from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

Anaheim looks and sounds as if it’s a confident and well-prepared team. In addition to that wall plaque for pucks, the Ducks also have a series of inspirational slogans painted on their dressing-room wall – all of them dealing with practice and preparation, of getting ready to soar in the big moment.

“Practice the right way all the time” is John Wooden’s contribution. Jerry West advises: “You won’t get much done in life if you only work hard on the days you feel good.” Roy Williams offers: “Everyone has the will to win. Only champions have the will to prepare to win.” And then there is this, from Muhammad Ali: “I hated every minute of training, but I love every minute of being a champion.”

Eleven pucks, five to go, and the Ducks will return to the winner’s circle, for the second time since 2007.

“To be this close, everybody in this room knows where we are, where we stand, what the game’s going to be like,” Perry said. “You have to go in there and you have to believe that you can win in that building again. That’s the approach we’re going to take.”

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