The Boys from Northern California plan to have something to say about all that.  This is the first time they face the Kings in the playoffs, though there has been an All-California playoff series in the NHL before this.

The Sharks fell to the Ducks in six games during the first round of the 2009 playoff, the last time Anaheim has won a post-season series, having failed to make the playoffs last year.

Until a Kings-Ducks playoff battle finally ensues, hockey fans should be more than content with a San Jose – Los Angeles matchup.  Maybe Dionne Warwick can be coaxed into once again singing about all the stars in L.A. who are pumping gas.

 LA is a great big freeway
Put a hundred down and buy a car
In a week, maybe two, they’ll make you a star
Weeks turn into years, how quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parkin’ cars and pumpin’ gas

The East Coast might have to get ready for a series of very late nights.

Come To California, indeed.

 come to California
come to California
baby let it all hang out
come to California
tell us what it’s all about
but watch your mind little bit
’cause the future is beginning now
come to California . . .
but watch your mind little bit
’cause you’re headed into the machine
come to California . . . (C) Matthew Sweet

 Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Sorry, I don’t have all the stats in front of me, though no doubt they’re out there lurking on the internet somewhere.

But let’s forgo the statistical evidence for now, and rely on your gut feeling in response to the question.  Which game is the most important in a seven-game NHL playoff series?

Obviously, the fourth win by a team is crucial, for that is the drop-dead point of the entire affair.

Putting the obvious aside, at what point does a team get to that threshold, the earliest juncture in a series where they statistically hold the upper hand?

How crucial is it to win Game One?  What percentage of NHL teams that take Game One of a seven-game series go on to win three more games?

My gut tells me that, while getting off to a good start is nice, Game Two is where it really begins to matter.

For instance, let’s say your team wins Game One AND Game Two.  Many times in NHL history, a team has rebounded from a two-game deficit, but I’d venture that the majority of teams that get in that two-game hole to begin a series fail to climb all the way out of it.  It only makes statistical sense.

If your team is down two games, heading into game three, then you have to win four of the next five games.  Not impossible, but difficult, particularly since you’ve just lost two games in-a-row, so you’re not that hot to begin with.

Some will advance the theory that Game Three is the real litmus test, and they may be right.  This theory holds more water when teams are tied at 1 game apiece, but then again, once could say Game Five is the key game, if both teams are tied at 2 games apiece.

Hey, what about Game Six???  Okay, suddenly every game in a series is crucial, but you know what, they are.  Midway through the second period of Game One, it may look like a long series looms ahead, but the clock advances very quickly in the post-season, in some sort of warped Space Time Hockey Continuum.

Until convinced otherwise, I still postulate that Game Two is usually the turning point of a seven-game series.  Let’s use a current example.

The eighth seeded Anaheim Ducks took Game One over the powerhouse San Jose Sharks.  A road win in Game One automatically hands the home-ice advantage to the road team, erasing six months of hard work by the higher seed.

Suddenly, all the pressure is on the Sharks, who can’t afford to go to Southern California down by two games.  If they win Game Two, the Sharks have avoided a sweep at home, have gained some momentum, and have set themselves up to reclaim so-called home ice advantage by only having to win one of the next two games in Anaheim.

If they lose Game Two, then they face the unenviable task of having to beat the resurgent Ducks four out of the next five games, and that scenario doesn’t look too promising for San Jose.

Of course, the Ducks prevailed 3-2 in Game Two, and now head home up two games.  If the Sharks bounce back and take both games on the road, the worst Anaheim can be is tied heading back to San Jose, where they know they can win in the playoffs, because they’ve already won two games there.

True, if the Sharks take the next two games, they may regain momentum, and take control of the series, but that’s a pretty precarious branch to be walking out on, though now that’s all they’ve got to work with.

Game Three is also crucial, as the Blues found out, when they fell to the Canucks, who now have a stranglehold three-game lead in their series.  And we all know, only two NHL teams have ever come all the way back from a three-game hole, and prevailed….though I think we’re long overdue for it to happen again.

Okay, so maybe I’ve convinced myself that both Game Two and Game Three are the contests that, upon closer inspection, reveal much of how the series-in-question will unfold.  Someone please show me the math on this, because we can probably all list off teams that have come back from 2-0 and 3-1 game deficits, but it only stands to reason that most teams in that position never make it all the way back.

Math aside, there are other factors that have to be considered.  The Washington Capitals also have lost the first two games of their series with the New York Rangers, and they were home-ice defeats, but one gets the sense that if they can win at MSG in Game Three, they’ll force themselves right back into this series.  Same might be said for the Calgary Flames, and their battle with the Blackhawks, especially since the Flames are returning to the friendly confines of the Saddledome, or whatever they’re officially calling it these days.

Then again, does anyone really think the Montreal Canadiens will be right back in their series with the Boston Bruins if they manage to win Game Three on home ice?

Seven games in a playoff series seems to be the perfect number of games to separate the wheat from the chaff.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Thought you might enjoy this piece that ran during our Coyotes/Ducks Broadcast.  We put this segment together that features Wayne and Darren Pang on the great career of Scott Niedermeyer.  By the way Maple Leaf Fans – did you know who missed joining your team because of a trade with the New Jersey Devils?

Click to hear:

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- Todd