Ducks' best season keeps getting better

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Mighty Ducks don't have to go far to find a kindred spirit as they make a run at their first Stanley Cup title. The World Series champion Angels play right up the street.

With the Ducks' game against Dallas tied in the third period Monday night, the video board at Anaheim Arena showed Scott Spiezio's dramatic three-run homer in Game 6 of the World Series. Next was a shot of the Angels first baseman sitting in a luxury suite holding his young son.

The caption read, "Game 6 karma."

A few minutes later, defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh knocked a rebound past Stars goaltender Marty Turco with 1:06 remaining to give Anaheim to a 4-3 victory. The Ducks clinched the series 4-2 and advanced to their first Western Conference finals.

The Ducks, who swept defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit in the first round then knocked off the top-seeded Stars in the second, seem to be benefiting from an Anaheim "halo" effect.

Steve Thomas, acquired by the Ducks from Chicago at the March 11 trading deadline, and teammate Rob Niedermayer recently visited the Angels' clubhouse.

"Spiezio was kind enough to spend a lot of time talking with me and Rob," said Thomas, who had a goal and three assists in the clinching win over Dallas. "He's a real hockey fan. We were walking around the locker room, and I got to talk to Tim Salmon and Mike Scioscia.

"They're a great bunch of guys, and they can appreciate what we're going through, just as we can appreciate exactly what they went through last year."

Spiezio said Tuesday that watching the Ducks the previous night evoked memories of last October.

"To see those guys play was pretty awesome. I'm not a guy who will sit and watch every single hockey game, but when those guys came over here last year and rooted us on, I really paid attention to them this year," said Spiezio, who attended the hockey game on a day off with several teammates, including Troy Glaus, Brendan Donnelly and Benji Gil.

A change of owners?

The Walt Disney Co. owns both the Ducks and Angels, but has agreed in principle to sell the baseball team to Arizona businessman Arturo Moreno, and has the hockey team up for sale.

While the Ducks shocked the Red Wings in the opening round, the Angels' improbable run to their first World Series championship last fall included an opening series win over the defending AL champion New York Yankees.

Spiezio believes there's some Disney-Anaheim magic in the air.

"I'm telling you, it's working. It's incredible what we did last year, and what they're doing right now is just as incredible," he said.

He believes the Angels' success may have inspired the Ducks.

"If the roles were reversed, we definitely would thrive off of something like that. (Injured Ducks forward) Dan Bylsma came over and saw us in the suite last night and he had a purple stripe in his goatee. So I think that some of the things we did are rubbing off on them," said Spiezio, who sported a red stripe in his goatee last October.

"The great thing about them is, even if you're not a hockey expert, you can see that they're playing as a team and they really believe, when other people don't. They beat the two best teams in the game right now."

As the Ducks have built up steam in the postseason, the scene at the arena more and more resembles an indoor version of the nearby baseball stadium that was rocking last fall.

A fowl wave

With fans banging their plastic "Pond Rockers" -- white versions of the red "ThunderStix" used by Angels fans last October -- and waving "Fowl Towels," the Ducks trailed early against the Stars.

They moved ahead only to see Dallas tie twice, the final time on Brenden Morrow's goal with 5:11 remaining.

The crowd of 17,174 erupted when Ozolinsh scored, and the roar continued several minutes after the game ended.

"Anytime you hear that and feel the building shaking, people are into it," said rookie coach Mike Babcock. "The crowd was deafening. We couldn't even communicate with each other."

The Ducks next face the winner of the Vancouver-Minnesota series. The Canucks lead 3-2 heading into Wednesday night's Game 6.

"I'm going to watch," Babcock said. He grinned and added, "I hope they play two more."

Game 7 in that series would be Thursday. Ducks general manager Bryan Murray said the Ducks' first game of the conference finals will be Saturday on the road.