ANAHEIM, Calif. – The connection between Philippe Boucher and Randy Carlyle eight years ago was a chance meeting in the last place that either thought their respective careers would change.

Boucher was a struggling young defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings in 2000-01. He was being sent away to see if he could find his way. Carlyle was a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman trying to earn a career in coaching the hard way.

They met in Winnipeg, Manitoba that season, as Boucher was assigned there for 45 games while recovering from injury.

"Honestly, I was at a point where I wasn't sure what was going to happen in my career," Boucher said before Thursday's Game 1 against Anaheim. "I picked Winnipeg because that seemed like a place where hockey really mattered and because Randy had a good reputation."

Carlyle had been coaching the minor league Manitoba Moose since 1996, and he helped Boucher find his love of the game again. Boucher had been traded from Buffalo to Los Angeles and was finding it difficult to earn a consistent place in the lineup. The Kings were frustrated by his struggles and sent him away because they had no place to put him.

"It was just a simpler game in a simpler place, and that really helped me," Boucher said. "It was an important time for me."

So, will Boucher crack a little smile when he sees Carlyle behind the Ducks' bench, trying to win his seventh playoff series in eight tries? Probably not. Just as Jere Lehtinen won't let up on old friend Teemu Selanne. Or Selanne won't cut any slack to Niklas Hagman, whom he knew as a kid when he was good friends with Hagman's father, Matti, in Finland.

It's the same with Rob Niedermayer and Stu Barmes, who were longtime teammates on the Florida Panthers and helped them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996. It's the same with Mattias Norstrom and Sean O'Donnell, who were longtime teammates on the Kings (with Boucher) in the 1990s.

Players will turn off their old friendships and concentrate on winning.

"I think the players have an amazing ability to do that," Carlyle said. "They just turn the page. People who were off-ice friends become on-ice enemies because it's the first team to win four, and sometimes you're going to have to hit your friend. I've seen games where brothers have fought brothers – that's a true testament to the will that hockey players do have to have success."

Steve Ott was a roommate with Anaheim checker Brian Sutherby when they played for Team Canada in the World Juniors. He said he's looking forward to taking a few shifts against his old friend.

"I think it makes it even more fun," Ott said. "It puts even more meaning in the game. It's like playing against your brother. You never want to lose to your brother. I don't care if you're playing marbles; you don't want to lose that game. That'll be the same thing for us if we go against someone we know."