As the season gets down to the playoffs the various Low Cost Franchises dare to dream about Stanley Cup glory and the prospect of becoming champions. We will peek at these Franchises in detail and look on how they have set off from a Franchise For Sale advertised across the world to the mega powers of the NHL today. The NHL franchise market has been up and down over a lot of years from a lot of clubs struggling to survive to a lot of clubs being able to hand out lucrative multi million dollar contracts. At this current moment the NHL franchise market is looking steady as massive amounts of dollars are being saved as the global economic crisis has hit the hockey market. All of the Low Cost Franchises are shutting up shop and working with what they have, which is having a benefit to the proposal of Franchises For Sale in the market. A lot of owners for a lot of years have treated their franchise as a Home Based Franchise, they work with their club on a daily basis and take it everywhere they go. This is much like any franchise in the existing climate and as a result beneficial to their potential investor looking for a Franchise For Sale in the NHL market. The sponsor will have the confidence that the club has been well looked after and treated as if it were a Home Based Franchise.

Here is a look at one of the NHL Low Cost Franchises that has had much support over the years including massive advertising campaigns including films and merchandise.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are a National Hockey League (NHL) club based in Anaheim, California. They were created in 1993, with their home arena at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim ("The Pond"). Their uniform colours are maroon and green, and include a hockey mask outlining a duck's beak, in front of two crossed hockey sticks.

When created in 1993, the Mighty Ducks were owned by The Walt Disney Company. The team's name was selected from the Disney movie The Mighty Ducks (much to the disdain of a lot of traditionalists), about a collection of misfit teenagers who produce an amateur hockey team. Disney has consequently also made an animated series called The Mighty Ducks, featuring a fictional Mighty Ducks of Anaheim club that consists of actual (albeit anthropomorphized) ducks.

With their first draft pick, the Mighty Ducks selected Paul Kariya 4th overall in Round 1 of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Kariya would turn out to be the cornerstone of the young Mighty Ducks club, the club captain, and would nearly head them to Stanley Cup glory in 2003 before his transfer to the Colorado Avalanche.

In 1997, the franchise made their first playoff appearance and beat the Phoenix Coyotes in seven games in the Western Conference quarterfinals. However, they were defeated in the semi finals to the Detroit Red Wings.

Their best playoff performance in club history was during the 2002-03 season which saw the franchise come within one game of the Stanley Cup. They swept defending Stanley Cup champs the Detroit Red Wings, won over the Dallas Stars in the quarterfinals, beat the Minnesota Wild in the Conference Finals, and finally fell to the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Finals in 7 games. For his heroics which had kept Anaheim in the playoffs a lot of times, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most-valuable-player of the playoffs.

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