Getting to Know: The Anaheim Ducks (again)

Who: Anaheim Ducks (5-3-1, 11 points) at The Mighty Predators of Nashville (4-4-1, 9 points)
Where: 501 Broadway
When: Saturday, 7pm
What: Awesome


Quick. What comes to mind when you think of the Anaheim Ducks?

If you're like most people you probably think of the awesome Disney movies or maybe Teemu Selanne.

For me though, I think of the most memorable week and a half in Preds history last season. I think of Bobby Ryan stomping on Jon Blum's skate. I think of their pathetically weak goal horn. I think of Shea Weber and Jerred Smithson, and then Game 6 in all its awesomeness.

New year though, and new story. We are currently a shell of the team that knocked the Ducks out in April and are looking for anything positive to hang our hats on. Well, the 5-3 win last night helped.

Anyways, as we do sometimes, we will be profiling the Ducks and everything that truly matters about their team, fans, and city. Enjoy.

 Origin: In 1993, the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were founded by The Walt Disney Company (hence the team name) and began play as the Western Conference half of that year's expansion class along with the Florida Panthers. The team drafted Paul Kariya in 1994 and he would be the face of the franchise for the better part of a decade. In 2005, Disney sold the team to a new local ownership group and the name was changed to the current Anaheim Ducks, along with their current logo, jerseys, and color scheme.

City: Well, not much to discuss here. Personally I live about 30 miles outside of Anaheim and can vouch for this one, as can anyone else who has been there for anything besides theme park purposes. Anaheim is, for all intents and purposes, the "capital" of Orange County, which is basically just a huge suburb of Los Angeles. The city itself is the 10th biggest in California and is known worldwide for Disneyland. The "city" of Anaheim doesn't really have any kind of identity, and neither does any city in Orange County, as they don't really have anything to hang their hats on other than thinking it's not a part of LA. I'm going to avoid the "Housewives", "The OC", "Laguna Beach", etc. stereotypes and just stick with saying Anaheim is pretty lame in general. They get pretty rowdy from time to time for baseball (Angels) games, so props on that one, but that doesn't count for much here.

Fans: Unlike their Los Angeles neighbors to the north, Ducks fans have a severe reputation for being fair-weather and passive. I was at Game 2 in Anaheim (the Bobby Ryan stomp game) during last year's playoffs and I wasn't sure what to expect from an away crowd for a playoff game. Well, aside from the fact that it wasn't any louder than many regular season games in Nashville, I didn't encounter any real kind of intimidation which was kind of disappointing because I wanted to see what the Orange County crowd could dish out at me. Other than my friend I went with who is a Ducks fan, the only person near me who even tried to give me a hard time was a typical OC kid that was in skater clothes and a 3/4 sideways hat. Clearly repping the Ducks to the fullest yo. Right. Also another side note, their arena looks like Macy's in Cool Springs and that annoys me.

Famous People: Rebecca Black, Gwen Stefani

Well there it is folks, all you need to know about the Ducks, version 2011-2012.

Prediction/Abrupt Ending: Preds 3-2. We finally played a good game and I'm enjoying the momentum we got. In reality, who knows?

Also, Erat is playing finally. Score.

Go Preds.