Captain Ryan Getzlaf will retire at the end of the season, completing a decorated 17-year NHL career spent entirely with the Ducks organization. Getzlaf walks away as Anaheim's all-time leading scorer in both the regular season and playoffs and one of 11 players in NHL history to captain the same team for 10 years and score 1,000 points.
We caught up with those close to Getzlaf for his lasting impressions on the people who know him best.
Ducks Family Shares Memories of Getzlaf
FAMILY
Steve Getzlaf - Ryan's Father
Even with all the accomplishments, what I really look at is the type of person he became. That's probably the thing closest to my heart. He could talk to anybody. He talks to all the little kids. If you consider his status in the NHL, that's pretty amazing how down to earth he still is.
To be dedicated to one team and to do what he did here, being the captain for so many years and a leader on and off the ice, it means the world to us.
Susan Getzlaf - Ryan's Mother
This community is what it's all about for him. The Ducks have been as much family to him as his own family. He's so enjoyed it and we've appreciated it. I know his family really appreciate it.
The fans see what we see. Ryan is very transparent. He doesn't put on any act on the ice. He's a genuine guy, and that's who he is with everybody. He's always been so friendly with everybody, ever since he was little.
Paige Getzlaf - Ryan's Wife
We've been a part of this organization so long. We're going to miss our hockey family and this organization so much. It's bittersweet, because we're excited to have Ryan home and not miss those special moments with the kids.
The Ducks organization is our family now. I'm going to miss the team, owners, staff, everybody. This place is very special and has been a big part of our lives. But it's so exciting to have him home. To have Daddy there supporting them all the time is going to be irreplaceable. It's so special for us.
Steve Getzlaf
You think back to when he was a little boy, you never dreamt that he'd be doing this for a career. To have the success he's had in the NHL and international levels has been absolutely amazing. As a person, I think that's probably more important than anything. The person he turned out to be is kind of everybody's dream. Great with people, great with kids, caring, loving, sharing. I don't know how anyone could ask for anything more.
COACHES AND TEAMMATES
Teemu Selanne
You knew right away that he was very special. You could see his talent. How he saw the game was very unique. You knew he and Corey Perry would be special for this organization. He had all the tools, big and strong. If I had to name one thing that was special about him, it was how he could see the game. It was very unique.
What Getzy has done here in 17 years, not just on the ice but off the ice, has been a great two-way street with the organization. It's been fun to be a part of his journey and see how successful he has been. In hockey, he's won pretty much everything, except the Finnish national title, but I'm not sure he wants that [laughs].
Dallas Eakins
It's hard for me to put into words what Ryan Getzlaf has meant to this organization, what he means to this organization and what he means to me. It's more of a feeling when you think about him as a person and a player. People are never going to remember what you said or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel. I know how Ryan Getzlaf has made our community feel, our organization feel, his teammates feel and our staff feel.
Corey Perry
He's been everything. We were drafted together, we came in together, we didn't live together, but we might as well have. We did everything together when we first came in. To see what he's done with that organization, to put his stamp on it, to finally call it a career, it sucks, but things come to an end. I couldn't ask for more from him. He got me to where I am. He made a lot of passes and I put them in the open net.
Cam Fowler
He's one of the biggest influences I've had in my career, not just on the ice but learning how to be a great teammate, how to be a great father, how to treat everyone properly and handle yourself with class. That's what he's done his whole career. Personally, I will dearly miss him. He deserves all the credit for an amazing career. I think it's hard to put into words the impact he's had, and it'll be something we feel for years to come.
Troy Terry
The way he talks about Teemu and what he did for Southern California hockey, and how much he learned from him, it was wild for me to listen to him talk about someone meaning that to him, because that's exactly what he was to me. Just having that guy to look up to, it's so cool he was able to break his record. Last year was tough on everyone, but the way that he would come into the rink every day, the way he treats his family, the way he treats everyone around the rink and everyone in the organization, he has the utmost respect for everyone. He doesn't have to demand respect. He's just really the perfect role model and someone I've got very close with and developed some chemistry on the ice with.
David Backes
There are two stories that come to mind. The first is after overtime in St. Louis he tried to fight me after the final buzzer. I think it was early in our careers and that's when I knew he was going to be a fierce competitor and not take a backseat to anyone. And then there was a time in St. Louis I tried to sauce a pass across the ice and he knocked it down at the blueline, went in on a breakaway and scored. My coach didn't let me forget that for a long time. I just relished those moments.
