Building an Anaheim Ducks Alumni Team for the EA NHL Series
What would the Anaheim Ducks Alumni squad look like if EA kept players unique to one team? We’re looking back on 20 former players to represent this unit.
It’s early April, and usually, at this point, hockey fans would be looking forward to the start of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with the regular season coming to an end. Of course, Anaheim Ducks fans would be a mix of excited because this excruciating season is over, at least looking forward to an exciting playoff ahead. However, as we enter the month, the NHL is still suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the population.
In this time with no hockey for the foreseeable future (all sports to be exact), fans are left to their own devices to keep themselves entertained during this time. And while there still hours of highlights and analysis out there to get your hockey fix, a common theme is to embrace the Esports community.
From other leagues having player tournaments that allow players to face off against one another allowing the fans to spectate, to other fans simply sitting down and playing the games themselves, people are using the power of video games to keep themselves entertained. The game that most hockey fans can commonly relate to is the EA Sports NHL franchise who released their 2019-20 season addition globally in September.
Many people enjoy the game for its different game modes, including Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) and the World of Chel where the user is able to play with the larger community online. However, some people (definitely me) do prefer still playing the offline game modes where you are able to sit down and play as your preferred team. Modes such as Franchise or Season, allow the user to take their preferred team, go through multiple seasons, restructuring the team to win multiple Stanley Cups. EA has received criticism over the years for not making many changes to these game modes, however, in NHL 20 they did add a small factor to potentially make your experience more interesting.
In EA Sports NHL 19, the creators brought in NHL Alumni (or for the simplicity sake ‘Legends’) into the game. However, users were restricted by only being able to use these players on specific Alumni teams offline, or play forever to be able to afford to acquire them in HUT. For NHL 20, EA decided to have ‘Legends’ be used in multiple offline modes and implemented Alumni teams for 33 NHL franchises.
For reasons of only being in the league for two years at this point, a Vegas alumni team was not part of the group, but EA brought back the now-defunct; Quebec Nordiques, Minnesota North Stars, and Hartford Whalers, which was enjoyed by hockey historians.
As far as the rosters go, pretty much every team has a maxed-out attribute for at least one category of Offense, Defense, and Goaltending. As a Ducks fan, it is much more enjoyable to use a 93 overall Teemu Selanne than a 77 overall Troy Terry, and as a long time Anaheim Ducks fan, I do enjoy seeing all these players who I grew up watching and even playing in some of the older additions of the EA franchise.
Unfortunately, EA has only implemented a select amount of players into the game, for reasons that could include not having the player rights or even a player just not wanting to be apart of the game. While it is fun getting to play with guys such as Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe, there are still large omissions from the game such as icons Bobby Orr and Eric Lindros.
With a select amount of players, you are going to see quite a bit of duplication of players on different teams. There is a good example of this on the Anaheim Ducks Alumni roster. As great of a player Jari Kurri was, the 1997 version of Kurri who played one season with the team should not be a matching 92 overall as any of the versions that saw him as Wayne Gretzky’s right-hand man with the Oilers of the 80s.
But, in the game, you will see this version of Kurri on the Ducks’ Alumni roster, making him one of the teams better players. Other players such as Adam Oates and Brian Bellows also fall into this category of once-great players who played with the Ducks in the late stages of their career.
It is still in relatively early stages that the EA team has brought legends back into the game, and with new years we could see them continue to add new old faces to this platform as well as adjusting teams. Today’s article is going to dive into what an updated Alumni team would look like if it was constructed of players whose contributions were unique to the Anaheim Ducks.
Rules and Honorable Mentions
The way this team is laid out will match the following criteria:
- the player played and made a significant contribution to the team,
- the player is currently not an active player
- the player’s career and contribution was primarily with the Anaheim Ducks.
With that settled here are some honorable mentions who do not make this roster.
Scott Niedermayer: It’s tough when one of three guys who have their number retired with a franchise is not on the team, but the sad reality is that Scotty is mostly known for his days in New Jersey where he ironically enough beat the Ducks for the Cup.
Chris Pronger: Even though he won his one and only Cup in Anaheim, everybody knows Chris Pronger as a St. Louis Blues legend, which makes me think if the scenarios of Pronger not getting traded and ultimately facing a career-ending injury when he showed he could still play, one may think he could have been known first a Ducks legend.
Ryan Getzlaf: Curious if he will end up passing Teemu Selanne for the most points in Ducks history, trailing by 100, unfortunately, he is not eligible for this team though as the Captain is still currently on the roster.
Corey Perry: Even though we saw a steep decline in his production, Corey Perry will still be known as one of the greatest Ducks in their history, however, he is still playing with the Dallas Stars and that keeps him off this team.
Bobby Ryan: Similar to Perry, Ryan is still in the NHL. Based on how disastrous his stint in Ottawa has been, it may be easy to forget how great and consistent he was with the Ducks.
Jari Kurri: As mentioned earlier, Kurri is absolutely one of the all-time greats. However, he will forever be known as an Oiler. In addition, his time in Anaheim was far from his most productive.
Adam Oates: Similarly to Kurri, as he played one of his final seasons with the team, Oates was slightly more productive and helped lead the 2003 team on the Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup finals. However, Oates is definitely more known for his time in St. Louis, Boston, and Washington.
Fredrik Olausson: A guy who had three different stints with the team and was typically consistent throughout, Olausson spent a lot of time with the Jets early on in his career.
Petr Sykora: One of those guys you may forget about, however, one of the more productive players during his time with the Ducks. Nevertheless, he had great seasons with the New Jersey Devils before being traded to Anaheim only to lose to his former mates in the Cup final.
