Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Ducks are the current Stanley Cup champions, after defeating the Ottawa Senators in 5 games this past post-season. Since their inception, the Ducks have played their home games at the Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim).

The club was founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, a name based on the film The Mighty Ducks. Disney sold the franchise in 2005 to Henry and Susan Samueli, who changed the name of the team to Anaheim Ducks prior to the 2006-07 season. In their 14 year existence, the Ducks have made the playoffs five times, winning two Western Conference Championships (2003 and 2007) and one Stanley Cup (2007).

1993-2004: The Disney Era

Anaheim Might Ducks Logo

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company. The team's original name was chosen from the Disney movie The Mighty Ducks, based on a group of misfit kids who turn their losing youth hockey team into a winning team. Disney subsequently made an animated series called Mighty Ducks, featuring a fictional Mighty Ducks of Anaheim team that consisted of anthropomorphized ducks led by the mighty duck Wildwing. The team was the first tenant of Arrowhead Pond (now Honda Center), a brand-new arena in Anaheim located a short distance east of Disneyland and across the Orange Freeway from Angel Stadium. The arena was completed the same year the team was founded.

With their first-ever draft pick, the Mighty Ducks selected Paul Kariya fourth overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Kariya would quickly become a fan favorite and the cornerstone of the young Mighty Ducks franchise. As team captain, he would bring them within a game of Stanley Cup glory in 2003.

On February 7, 1996, the Mighty Ducks made a blockbuster deal with the Winnipeg Jets. The Ducks sent Chad Kilger, Oleg Tverdovsky, and a third-round pick to the Jets in return for Marc Chouinard, a fourth-round draft pick, and, most notably, star right winger Teemu Selanne. Selanne's arrival helped the Ducks make the playoffs for the first time. On a line with Steve Rucchin and Kariya, his chemistry with the latter made them one of the highest-scoring tandems in the league.

After missing the playoffs in their first three seasons, the Mighty Ducks finished 1996-97 fourth in the Western Conference, earning home-ice advantage for a first-round playoff series with the Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes initially took a series 3-2 lead, but the Ducks won the last two including Game 7 at home to win their inaugural playoff series. However, Anaheim was swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in the second round. Even though Detroit officially swept the Ducks, every game was close in the series. Three games went into overtime, including one that went into double overtime, and one that went into triple overtime. After a disappointing 1997-98 season, the 1998-99 NHL season saw the Ducks once again contending for the playoffs. Late in the season, the Ducks had the chance to face the Phoenix Coyotes, a team they played well against that season, in the first round due to Phoenix holding fourth seed and the Ducks holding fifth. But a late season cold streak dropped the Ducks to sixth seed and had face the third seed Red Wings, whom they did not play well against. Once again, the Ducks lost in four to the Red Wings, this time in a more convincing manner than in 1997 ending with a 3-0 loss on home ice, this time in the Western Quarterfinals.

After a three-year playoff hiatus, Anaheim qualified for the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs. For the third straight post-season in which they participated, the Mighty Ducks met the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings. This time, however, Anaheim shocked the hockey world as they swept Detroit in the series with Rucchin's series-clincher on Curtis Joseph coming in overtime of Game 4. The Ducks would then defeat the #1-seeded Dallas Stars in six games in the Conference Semifinals, which was noted for Game 1 being the fourth longest game in NHL history, with the Ducks winning in the fifth overtime period thanks to Petr Sykora. In the Conference Finals, the Ducks would make quick work of the upstart Minnesota Wild (only allowing one goal the entire series) to earn their first-ever Western Conference championship and berth in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The 2003 Stanley Cup Finals against the New Jersey Devils was a battle between two elite goaltenders, Martin Brodeur for New Jersey and Jean Sebastien Giguere for Anaheim. It was also noted for two brothers, Rob Niedermayer for the Ducks, and his older brother Scott Niedermayer for the Devils, competing for the same prize. Quite possibly the most remembered moment of the series, Game 6 saw Paul Kariya on the wrong side of a fierce body check from New Jersey captain Scott Stevens. Kariya was knocked out and sent to the dressing room. But eleven minutes later, Kariya returned from the dressing room and scored to help the Ducks tie the series at three games apiece. Anaheim could not complete their Cinderella run, though, as they lost a hard-fought Stanley Cup Final in seven games to the Devils. For his fine play during the post-season, Ducks goaltender Jean Sebastien Giguere won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. He became only the fifth player, and fourth goaltender, in NHL history to have won the trophy as a member of the losing team.

