The power of the movies is an impressive thing and can even help mold reality. Back in 1992, Disney put out a hit called The Mighty Ducks in order to capitalize on the growing popularity of hockey. It made an even greater impact than expected as it ended up becoming something tangible as the NHL’s Mighty Ducks of Anahiem.
For several generations of hockey fans, the Mighty Ducks is a phenomenon which gives wonderful feelings of nostalgia. The film, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Joshua Jackson, sees a reluctant coach serve out his community service to lead a plucky group of youngsters to a championship. Along the way, there’s comedic moments and lessons learned – but its success at the box office caused Disney to consider something else – owning an NHL team. Hockey was growing in non-traditional markets thanks to Wayne Gretzky joining the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 and merchandise sales were growing exponentially.
In December, 1992, Disney was granted a franchise as the NHL was expanding from 24 to 26 teams. Also welcomed were the Florida Panthers, who were owned by Wayne Huizenga of Blockbuster Video fame. Named the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, traditional hockey fans grumbled – but the marketing was certainly not directed towards them. Set to play out of the Arrowhead Pond, Ron Wilson would be their head coach and their first general manager was Jack Ferreira. The logo was a cool duck-influenced goalie mask with crossed sticks behind it and the team colors of eggplant, jade, and white were unique for hockey at the time.
Not Much to Choose From
The 1992 NHL Expansion Draft had been a disastrous affair for the incoming Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning, so the rules were changed a bit to allow Anaheim and Florida to take three goalies, eight defensemen, and 13 forwards instead of two, seven, and 12 at each respective position.
In a snake-style draft, the Panthers grabbed John Vanbiesbrouck first and ended up with a player that helped them to early success. The Mighty Ducks went with a strong trio of goalies over their first three picks and grabbed a franchise favorite in Guy Hebert (from the St. Louis Blues) along with Glenn Healy (New York Rangers) and Ron Tugnutt (Quebec Nordiques).
Next up were the blueliners and the Ducks managed to get a decent mix of youth and experience. From the defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens, they snagged promising Sean Hill after taking former Soviet standout Alexei Kasatonov from the New Jersey Devils.
The remaining D-men selected were Bill Houlder (Buffalo Sabres), Bobby Dollas (Detroit Red Wings), Randy Ladouceur (Hartford Whalers), David Williams (San Jose Sharks), Dennis Vial (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Mark Ferner (Ottawa Senators).
Up front, there were few players available that were going to fill the net up with rubber. Anaheim’s first forward taken was Steven King of the New York Rangers and he was followed by Troy Loney of the Pittsburgh Penguins – who also became the team’s first captain not long after being a part of two straight Stanley Cup victories. Toughness was added in the form of Stu Grimson (Chicago Blackhawks) before Tim Sweeney (Boston Bruins) and Terry Yake (Whalers) heard their names called. In what seemed to be a smart choice, Jarrod Skalde was plucked away from the Devils and he was followed by Bob Corkum (Buffalo), Anatoli Semenov (Vancouver Canucks), Joe Sacco (Toronto Maple Leafs), Lonnie Loach (Los Angeles Kings), Jim Thomson (Kings), Trevor Halverson (Washington Capitals), and Robin Bawa (San Jose).
Both Healy and Vial would never suit up for Anaheim due to a second phase of the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft the next day that was meant to help out struggling recent expansion teams. The Lightning laid claim to Healy while the Senators opted for Vial.
Drafting a Future Franchise Player
With their first selection in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft on June 26, the Mighty Ducks took Hobey Baker Awared winner Paul Kariya out of the University of Maine. While he would stay in school and avoid the struggles of being on a first-year club, savvy collectors were already stacking up on his rookie card which had been part of the 1992-93 Upper Deck high number series.
While today’s hobbyists may find it strange, the 1990s were a time when undrafted players could be included in NHL and NHLPA-licensed trading card products. Kariya was featured there while playing for Canada at the 1993 IIHF World Junior Championship and he would also show up in some 1993-94 releases for Fleer, Upper Deck, O-Pee-Chee, and Classic which had alternative licensees in the form of the NCAA and Hockey Canada.
The Mighty Ducks drafted six other players that would appear in at least one NHL game, the most notable of the bunch being 27-year-old Russian goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov – who was then almost ready for big league action. Perhaps the most curious, though, was a Russian skater named Anatoli Fedotov that had already debuted with the Winnipeg Jets. As strange as it seems, he had hit the ice against the Edmonton Oilers on January 23, 1993 and recorded a pair of assists after being called up from the Moncton Hawks. Since he was only under an AHL contract, he was deemed ineligible for future NHL action (or NHL/NHLPA cards) at the time and was sent back down to the minors with it being made clear that he was eligible to be drafted by any team when the opportunity arose.
The Mighty Ducks also added a handful of free agents and signed deals with Peter Douris, and Shaun Van Allen – who had been putting up monster numbers over the past two seasons in the AHL for the Cape Breton Oilers. A trade in August also saw Todd Ewen and Patrik Carnback come over from Montreal for a third round pick in 1994. Additionally, Myles O’Connor was inked to a deal after several years of struggling to make it in the Devils organization.
