The Mighty Ducks/Ducks have been an NHL franchise for 22 seasons. In the grand scheme of things, 22 seasons is not an extremely long time, making Anaheim one of the younger teams in the league. Although the team’s history is not as long as most others, the city of Anaheim has witnessed its fair share of talented hockey players.
Sometimes we struggle to look past the likes Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, Ryan Getzlaf, and Corey Perry which leads us to forget other great players that have rocked a Mighty Ducks/Ducks sweater at some point during their career. There is no better way to remember all of the greats of the franchise than focussing our attention on one number at a time.
Today, we will start things off in a traditional fashion by looking at the men who have worn the number one for the Anaheim hockey team.
History of the Number
The number one has been worn by four individuals throughout the 22-season history of the Mighty Ducks/Ducks. All four men to wear the number were, or still are, goaltenders which is not that surprising. Three of the four “number ones” only played one season for Anaheim and two of those three never played more than two games during their time with the team. Gregg Naumenko participated in two games where he gave up a total of seven goals. Mike O’Neill played in one game as a Mighty Duck, surrendering three goals.
The first player to wear the number one for Anaheim was none other than sixteen-year NHL veteran goaltender, Ron Tugnutt. Tuggnut played 28 games during the 1993-94 regular season for the Mighty Ducks. He went 10-15-1 with a goals-against-average of 3.00 and a save-percentage of .908.
Anaheim’s Best No. 1
The best player to ever wear the number one for Anaheim was also the last person to wear the number for the franchise. Jonas Hiller tended goal for the Ducks 2007 until 2014. He played in 326 total games and started 307 of them. In his seven seasons with Anaheim, Hiller registered a 162-110-32 record with a 2.51 GAA and a .916 SV%. Hiller’s career-high win total of 30 came with the Ducks during the 2009-10 regular season. The 34-year-old from Wellhausen, Switzerland is the only player to wear the number one for the Anaheim Ducks. Every other number one was a member of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Ducks’ Nation probably has fixed feelings about Hiller. The expectations for him to be a great netminder were there but were never really met. He now plays with the Calgary Flames and has seen action in 76 games over his two seasons with the team.
Then men who wore the number one on the back of their Mighty Ducks/Ducks sweater were not the most impressive bunch. However, they are still very much a part of Anaheim hockey history.
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