Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Honda Center, and is owned by Henry and Susan Samueli. The Ducks are affiliated with the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League and the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL.
The Ducks were founded as an expansion team for the 1993–94 season by the Walt Disney Company, and were known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, a name based on the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks. In 2005, Disney sold the franchise to the Samuelis, who, along with then-general manager Brian Burke, changed the name of the team to the Anaheim Ducks before the 2006–07 season. The Ducks have won six Pacific Division championships, and have advanced to the Stanley Cup Final twice, losing to the New Jersey Devils in 2003, and winning the Stanley Cup in 2007 over the Ottawa Senators, becoming the first of the three California-based teams to win the Stanley Cup. The Ducks have produced two Conn Smythe Trophy winners as the most valuable player of the playoffs – Jean-Sebastian Giguere in 2003 and Scott Niedermayer in 2007.
History
Start of a franchise (1993–1994)
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company. The franchise was awarded by the NHL in December 1992, alongside the rights to a Miami team founded by Wayne Huizenga that would become the Florida Panthers. An entrance fee of $50 million was required, half of which Disney would pay directly to the Los Angeles Kings in order to "share" the Los Angeles media market. On March 1, 1993, at the brand-new Anaheim Arena, the team's name was announced. The name was inspired by The Mighty Ducks, a 1992 Disney film about a struggling youth hockey team that, with the help of their new coach, become champions. Philadelphia arena management specialist Tony Tavares was chosen to be team president, and Jack Ferreira, who previously helped create the San Jose Sharks, became the Ducks' general manager. The Ducks selected Ron Wilson to be the first head coach in team history. The Ducks and Florida Panthers filled out their rosters in the 1993 NHL expansion draft and the 1993 NHL entry draft. In the former, a focus on defense led to goaltenders Guy Hebert and Glenn Healy being the first picks, followed by Alexei Kasatonov and Steven King. In the latter, the Ducks selected Paul Kariya with the fourth overall pick, who began playing in 1994 and would turn out to be the face of the franchise for many years. The resulting roster had the lowest payroll of the NHL at only $7.9 million.Led by captain Troy Loney, the Ducks finished the 1993–94 season 33–46–5, a record-breaking number of wins for an expansion team, which the Florida Panthers also achieved. The Ducks sold out 27 of 41 home games, including the last 25, and filled the Arrowhead Pond to 98.9% of its season capacity. The Ducks licensed merchandise shot to number one in sales among NHL clubs, helped by their presence from Disney's theme parks and Disney Stores.
Paul Kariya era (1994–2003)
The lockout-shortened 1994–95 season saw the debut of Kariya, who would play 47 games that year, scoring 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points. For his efforts, he was named a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy for the top rookie of the year. The Ducks went 16–27–5, missing the playoffs.During the 1995–96 season, Kariya was chosen to play for the Western Conference in the 1996 NHL All-Star Game as the lone Ducks representative, playing in place of Pavel Bure, who was out with a knee injury. Following the All-Star Game, the Mighty Ducks completed a mid-season blockbuster deal with the Winnipeg Jets. The Ducks sent Chad Kilger, Oleg Tverdovsky, and a third-round pick to the Jets in return for forward Marc Chouinard, a fourth-round draft pick, and right winger Teemu Selanne. Following the trade, Ducks center Steve Rucchin commented, "Paul had a lot of pressure on him... He single-handedly won some games for us this year... Now that we have Teemu, there's no way everybody can just key on Paul." These three players formed one of the most potent lines of their time. However, the Mighty Ducks lost the eighth spot in the Western Conference to the Winnipeg Jets based on the number of wins.
During the 1996–97 season, Kariya became team captain following Randy Ladouceur's retirement in the off-season. The Ducks qualified for the postseason after recording the franchise's first winning record of 36–33–13, good enough for home ice in the first round as the fourth seed against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Ducks trailed 3–2 in the series going into Phoenix for game six. Kariya scored in overtime to force the franchise's first game seven, which they won. However, in the second round, they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings, in a four-game sweep. After the season, Ron Wilson was fired for philosophical differences. Pierre Page succeeded him. The Ducks started out slowly in 1997–98, in part because Kariya missed the first 32 games of the season in a contract dispute. He came back in December, but on February 1, he suffered a season-ending concussion when Gary Suter of the Chicago Blackhawks cross-checked him in the face. With Kariya playing only a total of 22 games that season, the Ducks missed the playoffs and fired Page. The Ducks followed that season up by finishing sixth in the Western Conference in 1998–99 with new head coach Craig Hartsburg. However, they were swept by Detroit again, this time in the first round.