We were two big guys and he was a fierce competitor. It was always a battle to see who was going to be the alpha that night. Most of the time he won [laughs], but those memories are things that bring mutual respect. Then, you play on the same team and you know what the opposition is going to have to go through to defeat Ryan Getzlaf that night. You love to see it from inside the locker room.
Randy Carlyle
He was able to create offense from nothing. He was a big, strong guy who could take the puck from one side to the other and do some things that only people could try to do. We always wanted him to shoot more and that never changed [laughs]. For him to remain an offensive player from his first year in this league to this day is not easy to do. He still makes a complement on the offensive side of the game.
Trevor Zegras
His accomplishments and what he's done speak for themselves. The fact that he is still able to give 100% to this organization every day even though we're in a rebuild, the effect he's had on us young guys, he's taught me the most of any teammate I've had in my whole life. I'm very thankful I can say I was a teammate of Ryan Getzlaf. I'm happy I get to be here for his retirement.
Max Jones
He's someone I look up to every single day. To have that kind of relationship with him now means a lot. Being able to talk about stories and just listen to him talk about the game is special. To be here with him, have him go through this and be by his side, it's very special. It's an honor to be a part of.
Fowler
We got to see the skill that he had but it was also his grit that he brought to the game and standing up for his teammates. He would do whatever was necessary in that moment to help spark the team. He would put his body on the line. I saw him play through some tough injuries and deal with the pain.
Carlyle
Being a captain in the NHL is not easy. It's not. There are a lot of things people don't see, the ups and downs that take place and the things that happen that are difficult to control. And you're responsible because you're the go-between for management, coaches and players. You're the guy. That C gets pretty heavy when you're losing, not so much when you're winning [laughs].
Anthony Stolarz
The first season I was here, right when I arrived he reached out to me, even though I was on the Gulls, and invited me to his golf tournament. It was a nice icebreaker for me to meet the team. You can see his leadership qualities. You can see why he's been in the league so long and why he's been such an important part of this organization. The way he goes about his business is first class.
Selanne
(Former Ducks GM) Brian Burke always said he doesn't want rookies to say too much, "so Getzy and Perry shut the ---- up" [laughs]. They were very respectful. I always believed it's a blessing to have good examples in the locker room. We had great leaders, and they learned from us well. That's carried on as he's done the same thing for his young players. That's how it goes.
Zegras
Seventeen years here. He is the Anaheim Ducks to me. Through everything, new GMs, new coaches, he's been here through everything. All of us young guys look up to him as the Anaheim Duck. It's very cool in my opinion to say we got to play with him.
Fowler
He was the captain when I came in, and it's really hard to explain what he's done for me and my family. He's grown into one of my closest friends. He stood up in my wedding. He means a lot to me personally. It's been an amazing career, and I wish him all the best in the future.
Backes
He's all about the team, the ultimate team guy. He'll do anything for his teammates, and he wants things done right. You love a guy like that, and I loved having him as a teammate.
MEDIA
Eric Stephens - The Athletic
I very much enjoyed covering him. Maybe not in the sense that he was this magnetic personality that you just instantly gravitate to, but it was smaller moments like seeing him interact with his teammates. Seeing him ribbing them. Guys that were coming into the league, maybe someone who had been with the Ducks for just days, and making them feel just as at home as players who had been in Anaheim for years.
Elliott Teaford - OC Register
He was always someone who would cut to the point and gives you great answers about technical stuff. As a reporter, you always want to have a good relationship with the captain. He's got his finger on the pulse of the team. You pick up on what's important to him and how the team is feeling. You want someone who's just even and he was always that way. He was always fair to us.
Alex Gilchrist - Ducks Director of Communications & Broadcasting
I've never met a player less interested in his own personal stats than Getzy. Just wins and losses, nothing else matters. I told him once the official scorer, after review, credited him with an assist on a goal. He asked if it could be given to a teammate, which is not allowed, so he told me to tell the scorer he never touched the puck (he did).
Brian Hayward - Ducks TV Analyst
He was a physical specimen. Six-foot-four with those hands that are a purple unicorn in our sport. I think during the heyday of his teams, you looked at Kopitar, Getzlaf and Thornton all in the same division here in the (Pacific). Those games where those centers would go head-to-head were just truly incredible. I think about Ryan just being a big stud in the middle of the ice that you needed to have to survive in that era, especially in this division.
