Category:Anaheim Ducks History

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[edit] 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 Selanne, who had been a star player for them. Selanne 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 center, 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 defenseman Chris Pronger, who had requested a trade from Edmonton a few weeks prior.

Along with the team's new name, its home ice will also be renamed to Honda Center effective October as Arrowhead Water's naming rights have expired.