Last Word On Hockey brings our Team of the Decade series. We will dive into the best player at each position this decade for every organization. The biggest and best at each position, with the most memorable moments of the decade. Here is the Anaheim Ducks decade lineup.
Anaheim Ducks Decade Team
The Anaheim Ducks entered the 2010 decade prepped and ready to claim championship after championship. Despite making appearances in the Western Conference Finals, they failed to make it into the Stanley Cup Final again after their championship season in 2007.
Even though they failed to make it to the big show, they had a very successful decade. They had five consecutive Pacific Division championships, three Western Conference Finals appearances and came within one point of the team’s first President trophy. So, here is the Anaheim Ducks decade team that helped accomplish that.
Left-Wing: Andrew Cogliano
Andrew Cogliano came to the Ducks in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers in 2011. He quickly made his way into the hearts of the fans. Having only ever missed two games in his entire tenure with the Ducks. At one point one of the leagues Iron Men. Cogliano really found his stride on the Ducks shut down line. He played alongside Jakob Silfverberg and Ryan Kesler. He was also a very talented penalty killer, managing to tie Paul Kariya‘s short-handed goal record of 16 before he was traded to the Dallas Stars in the 2018-19 season.
Centre: Ryan Getzlaf
Ryan Getzlaf is the longest-tenured captain in Ducks history. He is the only player to make 1000 NHL games in a Ducks jersey. A Stanley Cup Champion and he is quickly closing the gap on Teemu Selanne for the all-time points leader for the Ducks. What more can be said?
He currently still centers the Ducks top line and leads the team in overall points as of the postponement of the NHL season. Getzlaf has also lead the team in points every season since the 2013-14 season. Surely to be the last player in the Ducks organization to wear his number 15, and will more than likely end up in the hall of fame one day. His work this entire decade makes him an absolute no-brainer to be on this list. A leader for the team as they went through all of the achievements listed earlier. This was an absolute slam dunk.
Right-Wing: Teemu Selanne
This should be a no brainer for anyone even remotely familiar with the Ducks organization. Teemu Selanne is the all-decade top-line right wing. Selanne played parts of 15 seasons with the Mighty Ducks/Anaheim Ducks organization. He holds the record for goals (457), points (988), game-winning goals (77) and power-play goals (182). He also holds the honour of being the first number that the Ducks retired when his number 8 was hung from the rafters on January 11, 2015.
Although he retired at the end of the 2013/14 season, he definitely earned his spot as the top-line right-winger in any fan of the Anaheim Ducks books. All the way up to the end, Selanne was a crucial part to the Ducks team. He had 80 points in the 2010-11 season and followed that up with 66 the following year. His numbers fell off a bit after that, however, Selanne was very clearly also a leader on the team. Not only that, but also a mentor to almost everyone that was around him. His legacy will live on forever and his impact was definitely felt by the Anaheim Ducks this decade.
Left Defenceman: Cam Fowler
Cam Fowler was the Ducks first-round draft pick in the 2010 NHL entry draft. He was personally groomed by one of the best defensemen to ever play the game, Scott Niedermayer. At 28 years old he is already playing in his 10th NHL season. He has surpassed Niedermayer in Ducks all-time points by a defenseman and he has the most games played by a defenseman as well. He is a young player but he is a veteran on the blueline for the Ducks, often seen quarterbacking the Ducks powerplay as well as being one of the more offensive defensemen.
Fowler played this entire decade with the Ducks and saw just about everything. For most of this decade, he has been someone the Ducks rely on. For big minutes, for other defencemen to look to, Fowler is an important piece to Anaheim through and through. His spot on this list has been hard-earned, but playing an entire decade with the franchise and in the role he has, it is well earned.
Right Defenceman: Josh Manson
Josh Manson has shown great skill and tact since he was drafted in the 2011 entry draft. Especially in the last two years where the leadership on the Ducks roster has been injured and unable to play. Manson has stepped up into a leadership role, earning a letter on his jersey at the beginning of this season.
He is the perfect counterpart to Cam Fowler’s offensive mindedness. Manson is a stay at home defenseman. He chips in on the offence occasionally but he has never had more than seven goals in a single season. But that very same season he had 30 helpers. Much like the same reasons Fowler is on the Anaheim Ducks decade team, Manson has spent almost the entire decade with the Ducks. His roll over the decade has been huge and the Ducks have leaned on him quite a bit. Making him a solid fit for the right defenceman slot.
Goaltender: John Gibson
John Gibson is the all-star, Vezina candidate, Jennings winning elite goaltender that almost any team in the NHL would love to have on their roster. He has the uncanny knack to steal games that the Ducks have had no chance of winning. After Frederik Andersen was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs following the pairs William M. Jennings trophy win in the 2015-16 season, Gibson has been the man in Anaheim.
He is the backstop for this team’s hopes in a rebuild. In his seven-year NHL career, he has had five consecutive 20+ win seasons, including the postponed season. He led the Ducks into the Western Conference Finals in 2017. Unfortunately, they fell short after an untimely injury to Gibson. He has just begun to enter his prime, he is going to be the face of the Ducks franchise for many years to come. However, everything he did all of this decade was still very impressive. He has been one of the top goalies in the league for a few seasons now, and that alone should put him on this list.
Honourable mentions
It hasn’t been an easy task building the Anaheim Ducks decade team. The Ducks had a really good decade, incredibly dominating throughout most of it. Frederik Andersen proved to be the turning point in goaltending. Corey Perry who had a 50 goal season and was half of the Ducks twins. Francois Beauchemin had three different tenures with the Ducks organization. These players weren’t forgotten, all of them are still fan favourites.
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