A year ago, the Ducks cruised through the season fueled by the conviction they were on a mission that would not end until they hoisted the Stanley Cup.
This season, they scrambled to score goals, find effective line combinations, and stay out of the penalty box.
"I think last year we had more of that eye of the tiger, 'We need to do this,' " defenseman Chris Pronger said.
"Going into this year it was, 'Man, it's here already?' "
A long playoff journey and short summer made it feel as if the Ducks began defending their title a few days after the last speck of confetti was scraped off the ice at the Honda Center.
It also feels like their reign will end short of a repeat.
It won't end in the first round against the Dallas Stars, a series that begins tonight in Anaheim.
Maybe not in the second round, either. The Ducks' terrific goaltending -- second-best in the NHL this season -- and experienced defense should compensate for an offense that was the weakest among the 16 playoff qualifiers.
Their reign will end, though, leaving the Detroit Red Wings of 1996-97 and 1997-98 as the last team to win back-to-back championships.
They gave it a good ride despite injuries that took goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, checking center Samuel Pahlsson and defenseman Mathieu Schneider out of the lineup for stretches.
And no team could avoid a decline after losing a playoff MVP and a 48-goal scorer to retirement, as the Ducks lost defenseman Scott Niedermayer and right wing Teemu Selanne for much of the season.
Actually, the Ducks' slip was surprisingly small. At 47-27-8 with 102 points, they were one win and eight points short of last season's total, and in a conference that beefed up to imitate them after they mucked and muscled their way to the Cup.
They were fourth in the West and fifth overall, far better than some recent defending champions.
Carolina won the Cup in 2006 but has missed the playoffs since. Tampa Bay won in 2004 and, after the lost lockout season, barely made the playoffs in 2006 and lost in the first round.
"I think our dropoff was the first 20 or so games. I think there was a bit of a Cup hangover," Giguere said. "The energy and the focus weren't there at the beginning of the year.
"But I think we've proven since Scotty came back and even more since Teemu came back that our focus is there and our energy is back and that our hunger to win is there."