The First Mighty Ducks Cards
With their lineup almost set, several of the Mighty Ducks were shoehorned into some of the early 1993-94 hockey card releases. With Pro Set no longer in the market, the first series of Score was the first set collectors would be able to get their hands on in the late summer months. Most of that season’s early cards would show the Mighty Ducks in posed studio shots since production for them began well before the team hit the ice.
Score was a bit of a disjointed collection that year to say the least as two different series were issued and each one had American and Canadian versions. For Series One, there is a Team Logo card which listed the selections from the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft followed by only Hebert and Hill. As for Series Two, it was much better (and stranger) – but we’ll get to that.
Quacked Ice
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim finished up their first training camp and were ready to debut at home against the Red Wings on Oct. 8, 1993.While they lost by a brutal 7-2 margin, Hill scored the first goal in franchise history during a second period power play. The wait for their first victory was not long as it came in their third outing five days later while facing the Oilers.
As the 1993-94 campaign progressed, collectors would have a large assortment of products to choose from when visiting their local card store and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim received extensive coverage in many of those sets. Many of these came in the form of a second series and boasted action shots.
There were a couple exceptions to this rule, though. First, we had a big debut with 1993-94 Donruss and these full-bleed cards were an instant hit. Featuring 15 members of the team and leading off the base set, you also had action photos on the along with only stats and vitals. Toward the end of the checklist, there was a commemorative card for the home opener.
For an additional chase, there was a Special Print insert card of Tugnutt featuring a large foil logo that was limited to 20,000 copies.
A few months later, there was a second series for 1993-94 Donruss and the only Mighty Ducks card to be found was in the base set was of Garry Valk – who had been claimed off waivers from Vancouver days before the season started.
With Donruss taking over for Pro Set, there was also an opportunity for the company to bring their premium Leaf Set brand to hockey collectors. Hitting around the time the season began, it featured a fan favorite design and turned up the chase factor with popular insert collections. Series One did not have a single Mighty Ducks player due to timing, but there was a Team Logo card to pull. With Series Two, 11 members of the team got cards and the backs featured a cropped image of the player in front of localized imagery.
One of the situations that came about following the Pro Set bankruptcy was that the recently-resurrected Parkhurst brand was homeless. When licensing was opening up in 1990, Dr. Brian Price had aimed to be a stand-alone manufacturer since he held the rights to the Parkie name – but he was shut out and found a way in by being a sub-licensee to Pro Set in 1991-92. Now looking for another company to work with, Price struck up a temporary relationship with Upper Deck and Parkhurst was back again for a third year.
With a base set designed to display nicely in binders where nine players from each team appeared in each of the two series, both checklists start with nine Mighty Ducks players. Series One had a rookie card for Carnback while Ferner shows up in the next one. For the second straight season, Parkhurst boasted an Emerald Ice parallel and they came once in standard packs.
Fleer enjoyed a successful first season of making NHL cards in 1992-93 as Ultra’s hockey debut proved to be a collector favorite. However, the sequel was a little bit drab and lackluster by comparison and the first series only had two Mighty Ducks – Hill and Yake – depicted in their previous jerseys. Luckily, Series Two was a proper update and we received 15 members of the club which including updated cards of Yake and Hill.
The company also went a little bit out of the box with a second product that year in the form of 1993-94 Fleer Power Play. Believing there was a high nostalgia factor for the oversized cards that Topps had produced in the past, Fleer’s experiment was a one-year wonder here which came over two series. With a simple base set design, these tall boys were not a hit and not as easy to store as conventional cards.
For Mighty Ducks fans, though, this was a nice early-season option since 15 players made it into the Series One set and this is the only play you can get a card of Loach in their jersey. While he was outstanding at the minor league level, he was not with the club at the start of their expansion season and only promoted for a three-game stint in February. For 1993-94 Fleer Power Play Series Two, six Mighty Ducks were included and Dollas finally gets his rookie card. Why is that significant? Well, it was a journey that took a decade as he debuted with the Winnipeg Jets back in 1983-84 and had already played in 170 NHL contests before joining Anaheim!
Collectors in this era also had to contend with the emotions of not having a conventional O-Pee-Chee or Topps set to build. Instead, there were two Premier sets for 1993-94. Built to compete with the changing marketplace, the Premier brand had three years of success as a Canadian issue which trickled down to American collectors and the main difference at this point was that the version distributed up north would have bilingual backs.
There were no Mighty Ducks cards to be found in 1993-94 Premier, but the sequel was loaded up with them. In fact, the 264-card collection had 20 players from Anaheim and each on had a Gold parallel. Instead of giving the checklist card at the end of the set the foil treatment, Topps/O-Pee-Chee added another Ducks card for O’Connor just to shake things up.
