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Ducks Goalie John Gibson Undergoes Emergency Surgery

The Anaheim Ducks will start the 2024-25 season without their starting goalie after emergency surgery.

Nick Horwat

Mar 26, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; The puck sits in front of Anaheim Ducksgoalie John Gibson (36) and. Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers (10) during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images
Mar 26, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; The puck sits in front of Anaheim Ducksgoalie John Gibson (36) and. Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers (10) during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images / Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images
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The Anaheim Ducks will be without their starting goalie to the start of the 2024-25 regular season. The Duck announced that John Gibson recently underwent an emergency appendectomy surgery.

Gibson is expected to be sidelined for approximately 3-6 weeks, taking him out of the Ducks’ lineup for the first portion of their season.

Turning 31 years old over the offseason, Gibson has been the Ducks go-to goalie for about a decade. In 477 career games played, Gibson holds a 193-206-61 record with a .910 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average.

Even with a halted start to his season, Gibson is within reach of the Ducks’ franchise record in wins. Gibson’s 193 is just 13 back of Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s 206.

Already the franchise leader in games played by a goalie, Gibson still has three years remaining on his contract. Gibson is one of the Ducks’ highest-paid players at $6.4 million annually against the salary cap.


The Ducks will have to roll with Lukas Dostal and Oscar Dansk as their goalie duo to kick off the 2024-25 regular season. Dostal played 44 games with the Ducks in 2023-24 and picked up a 14-13-3 record.

Dansk was recently signed by the Ducks and was expected to be the third-string option to start the year. He has six career NHL games under his belt at the age of 30.

The Ducks finished seventh out of eight teams in the Pacific Division and aren’t expected to be much better in 2024-25. Despite the low expectations, losing their starting goalie to start the year will take a blow to their season’s success.

The Ducks open their regular season on October 12 when they travel to take on the San Jose Sharks.

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

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