Rob Niedermayer: A fan favorite and vital cog to the playoff runs in 2003, 2006, and 2007, the younger brother of already mentioned Scott played eight productive seasons with the Florida Panthers to begin his career, and when you compare the two teams, Rob would more likely fall the Ducks’ expansion brethren.
Forwards
Paul Kariya–Steve Rucchin-Teemu Selanne
Marty McInnis–Andy McDonald–Joffrey Lupul
Mike Leclerc–Matt Cullen–Joe Sacco
Garry Valk–Samuel Pahlsson–George Parros
The forward group of this team is very top-heavy, as much of the skill is very visible from the top with a lot more grit as we go into the depth lines. However, each player in this lineup is known for their contributions to the team.
For the first line, I felt like I had no choice but to reform arguably the greatest line in team history together again. In almost every NHL game they appeared in, Kariya and Selanne were both lighting quick and typically had very strong shooting attributes. Having these two blow by much slower defenders to trigger breakaway opportunities were always a fun time.
Centering these two Hall of Famers is their old running mate Rucchin. Though he did not have the same speed as his two linemates, Rucchin made up for it with his big body physical presence as well as solid faceoff ability. Using these three guys will take you back to playing NHL 2001 on the original PlayStation.
The second line consists of skilled players who had some of their better seasons in Anaheim. Marty McInnis came into the league with the Islanders and had a couple of good seasons, and when he came to Anaheim he continued to show consistency by continuing his productive play when he joined the team in the late 90s.
Joffrey Lupul had one of those careers that makes one wonder what he could’ve accomplished if he was able to stay healthy. Though his career in real life was marred by injuries, Lupul was always a fun player to use in the video games with his good speed and solid shot.
The last member of this line is a long-time fan favorite Andy McDonald. Similar to Lupul, Andy had his share of injury problems over the years but fought through it in his early career to put up two of the best seasons by a player in Ducks history in 2005-06 and 2006-07 as well as make the All-Star team in the process. Using McDonald was reminiscent of skating by players with Kariya in older versions of the game, as he was a dangerous player to use due to his top speed.
The third and fourth lines provide the grit needed and shift the momentum in a game, as well as keep the team productive as you roll four lines. Centers Sami Pahlsson and Matt Cullen are two important pieces to this team for their defensive abilities and skills on the faceoffs in order to strengthen the depth down the middle.
Leclerc, Valk, and Sacco represent the early Mighty Ducks days, with players who could step into multiple roles in order to help the team succeed. All three of these guys could play a Grinder/Power Forward hybrid that can be shuffled throughout the lineup and used in multiple situations in a game situation. The final piece to this puzzle is everybody’s favorite (or at least used to be) enforcer in George Parros. Leading the team all-time with 122 fighting majors, Parros is a helpful piece in the game in order to build team momentum with his strength and fighting ability.
Defense
Francois Beauchemin–Ruslan Salei
Keith Carney–Vitaly Vishnevski
The defense is a solidly built group that is consistent from 1-6. Each player has had their share of contributions to the success of the Anaheim Ducks franchise, with each player playing at least 270 games for the organization.
The franchise leader in games played for a defenseman is Cam Fowler at 679, second and third go to Salei (594) and Beauchemin (592) respectively. Both players were leaders during their time with the Ducks and helped lead the team in lengthy playoff runs, playing key contributors during those runs. This makes it an easy decision to pair these two at the top of the defensive unit, pairing their strong physical play and their abilities to shut down the opposing forwards, while still contributing on offense.
Bobby Dollas was another original Mighty Duck who was picked up in the Expansion Draft from Detroit. The big-bodied defenseman had some very productive seasons with the new franchise, hitting the 20-point mark in his first three seasons with the club, making him a solid two-way option on the blueline. His partner for this team is Tverdovsky, more known for being part of the trade package that brought back Teemu Selanne in 1996.
However, prior to the trade, the 19-year old defenseman was really coming into his own, and he showed when he rejoined the Ducks prior to the 1999-2000 season that he was becoming a prolific scorer on the back end, scoring 50 points twice on some bad Anaheim Ducks teams. His speed has always made him a fun player to use in the NHL video games, as his offensive prowess as a defenseman was really before his time, as Tverdovsky would be a very exciting and productive player in the NHL today.
The final pairing is constructed of the two physical presences of Vishnevski and Carney. Both players were key cogs to the Ducks run to the 2003 Stanley Cup Final, in ways of their solid defensive play. Carney was a leader of the team, wearing an alternate captaincy, and always seemed to be Mr. Reliable when it came to shutting down the opposition.
Vishnevski did his work a little differently, as he became one of the most fierce checkers in the game. Never a dirty player, the Russian defenseman always seemed to be in the right place and was great at lining players up, very good for shifting momentum in a game and firing up your team.
Goaltenders
One thing that NHL 20 did get right on the Ducks alumni team was the goalies, as both J.S. Giguere and Guy Hebert are on this team. When looking at the history of the team, the Anaheim Ducks have always had stable goaltending, highlighted by these two players.
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Hebert was the original Mighty Duck, picked with the team’s first selection in the Expansion Draft, and had eight productive seasons as the Ducks goaltender, highlighted by an All-Star selection in 1997. Once Hebert showed that his days in the NHL were numbered, in stepped Giguere who went on to become the greatest goaltender in team history, holding a number of team records to go along with the 2003 Conn Smyth trophy and 2007 Stanley Cup.
Though goaltending is not as important in EA’s version of NHL, you will still be comfortable playing knowing you have these two Ducks legends playing behind your team. How do you think this team of Anaheim Ducks Legends would stack up in today’s EA NHL series? Are there any players that I didn’t discuss who should be a part of this team? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
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