Historically, late-season momentum hasn’t meant a hill of beans when it comes to how teams do in the playoffs. But if I’m one of the top-feeders in either the Eastern or Western Conference, there are two teams I don’t want to meet in the first round and they just happen to be the two hottest teams in the Ligue National de Hockey at the moment.

One of them is the Anaheim Ducks, the primary means of sustinence for the proprietor of this website and perhaps the greatest defenseman to ever lace on skates. (Hey, wait a minute Pronger. You said you wouldn’t change my stuff.)

All kidding aside, why would anyone want to go into the first round against a team that looks as though it has found its game, has a championship pedigree and plays better on the road than it does at home?

The Ducks, in all likelihood, will finish the regular season in seventh place in the Western Conference, will all but guarantees them a first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings. And while the Ducks won just one of four games against the Red Wings this season, the defending champions are vulnerable.

One thing is for sure, the Red Wings would not have the advantage of having a better power play than the Ducks since both of them are in the top five in the league. Whether or not they would have a true advantage would be up to the Ducks and, to a lesser extent, the on-ice officials. The Ducks are the second-most penalized team in the league this season and the Red Wings are the second-least, so that swing of 26 certainly doesn’t favor the Ducks.

So they must use it to their advantage. It’s easier to kill off “good” penalties, so the Ducks must avoid the stupid ones. But if they put their enormous physical advantage to good use and try to stay on the right side of the rulebook, a few extra penalties shouldn’t hurt them too much.

After failing to string together three straight wins in four months, the Ducks have put together winning streaks of five and four games recently and if they can beat bottom feeders Dallas and Phoenix in their last two games of the regular season, the could enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the league.

The Ducks should also have an advantage in goal, even with their spotty performance between the irons lately, but that’s not saying much. Chris Osgood has the Stanley Cup rings, but has been abysmal this season and Ty Conklin has all of six minutes of playoff experience. If either Jean-Sebastien Giguere or Jonas Hiller can raise his game, the Ducks should have the advantage in the nets.

Another team I wouldn’t want to face is the Carolina Hurricanes, who have been revived from near death by Paul Maurice and have been winners in their past eight games. The reacquisition of Erik Cole at the trade deadline – why did they even trade this guy? Anyone? Anyone? – has brought out the best in Eric Staal and stabilized the Hurricanes top three lines, all of which have become very dangerous.

There’s a good chance the Hurricanes will meet up with the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round, either as the fourth or fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and does anyone really expect the burned-out Flyers to accomplish anything with a goaltending tandem of Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki?

Cam Ward is looking like the Conn Smythe winner he shouldn’t have been in 2006 – Pronger should have won it in a losing cause with the Edmonton Oilers – and Rod Brind’Amour is rounding into form at just the right time. And, as weird as it sounds, the RBC Center in Raleigh when the crowd is jacked up is one of the most imposing places in the league to play.

So there you have it. Your two surprise picks for the first round of the playoffs. Don’t know how they’ll do after that, but watch out for Duck season and Hurricane warnings in the first round.

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