Anaheim Ducks: The Franchise All-Time Bracket Matchup

3rd seed vs. 6th seed

2014-15

The 2014-15 Anaheim Ducks were coming off a tough seven-game loss to the rival LA Kings in the playoffs. It was a tough loss, which would, unfortunately, be the last of Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu‘s careers, as the team saw the two legends retire. After the loss, GM Bob Murray felt that the team was in a great position to build on the previous year’s success and added to a strong roster.

Just before the draft, Murray made a huge splash with the Vancouver Canucks, sending a package headlined by Nick Bonino up north in exchange for Ryan Kesler. Bonino showed that he had the potential to be a strong number two center behind Ryan Getzlaf, but adding Kesler, a former Selke Award winner brought a whole new dynamic to the team. The team also rebranded, modifying their alternate jersey to be their new home as well as making a white counterpart, ditching the wordmark logo, and making the webbed foot ‘D’ their full-time logo.

The team, once again, had a good season, winning their third straight Pacific Division title. The Anaheim Ducks were led again by Ryan Getzlaf’s 70 points and Corey Perry’s 55 after dealing with injuries, as well as the mumps. In his debut season, Kesler chipped in with 20 goals and 47 points, as well as provided the strength down the middle whilst going up against and doing a great job of shutting down the other team’s top offensive stars.

The team was also steadied by the goaltending of Frederik Andersen as well as the continued emergence of John Gibson. The Ducks’ goaltenders played behind a steady force on the blueline, a group that featured the likes of Francois Beauchemin, Cam Fowler, and Hampus Lindholm.

As the Ducks entered the playoffs, their first series was against the Winnipeg Jets, who were making their first playoff appearance since moving from Atlanta to Manitoba in 2011. After two wins in Anaheim, the Ducks went and faced the ‘White-Out’ in the ‘Peg. In game three, the Ducks came from behind to defeat Winnipeg 5-4 in Overtime, pretty much sealing the series as they defeated the Jets 5-2 in game four for the sweep.

The Ducks then faced off against another young Western Conference team in the Calgary Flames. Once again the Ducks showed their dominance by taking out the Flames in five games, capped off by Corey Perry’s overtime game-winner after being injured earlier in the game.

In the Conference Finals, the Ducks took on the Chicago Blackhawks, looking to make their first Stanley Cup final since winning it all in 2007. After trading wins in the first five games, the Ducks had a 3-2 series lead going to Chicago in game six. The two losses for the Ducks came in 3OT in game two and a 2OT in game four. Once again, the Ducks could not close out their opponent, as Chicago took game six on home ice, only to dominant in game seven, winning the series.

2013-14

The 2013-14 Anaheim Ducks marked the clubs 20th Season of existence, and the team had a great many special moments. The team brought back the original Mighty Ducks jersey against Ottawa, where they introduced the original team before the game. They got the opportunity to play in an NHL Stadium Series game against the rival LA Kings, whom they beat 3-0 at Dodger Stadium. And one of the biggest storylines was the final season for Teemu Selanne, highlighted by an unforgettable moment between Teemu and former Duck J.S. Giguere who enjoyed a final lap around the Honda Center on the last game of the regular season.

With all these storylines, the team still had one of their best seasons in team history. The Anaheim Ducks finished second that year in goals for and were led by captain Ryan Getzlaf’s 87 points and career high, 31 goals. Corey Perry also had one of his best seasons, scoring 43 goals and finishing with 82 points. The year also brought the emergence of many young players like Jakob Silfverberg, Pat Maroon, and Nick Bonino, who all played key roles for the team.

The team also saw success from young players on the defensive side as well. The team finished tenth that year in Goals Against, again being led by long-time netminder Jonas Hiller. However, when backup Viktor Fasth went down with injuries, a young goaltender by the name of Frederik Andersen stepped in and showed that he was ready to help the team win. The youth was also relevant of the defensive side, as players like Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatenen became integral parts of the team as well.

Going into the playoffs, another young goaltender emerged in John Gibson, as Jonas Hiller and Frederik Andersen both dealt with injuries and inconsistencies as the playoffs approached. In the first round, the Ducks took on the Dallas Stars. After a tough five games, the Ducks found themselves with a chance to finish off Dallas in game six. After finding themselves down 4-2 with three minutes remaining in the third period, the team got two huge goals from Nick Bonino and Devante Smith-Pelly to send the game into Overtime. Three minutes into the extra frame, Nick Bonino, once again, came up huge, scoring the series winning goal.

In the second round, the Anaheim Ducks faced off against the LA Kings, making it the first time the ‘Freeway Faceoff’ would be held in the playoffs. After trading road wins after the first four games, the Ducks would win game five at home, sending the series to LA for game six with two opportunities to win the series. In game six, the Ducks suffered a tough 2-1 loss, sending the series back to Orange County for a seventh game. In what would be the final game of the season, the Kings would blow the Ducks out 6-2, ending their season, and in the process ending the career of Anaheim Ducks legend Teemu Selanne.

Game 1: Both of these teams won their division and had great regular seasons. In 2015, the Ducks had a 62.2% winning percentage, which was impressive seeing how much the team struggled with injuries. A fairly clean bill of health in 2014 gives the team a 65.9% winning percentage on the season.

Game 1 goes to 2014

Game 2: The 2015 Ducks absolutely dominated in their first two playoff series, with a record of 8-1. They did lose in the conference finals but pushed the eventual Stanley Cup champions to seven games, giving them a winning percentage of 68.8%. The Ducks had two very tough and close series in 2014, winning in six in round one but falling in seven in round two, good for 53.9%.

Game 2 goes to 2015

Game 3: The Ducks were steady producers during the 2015 season, putting up 2.78 goals per game that season. However, the 2014 team had one of the best scoring seasons in franchise history, putting up 3.21 goals per game.

Game 3 goes to 2014

Game 4: In 2015, the Anaheim Ducks handed the full time starting job to second-year pro, Frederik Andersen, who was spelled out throughout the season by John Gibson. As the team tried to give more development time in minors (spoiler: he didn’t really need it), the Ducks also had veterans Jason LaBarbera and old friend Ilya Bryzgalov play a few games throughout the year. This group produced a combined 2.70 Goals against per game.

The player Andersen replaced was Jonas Hiller, who was still the man between the pipes for the Ducks when the 2014 season came around. Hiller once again had a solid season, in what was his last as a Duck, and was supported by the debuts of Andersen and Gibson, which was good for a 2.48 Goals against per game.

Game 4 goes to 2014

Game 5: The leading scorer for both of these years was the Captain, Ryan Getzlaf. In 2015 Getzlaf had one of his usual solid campaigns, posting 70 points. That is a great total for the Ducks captain, however, he was coming off one of the best seasons of his career in 2014, where he posted 87 points on the campaign.

Game 5 goes to 2014

Result: 2014 in 5 games