Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks (formerly known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL). The club formally announced the name change January 26th, 2006 and changed its name on June 22nd of that same year. ^*

Facts

Founded: 1993

Home Arena: Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim ("The Pond").

Uniforms: Home: Black with gold, white, and orange trim with the team's new logo (pictured in the infobox) centered on the front of the jersey. Away: White with gold, black, and orange trim, same logo. ^*

Conference Championships: 1 (2002-03)

Stanley Cup Finals Appearances: 1 (2002-03; lost to New Jersey, 3-4)

Rivals: Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers.

Mascot: Wild Wing.

Franchise history

When founded in 1993, the Mighty Ducks were owned by The Walt Disney Company. The team's original name was chosen from the Disney movie The Mighty Ducks, about a group of misfit teens who turn their losing youth hockey team into a winner. Disney subsequently made an animated series called The Mighty Ducks, featuring a fictional Mighty Ducks of Anaheim team that consists of anthropomorphized ducks.

With their first draft pick, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim selected Paul Kariya 4th overall in Round 1 of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Kariya would become the cornerstone of a young Mighty Ducks franchise. As team captain he would nearly guide them to Stanley Cup glory in 2003 before his departure as he signed as a free agent with the Colorado Avalanche.

In 1996-97 Western Conference Quarterfinals the Mighty Ducks made their first playoff appearance and they defeated the Phoenix Coyotes in seven games. However, they lost in the Semifinals to the Detroit Red Wings. They returned to the playoffs in 1998-99 only to be swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the Quarterfinals.

Their best playoff performance in franchise history was during the 2002-03 season that saw the Ducks come to within one game of the Stanley Cup. They swept the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings, defeated the Dallas Stars in six games in the Semifinals, swept the Minnesota Wild in the Conference Finals but finally fell to the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Finals in seven games. For his heroics, which had kept Anaheim in the playoffs many times, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs.

The following season the NHL and NHLPA's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was in its final year and as the labor dispute loomed the Mighty Ducks were plagued with low attendance figures despite their magical playoff run the year before and failed to make the playoffs. During the summer of 2004, as the NHL and the NHLPA were seemingly headed towards a lockout, Disney tried to sell the team but received a low offer of $40 million (USD) which was less than the franchise's original price. Many quotes in the press from several well-paid Mighty Ducks players stated that the Ducks were a safe franchise but they perceived as being completely out of touch with the NHL economic situation and the precarious situation of the Ducks club.

In 2005, Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli of Irvine, California and his wife, Susan, bought the Ducks from the Walt Disney Company for a reported $75 million (USD). The Samuelis have pledged to keep the team in Anaheim. 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.

On August 1, 2005, former Norris Trophy winning defenseman Randy Carlyle, 49, was hired as the new coach of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. He became the seventh coach for the Ducks; he earlier coached Manitoba from midseason of 1996 through 2001. Carlyle replaced Mike Babcock, who left the Ducks to become the Detroit Red Wings' coach. The Mighty Ducks also brought back Finn Teemu Selänne, who had been a star player for them. Selänne played the previous season with the Colorado Avalanche. Another major acquisition was Canadian Scott Niedermayer, the 2003-04 Norris Trophy winner. He is the brother of the team's current centre, Rob Niedermayer.

On January 26, 2006 the owners announced, effective with the 2006-07 season, that the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim will change their name to the Anaheim Ducks. This included a logo and team color changes which were unveiled at a special ceremony on June 22nd. 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.

On July 3, 2006, the team made another major acquisition, trading Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid, a 2007 first-round draft pick, a conditional first-round selection and a second-round choice in the 2008 draft to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for star defenceman Chris Pronger, who had requested a trade from Edmonton a few weeks prior.

Third Jersey

The Third Jerseys of the Mighty Ducks were created in 1996, 1998, and 2004 . The 1996 third 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.

The 1998 third jersey came with a rare fourth jersey partner. The third was a jade-coloured 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 jersey. The fourth jersey was much like it. It was white with jade, eggplant and silver stripes at the shoulders of the jersey, and no bottom stripe. These jerseys saw action until in 2000 they stopped playing with their third jerseys, and used only their fourth. At the end of the 2000-2001 season, the jerseys were retired.

The 2004 third jersey was black with purple and grey stripes at the waist and on the sleeves. It had the alternate script logo of the present Mighty Ducks and old school laces at the neck. 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. This jersey was dropped following the season as the team went to the new uniforms and color scheme. There are plans in the future for a new alternate jersey for the 2008-09 season, as the NHL mandates that a uniform change must go two full seasons before adding a third jersey.