Adam Brady - Ducks Director of Publications & Digital Content
Of all the players I've worked with in my 16 1/2 years with the Ducks, I feel a special affinity for Getz since we both started here at the same time -- though I'm nowhere near retirement. I grew up a fan of playmakers like Magic and Gretzky, so I loved to watch Getzy for the way he saw the ice, passed the puck and made his teammates better. I always said if someone was brand new to hockey and you asked them to identify the best player on the ice, they'd point out Getzlaf every time.
John Ahlers - Ducks TV Play-by-Play
It was always about team for him. He never wanted to do anything that would even remotely appear to be throwing his teammates under the bus. I always appreciated that about him. He became a guy we would go to on the TV side, especially when times were tougher. He embraced that. He didn't love it, but he understood it, and I always admired that.
Steve Carroll - Ducks Radio Play-by-Play
He was always very professional. In winning and losing both, it can be tough, but he was always accessible and told you the way it was. Watching him and Perry on a nightly basis was unbelievable. You can't get any better than that.
Kent French - Ducks TV Host
The biggest thing with Getzy is he was a friend. It's different to say when you're on the broadcasting side, but he was always very kind, said hi and asked how your family was. He cared about you the person, not just because you worked for the team. You can see that he cared for the people around him. That's one of the many reasons he had so much respect as an Anaheim Duck. He cared about the people, he cared about the young guys, the old guys, and not just how they played but how they were doing off the ice. That made him a special person.
Dan Wood - Ducks Radio Analyst
Getzy just has a presence that commands attention. He has a great reputation as a leader and the guys respect the heck out of him.
Stephens
He wasn't one to find the nearest podium and command an audience, but if you asked him a question, he would answer it to the best of his ability and be honest with it. He was very much a straight shooter. He wasn't going to BS around with you, throw you off track or give you some candy-coated answer. Once you got to know him, he let you in to see the real Ryan Getzlaf. When he had a point to make, he would make it very clear. Say it's a bad loss after a game where the team didn't play well or there was some perceived slight, he would not skirt from the question. He would tell you how he felt. If he had a point to make, he would make it.
Carroll
He's a great guy off the ice and in the community. What always sticks out to me is he's a great family man. All you have to do is see how he treats his wife and kids, and how he loves them. That says a lot about a human being. He's a classy individual through the good times and the bad times. That's what I'll remember most.
Hayward
I can remember early in his career, playing in Phoenix. He got the puck in the offensive zone and he swooped it -- he was a little quicker than he is now [laughs] - and he moved the puck from forehand to backhand. He must have moved it 25 feet and roofed it. I looked at that, I think he was 21 at the time, and I thought that was Mario Lemieux-like. I can remember that like it was yesterday. I knew then the kid was special. It blew me away.
Wood
I did an interview with (Ducks assistant coach) Newell Brown, and I think he said it best. Getzy could play any type of game you wanted to play, whatever was necessary, whether it was a high-scoring game, a low-scoring battle or a physical game. He, Corey Perry and whoever their linemate was, they could cycle the puck, wear out defenses and create opportunities out of sheer will. When Getzlaf was at his best, he was physical and dominating the defense physically, but also his passing and playmaking ability was obvious.
Teaford
I'll always remember the pass he made to Corey Perry in the Comeback on Katella. How does he make that pass? He did though. He saw the play develop before it did. That's a great gift you see from guys like Gretzky. Before he makes the pass, the crowd is already starting to get on its feet because they know what's coming. He's going to get it to Perry, and Perry is going to put it in the net.
Stephens
He was very much old school. He felt like there was a game should be played and he followed it to a T. He expected others to do that, too. He expected his teammates to do that and he expected opposing players to do that. Nothing bothered him more than seeing players diving to get a soft call. That was just something he would not do. He was just not wired that way. Watching him myself and talking to many others, there is very much a throwback feel to Ryan Getzlaf. He's someone who was super skilled, super talented but played a hard and honest game. He wasn't fined or suspended for something he did in the course of game action. He knew where the line was and played up to it, but he never crossed it.
Hayward
The thing about Ryan is there's a moral code about him. He plays the game the right way. He's not a guy who will take a dive to draw a penalty. He will stand up for his teammates always. He won't back down from anybody at any time. That's the embodiment of not only a great hockey player but a great leader too. I think he's a great leader and we've been very fortunate to have him here this entire time.
Brady
The image of him shaking off his gloves and jumping on J.S. Giguere with his buddy Corey Perry at the end of the Cup-clinching Game 5 at Honda Center will be forever burned into my brain, as will so many of the great plays Getz made over his 17-year career. But his impact on this team, this organization and this community goes well beyond the things we were all able to witness. Though we'll all miss him tremendously, his legacy here will live on forever.
