While the Anaheim Ducks may have one Stanley Cup victory in their franchise history and were the first Californian team to accomplish that feat, there have been a few near misses or what-could-have-beens to add onto the pile of failed playoff runs. Last year's surprising run to the second round provided a great boost to a Ducks franchise that had been wallowing in a malaise for years, but if we're being honest with ourselves, the 2025-26 version of the roster was not on par with being a contender, despite pushing the Vegas Golden Knights to a Game 6. So instead, let's take a retrospective look at Ducks history and focus on three years where the Ducks probably deserved a better fate, or at the very least, punched a ticket to the Final dance.
2003
Regular season: Second in the Pacific Division with 95 points
Playoffs: Lost in Stanley Cup Final
After finishing last in the Pacific for three straight years and without Temmu Selanne, the 2002-2003 Mighty Ducks were the epitome of a Cinderella team. Paul Kariya led the team in scoring with 81 points (25 goals, 56 assists), which was a sizeable gap on his next closest teammates in Petr Sykora (59 points) and Steve Rucchin (58 points). However, J.S. Giguere was the one of the main factors to the Ducks' success with a .922 save percentage and 2.22 goals against in 65 regular season games. In the playoffs though, Giguere hit another gear and put up a goaltending performance for the ages. In the first round, Giguere only gave up 6 goals to the Detroit Red Wings. While he allowed 13 goals against in the second round against the Dallas Stars, Giguere's shutout performance in Game 4 allowed the Ducks to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. In the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Wild, Giguere only allowed one goal in the Ducks' four game sweep. However, the Stanley Cup Final against the New Jersey Devils was not the storybook ending the Ducks had hoped for. Despite Kariya's memorable Game 6 goal and forcing a decisive Game 7, the Cinderella Ducks fell just short. Giguere deservedly winning the Conn Smythe was a painful visage, but one that would be washed away just four years later.
2015
Regular season: First in the Pacific Division with 109 points
Playoffs: Lost in the Western Conference Finals
This was year three of Bruce Boudreau as head coach and the prime of the Ryan Getzlaf (70 points) and Corey Perry (55 points) era. Selanne may have finally retired, but many of your old favorites from the mid 2010s were on the roster like Jakob Silfverberg (39 points), Andrew Cogliano (29 points), Hampus Lindholm (34 points), Cam Fowler (34 points), Ben Lovejoy (11 points), and Rickard Rakell (31 points). With a young duo of John Gibson and Frederik Andersen in net, both boasting a .914 save percentage, the Ducks were primed to go on a deep playoff run. In the postseason the Ducks ran roughshod over both the Winnipeg Jets and the Calgary Flames, just losing one game in the process. The Western Conference Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks though, was an entirely different series. In the decisive Game 7, Jonathan Toews put the Blackhawks up early with two first period goals and even though the Ducks tried to crawl back, the damage was already done. The Ducks ended up losing the game 5-3 and a trip to the Final.
2017
Regular season: First in the Pacific Division with 105 points
Playoffs: Lost in the Western Conference Finals
After losing another Game 7 the previous season, Boudreau was out as Ducks head coach and Randy Carlyle was brought back into the organization, as the supposed man to finally get the team over the proverbial hump. While some of the periphery pieces may have changed over from the 2015 run, the core of the Ducks remained largely intact, and Gibson was tabbed as the number one goalie of the future. However, the 2017 playoffs felt like the last gasp for a Ducks team built around an aging Getzlaf, Perry, and Ryan Kesler. The Ducks swept the Calgary Flames in the opening round and had one of the most memorable comebacks, en route to beating a young Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in the second round. Despite the posturing from management and the accolades that Carlyle would bring to the team, the Ducks lost yet again in the Western Conference Finals, in just six games to the Nashville Predators, unofficially marking the end of an era.
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