After losing Paul Kariya to the Colorado Avalanche (he joined Selänne, who also signed with Colorado after two seasons with the San Jose Sharks) via free agency shortly after the season ended, the Ducks signed superstar Sergei Fedorov from Detroit and Vaclav Prospal. Still, 2003-04 was a major disappointment for the Ducks as they missed the playoffs completely, and suffered low attendance figures despite their magical playoff run of the previous year.

2004-Present: The Samueli Era

During the summer of 2004, as the NHL and the NHL Players Association's labor dispute was headed towards a long lockout, Disney tried to sell the team but received a low offer of $40-million US, less than the franchise's original price. In 2005, Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli of Irvine, California and his wife, Susan, bought the Mighty Ducks from The Walt Disney Company for a reported $75 million (USD). The Samuelis have pledged to keep the team in Anaheim, much as Arturo Moreno did when he purchased the Anaheim Angels from Disney. Brian Burke, former Vancouver Canucks General Manager and President, was appointed GM and Executive Vice-President of the Mighty Ducks on June 20, 2005.

On August 1, 2005, former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Randy Carlyle was hired as the seventh coach in team history. Burke was familiar with Carlyle's coaching ability, as the latter had coached the Manitoba Moose from 1996–2001 (International Hockey League) and 2004–05 (American Hockey League); the Moose had been the Canucks' farm club since 2001. Carlyle replaced Mike Babcock, who left the Ducks to coach the Red Wings. Also during that summer, the Mighty Ducks brought back former star and fan favorite Teemu Selanne, and made their first big free-agency splash under Burke when he signed defenseman Scott Niedermayer, the 2004 Norris Trophy winner and older brother of Ducks forward Rob, to a four-year contract, from New Jersey.

The 2005-06 season saw the Ducks trade away big-name players with big contracts such as Petr Sykora and Sergei Fedorov in favor of younger players such as Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Chris Kunitz, and Joffrey Lupul. The Ducks had a rough start to season, but the plan was ultimately successful; the Ducks became one of the best teams in the league down the stretch and ended up the sixth seed in the West. In an interesting playoff where the bottom 4 seeds knocked off the top 4 seeds, The Ducks beat the heavily favored Calgary Flames in seven games and Colorado Avalanche in a sweep on a run through the playoffs, only to be stopped in the conference finals by the Edmonton Oilers in five games, who had swept the Ducks in the regular season series. The team banked on its youth again, seeing Lupul, Getzlaf, Kunitz, and Ilya Bryzgalov turn in stellar performances. In fact, Bryzgalov took over the starting job from Giguere during game 5 of the Calgary series and broke Giguere's 2003 record shutout streak.

Anaheim Ducks Logo

On January 26, 2006, the team announced, effective with the 2006-07 season, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim would change their name to the Anaheim Ducks. This included logo and team color changes which were unveiled at a special ceremony five months later. Many Ducks fans successfully petitioned the Samuelis to keep Wildwing as the current mascot because of the team's recent success and as a link to the past. Along with the new name, their home ice (the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) was renamed Honda Center as Arrowhead Water's naming rights had expired.

