NHL Playoffs - Anaheim vs. Detroit - Top Two Seeds Battle

Anaheim at Detroit - 4:30 pm PT - Western Conference Finals, Game One

DETROIT (Ticker) -- In a series ripe with storylines, perhaps nothing catches the eye more than the amount of hardware that resides on the backlines of the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks. The top-seeded Red Wings and second-seeded Ducks begin the Western Conference finals at Joe Louis Arena on Friday.

Current Red Wings coach Mike Babcock was calling the shots for Anaheim that season. The Ducks came within a victory of claiming the Stanley Cup in 2003, but the team failed to make the 2004 playoffs and the next season was canceled by the lockout. The Ducks were subsequently sold and the new front office did not want to make a long-term commitment to Babcock in 2005. Detroit did, giving him a four-year contract. His replacement was Carlyle. In his first NHL coaching position, he has led the Ducks to the conference finals in each of his two years, capped off this season by winning a franchise-record 48 games and their first Pacific Division title.

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