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Former Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Ryan Getzlaf and Andy McDonald celebrate after McDonald's goal during the first period of Anaheim's cup winning game.
McDonald led Anaheim in playoff goals (14) while Getzlaf lead the Ducks in playoff points (17). Nine former Cincinnati AHL players qualified to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. A total of 14 former Cincinnati players played for Anaheim this season.
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Andy McDonald, Chris Kunitz, Ryan Getzlaf, Dustin Penner, Corey Perry, Samuel Pahlsson, Ryan Shannon, Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Ilya Bryzgalov all spent time in Cincinnati and will see their names affixed to the cup. Tim Brent and Aaron Rome had played for Anaheim during the regular season and were on Anaheim's back-up roster for the playoffs, but didn't play enough regular season or playoff games to be automatically included. The team can petition the NHL to have them included, but that is up to Anaheim's management.
The Anaheim Ducks completed their task by defeating the Eastern Conference Champion Ottawa Senators 4 games to 1 with a 6-2 win on home ice at the Honda Center. The Ducks will forever be known as the first California team to claim the cup.
Anaheim followed the exploits of 6 other Cincinnati AAA level players. Former IHL Cincinnati Cyclones Erik Cole, Craig Adams and Josef Vasicek joined former AHL Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Mike Commodore, Matt Cullen and Martin Gerber as members of the 2005-06 Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes. Miami Redhawk Kevyn Adams was also a part of that championship team.
For Cincinnati hockey fans, the victory is certainly bittersweet. These were players that we watched develop into the stars they are today as they played in Cincinnati. But most Cincinnati hockey fans know that the days of watching future NHL stars have come to a disappointing end. Perhaps someday in the future Cincinnati will be fortunate enough to support another AHL franchise, but that future is very bleak and highly unlikely at this time. |