Topps also put out Stadium Club for the hockey market once again in 1993-94. While it never matched the lofty status among hockey collectors as compared to other sports, this effort did move with the times. Like Premier, there were no Mighty Ducks cards in Series One and there were lots to pull in the subsequent issue. Interesting, this is the only set which offers a the only Bawa rookie card and he was the first player of Indian heritage in NHL history.
A pair of parallel versions of each Mighty Ducks card in 1993-94 Topps Stadium Club exist. The first was issued once in every 24 packs and had a holographic First Day Issue stamp. A Members Only set was also available to those that were part of the Stadium Club and each of those cards had a small foil stamp on them.
The late-season release of 1993-94 Score Series Two was a bit of a shock to anyone who expected consistency from a card manufacturer. Instead of featuring the same design, it was a new one entirely with blue borders and printed on a glossy stock.
The numbering continued from the earlier series and this time, there were 15 Mighty Ducks included with the two from Series One receiving new cards. Once again, there were American and Canadian streams and each pack had a Gold Rush parallel. All told, it was an odd decision to change things up midseason and there may not be any examples of this tactic being employed ever again in the hockey market.
From a design standpoint, the 1993-94 Pinnacle base set is a genuine snoozefest and the real draw with it came from a good chase card program. Like many products that year, there were two series and the first only had three Mighty Ducks in posed studio shots. Oddly, only eight more players would appear in the second part’s set. One thing that started to become apparent at this time was that collectors were frustrated with trying to build American and Canadian sets – especially when the only real variation was with text.
In terms of inserts, 1993-94 Pinnacle did have a six-card collection dedicated to the two new expansion teams with an Anaheim player on one side and a member of the Florida Panthers on the other. Loney was included in the scarcer Captains offering and the American and Canadian editions bear different photos. A promotional version of Yake’s base card was issued to drum up interest for Series 2 and it has a cut corner like the promos the company was churning out in that era.
The last major hockey card issue to be covered for 1993-94 comes from Upper Deck. Switching to a glossier stock and with colors popping even more on cards, there were two series to collect. As expected, the first cards out had studio photos and there were seven to track down – including the only Fedotov rookie card. 
Series Two had a lot more to offer with 10 Mighty Ducks base cards and there were additional options as six SP-branded cards were added as a one-per-pack insert (more in jumbo packs).
There is also one release from this season which was not distributed in a conventional manner. The 1993-94 EA Sports set was a bit of an oddity since a small assortment of cards were placed into boxes of the NHL ’94 Hockey video game along with an offer card to purchase a factory set. Due to the timing of its production, six players are shown in their old jerseys and there are additional Team Logo and Expansion-themed cards to track down.
Strangely, Shtalenkov did not receive a rookie card until the 1994-95 season. Despite appearing in 10 games with the Mighty Ducks and debuting on Nov. 14, 1993 against Vancouver, collectors had to wait. This may have been related to a licensing issue as he was part of minor league sets from Classic that year. In 1992-93, Classic delayed the appearance of Detroit’s Dallas Drake on cards due to an existing contract, so this may have been a similar situation.
Better Than Expected – But Years from Contending
As their inaugural season progressed, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim started to become competitive and strung together a four-game winning streak in November. On Dec. 15, 1993, Hebert recorded the first shutout in franchise history with 38 saves against the Maple Leafs and Tugnutt posted another while facing the Islanders less than two weeks later. Kasatonov was chosen to represent the club at the 1994 NHL All-Star Game, but a lack of overall offensive power did not help their chances at a playoff spot – despite sitting as high as eighth place in the Western Conference in mid-February. Around this time, the team sent Tugnutt to the Canadiens in exchange for Stephan Lebeau – a once-promising prospect whose production was suddenly in steep decline. A month later, Kasatonov was moved to the Blues for a future draft pick and Maxim Bets – who only played in three games with Anaheim before heading to the minors and returning to Russia in 1996.
With ten games to go in the season, Anaheim was prepared to be spoilers and went 6-4-0 to finish fourth in the Pacific Division. They were far out of a playoff spot at 33-46-5, but still tied the league record for most wins by an expansion team alongside the Panthers, who only missed the postseason by a single point by going 33-34-17. It would take 23 years for first-year team to have a better record as the Vegas Golden Knights won 51 contests back in 2017-18 before making a magical run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Affordable Nostalgia
Putting together a collection of the original Mighty Ducks of Anaheim is extremely affordable due to a lack of superstar power – even after 30 years. Since team members were barely featured on inserts at the time and only a few sets had parallels, the costs for most (outside of the Stadium Club First Day cards) remain low.
All told, the legacy of the original Mighty Ducks of Anaheim is a quiet one despite the franchise having been around for 30 years. Millennials tend to embrace the movies and have fond memories, but the reality is that the real NHL team struggled on the ice at the beginning. Merchandise sales in this era were strong, but the club lacked a marketable superstar until its second season when Kariya debuted. By the end of Year Three, Teemu Selanne was picked up in a trade and they eventually became a competitor. By 2006-07, Disney had sold the club and they were rebranded as the Anaheim Ducks – and ended up winning their lone Stanley Cup to date that year.
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