At training camp prior to the 1999–2000 season, the Ducks made a motto, "Take the next step," going into the season. However, due to a much more competitive Western Conference, they missed the playoffs by four points behind rival San Jose Sharks. In the following season, 2000–01, the Ducks ended up performing worse, as Kariya and Selanne's point production significantly declined from the previous season – Kariya went from 86 points to 67 points and Selanne went from 85 points to 57 points. Selanne was subsequently dealt to San Jose at the trade deadline for Jeff Friesen, Steve Shields and a second-round draft pick, while head coach Craig Hartsburg was fired during the season. The team ended up with a losing record and last place in the Western Conference that season. Without Selanne, Kariya's numbers continued to drop in the 2001–02 season with new coach Bryan Murray. The Mighty Ducks finished in 13th place in the Western Conference.
Western Conference champions (2002–2003)
Prior to the 2002–03 season, Bryan Murray was promoted to general manager. He hired Mike Babcock to be the head coach. The Mighty Ducks made the postseason as the seventh seed with a 40–27–9–6 record, good enough for 95 points. In the first round, the Ducks were once again matched up with the Detroit Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup champions. They swept the Red Wings in four games. Steve Rucchin scored the series-winning goal in overtime in game four. In the second round, the Ducks faced the Dallas Stars. Game one turned out to be the one of the longest games in NHL history, with Petr Sykora scoring in the fifth overtime to give the Mighty Ducks the series lead. The Ducks would finish off the Stars in game six at home. In the team's first trip to the Western Conference finals, they were matched up against the sixth-seeded, three-year-old Minnesota Wild. Jean-Sebastien Giguere strung together three consecutive shutouts and allowed only one total goal in the series in an eventual sweep.The 2003 Stanley Cup Final was played against the New Jersey Devils. The series began with the home team winning the first five games. In game six at home, Kariya was knocked unconscious from a hit by Devils captain Scott Stevens. However, Kariya would return in the second period and score the fourth goal of the game. The Mighty Ducks defeated the Devils 5–2 to send the series back to New Jersey for game seven. Anaheim was unable to win on the road in New Jersey, as they lost game seven to the Devils 3–0. For his play during the postseason, Giguere was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs. He became only the fifth player in NHL history to win the trophy as a member of the losing team.
New ownership, Selanne's return and franchise rebrand (2003–2008)
After the 2002–03 season, Kariya promised to bring the Mighty Ducks back to the Stanley Cup Final the following year. However, Kariya left the Ducks in the summer and joined former teammate Teemu Selanne on the Colorado Avalanche. During the 2003–04 season, the team regressed to a 29–35–10–8 record, finishing fourth in the division.During the 2004 off-season, Bryan Murray, who had wished to coach again, left the Ducks to join the Ottawa Senators. As the NHL and the National Hockey League Players' Association 's labor dispute was headed towards a long lockout, Disney tried to sell the team but received a low offer of US$50 million, less than the franchise's original price. In 2005, Broadcom Corporation co-founder Henry Samueli of Irvine, California, and his wife Susan bought the Mighty Ducks from The Walt Disney Company for a reported US$75 million. Henry Samuelis, whose family was already managing Arrowhead Pond said of the sale, "Since we manage the Pond... it seemed natural to purchase the team since Disney had it up for sale for quite a while." Brian Burke, former Vancouver Canucks general manager and president, was appointed general manager and executive vice-president of the Mighty Ducks on June 20, 2005. Shortly after, Babcock rejected an extension to stay with the Ducks, signing with Detroit instead. Thanks to a weighted draft lottery in which the Ducks had a 4.16% chance at first overall, they were able to get the second pick, which they used to select Bobby Ryan.
File:Scott Hannan and Scott Niedermayer.jpg|thumb|left|Scott Niedermayer battles for the puck with San Jose Sharks' Scott Hannan in a game during the 2005–06 season; signed in the 2005 off-season, he was later named as team captain
On August 1, 2005, former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Randy Carlyle was hired as the seventh head coach in team history. Burke was familiar with Carlyle's coaching ability, as the latter had coached the Manitoba Moose from 1996 to 2001 and 2004–05 ; the Moose had been the Canucks' farm club since 2001. On August 4, 2005, free-agent defenseman Scott Niedermayer signed with the Mighty Ducks to play with his brother Rob; Scott Niedermayer was almost immediately named team captain. On August 22, Selanne returned to Anaheim after undergoing knee surgery. He led the team in scoring during the season with 40 goals and 50 assists for 90 points. He would also record his 1,000th NHL point on January 30, 2006. The 2005–06 season also saw the emergence of rookies Ryan Getzlaf, and Corey Perry. On November 15, 2005, Anaheim traded Sergei Fedorov and a fifth-round draft pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Francois Beauchemin and forward Tyler Wright.
The Ducks finished the season with a 43–27–12 record, good enough for 98 points. The Ducks faced the Calgary Flames in the conference quarterfinals and forced a seventh game in Calgary, shutting out the Flames to reach the conference semifinals. In the conference semifinals, the Ducks swept the Avalanche in four-straight games;, during which Ilya Bryzgalov broke Giguere's scoreless streak record from the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs. In the franchise's second conference finals appearance, they faced the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers, a series the Ducks would ultimately lose in five games.
In January 2006, Samueli announced the team would be renamed as simply the "Anaheim Ducks" as of the following season.