2007 Stanley Cup

On July 3, 2006, the Ducks traded young sniper Lupul, defenseman prospect Ladislav Smid, a 2007 first-round draft pick, a second-round choice in 2008, and a conditional first-round selection in 2008 to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for star defenseman Chris Pronger, who had publicly requested a trade from the Oilers ten days earlier citing personal reasons, with many speculating that his wife was unhappy living in Edmonton.[citation needed]

Picked by some publications as a favorite to win the Cup[1], the Ducks started the 2006–07 season on fire. On November 9, 2006, the Ducks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 6-0 at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia to improve their season record to 12-0-4. The win set an NHL open era record by remaining undefeated in regulation for the first 16 games of the season, eclipsing the previous mark set by the 1983–84 Edmonton Oilers. They were subsequently shut out by the Flames the following game, 3-0, ending their streak. On December 12, the Ducks defeated the Florida Panthers on the road 5-4. They broke a franchise record for their sixth road win in a row. They also improved their record that night to 24-3-6 and 54 points. No team having played 33 games had reached 54 points since the 1979 Philadelphia Flyers. The next night, the Ducks beat the Atlanta Thrashers to improve their road record to 12-1-2. The 26 points set the NHL mark for the most points on the road through 15 games. The previous record-holders, 1951–52 Detroit Red Wings had 25 points (10-0-5).

On January 16, 2007 the Ducks played in their franchise's 1000th regular season game [1], and on March 11, the Ducks recorded their franchise's 1000th point with a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks, which improved their franchise all-time record to 423-444-155, 1001 points [2]. On April 7, the Ducks won their first Pacific Division title in franchise history, when the Vancouver Canucks defeated the second-place San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion in the Sharks' final game of the season. Anaheim also played their last game of the 2006-07 NHL season that day against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Anaheim won the game 4-3, finishing off the season with a total of 110 points—the first 100-point season in franchise history. This was good enough for the fourth-best record in the league (behind Buffalo, Detroit and Nashville). Although they had three fewer wins than the Predators, the Ducks were seeded second in the Western Conference playoffs by virtue of their division title.

In the Western Conference quarter finals, the Ducks once again met the Minnesota Wild and defeated them 4 games to 1. Next up was the Vancouver Canucks, the Northwest Division champions, whom they also defeated 4 games to 1. They faced the Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals, winning 4 games to 2. A 4-3 win on May 22 at Honda Center gave the Ducks their second Western Conference title, and placed them in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time. This time, they faced off against the Ottawa Senators, and on June 6, the Ducks defeated the Senators 6-2 at Honda Center to claim their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Ducks became the first California team, and the first west coast team since the 1925 Victoria Cougars to win the Stanley Cup.

The playoffs came with much controversy, though. The Ducks had players suspended in three of the four rounds, starting with Brad May's suspension for two games in the series against the Minnesota Wild when he punched the Wild's Kim Johnsson. Chris Pronger was suspended for one game twice; once against the Detroit Red Wings for checking Tomas Holmstrom high, and then once more for elbowing Dean McAmmond of the Ottawa Senators in the Finals.

After winning the Stanley Cup, two star players, defenseman Scott Niedermayer and right winger Teemu Selanne stated that they were unsure whether or not the would return to the team for the 07/08 season as they both felt the need to contemplate retirement. Neidermayer returned in December of 07. As a result of this indecision Burke was active in the Free Agent market signing two veteran players in high scoring defenseman Mathieu Schneider and gritty forward Todd Bertuzzi to 2 year contracts to replace Niedermayer and Selanne if they were to retire. Later on, Oilers GM Kevin Lowe signed Dustin Penner to an offer sheet that would pay him 4.25 million a year over the next five. Burke called out Lowe, saying 'it was a classless move made by a desperate GM trying to save his job.'He did not match the offer. In return, the Ducks received the Oiler's 1st, 2nd and 3rd round draft picks. Later that summer he signed backup defenseman Joe DiPenta to a one year contract along with re-signing the gritty team leader Brad May.

