Anaheim Ducks’ Stanley Cup Memories: June 6, 2007 – Hockey Writers – Ducks History

With this season’s final round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the high-flying Edmonton Oilers and the resilient Florida Panthers just around the corner, it seems fitting to remember the greatest night in Anaheim Ducks history: June 6, 2007. The night, of course, , when Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and company finished off the Ottawa Senators 6-2 in Game 5 to win their first championship in franchise history. Let’s take a look back at the game that capped a historic night for California hockey and cemented the Ducks in the history books.

The Series Was Mostly Ducks At This Point

The Ducks hold a 3-1 series lead in their home stretch, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn’t think they were going to wrap up the series in Game 5. After all, they dominated the first four games, and got themselves into real trouble on penalties. It was a consistent theme for the Ducks throughout that season, that they were the only ones who could get in the way of their final goal. They often lacked discipline, but they had the skills needed in every phase of the game to win.

The first four games of the series were a microcosm of the regular season, especially in terms of how everyone was contributing. Samuel Pahlsson, Rob Niedermayer, and Travis Moen, perhaps one of the best offensive lines of their generation, certainly the best in Ducks history, outworked and outplayed all of the Senators’ best players. Selanne and Andy McDonald have been high-flying forwards all season, and they made significant contributions in Games 1 and 4. Not to be outdone, Getzlaf, Perry, and Dustin Penner all made their impact felt as a talented, excited force. in each game.

Except for Game 3, the Senators couldn’t solve the puzzle that presented the Ducks all season and the playoffs: who are you trying to stop when nine of the top 12, and four of the six defensemen can beat you on any given night? Let’s not forget, of course, that if you were able to solve that puzzle, you had to figure out how to beat Jean-Sebastien Giguere in net, who played the likes of Markus Naslund, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Lidstrom, and others on his way to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Ducks started Game 5 right away and never looked back

An early power play opportunity gave the Ducks a great opportunity to put pressure on the Senators, and they took advantage. McDonald fired a shot past a defender and past Ray Emery, and the Ducks went up 1-0 less than five minutes into the first half. Rob Niedermayer drove into the net near the end of the period, causing a rebound, and the puck rebounded and the Ducks led 2-0 at halftime. Daniel Alfredsson carried the Senators on his back with a two-goal effort in the second period, but the Ducks kept pace and got two of their own in the middle frame, from Moen and Francois Beauchemin, who unleashed a melting arrow with 90 seconds left. in time to give the Ducks all the momentum they needed to get the job done. The game ended successfully at this point.

Moen capped his best playoff run with a second goal in the third period, and Perry made his mark on the game as a true sniper, with a well-placed sniper on the side of the blocker to beat Emery. The Ducks turned on the Senators all series and stifled them with their pressure and unique combination of skill and physicality. They didn’t stop chasing pucks and didn’t give it a chance to finish the check. In one shift, you had to deal with the speed of Selanne and McDonald, then the toughness of Pahlsson, Niedermayer, and Moen next. If that wasn’t enough, it was Getzlaf, Perry, and Penner coming at you, who were puck-hungry at age 21, 21, and 24, respectively. The Ducks couldn’t handle them when they were at the top of their game, and they were in the series-clinching Game 5.

The Fleet of Legends nets their first Stanley Cup

Scott Niedermayer, perhaps the Ducks’ greatest free agent acquisition of all, was the last captain of a team that included a string of first-ballot Hall-of-Famers. The Cup victory was the fourth, but the first for brothers Rob, Selanne, Giguere, and Pronger. Players who have put in the hard miles, overcome injuries, and endured heartbreak. From day one, these players led the Ducks in rushing and paved the way for the franchise’s next season. The current Ducks rally, however, has goals of reaching a peak one day.

World Class List Delivers Unforgettable World Class Performance

The Ducks’ championship run confirmed what many in the hockey world already knew about this team, which was that from start to finish, they were in a class of their own. Their 2006 offseason acquisition of Pronger, after losing him earlier in the 2006 Western Conference Final, really made it a Stanley Cup or bust season in Anaheim. The Red Wings may have had a better regular season and boasted an equally loaded roster, talent-wise, yet the Ducks were deep with top-level talent in every division of the game and the Stanley Cup was theirs to lose.

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The win was important on several levels. Big picture, it was the first championship won by a Southern California franchise, and the first team based in the Pacific time zone to win the championship (the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights, since joining them). From the franchise’s perspective, the win was sweet redemption after previous deep playoff runs in 2003 and 2006 ended in heartbreak. It also began an era that included years of Pacific Division titles and playoff appearances led by Niedermayer, Selanne, Getzlaf, and Perry. The Ducks haven’t won since then, and they still seem a long way off, but the smart and thoughtful roster construction that matched the game of the day, and the emphasis on building all three phases of the game served as a model for success for years to come.