Last month Brian Burke told The Hockey News that the 2008 Ducks reminded him of an awakening bear.
He said they appeared drowsy at times, and that at other times they'd stretch an arm and flex a paw and growl a bit, and then they might nod off again.
"But at the end," Burke promised, "you've still got a bear."
Well, the end is near, and we search for a sign of a Kodiak moment.
Instead, the Ducks look cooked in the Pacific Division race and seem consigned to a fourth seed and a first-round series against the Dallas Stars, if they can stop their freefall.
A victory there would — probably — throw them against Detroit in the second round.
You would expect nothing easy in a season in which the fates have never quit spitting at their visors.
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