Anaheim Ducks: The Franchise All-Time Bracket Matchup
By Brad Senecal
1st seed vs 8th seed
2006-07
The 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks team will forever be known as the first team to bring the Stanley Cup to California. When looking at the roster, it was easy to see why they won, as the team was headlined by stars such as Teemu Selanne, Scott Niedermayer, and Chris Pronger. What made this team so unique and dominant was the depth and the way they played.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere continued his dominance as a playoff performer. Chris Kunitz and Andy McDonald had one of the most productive seasons of their career. Young players like Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Francois Beauchemin showed the NHL world what their future would look like. Depth players such as Rob Niedermayer and Sami Phalsson provided much-needed depth to the bottom of the lineup.
As mentioned, the team dominated throughout the playoffs, knocking out both the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks in five games, beating the Detroit Red Wings impressively in six, and then taking out the Ottawa Senators in five.
1996-97
The 1996-97 team represents the franchises first foray into the playoffs. The then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were led by the dynamic duo of Selanne and captain Paul Kariya, while being backstopped by All-Star goaltender, Guy Hebert. The team also featured some Ducks favorites such as Steve Rucchin, Joe Sacco, and Bobby Dollas, as well as Hall of Famer Jari Kurri, who played one of his final seasons in Anaheim.
This team truly represented the era the NHL was in. Prior to the implementation of the Salary Cap, the conference standings were usually top-heavy with all the Cup favorites at the top while the lower seeds were typically the underdogs, similar to the NBA today. After defeating the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round of the playoffs, the Mighty Ducks were knocked out by the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Detroit Red Wings.
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Series Results
Game 1: For the first time in franchise history, the Ducks won their division with 48 wins and a 58.5% winning percentage. The 1997 Mighty Ducks finished 4th in Western Conference with only 36 wins and a 43.9% winning percentage.
Game 1 goes to 2007
Game 2: When you win the Stanley Cup you’re likely to have a good winning percentage in the playoffs. When you only lose 5 games in the process, you know you have been dominant, giving the 2007 Ducks a 76.2% in the playoffs. The 1997 Mighty Ducks squeaked out a seven-game win against the Coyotes, then proceeded to get swept by Detroit in the second round for a winning percentage of 36.4%.
Game 2 goes to 2007
Game 3: When a team has as much firepower as the 2007 Ducks did, it is easy to see how much they scored. Teemu Selanne had 94 points, Andy McDonald had 78, and Scott Niedermayer had 69, leading the team to a 3.10 goals per game.
In 1997 both Selanne (109 points) and Paul Kariya (99 points) made the NHL All-Team that season. However, at this time, the Mighty Ducks were very much their team, as Steve Rucchin’s 67 points and Dmitri Mironov’s 46 points were a huge drop, giving the team 2.99 goals per game.
Game 3 goes to 2007
Game 4: 2007 was very much a redemption year for J.S. Giguere after losing his starting job to Ilya Bryzgalov in the 2006 playoffs. Giguere regained his starting job and put up a 0.918% save percentage. Even when Giguere was injured, Bryzgalov stepped up and play admirably to the tune of a 0.907 save percentage. In all, 2007 allowed 2.42 goals per game.
Guy Hebert was an All-Star in 1997 as the Mighty Ducks goalie put up 0.919% save percentage, and when he was out of the net, Mikhail Shtalenkov played well posting a 0.904% save percentage. The era and team around them is what did the 1997 team in here, as the team allowed 2.88 goals a game.
Game 4 goes to 2007
Final Result: 2007 in 4 games