Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Tickets - NHL Hockey Tickets
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The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim - NHL

When founded in 1993, the Mighty Ducks were owned by The Walt Disney Company. The team's name was chosen from the Disney movie The Mighty Ducks (much to the disdain of many traditionalists), about a group of misfit teens who form an amateur hockey team. Disney has subsequently also made an animated series called The Mighty Ducks, featuring a fictional Mighty Ducks of Anaheim team that consists of actual (albeit anthropomorphized) ducks.

With their first draft pick, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim selected Paul Kariya 4th overall in Round 1 of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Kariya would become the cornerstone of young Mighty Ducks franchise, the team captain, and would nearly lead them to Stanley Cup glory in 2003 before his departure for the Colorado Avalanche.

In 1997, the Mighty Ducks made their first playoff appearance and defeated the Phoenix Coyotes in seven games in the Western Conference quarterfinals. However, they lost in the semifinals to the Detroit Red Wings.

Their best playoff performance in franchise history was during the 2002-2003 season which saw the Ducks come within one game of the Stanley Cup. They swept defending Stanley Cup champs the Detroit Red Wings, beat the Dallas Stars in the quarterfinals, defeated the Minnesota Wild in the Conference Finals, and finally fell to the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Finals in 7 games. For his heroics which had kept Anaheim in the playoffs many times, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most-valuable-player of the playoffs.

During the following season with the NHL CBA in its final year and as the National Hockey League labor dispute (2004-05) loomed, the Mighty Ducks were plagued with low attending figures despite their magical playoff run the year before and failed to make the playoffs. During summer 2004, as the NHL and the NHLPA were seemingly headed towards a lockout, Disney tried to sell the team but recieved a low offer of $40 million (USD), less than the franchise's original worth. Several quotes from several well-paid Mighty Ducks players in the press that stated that the Ducks were a safe franchise were seen as completely out of touch with the NHL economic situation and the precarious situation of the Ducks club.

In 2005, Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli of Irvine, California bought the Ducks from the Disney for a reported $75 million (USD). Samueli has pledged not to move the team from Anaheim. Brian Burke, former Vancouver Canucks General Manager and President, was appointed General Manager and Executive Vice President of the Mighty Ducks on June 20, 2005.

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