Anaheim Ducks: Wild Wing vs the Winged Wheel 25 Years Later

October 1993 was a long time ago. Demolition Man was the number one movie at the box office, Dreamlover by Mariah Carey was top of the Billboard charts, and Snoop Dogg was going by Snoop Doggy Dogg. It also marked the beginning of a franchise in the NHL, the Anaheim Ducks.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim played their first regular season game October 8th, 1993. Arrowhead Pond was electric as the eggplant and jade jerseys adorned with the iconic Wild Wing logo. They took the ice to face off against the iconic winged wheel of the Detroit Red Wings. While the outcome of the game wasn’t exactly pretty, it still stands as one of the most important moments in Anaheim Ducks history.

Here we are, 25 years, 6 general managers, 8 captains, 8 head coaches, and a Stanley Cup victory later and the Anaheim Ducks have become one of the more consistent and competitive teams in the entirety of the league. So what did the then-Mighty Ducks look like in their first ever regular season game?

At 29-years-old, Troy Loney was the inaugural captain (his only season wearing the C.) Guy Hebert was the starting goaltender. The youngest skater was the 23-year-old defenseman, Sean Hill. The oldest was the 33-year-old veteran defenseman, Randy Ladouceur. The average age of the forward corps was 26 years old, the average age of the defense was 27 years old, and Hebert was 26 making the team average age 26.

Simply put, the Vegas Golden Knights the Ducks were not in the same boat during their inaugural year. The Mighty Ducks lacked any real star players and they had a goaltender who was serviceable, but not much more. The odds were certainly not in the Ducks favor, and there was no Cinderella story that night.

The Art of Resilience

Anaheim got thumped pretty hard by the Red Wings with a final score of 7-2. Hebert had a rough night posting a forgettable .837% save percentage while no-one on the team had a positive +/- rating. Young Sean Hill scored the first goal in franchise history on the power play in the second period, pinching in towards the face-off circle and picking up a loose rebound that he snapped over the glove hand of Red Wings goalie Peter Ing.

Not to be outdone, captain Troy Loney scored the other Ducks goal in the 3rd period, receiving a pass in front of the net from Anatoli Semenov. Pulling the puck from his backhand to his forehand, he tucked it under a diving Ing. Overall, while the Ducks lost, they showed resilience and determination to prove they belonged in the NHL.

They went on to post a 33-46-5 record, good enough for 9th in the conference and 4th in the Pacific division, missing out on a playoff spot by 12 points. Terry Yake and Bob Corkum led the way posting 52 and 51 points respectively while the toughness of Todd Ewen and Stu Grimson was on full display posting 272 and 191 penalty minutes respectively.

Guy Hebert played his first season as a starting netminder, playing 52 games for the Ducks posting a modest .907% save percentage on route to 20 victories as the Ducks starting goaltender. It wasn’t a season that set the world on fire but it was promising for a team to come out with a roster filled with journeymen and cast-offs to ultimately compete for a playoff spot.

The Anaheim Ducks: Then and Now

How do the Ducks of now look in comparison to the Ducks of old? Well, obviously the team shares little in common with the opening night roster from 1993. In fact, the only member of that team that still represents the Ducks is Guy Hebert as he moved from between the crease to behind the analyst desk often seen pre-game and during intermissions.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were a new franchise, they didn’t have top end talent, they weren’t expected to be a playoff team. They still managed to be a competitive team and were right outside the playoff bubble. Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks of 2018-19 are in a similar, yet at the same time, very different situation.

This is the first time in a long time where Anaheim isn’t seen by many fans and analysts as a true, bonafide contender for the Stanley Cup. There are many predicting them to plummet down the standings a bit due to additions made by their division rivals such as the San Jose Sharks and Las Vegas Golden Knights. This is in addition to the uncertainty of so many things surrounding the Ducks roster.

The Anaheim Ducks enter this season with arguably the lowest expectations they’ve had placed on them this decade, and that’s not exactly a bad thing. When the media tempers their expectations, it takes the weight off of the players’ shoulders a bit and can lead way to surprising and impressive results. It’s why we constantly see a team enter the season with minimal expectations and they come out and surprise everyone (Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18 and Ottawa Senators in 2016-17 being the two most recent examples).

The Mighty Ducks entered their first season with little expectation, they had no star players, they had no dynamite rookies, they had weaknesses top to bottom at just about every position. Fortunately, the Ducks of 2018-19 don’t have nearly as many problems. They have the star power of one of the best centers in the NHL in captain Ryan Getzlaf, as well as one of the most talented and youngest defensive corps in the entire league.

They have a franchise-caliber goaltender manning the net in John Gibson and entered this season with the most rookies on their roster in franchise history, and those aren’t rookies who were put in positions they weren’t ready for out of necessity, these are rookies who have earned the spot they are in by outplaying their competition.

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When I look at this Ducks team and compare it to the inaugural season roster, I see very few similarities in terms of actual roster talent. The Mighty Ducks had no Ryan Getzlaf, they had no Rickard Rakell, they had no Hampus Lindholm and they certainly did not have a John Gibson. What I do see, however, is a team of guys who banded together to try to show the league and the city of Anaheim that they are not a team to take lightly.

That is where I see the similarities. If the Ducks can play with that dogged determination that the inaugural Ducks roster played with, I think they’ll be just fine and could very well end up surprising us this season. For an answer to that, we will have to wait and see.

A Tidbit of Trivia

Let’s wrap this up and get ready for the celebration of 25 Years of Ducks hockey tonight with a little tidbit of trivia that might make you feel old. I know it certainly made me realize how young today’s NHLers are.

When the Ducks played the franchise’s first game on October 8th, 1993, Nine of the players on Anaheim’s current roster had not yet been born. Max Comtois, Ondrej Kase, Isac Lundestrom, Kiefer Sherwood, Sam Steel, Troy Terry, Hampus Lindholm, Brandon Montour, and Marcus Pettersson are all under the age of 25. Rickard Rakell and John Gibson were both under a year old.

Although these players were not yet toddling around in skates, they would grow up to be the future of the Anaheim Ducks franchise. They are in a lot better position now than they were then. If they band together like we know they can, the scoreboard tonight will tell a different story than it did on October 8, 1993.

Enjoy the 25th Anniversary home opener with what is sure to be the best Anaheim Ducks win over the Red Wings in team history!