Anaheim Ducks Cup Win: A Year Later And The Influence Of Ken Armer's Future

On June 6, 2007, the Anaheim Ducks won their first franchise Stanley Cup. It was the first Cup for the state of California. To be honest, when that game occurred, I was not much of a Ducks' fan. I watched it only because of a friend who shared a deep Ducks passion.

A passion so deep that this fan shouted when Andy McDonald (a man this fan was quite fond of) scored for the Ducks. Speed forward to this year, this fan would be so upset with the trade of Andy McDonald to St. Louis, I would become enraged and write my opening hockey article. (http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/17141-Balanced-Attack-of-Ducks-Missing-One-Key-Piece-to-Puzzle-100408)

This article itself is not about that opening article, or even about the Ducks themselves a year ago. But it is more about the impact that event - which then meant nothing, but now means everything - has played on my life.

I paid no real attention when the Ducks lost Teemu and Scott. I followed them more than I followed the Stars; to be honest I just did not have the time to follow them. I had a lot of drama in my life at that point. Once the drama disappeared and the spring semester began, I dove into the NHL again: listening to Ducks games on the radio, regardless of the local time.

I grew to know the players. I grew to know their playing styles and information I had once thought I would only know about the late 90’s Dallas Stars that I had grown up watching. It seems I was wrong. This hockey brain is still capable of such daunting memorization (something my family often points out that should be applied to my education).

I have only been a die-hard Ducks fan since a month or so before the playoffs began, but even in this short time, I have in some circles become a top authority on everything Anaheim Ducks. A far-cry from that freshman in college watching the Ducks win the Cup as the “only thing on TV”.

Today, I’m a sophomore looking to begin a journalism career and one day get paid for his opinion and analysis on the Ducks. My opportunities on Bleacher Report are endless. They are a release from the stress of normal life and a way to get my foot in the door to a journalism career in Southern California.

First, my hard work and analysis on the Ducks helped gain me the Community Leader position for the Anaheim team I so held dear. Than it soon paid off again with an editing Internship. This is quite an achievement for a guy who at this point, is not even a journalism major as far as his school is concerned.

It would again pay off, as I would get to know Adam Brady, the Director of Publications and New Media for the Ducks and Honda Center. He and I speak via e-mail weekly; we plan to do a Q&A session during the offseason, and a couple times during the season, hopefully.

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