Don ! no offense, but that just isn't an excuse, especially when your goal of reaching the cup finals with an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup becomes reality ! That's where all the hard work, conditioning, and preparation through out the season is designed for..The way I see it is this, the Ducks were the hungrier, better prepared, and more desperate team, hands down. On the other hand, if too much time off was really the reason for losing their edge ? was this also why the Sabres lost their edge against Ottawa, during the conference finals as well. I seriously doubt that very much.