Whats the deal with the Mighty Ducks?
Did they originate as a small local team like they did in the movies?
You’ll have to excuse the ignorance as the NHL isnt big in Australia, which is understandable.
First there was a kids movie by Disney called “The Mighty Ducks” starring Emilio Estevez and Joshua Jackson. It came out in 1992 and spawned a couple of sequels. It did very well at the box office and was probably Dinsey’s nost succesful live-action kids movie since the Kurt Russel/Jodie Foster era.
In 1993 Disney was awarded the rights to start up an NHL expansion team in Anaheim. And they named the team the Mighty Ducks. The year before the San Jose Sharks came into being and their merchandise was very popular with kids who didn’t know the first thing about hockey or have a particular team affiliation. I guess Disney was aiming at that crowd. Most of the hockey world thought it was a big joke. Which it was. But time has moved on, the movies faded into the past, and Mighty Ducks sounds a lot better than any of the latest expansion team nicknames.
Just to be clear on this: The Mighty Ducks hockey team has nothing to do with the movies apart from the fact that the owner of the team is Disney who made the movie “The Mighty Ducks” long before the NHL team existed.
Secondly, “LET’S GO ISLANDERS!!!”
mcbiggins is correct. The hockey team and the movie of the same name are related only as a merchandising concept.
Any old-time fan of the Islanders should have a soft spot of the Mighty Ducks. An early pro hockey team on Long Island was the Long Island Ducks hockey team of the Eastern Hockey League. The mighty Duck mentioned the Long Island Ducks when people questioned their choice of name.
The Ducks were started primarily because Bruce McNall, then the owner of the L.A. Kings and later a convicted felon, felt that the Kings needed a local rival because his team (with Wayne Gretzky) was now popular.
There was a brand new arena in Anaheim to help this out. Many have thought that the L.A. Clippers would move down to Anaheim so they wouldn’t be playing in the shadow of the more popular Lakers, but the Clippers owner is far too stupid to take advantage of that.
Totally unrelated, but I went to Junior High in the Mpls suburb of Edina, where the “Bad” team in the movie is from. A really terrible place to live, actually, and the reputation of that town’s hockey culture is completely apt.
From a financial standpoint, Sterling is one of the smartest owners in the NBA. His team sucks. No one shows up and he still makes huge profits. By staying put, they were able to get into the Staples Center which has better profit generating potential (mostly due to higher prices).
Sterling would probably have made less money moving to Anaheim.
Plus, I would have then felt obligated to root for this jerk’s team so I’m glad he stayed in LA.
Isn’t that the same team that Hammerhahn (sp?) the goalie with whose wife Paul…er, anyway, wasn’t this the team? 
It was Hanrahan, and he was wearing a green yellow white “DUCKS” jersey. I don’t know if they said what city his team was from.