Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

Template:Short description Template:Pro hockey team

The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks were a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were members of the American Hockey League, and played their home games at the Cincinnati Gardens. Throughout their existence they were the primary minor league affiliate of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim of the National Hockey League, with a three-year shared affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings.

HistoryEdit

In 1997, the Baltimore Bandits franchise was losing money and accruing debts in Baltimore.<ref name="De Marco">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Jerry Robinson, owner of the Cincinnati Gardens arena, purchased the Bandits franchise to play at the Gardens, replacing the previous hockey tenant, the Cincinnati Cyclones of the International Hockey League.<ref name="hemmer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim signed Cincinnati to a five-year affiliate agreement. From 1999 through 2002 team shared its affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> until the Red Wings affiliated with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Anaheim maintained their affiliation with Cincinnati through the 2004–05 season. The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks were granted a voluntary suspension for the 2005–06 season<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> two days after Anaheim and Cincinnati ended their affiliation,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Cincinnati could not find a replacement NHL affiliate. In October 2005, the team was renamed the Cincinnati RailRaiders, and was seeking an affiliation agreement for a return in 2006–07 season,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but failed to reach a goal of 2,000 season tickets sold to become re-active.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On October 3, 2006, it was reported that a Windsor, Ontario-based company had been granted conditional approval to purchase and relocate the team,<ref name="windor">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> however that deal fell through.<ref name="ice track">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On March 19, 2007, the AHL announced that the team had been purchased, and moved to Rockford, Illinois, to become the Rockford IceHogs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The market was previously served by:

Cincinnati Mohawks (1949–1952 AHL, 1952–1958 IHL)
Cincinnati Wings (1963–1964 CHL)
Cincinnati Swords (1971–1974 AHL)
Cincinnati Stingers (1975–1979 WHA, 1979–1980 CHL)
Cincinnati Tigers (1981–1982 CHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones (1990–1992 ECHL, 1992–2001 IHL, 2001–2004 ECHL)

The team was replaced in this market by:

Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL (2006–present)

Affiliates

Mighty Ducks Of Anaheim (1997–2005)
Detroit Red Wings (1999–2002)

Season-by-season resultsEdit

Regular seasonEdit

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	OTL	SOL	Points	Goals for	Goals against	Standing
1997–98	80	23	37	13	7	—	66	243	303	4th, Mid-Atlantic
1998–99	80	35	39	4	2	—	76	227	249	4th, Mid-Atlantic
1999–00	80	30	37	9	4	—	73	227	244	5th, Mid-Atlantic
2000–01	80	41	26	9	4	—	95	254	240	2nd, South
2001–02	80	33	33	11	3	—	80	216	211	3rd, Central
2002–03	80	26	35	13	6	—	71	202	242	3rd, Central
2003–04	80	29	37	13	1	—	72	188	211	5th, West
2004–05	80	44	31	—	4	1	93	206	191	3rd, West

PlayoffsEdit

Season	Preliminary	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	Finals
1997–98	Out of Playoffs
1998–99	—	L, 0–3, Philadelphia	—	—	—
1999–00	Out of Playoffs
2000–01	—	L, 1–3, Norfolk	—	—	—
2001–02	L, 1–2, Chicago	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Out of Playoffs
2003–04	W, 2–0, Houston	L, 3–4, Milwaukee	—	—	—
2004–05	—	W, 4–3, Milwaukee	L, 1–4, Chicago	—	—

Notable players and coachesEdit

Numerous Cincinnati Mighty Ducks alumni won the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and Detroit Red Wings in 2008. In addition, former Cincinnati coach Mike Babcock led Anaheim to a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2003 before coaching Detroit's championship-winning team in 2008.

File:Cincinnati mighty ducks lupul 2004.jpg

Joffrey Lupul playing for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in 2004.

File:Hockey goal cmd 2004.jpg

Ilya Bryzgalov playing for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in 2004.