2007-08 Season: Defending the Cup

The Ducks began their cup defense against the Kings for a two game set in London, England without Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne, who were pondering over decision to continue playing hockey at the time, and injured Samuel Pahlsson and J.S. Giguere. The team was able to see their names on the cup for the first time with Big Ben as a backdrop. They split the series and then played three games on the east coast before returning home. On October 10, against the Boston Bruins, the Ducks raised their Pacific division, Western conference and Stanley Cup Champion banners. Selanne and Niedermayer were in attendence, still undecided. It was a rough start overall for the Ducks as they made minor trades to try and tread water. The Ducks let back up goalie Ilya Bryzgalov go on waivers, where he was picked up by the Phoenix Coyotes. The drama surrounding Niedermayer finally brought positive news for the Ducks, as GM Brian Burke declared he would return, as said in a press conference held prior to a game between the Ducks and the Buffalo Sabres on December 5th. December 14, 2007 marked an important event in Ducks history, as Brian Burke dealt winger Andy McDonald to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Doug Weight, Michal Birner, and the Blues 7th round draft pick in order to clear salary cap issues. The trade brought mixed reactions from fans and players alike. On December 16, 2007 Niedermayer made his return to Anaheim, playing his first game back with the team. The team immediately improved and got back into the playoff and Pacific division pictures. For the All-Star game Ryan Getzlaf and Chris Pronger were selected to participate. Later Corey Perry and Scott Niedermayer were listed as injury replacements. It was a club record for players in an All-Star game. The Ducks would receive more good news on January 28, 2008, as Teemu Selanne signed a 1 year contract with the Ducks and will finish out the 07/08 season with them.

The Ducks' logo features a webbed foot forming a "D" followed by the other letters in the word "Ducks" in upper-case letters. The text itself is gold (which sometimes may appear as bronze as well) with orange and black accents (forming a three dimensional appearance). The entire logo is in turn outlined by white. The city of Anaheim's name appears in smaller upper-case print, above the team name. The Ducks are one of three NHL teams to feature their team name spelled out in a scripted form on the front of their jersey rather than a logo. The New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals are the other two. This does not include alternate jerseys or throwback jerseys worn by other teams.

The old logo of the Ducks prior to the name change featured an old-style goaltender mask, shaped to form the appearance of a duck bill. Behind the mask are two intersecting hockey sticks, a black circle and a triangle (the color of the triangle is either green or gray, depending on how the logo is used).

Anaheim Mighty Ducks original jerseys

Jerseys

The Ducks have officially worn two unique regular jerseys and three unique third jerseys in their franchise history:

The original jerseys of the Ducks (then the Mighty Ducks) used jade, aubergine (eggplant), white and gray as primary colors for both the home and away jerseys. The team's dark jerseys were dominantly eggplant in color with diagonal gray and white stripes; the jersey is jade below the stripes, which appear on the arms and waist. The white jerseys were similar, except that the eggplant is replaced mainly with white. On the shoulders of both jerseys are patches featuring a forward-facing version of the main logo's "duck mask," surrounded by a circle reading "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim."

About a year after the team was purchased from the Walt Disney Company by the Samuelis, Brian Burke initiated a name change dropping the "Mighty", after consultation with the fans showed that the typical fan had a willingness to update the "Mighty Ducks" name and jersey and also a desire to keep part of the traditions of the franchise. Burke sought inspiration for the jersey from the United States Military Academy[, ending up with diagonal gold, white, black and orange stripes down the arms and waist with the word "Ducks" on the front. The jersey is similar to the team's most recent third jersey prior to the name change. The orange pays tribute to Orange County, where Anaheim is located.

The Ducks are not the first team from Southern California to win a title in the same year as a major uniform change. The Anaheim Angels won the 2002 World Series the same year that they changed to their current red-and-white uniforms.

Anaheim Ducks jerseys

For the 2007-08 NHL season, the Ducks, like all NHL teams, changed over to new Rbk Edge jerseys. The new jersey shows only minor modifications from 2006-07, including a small NHL crest just below the neck. There are no third jerseys for this season. It has been rumored, but not confirmed over whether the Ducks will unveil a uniform shoulder patch, or a third jersey for the 2008-09 NHL season.

