The 2011–12 Anaheim Ducks season was the
19th season of operation (18th season of play) for the
National Hockey League franchise. Their first game of the season was held on October 7, 2011, against the
Buffalo Sabres in
Helsinki, Finland. The Ducks had a disappointing season compared to
2010–11, struggling in the first half of the season and digging a hole that was too deep to climb out of despite a second-half resurgence. 2011–12 marked the second playoff miss for the Ducks in three seasons. The Ducks ultimately finished the season in 13th place in the Western Conference with a 34–36–12 record.
Off-season
While the Anaheim Ducks entered the 2011 off-season with no major free agent challenges, the franchise did indeed have some question marks heading into the 2011–12 season. The biggest question on the ice was whether superstar
Teemu Selanne would retire.[1] The 40-year-old was incredibly successful in the
2010–11 season, averaging over a point per game,[2] however, his age and length of his career (18 NHL seasons) was a factor. The Ducks' off-season started with the
NHL Entry Draft, where Anaheim took
Rickard Rakell in the first round (30th overall),
John Gibson in the second round (39th overall) and traded for
Andrew Cogliano from the
Edmonton Oilers, subsequently signing him to a three-year contract.[3][4][5] Head coach
Randy Carlyle also signed a contract extension of three years after guiding the Ducks to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2007 and into the playoffs every season since he took the helm, save for the 2009–10 season.[6] On the retirement front, the Ducks lost long-time, third-line center
Todd Marchant to retirement on June 29, 2011, and on the same day, former Ducks captain
Paul Kariya announced his retirement, quelling any rumors that he may return to the franchise he helped build.[7][8] Other than a few transactions, the summer for Anaheim was relatively quiet, with most of the talk concerning the health of goaltender
Jonas Hiller and whether Teemu Selanne will return for another season. Hiller was reported to be symptom-free as of August 19, and was expected to arrive at the Ducks' training camp on time in September. Selanne announced his return on September 15 after undergoing successful knee surgery early in the summer.[9][10]
Early in September, the
2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash rocked the hockey world when a plane carrying the
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team of the
Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) crashed. The team featured multiple NHL prospects and former NHL stars, including former Mighty Duck
Ruslan Salei. Salei had been a mainstay in the Anaheim organization for many years and a small memorial was erected in front of
Honda Center by Ducks fans to remember him immediately after news of his passing became public.[11]
Business and arena
On the business side, the
Sacramento Kings of the
National Basketball Association (NBA) expressed interest in moving to
Honda Center, the Ducks' home arena. The team had until May 2, 2011, to file for relocation to play in Anaheim for the
2011–12 season.[12] Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli have been trying to lure an NBA team to Honda Center since they purchased the team, mainly due to the prospective positive impact the team would have on the Ducks' finances and the finances of the Samueli family-owned Anaheim Arena Management.[13] It was announced on May 2, however, that the Kings would remain in the city of
Sacramento for at least one more season.[14] Even though the Ducks remained the sole tenants of Honda Center at least through to the 2011–12 season, the Anaheim Ducks and Anaheim Arena Management announced that they would be doing a major upgrade to the arena in mid-June 2011. The upgrade is set to include the construction of a new restaurant, an expanded club area, a grand terrace, a new east entrance and a larger team merchandise store, with the cost of the project reportedly in the tens of millions of dollars.[15][16] The Ducks also announced ticket prices for individual games would be reduced in order to take advantage of an "all-in" pricing mechanism.[17]
Regular season
See the
game log below for detailed game-by-game regular season information.
The 2011–12 Anaheim Ducks regular season schedule was released on June 23, 2011, and, as expected, the Ducks started their season as part of the
NHL Premiere in
Helsinki, Finland, on October 7. Their first home game was on October 14 against their in-state rivals, the
San Jose Sharks. Anaheim's first actual road game was on October 17 against the Sharks at
HP Pavilion. Their longest homestand was from December 29 to January 10 (six home games), and their longest road trip was from February 10 to 23 (eight road games). Their final game of the regular season was on April 7 at the
Calgary Flames.
The Ducks struggled in the first half of the season, posting 18 points and a record of 6–20–6 over 32 games from October 21 to January 4, including a poor three-point, 1–8–1 stretch from November 5 to 27 that ultimately led to a coaching change. Beginning on January 6, the team embarked on a turnaround, accumulating 38 points over a 24-game span and having one of the NHL's best records for games played from January through mid-February. However, beginning on February 27, Anaheim proceeded to fall into another frustrating 5–8–1 ditch that ultimately would eliminate them from the playoff hunt. The Ducks were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on March 28, at which point the Ducks only had 10 points up for grabs through the remainder of the season, and 11 points separated them from the last playoff spot. Anaheim's season ended on April 7 with a 5–2 loss to Calgary. Starting goaltender
Jonas Hiller finished 2011–12 with a 29–30–12 record and with a 2.57
goals against average (GAA).
October
October 7: The Ducks opened the season as part of the NHL Premiere in Ducks star
Teemu Selanne's native Finland, losing 4–1 to
Buffalo.
October 8: Second game of the premiere in
Stockholm, Sweden, a 2–1 victory over the
New York Rangers.
October 14: The Ducks home opener against rival San Jose; a 1–0 triumph. The Ducks previously opened against the Sharks during the 2009–10 season.
October 29: The Ducks faced the team that eliminated them in the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs (
Nashville) for the first time of the season at
Bridgestone Arena and lost 3–0
November 30: After snapping their seven-game winless streak against the Montreal Canadiens, the Ducks organization relieved Head Coach
Randy Carlyle of his duties and hired former
Washington Capitals Head Coach
Bruce Boudreau to replace him.[18]
December
December 17: The Ducks visited the newly reincarnated
Winnipeg Jets for the first time, losing 5–3. It was also current Ducks star and former
Winnipeg Jets star Teemu Selanne's first regular season game in Winnipeg since he was traded to the Ducks in 1996.
December 29: The Ducks' longest homestand (six games) began. The Ducks went 3–3–0 during this homestand.
December 31:Jean-Sebastien Giguere made his first visit to Honda Center since being traded from the Ducks as a member of the
Colorado Avalanche, defeating his former team 4–2.
February 10: The Ducks' longest road trip (eight games) began. The team went 5–1–2 over this trip.
March
March 25: The Ducks hosted the defending Stanley Cup champion
Boston Bruins at
Honda Center. The only meeting between the two teams during the 2011–12 season, goaltender
Marty Turco led Boston to a 3–2 defeat of Anaheim.
April
April 7: The final game of the regular season took place against the
Calgary Flames at the
Scotiabank Saddledome, with the Ducks closing out the season with a 5–2 defeat.
* Despite the fact that Anaheim defeated
San Jose in a 3–1 decision, the Ducks were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on March 28 due to
Dallas and
Los Angeles wins earlier in the evening.
Note: GP = Games played; GS = Games started; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Ducks. Stats reflect time with Ducks only.
‡Traded mid-season.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record