12 – Mike Leclerc (1999-2004)
Mike Leclerc was selected by the Mighty Ducks in the third-round (55th overall) of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. Coming up through the Anaheim system, he was never going to be an NHL scoring threat. That didn’t stop him from playing 291 games for the Anaheim organization in a variety of roles.
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Leclerc came into his own as a Mighty Ducks player in 1999 when the Winnipeg native became a full-time member of the team. His best season, was the only season he played a full 82 games, 2001-02. Leclerc scored a career best 44 points (20g, 24a).
He is probably best known by Ducks fans for his game-winning overtime goal against Dallas in the 2003 Western Conference Semifinals, beating a very stingy Marty Turco. That goal was only part of his fantastic postseason contributions (2g, 9a in 23 games) to the Mighty Ducks first run to the Stanley Cup Finals
11 – Saku Koivu (2009-2014)
Saku Koivu had a legendary hockey career before he came to the Anaheim Ducks in the summer of 2009. Among his accomplishments were several all-star appearances and 450 assists in 13 years with Montreal. He tied Jean Belliveau as longest tenured Montreal Canadiens captain at 10 seasons.
He earned the 2002 Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance and sportsmanship when he returned for the final few Montreal games after undergoing cancer treatment for the majority of the season. He also won the 2006-07 King Clancy Award for leadership on and off the ice for his work with the Saku Koivu Foundation, a cancer-fighting organization.
Unable to agree on contract terms with Montreal, Koivu signed with the Anaheim Ducks in July of 2008. He played the final five seasons of his career with the Ducks. Those years weren’t a victory lap, Koivu scored 191 points (64g, 127a) in 332 regular season games for the “Webbed D’s.”
Check out some of our past editions of best jersey numbers