Third jerseys

The third jerseys of the Mighty Ducks were created in 1995, 1997, and 2003. The 1995 jersey was jade with eggplant and white stripes on the collar and on the end of the sleeves. The logo was of team mascot Wildwing wearing a Mighty Ducks jersey while breaking through a sheet of ice. The jersey was short-lived; because of much criticism, it was retired at the end of the year.

Third Jersey

1995-96	1997–2000, dark / 1997–2001, white	2003–2006

The 1997 third jersey came with a rare fourth jersey partner. The third was a jade-colored jersey with silver and eggplant stripes at the shoulders outlined in thin yellow, and a silver stripe at the bottom. It had the Mighty Ducks logo in the center of the chest. The fourth jersey was much like it. It was white with jade, eggplant, and silver stripes at the shoulders of the jersey, but no bottom stripe. These jerseys saw action until the end of 1999-2000, when they stopped playing with their third jerseys, and used only the fourth. At the end of 2000-01, the fourth was also retired.

The 2003 third jersey was black with purple and gray stripes at the waist and on the sleeves. It had the alternate script logo of the present Mighty Ducks and old-style laces at the neck, as well as a shoulder patch displaying an interlocking "MD" (for "Mighty Ducks"). The popularity of this jersey amongst fans was so great it replaced the eggplant and jade jersey, serving as the home jersey for the last half of the 2005-06 season and playoffs. It was dropped following the season as the team went to a modified name, new uniforms, and color scheme. It was the only time in the modern NHL days when a mainly black jersey was not worn with black pants, they were purple.

Mascot

The official mascot for the Anaheim Ducks is an anthropomorphized duck by the name of Wild Wing. He has been the team's mascot since its inaugural season, and his name was chosen through fan voting. He wears a Ducks jersey with the number 93 on the back, referring to the year the Ducks became an NHL team.

He regularly descends from the rafters of the arena when making his in-game entrances. In one such descent the rigging that lowered Wild Wing from the rafters malfunctioned leaving the mascot trapped fifty feet above the ice for several minutes. Another well known blunder occurred in October 1995 when Wild Wing, attempting to jump through a "wall of fire", accidentally tripped causing the mascot to land on the fire and set his costume ablaze.

His physical appearance is similar to the duck mask in the original Mighty Ducks logo. A bronze statue of Wild Wing is also located outside the team's arena, Honda Center.

The mascot's name was also used for the leader of the Ducks, Wildwing Flashblade, in Disney's Mighty Ducks cartoon series.

During the same time in which the team announced a name change as well as change in jersey designs, there was an attempt by the team's owners to change or replace the mascot, Wild Wing, but was halted after a highly successful petition by fans

Rivalries

Los Angeles Kings

Although there is no enmity between the city of Los Angeles and adjacent Orange County, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks share an on-ice rivalry due to geographic proximity. The two teams are situated in the same metropolitan area, and share a television market. The rivalry started with the Ducks' inaugural season in 1993-94, and has since continued. As of 2006-07, the Kings and Ducks have never met in the playoffs, nor made the playoffs in the same year

During regular season (and, to some extent, pre-season) games, Kings fans arrive at Honda Center in numbers for away games against the Ducks, and vice-versa for Ducks fans at Staples Center, causing any goal by either team to be celebrated just as loud as if the home team scored. Chants in favor of either team are common. Games between the Southern California crosstown-rivals are often physical and fight-filled. The rivalry was showcased for the NHL Premier in London at the start of the 2007-08 NHL Season with two games between the teams.

The rivalry was named "Freeway Face-off" early in the 07/08 regular season.

Detroit Red Wings

The rivalry between the Ducks and Detroit Red Wings has been growing over the years, mainly because of meetings in the playoffs. The Ducks have faced Detroit more than any other team in the playoffs in their franchise history.

