The Anaheim Ducks got their Disney ending after all.
They were named 14 years ago for a children’s movie. Their uniform colors were eggplant and jade. They had more mascots than any team in the history of sports. An animated Tinkerbell danced on the scoreboard after goals, sprinkling imaginary pixie dust.
To many sports fans, they will always be the Mighty Ducks, owned by Disney. But, in fact, they were sold two years ago. Their name was simplified. Their uniforms were changed. Their mascots — most of them, at least — were dismissed.
The 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks were hardly a Disney production. They slugged their way to the Stanley Cup, ruling the NHL with their fists. They led the league in penalties, fights and, in the end, knockouts.
Anaheim beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 in Game 5 on Wednesday night, killing one of sports’ most tired jokes. The Ducks are no longer funny. They are scary.
“It’s kind of surreal right now,” said Randy Carlyle, the Anaheim coach, who might have been speaking for hockey fans everywhere. “Honest to God, it’s like: ‘It’s happening.’ “
This is not just the first Stanley Cup in Anaheim history. It is also the first Stanley Cup ever won by a team on the West Coast. The NHL, which has long tried to make inroads in California, now has one success story.
In the closing seconds of the third period, orange confetti fell on fans wearing orange T-shirts and waving orange towels in Orange County. The crowd bellowed as if the Angels were winning the World Series across the street.
“Hockey has gained a lot of support in California,” Anaheim right wing Teemu Selanne said. “I think this will be a huge, huge boost.”
The 2007 Stanley Cup prompted a lot of reminiscence about 1993. It was in 1993 that the Los Angeles Kings made it to the Stanley Cup finals and that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks were founded, sparking a hockey boom in Southern California.
It was also in 1993 that the Montreal Canadiens beat the Kings in the finals, the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup title. The roar reached a peak Wednesday night when MVP Scott Niedermayer passed the Stanley Cup to his brother, Rob. Scott, an Anaheim defenseman, has won four Cups. Rob, a center, won his first.
The decisive game was emblematic of the entire series, with Anaheim controlling the action from the opening faceoff. The Ducks scored two goals in each period.
Twice in the second period, Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson cut Anaheim’s lead to one goal. But both times the Ducks responded almost immediately.
