Rob (left) and Scott Niederymayer
June 6, 2007: The Anaheim Ducks win the Stanley Cup, in their 14th season of play. The Los Angeles Kings had been playing for 40 years, and hadn't won one.
The NHL granted Anaheim an expansion franchise for the 1993-94 season, giving the Los Angeles metropolitan area 2 teams in each of the "Big Four" sports, although the 1995-2015 NFL interregnum messed that up. Given how few people really supported the Los Angeles Kings, a 2nd L.A.-area team was probably a bad idea. Naming them after the Disney film The Mighty Ducks was definitely a bad idea. Officially naming them "The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" was an even worse one.
But Disney promoted them well enough that they drew well. It took them 4 seasons to reach the Playoffs, and to win a Playoff series. In 2003, they won the Western Conference title, but lost the Stanley Cup Finals to the New Jersey Devils in 7 games.
For the 2005-06 season, they acquired Scott Niedermayer, an All-Star defenseman who had won 3 Cups with the Devils, and named him Captain. He joined his younger brother, center Rob Niedermayer, who had been on the other side of the 2003 Finals, and was a rookie on the Florida Panthers when they reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996. They already had right wing Teemu Selänne, "The Finnish Flash"; and goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who was named winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the 2003 Playoffs, despite losing the Finals. In 2006, they reached the Conference Finals again, losing to the Edmonton Oilers.
For the 2006-07 season, they were rebranded as simply "The Anaheim Ducks." Their arena, the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, was renamed the Honda Center. They dropped the stupid duckbill goalie mask logo. They changed team colors. And they signed All-Star defenseman Chris Pronger. Under head coach Randy Carlyle, a former defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Winnipeg Jets, they beat the Minnesota Wild, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Detroit Red Wings to reach the Finals.
Their opponents would be the Ottawa Senators. Although the original Senators had won 9 Stanley Cups between 1903 and 1927, they went out of business in 1934, and the new team, starting in 1992, was the losing Eastern Conference Finalist in 2003. This would be their 1st Stanley Cup Finals. Ironically, given that their home was the capital of Canada, the Ducks had more Canadians on their roster; and the Senators' Captain, Daniel Alfredsson, was from Sweden, making him the 1st non-North American to captain a Finals team.
While some other Canadian teams' Finals defeats seem suspicious, part of the belief that NHL Commissioner won't let another Canadian team win the Cup, this series was no contest, and not suspicious at all. The Ducks led 2-1 after 2 periods in Game 1 in Anaheim, but Travis Moen scored with 2:51 left in regulation to give the Ducks a 3-2 win. Samuel Pahlsson scored the only goal of Game 2, with 4:44 left in regulation.
Game 3 was held at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa. The Senators won, 5-3. But Dustin Penner scored in the 3rd period to give the Ducks Game 4, 3-2. The Ducks won the clinching Game 5, 6-2 in Anaheim, getting goals from 6 different players: Andy McDonald, Rob Niedermayer, Traivs Moen, Francois Beauchemin, Moen and Corey Perry.
Bettman handed first the Conn Smythe Trophy, then the Cup, to Scott Niedermayer. It was his 4th Cup. Over the course of the Playoffs, Scott had 3 goals, 8 assists, and a plus/minus of +11; while Rob had 5 goals, 5 assists, and a +9 -- but also a Playoff-leading 39 penalty minutes.
The Ducks thus became the 1st West Coast team to win the Stanley Cup since the 1925 Victoria Cougars, and beat the Kings to L.A.'s 1st Cup by, as it turned out, 5 years. It made Los Angeles only the 6th metro area to win World Championships in all of the "Big Four" sports: New York had achieved it with the 1970 Knicks, Philadelphia with the 1974 Flyers, Detroit with the 1989 Pistons, Chicago with the 1991 Bulls, and Boston with the 2002 New England Patriots. (UPDATE: From 2007 through 2025, it has also been achieved by Washington, St. Louis, Dallas and Miami.)
Scott Niedermayer's 27 and Teemu Selanne's 8 have been retired by the Ducks. So has the 9 of Paul Kariya, who was on their 2003 Stanley Cup Finalists, but not the 2007 team. The franchise does not yet have a team Hall of Fame.
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June 6, 2007 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-1 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Chien-Ming Wang outpitched the once and future Yankee Javier Vázquez. Bobby Abreu hit a home run. Derek Jeter went 1-for-4. Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at Shea Stadium. Former Yankee Orlando "El Duque" Hernández started for the Mets, and pitched 6 shutout innings. But Aaron Heilman blew it in the 7th. Adam Eaton was the winning pitcher. Jimmy Rollins went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, 2 stolen bases, and 3 RBIs.
* The Washington Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.
* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-4 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.
* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-2 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.
* The Chicago Cubs beat their nearby rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 10-0 at Ameriquest Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Justin Verlander pitched 7 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and Bobby Seay and Todd Jones completed the 5-hit shutout.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Houston Astros, 8-7 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Brandon Webb pitched 7 innings of 6-hit shutout ball. Brandon Lyon allowed a hit in the 8th, and José Valverde pitched a hitless 9th, preserving the 7-hit shutout. Barry Bonds drew a walk as a pinch-hitter.
* The San Diego Padres beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Los Angeles Angels, 8-5 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at the McAfee Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known). David Ortiz went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 9-5 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.
Football was out of season. Game 3 of the NBA Finals was played at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Utah Jazz beat the Chicago Bulls, 104-93. Karl Malone scored 37 points. But the Bulls would win the title in 6 games.
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