The Duck's logo from 1993-2007
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). Since their inception, the Ducks have played their home games at the Honda Center, commonly referred to as The Pond.
The club was founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, a name based on the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks. In February 2005, it was announced Disney would sell the franchise to Henry and Susan Samueli[1][2], who changed the name of the team to the Anaheim Ducks before the 2006–07 season. In their 30-year existence, the Ducks have made the playoffs fourteen times, winning six Pacific Division titles (2007, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017), two Western Conference titles (2003 and 2007), and one Stanley Cup title (2007).
History[]
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company. The team's original name was chosen from the 1992 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 (itself the name of the real-life mascot of the Ducks). The Mighty Ducks logo was also featured in D2: The Mighty Ducks.
The team was the first tenant of the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now named the 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 the naming rights originally being held by Arrowhead Water.
The Ducks selected Ron Wilson to be the first coach in team history. The Ducks selected Paul Kariya fourth overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He would turn out to be the face of the franchise for many years. The team selected Steve Rucchin second overall in the 1994 Supplemental Draft, another face of the franchise. In the middle of their third year, on February 7, 1996, the team 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 right-winger Teemu Selanne. These three players became one of the most potent lines of their time. The franchise's first game was played at home on October 8, 1993, versus the Detroit Red Wings. The Ducks lost 7–2. Two games later, on October 13, 1993, also on home ice, the Ducks won the first game in franchise history 4–3 versus the Edmonton Oilers. The Ducks had their first shut out in team history on December 15, 1993, 1–0 versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Ducks reached the post-season for the first time during the 1996–97 NHL season. The Ducks finished with a 36–33–13 record, the franchise's first winning record, good enough for home ice in the first round as the number four seed against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Ducks trailed 3–2 going into Phoenix for game six. Kariya scored in overtime to force the franchises first game 7 which they won. In the second round, however, they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in a four-game sweep. After the season, Wilson was fired after saying he would like to coach the Red Wings. However, he ended up coaching the Washington Capitals the following season, the team that the Red Wings faced in the Finals that year. The Ducks missed the playoffs in 1998 with Pierre Page at the helm. The Ducks followed that season up by finishing 6th in the Western Conference in 1998–99 NHL season with new head coach Craig Hartsburg. However, they were swept by the Red Wings again, this time in the first round.
In the 1999–2000 NHL season, the Ducks finished with a winning record, but missed the playoffs by 4 points as the rival San Jose Sharks took 8th place that year with 87 points while the Mighty Ducks took 9th place with 83 points. In the 2000–01 NHL season, the Ducks ended up doing even worse as Kariya and Selanne substantially dropped points production from the previous season. Kariya went from 86 points to 67 points and Selanne went from 85 points to 57 points. Selanne was dealt to San Jose at the trade deadline for Jeff Friesen, Steve Shields, and a second-round draft pick and 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 NHL season with new coach Bryan Murray. The Mighty Ducks finished in 13th place in the Western Conference.
The Mighty Ducks did not reach the postseason again until the 2002–03 NHL season with coach Mike Babcock at the helm. They entered the playoffs in 7th place 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 Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup Champions. They shocked the hockey world by sweeping 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 fourth-longest game 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 another Cinderella team, the sixth-seeded Minnesota Wild. Jean-Sebastien Giguere strung together three consecutive shutouts and allowed only one total goal in the series in an eventual sweep. The Ducks faced the second-seeded Eastern Conference Champions, the New Jersey Devils in the finals.
The 2003 Stanley Cup Finals had some interesting storylines. Anaheim forward Rob Niedermayer was playing against his brother, defenseman for the Devils, Scott Niedermayer and Giguere faced off against fellow French Canadian goalie Martin Brodeur. The series began with the home team winning the first five games. In game six at home, Kariya was knocked out by Devils defenseman Scott Stevens. Kariya would return in the second period and score the fourth goal of the game. In an exciting third period, the Mighty Ducks defeated the Devils 5–2 to send the series back to New Jersey for game seven. Anaheim could not complete their Cinderella run, though, as they lost a hard-fought game 7 to the Devils 3–0. For his brilliant play during the post-season, Giguere won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. He became only the fifth player in NHL history to have won the trophy as a member of the losing team. Giguere posted a 15–6 record, 7–0 in overtime, with a 1.62 GAA, a .945 sv. pct. and a record 168 minute, 27 second shutout streak in overtime.
After the season, Kariya promised to bring the Mighty Ducks back to the Stanley Cup Final the following year. Kariya, however, left the Ducks in the summer and joined Selanne on the Colorado Avalanche. The 2003–04 NHL season was a season to forget as Giguere could not repeat his amazing play from the previous year. The team finished in 12th place in the standings with a 29–35–10–8 record. Giguere's stats subsequently went down from the previous season as he only won half the games he did the year before, his goals against average went up from 2.30 to 2.62, his save percentage went down from .914 to .907, and he went from 8 shutouts to just three. The team also went from 203 goals to 174.
The 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled due to the lockout. Therefore, the Ducks, along with the rest of the NHL, didn't play until the following season in 2005-06. In the 2005-06 season, the Ducks returned to the playoffs, with Scott and Rob Niedermayer playing together on the same team. They finished in 6th place with a 43-27-12 record. However, The Ducks lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Edmonton Oilers 4-1. Then, in the 2006-07 season, the Ducks reached the Stanley Cup Finals again. They entered the playoffs with a 48-20-14 record, earning 110 points. The Ducks defeated the Minnesota Wild (4-1), Vancouver Canucks (4-1), and Detroit Red Wings (4-2) to get to the Finals. This time, they defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 to earn their first Stanley Cup championship. It was the first time in NHL history that a California team won the Stanley Cup. Also, both Niedermeyer brothers won the cup together. This was Rob's first Stanley Cup championship while Scott won his fourth overall Stanley Cup championship.
In 2013, the Ducks celebrated their 20th year as an NHL franchise. To commemorate the anniversary, the team held a throwback night on October 13. They played a regular season game against the Ottawa Senators and won 4-1. They wore purple throwback uniforms based off that of the original Mighty Ducks team. In addition, the presentation for the game was in the style of the 90s, featuring 90s music, and even the team's opening intro video that was played on the video board during the 1998/99 season. Members of the original 1993 team attended the game.
Logo redesign for 2024
For the teams 2024-25 season, the logo and uniform were updated. They returned to the duck-like mask logo from the Disney era, but with some modifications. It's reworking was a slight redesign of that original team crest to make it appear more dynamic and aggressive. There were also some color changes to match the updated uniform color scheme. The new look had orange and gold as the teams primary colors (instead of the eggplant and jade color scheme from the early days) in reference to "Orange County" in which the team plays.[3] At that point, the team had not been owned by Disney for many years. But they decided to pay homage to it with the return of that world famous duck-mask logo.
Gallery[]
Logos[]
Uniforms[]
Even though the team has distanced themselves from the "Mighty Ducks" moniker since 2006, they have brought back their uniform and some elements of it in recent years for their anniversary seasons or wearing it for select occasions.
Series[]
References[]
- ↑ "Disney sells Mighty Ducks" (English). CBS Sports (25 February 2005). Retrieved on 30 May 2021.
- ↑ Chris Foster, Bill Shaikin (26 February 2005). "Disney Will Sell Ducks to Couple" (English). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 30 May 2021.
- ↑ "Ducks Unveil Brand Evolution with New Logo and Jerseys" (English). NHL.com (June 26, 2024). Retrieved on September 20, 2024.
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