The Ducks and Red Wings became rivals during the 1997 NHL playoffs, when the two teams met in the Western Conference Semifinals. Detroit swept the Ducks in four very close games, three of which that went into overtime. Detroit would sweep Anaheim again in the first round of the 1999 Playoffs, this time in a more convincing manner.

The two teams would not meet in the playoffs again until the 2003 Playoffs. The Red Wings were the heavy favorite as they were the defending Stanley Cup champions. This time the Ducks shocked the hockey world as they swept the Red Wings in a four-game upset. The Ducks' defeat of the Wings' in the '03 playoffs would set a tone between the two teams.

In the 2007 Western Conference Finals, the Ducks would rally from a 2-1 series deficit, and overcame the absence of Chris Pronger, who was suspended for one game, due to his elbow to the head on Tomas Holmstrom of Detroit in Game 3. Many feel the turning point of this series was the Ducks' 5-3 win over Detroit in Game 4. Game 5 saw Detroit ahead 1-0 and dominate the Ducks for over 59 minutes of play, until Anaheim finally tied the game with under a minute to go in play, and sent it into overtime. The Ducks capitalized on the shocker and won with an overtime goal from Teemu Selanne, who stole the puck off a turnover in front of a sprawling Dominik Hasek. This rallied the Ducks to defeat the Wings in Game 6 and win the series.

Other contributing factors for the rivalry include a number of former Red Wings choosing to sign as free agents with the Ducks, including Sergei Fedorov in 2003, and Mathieu Schneider and Todd Bertuzzi in 2007. The presence of Pronger, considered a sports villain by Detroiters dating back to his career in St. Louis, has also contributed to the growth of this nascent rivalry between Western Conference contenders.

Edmonton Oilers

This rivalry has grown just within the last two years. It started during the 2006 Western Conference Finals when the eight seeded Oilers, along with Chris Pronger, beat the sixth seeded Ducks in five games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

After the season the Ducks felt they needed one more elite defenseman to make the necessary leap to become the Stanley Cup Champions. So on July 3rd, 2006 the Ducks traded Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid, their 2007 first round draft pick, a 2008 second round pick and a conditional 2008 first round draft pick, if the made it to the finals, for Pronger. The Ducks now had the Oilers MVP during those playoffs and with Pronger went on to win the 2007 Stanley Cup, while the Oilers missed the playoffs altogether. The Oilers traded Lupul to the Flyers so in affect all that remains from that trade is Smid and their 2007 first round draft choice.

After those playoffs the Oilers made an a huge offer to restricted free agent Dustin Penner. Ducks General Manager Brian Burke called the move "gutless" and claimed Oilers General Manger Kevin Lowe was, "Running his team into the sewer." Naturally Burke didn't match the offer and the Ducks recieved Edmonton's 2008 first round pick as well as a 2008 second and third round pick. The first game between these two clubs during the 2007-08 season at Honda Center, two retired police officers were placed in between Burke's box and the visiting general managers box just in case there was an incident.

2006/07 - Pres

2006/07 - Pres

2006/07 - Pres

2006/07 - Pres

2006/07 - Pres

Mighty Ducks Logo History

1993/94 - 2005/06

1993/94 - 2005/06

1995/96 - 2005/06

1995-96

1995-2006

2003/04 - 2005/06

2003/04 - 2005/06

1993-2006

2002-03

2006/07 - Pres

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

The Anaheim Ducks Franchise individual records

Stanley Cup
2006-07
Clarance S. Campbell Bowl
2002-03, 2006-07
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
Teemu Selanne: 2005-06
Conn Smythe Trophy
Jean Sebatien Giguere: 2002-03
Scott Niedermayer: 2006-07
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
Paul Kariya: 1995-96, 1996-97
Rocket Richard Trophy
Teemu Selanne : 1998-99

Honored Members
Hall of Famers:
Jari Kurri played for the Ducks during the 1996–97 season, and was inducted in 2001.