ARTHUR:
I'll admit it. I'm a hockey junkie: TV, radio, Slingbox, a pirated Yemenese broadcast streaming on Justin.tv, huffing ECAC box scores in a 7-11 bathroom-- whatevah, I do what I want!
So when NHL's Game Center Live launched its Classic Games feature last year, I watched. And not just 'turned on a Lemieux-era Penguins Stanley Cup Finals game after work' watched, but 'up in the middle of the night, nursing my second Marie Callender's pot pie while watching Game 6 of the '64 Leafs/Wings series' watched. Sigh. Bobby Baun is awesome.
Of course, as a Ducks fan, the initial archive offering was disappointing, as in, not a single Anaheim game was available for my viewing pleasure. They had some old Sharks games and Kings games, and a nice selection of games since 1993. Still, NOT A SINGLE Ducks game.
Well, I signed into GCL for the first time in a long time (and this is where I remind you that I have a complimentary GCL account) today and *rubs eyes* the mountain has come to Muhammad. TWENTY Ducks games are now available in the NHL Game Center Live archive. Seventeen for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and three for the Anaheim Ducks. They are:
- October 13, 1993 - Oilers vs. Ducks - The franchise's first win
- October 20, 1993 - Ducks vs. Devils - Brodeur's first shutout
- October 3, 1997 - Ducks vs. Canucks - Playing in Tokyo - first regular season game outside North America
- October 6, 2000 - Ducks vs. Wild - First game in Wild history
- November 11, 2000 - Ducks vs. Avalanche - Sakic breaks record for Avs Franchise lead in assists
- March 14, 2001 - Ducks vs. Leafs - Mats Sundin records 500th assist
- October 13, 2002 - Red Wings vs. Ducks - Henrik Zetterberg's first goal
- November 3, 2002 - Sharks vs. Ducks - Kariya scores 600th point with Anaheim against Selanne's Sharks
- November 24, 2002 - Panthers vs. Ducks - Florida plays an NHL record 7th consecutive road OT game
- April 26, 2003 - Ducks vs. Stars - Giguere becomes 2nd player in NHL history to win first 6 playoff games
- May 12, 2003 - Ducks vs. Wild - Ducks set record winning first two road games in three consecutive series
- May 14, 2003 - Wild vs. Ducks - Lemaire sets record coaching his 100th playoff game
- May 29, 2003 - Ducks vs. Devils - Stevens breaks Larry Robinson's playoff games by a defenseman record
- May 31, 2003 - Devils vs. Ducks - Giguere becomes first goaltender to win his first six playoff OT games
- June 2, 2003 - Devils vs. Ducks - Giguere becomes first goaltender to win his first seven playoff OT games
- October 21, 2005 - Ducks vs. Red Wings - Getzlaf records first NHL goal
- May 5, 2006 - Avalanche vs. Ducks - Bryzgalov first rookie since 1945 with back to back playoff SO's
- March 9, 2007 - Oilers vs. Ducks - Penner becomes first Ducks rookie to pot 25 goals
- September 29, 2007 - Ducks vs. Kings - Anaheim and LA play in London's O2 Arena
- September 30, 2007 - Kings vs. Ducks - The second of the teams' two game stretch in England
Okay, so the Ducks aren't on the right side of history in all of those games, but more than half of them are significant Anaheim games. And honestly, if that's not more than you hoped for at the end of GCL's first year of archiving classic contests, then nothing short of an HD vault of every game Teemu Selanne has ever played was going to make you happy anyways, Daniel.
I'm not saying I'd buy GCL for this or recommending that you do. However, the Ducks aren't on until Friday, and these pot pies won't eat themselves. Game 17 it is, because we won't get scored on and Joffrey Lupul is healthy. *turns on game then scrambles for mute button when he sees it's an OLN telecast*