Season-by-season record

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

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1993-94	84	33	46	5	-	71	229	251	1507	4th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
1994-95¹	48	16	27	5	-	37	125	164	731	6th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
1995-96	82	35	39	8	-	78	234	247	1707	4th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
1996-97	82	36	33	13	-	85	243	233	1710	2nd in Pacific	Lost Conference Semifinal (DET)
1997-98	82	26	43	13	-	65	205	261	1843	6th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
1998-99	82	35	34	13	-	83	215	206	1323	3rd in Pacific	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (DET)
1999-00	82	34	33	12	3	83	217	227	926	5th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
2000-01	82	25	41	11	5	66	188	245	1136	5th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
2001-02	82	29	42	8	3	69	175	198	1254	5th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
2002-03	82	40	27	9	6	95	203	193	954	2nd in Pacific	Lost Stanley Cup Final (NJ)
2003-04	82	29	35	10	8	76	184	213	1131	4th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
2004-05²	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2005-06	82	43	27	--	12	98	254	229	1462	3rd in Pacific	Lost Conference Final (EDM)
Grand Totals	952	381	427	107	37	906	2472	2667	15684

¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.

² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Notable players

Current squad

As of July 14, 2006 ^*

Goaltenders
Number	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
30	Ilya Bryzgalov	L	2000	Togliatti, U.S.S.R.
35	Jean-Sebastien Giguere	L	2000	Montreal, Quebec

Defencemen
Number	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
5	Vitaly Vishnevski	L	1998	Kharkiv, U.S.S.R.
21	Sean O'Donnell	L	2006	Ottawa, Ontario
23	François Beauchemin	L	2005	Sorel, Quebec
27	Scott Niedermayer - C	L	2005	Edmonton, Alberta
33	Joe DiPenta	R	2005	Barrie, Ontario
-	Chris Pronger	L	2006	Dryden, Ontario

Forwards
Number	Player	Shoots	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth
13	Teemu Selanne - A	R	RW	2005	Helsinki, Finland
19	Andy McDonald	L	C	2000	Strathroy, Ontario
22	Todd Marchant	L	C	2005	Buffalo, New York
26	Samuel Pahlsson	L	C	2000	Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
29	Todd Fedoruk	L	LW	2005	Redwater, Alberta
32	Travis Moen	L	LW	2005	Swift Current, Saskatchewan
38	Chris Kunitz	L	LW	2005	Regina, Saskatchewan
44	Rob Niedermayer - A	L	C	2003	Cassiar, British Columbia
51	Ryan Getzlaf	R	C	2003	Regina, Saskatchewan
61	Corey Perry	R	RW	2003	Peterborough, Ontario
76	Dustin Penner	L	RW	2004	Winkler, Manitoba

Hall of Famers

None

Team captains

Troy Loney 1993-94
Randy Ladouceur 1994-96
Paul Kariya 1996-2003
Teemu Selanne 1997-98 (served as captain while Kariya was injured).
Steve Rucchin 2003-05
Scott Niedermayer 2005- present

Retired numbers

99 - Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)

1st round draft picks

1993: Paul Kariya (4th overall)
1994: Oleg Tverdovsky (2nd overall)
1995: Chad Kilger (4th overall)
1996: Ruslan Salei (9th overall)
1997: Mikael Holmqvist (18th overall)
1998: Vitaly Vishnevski (5th overall)
1999: None
2000: Alexei Smirnov (12th overall)
2001: Stanislav Chistov (5th overall)
2002: Joffrey Lupul (7th overall)
2003: Ryan Getzlaf (19th overall) & Corey Perry (28th overall)
2004: Ladislav Smid (9th overall)
2005: Bobby Ryan (2nd overall)
2006: Mark Mitera (19th overall)

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the Ducks. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, * = Current Duck

Player	POS	GP	G	A	Pts
Paul Kariya	LW	606	300	369	669
*Teemu Selanne	RW	474	265	307	572
Steve Rucchin	C	616	153	279	432
Matt Cullen	C	427	65	135	200
Oleg Tverdovsky	D	324	45	125	170
*Andy McDonald	C	276	61	104	165
Marty McInnis	LW	272	57	88	145
Mike Leclerc	LW	291	54	78	132
Petr Sykora	RW	197	64	67	131
Joe Sacco	C	333	62	68	130