What I Missed: Anaheim Ducks Ranked 37th in ESPN’s ‘Ultimate Team Standings’

Note: “What I Missed” is a series of posts I’ll be making for the rest of the month of September to help look back at some of the more memorable news stories I couldn’t post about while I was on hiatus for the first half of the month. I will try to avoid re-covering topics that other Ducks Daily Blog writers wrote about. Since quite a bit of time has passed since some of these stories arose, many other blogs and news outlets have discussed them in depth. Therefore, rather than reiterate what’s already been said, in many cases I’ll simply give a quick description of what happened, a sentence or two on my thoughts, and then I’ll round up links from around the web from old articles that have already discussed the issue more in depth.

This was first brought to my attention by an article written by Steve Palumbo for HockeyBuzz earlier this month, but I found it interesting enough to touch on it briefly here on Ducks Daily Blog. Every year, ESPN ranks all professional sports team from the big four leagues (NHL, MLB, NBA, and NFL) based on a variety of factors. In the previous two years of rankings, the Anaheim Ducks ranked 23rd among all teams from all leagues. This year’s ranking saw the Ducks drop down to 37th, however.

The overall team rankings are derived from scores in eight separate categories. Here are the categories and how the Ducks scored in each, according to Palumbo:

"Bang For The Buck: Wins during the past three years (regular season plus postseason) per revenues directly from fans, adjusted for league schedules.Ducks ranked 49. Fan Relations: Openness and consideration toward fans by players, coaches and management. (Wild Wing! Duh!)Ducks ranked 39. Ownership: Honesty and loyalty to core players and local community.Ducks ranked 47 Affordability: Price of tickets, parking and concessions.Ducks ranked 38. Stadium Experience: Quality of arena and game-day promotions as well as friendliness of environment.Ducks ranked 59. Players: Effort on the field and likability off it. (Teemu Selanne?)Ducks ranked 64. Coaching: Strength of on-field leadership.Ducks ranked 55. Title Track: Championships already won or expected in the lifetime of current fans. (2007)Ducks ranked 34."

All things considered, ranking 37 among 122 other teams is still pretty impressive for a small market hockey team. At least we’re not the Toronto Maple Leafs, who came in at the 122 spot.

Be sure to check out Palumbo’s article to see how we did among other teams in the Los Angeles/Orance County areas. Be sure to take a look at the original ESPN report as well.

Jer is sorry about all the news he missed. Follow him on Twitter @JerMeansWell.