Five of the Anaheim Ducks Biggest Team Rivalries

2. Calgary Flames

Whenever I think of the Calgary Flames two things come to mind: 1. The Streak and 2. “You Can’t Win Here.” For a very, very long time, the Honda Center was a literal house of horrors for the Flames. The Flames have an all-time record of 41-51-7 vs the Anaheim Ducks and are 9-31-6 in the Honda Center. They finally got a win at Honda Center during the 2017-18 season. It only took a super depleted Ducks team to do it, but hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

In the postseason we’ve met the Flames 3 times: 2006, 2015, 2017, winning all three meetings. The first meeting saw the Ducks defeat the Flames in 7 games. We can’t forget that legendary scrap between Francois Beauchemin and Jarome Iginla. 2015 saw the Ducks hand the Flames a gentleman’s sweep. (A gentleman’s sweep is when the losing team wins one game instead of none.) Anaheim absolutely dominated that series from start to finish. It would’ve been a sweep if not for a late delay of game penalty by Sami Vatanen.

The last meeting in 2017 was also a sweep. In that series, Calgary put up more of a fight but it ended the same. In Game 2, Calgary experienced more Honda Center horrors. During a powerplay chance in the 3rd period, Getzlaf went to pass the puck (like always) and it ricocheted off of a Calgary player and over the reach of Brian Elliot and into the net. In Game 3 at Calgary, the Flames had a 3 goal lead and they blew that, eventually losing in OT. The Ducks would complete the sweep in Game 4 by a final score of 3-1 after both Brian Elliot and Chad Johnson give up quick goals in the 1st period. We’ve proven to be the kryponite to Calgary in the playoffs over the years.

Honorable Mentions: Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers

Chicago Blackhawks: Outside of that 2015 WCF series, there isn’t much of a rivalry between the two teams. They see each other three times a year and every game is always competitive and fun to watch. I still believe we could’ve won that series. We were a goal away. Every game Chicago won except for Game 7 went to OT. That could’ve been our Cup had we got one in OT.

Edmonton Oilers: We’ve played against them twice in the playoffs: 2006 and 2017. The teams are 1-1 in that aspect. If they ever get it together we could see that rubber match series. Thanks to the Oilers the Ducks finally got that Game 7 monkey off their backs. Also, Kesler did not hold Talbot’s pad and even if he did there’s still no excuse for blowing a 3-0 lead with 3 minutes to go.