With the 2025-26 NHL season entering its second week, some teams are still having their home openers. Home openers are usually one of the most exciting regular season games and teams usually offer some sort of opening night giveaway. Both the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks gave out team magnets schedules. The favorite giveaway item seems to still be the always-reliable rally towel.
The Anaheim Ducks saw all of that and decided to bump it up a notch and blow every other opening night giveaway out of the water. Each fan in attendance for their opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins received a Wild Wing-style goalie mask. Yes, that famous goalie mask with a curved duck bill is what each fan found on their seats when they walked into Honda Center in what might be “the best giveaway ever”. The promotion was sponsored by UCI Health.
The “duck goalie mask” has long been an icon of the franchise since they entered the league. It was the team’s first logo from their inception until the 2007 rebrand saw the main logo become a webbed duck foot. It returned as an alternate in 2015 and would once again become the team’s primary logo last offseason as apart of a jersey redesign. Through it all, their mascot is still “Wild Wing”, the duck who wears the famous goalie mask.
It’s long been one of the NHL’s most recognizable logos in part due to the Ducks history with the Walt Disney Company. While the curved duck bill mask wasn’t used in the two original “Mighty Ducks” movies, it was used in the cartoon series that featured animated hockey playing ducks that ran in the mid 1990’s. The popularity of Mighty Ducks merchandise in the 1990’s, mostly due to the marketing and sales channels of then-owner Disney, made the logo commonplace and instantly recognizable among hockey fans and non-fans alike.
The goalie mask giveaway kicked off one of the most anticipated Ducks seasons in recent memory. After years of rebuilding, will Anaheim finally make a step forward this season? Trade addition Chris Kreider and the hiring (that wasn’t without controversy) of Joel Quenneville at head coach were moves designed to do just that. The Ducks would win their home opener 4-3 on a game winning power play goal by Chris Kreider. It was Anaheim’s 10th consecutive home opener victory. According to Puck Report it would also break the Anaheim Ducks attendance record.