{"id":284861,"date":"2026-04-25T02:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T02:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/284861\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T02:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T02:49:12","slug":"ducks-fans-experience-playoff-vibe-for-1st-time-in-8-years-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/284861\/","title":{"rendered":"Ducks fans experience playoff vibe for 1st time in 8 years \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long before OC Vibe was more than a twinkle in Samueli eyes, spring in Anaheim regularly delivered a different vibe altogether.<\/p>\n

Ducks fans expected the postseason and embraced it with a passion that rocked Honda Center during 12 playoff trips in a 15-season span, including two trips to the Stanley Cup Final and the 2007 championship.<\/p>\n

After the Ducks were swept by San Jose in the first round in 2018, however, the playoffs suddenly were for other teams. They missed the postseason seven consecutive seasons and left Honda Center available for whatever concert or performance needed the venue.<\/p>\n

On Friday, however, the playoffs returned to Anaheim.<\/p>\n

There was no way Huntington Beach\u2019s Michael Greer and his son, Shane, were going to miss the moment the Ducks took the ice in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Edmonton Oilers, the team\u2019s first home playoff game since April 14, 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes it so meaningful to see them succeed after hanging in with them during all the rough times,\u201d Michael said and nodded toward his 11-year-old son, a right wing on a Junior Ducks team. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of pictures of him crying as we\u2019re leaving games they lost. Now we\u2019re seeing something special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Alyn<\/p>\n

Alyn Garcia hangs out with friends before the Ducks take on the Edmonton Oilers in game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Friday, April 24, 2026, at the Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Eddie<\/p>\n

Eddie Vidales and Monica Vidales, left, and Ray Sweller and Gina McAskill pose for a picture before the Ducks take on the Edmonton Oilers in game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Friday, April 24, 2026, at the Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Samantha<\/p>\n

Samantha Schloemer keeps an eye on her kids, Jacob Schloemer, 5, and Rylee Schloemer, 3, as they play hockey before the Ducks take on the Edmonton Oilers in game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Friday, April 24, 2026, at the Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

David Zaldivar dons a mallard duck as he takes a picture with the Power Players before the Ducks take on the Edmonton Oilers in game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Friday, April 24, 2026, at the Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Polter shows off his championship belt before the Ducks take on the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Friday, April 24, 2026, at Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

David Zaldivar dons a mallard duck before the Ducks take on the Edmonton Oilers in game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Friday, April 24, 2026, at the Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Ducks<\/p>\n

Ducks fan Yalda Chalabi gives the Oilers a thumbs down before the Ducks take on the Edmonton Oilers in game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Friday, April 24, 2026, at the Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 7<\/p>\n

Alyn Garcia hangs out with friends before the Ducks take on the Edmonton Oilers in game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Friday, April 24, 2026, at the Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Shane was wearing the jersey of Ducks rookie Beckett Sennecke, who is only nine years his senior and scored 60 points in the regular season. Shane, however, brought some hockey history to his first playoff game since he was a baby.<\/p>\n

The great-great-grandson of Frank Zamboni, the inventor of his namesake ice-cleaning vehicle, attended his first postseason game since the Comeback on Katella, a Ducks double-overtime victory over Edmonton in the second round in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was here, but this is his first real experience,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n

Another fan in a Sennecke jersey, Matthew Jones, made the trip from Texas with his mother Linda and his girlfriend Amanda Whitley to see his favorite team in the postseason.<\/p>\n

He even thought the moment was big enough to break his autographed Ryan Getzlaf jersey out of its frame so Whitley, a fellow Texas Christian student, could wear it. Getzlaf, of course, was the captain for several Ducks playoff teams, including that most recent one in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re huge Ducks fans,\u201d said Linda Jones, who lives in Wichita Falls, Texas. \u201cWe used to come to games before we moved, and we had to come back for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some fans rushed inside Honda Center to grab their souvenir towels and get pictures along the ice, Jones was joined by Orange County family members as they took in the pregame festivities just outside the arena, with a clear view of the OC Vibe construction project all around the excited fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going on with this team is amazing for Anaheim, and so is all of this,\u201d Jose Munoz, an Anaheim native, said as he motioned around at the OC Vibe development launched by Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli to build a central gathering spot of sorts for Orange County. \u201cIt\u2019s really exciting to see what they\u2019re doing here.\u201d<\/p>\n

His friend, Rodolfo Plaza, said it reminded them of what Petco Park has become to San Diego. The Padres\u2019 home is widely considered one of the top places to visit in Major League Baseball.<\/p>\n

Mainly, though, they were thrilled to get a taste of playoff hockey after they entered the season with relatively low expectations. After all, the Ducks hadn\u2019t given their fans much reason to hope for much the past several years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really feels like we\u2019re playing with house money,\u201d Munoz said. \u201cNo one thought this would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

That combination of surprise and delight led to a sellout Friday \u2013 the stands were packed well before game time \u2013 and a challenge for anyone who searched for tickets. Five hours before the puck dropped, the get-in price was $239 for a ticket in the top row of the arena. Visit Anaheim also said hotel rooms in the city were at a premium, with more than 91% booked Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n

Brian Lee was one of those who made the trip from afar to see his favorite team, and the journey served as a belated birthday gift to his 10-year-old son Carson. They flew in from Pennsylvania, where they\u2019ve seen the Ducks play the Philadelphia Flyers, for Carson\u2019s first chance to see them at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a \u201990s kid and I loved the \u2018Mighty Ducks\u2019 movies,\u201d Brian said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been my favorite team for a long time, and now they\u2019re his, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carson sported the No. 91 jersey of Leo Carlsson, the Ducks\u2019 21-year-old star, continuing a theme found throughout the arena. If fans didn\u2019t have the jersey of an all-time Ducks great like Teemu Selanne or Getzlaf, they leaned young, just like the current version of the team.<\/p>\n

They clearly don\u2019t view the Ducks\u2019 return to the postseason as an aberration. They seem to think this could become a regular rite of spring in Anaheim again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re so young,\u201d Shane Greer said. \u201cYou look at how good they are. I think they\u2019re going to be playing for a Stanley Cup sometime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long before OC Vibe was more than a twinkle in Samueli eyes, spring in Anaheim regularly delivered a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,824,165,164,5647,404,9900,127,136],"class_list":["post-284861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-ducks","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-honda-center","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-playoffs","tag-sports","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}