The history of the Anaheim Ducks begins when the team joined the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1993 as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Founded as an expansion team in 1993 along with the Florida Panthers, the Ducks were originally owned by The Walt Disney Company, which named the franchise after its film The Mighty Ducks. Since their inception, the team has played at the Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond), located in Anaheim, California, close to both Disneyland and Angel Stadium. After initially struggling in their first two seasons, the Mighty Ducks improved under the leadership of center Paul Kariya, who led the team to their first two Stanley Cup playoffs appearances in 1997 and 1999 while forming a potent line with Teemu Selanne, and later rode the strong goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere to a Cinderella run to the franchise's first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2003, losing to the New Jersey Devils in seven games. Once Disney sold the franchise in 2005 to Henry and Susan Samueli, the team's name was changed to the Anaheim Ducks before the 2006–07 season, where the Ducks won the Stanley Cup in five games over the Ottawa Senators. 1993–2004: The Disney Era The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company. The franchise was awarded by the NHL in December 1992, along with the rights to a Miami team that became the Florida Panthers. An entrance fee of $50 million was required, half of which Disney paid to the Los Angeles Kings as compensation for sharing the Southern California NHL market. On March 1, 1993, at the brand-new Anaheim Arena – located a short distance east of Disneyland and across the Orange Freeway from Anaheim Stadium (which Disney was a minority owner) – the team received its name, inspired by the 1992 Disney movie The Mighty Ducks, based on a group of misfit kids who turn their losing youth hockey team into a winning team. Disney President Michael Eisner had already said on the December press conference that the film's success served as "our market research". As a result of the name adoption, the arena was named "The Pond", and Disney subsequently made an animated series called Mighty Ducks, featuring a fictional Mighty Ducks of Anaheim team consisting of anthropomorphized ducks led by the Mighty Duck Wildwing. Philadelphia-arena management specialist Tony Tavares was chosen to