Thirty years ago the Anaheim Ducks launched their inaugural season.
Back when they were mighty and owned by Disney, with some of the best jerseys in NHL history.
Here's a look at their first few weeks in the league from the THN archive.
MIGHTY DUCKS OFF AND FLYING:
ANAHEIM-It took the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim six days to accomplish what others in the NHL have not managed in six decades.
They held two parades.
Most teams wait until they win the Stanley Cup before doing the float thing. Then again, most teams don’t have dibs on a theme park.
Anaheim captain Troy Loney equalled his parade mark with the two-time, Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins before he even played a game with the Mighty Ducks.
Presumably, the Ducks held one parade to honor each of the team’s pre-season victories.
Alexei Kasatonov had to win an Olympic gold medal with the former Soviet Union, before parading down the streets of Moscow.
But there was the ex-New Jersey Devils’ defenseman-decked out in sunglasses, shorts and sandals on the eve of Anaheim’s Oct. 8 NHL debut-riding high down Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland.
A little different than he was accustomed to in New Jersey? “California is like another planet,” Kasatonov said.
One night later, the Mighty Ducks were sent into orbit by the Detroit Red Wings 7-2, a score that flattered them. Afterward, shell-shocked Anaheim goalie Guy Hebert was asked what advice he had for fellow goalie Ron Tugnutt.
“Duck,” suggested a reporter.
Opening night at Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim went well, if you don’t count the game-which, curiously, matched a predictably weak expansion team against a Stanley Cup contender.
“It was the Detroit Red Wings’ night,” said Anaheim coach Ron Wilson. “They kicked our butts.”
It was a rare outburst of negativity from Wilson, who is relentlessly upbeat and determined the Mighty Ducks will hit their target of reaching the .500 mark within five years.
Wilson is the son of onetime Detroit Red Wings’ coach Larry Wilson, who died at the age of 48, and nephew of former NHL coach Johnny Wilson.
The ex-player and Vancouver Canucks’ assistant coach said he was destined to coach in the NHL and draws inspiration from the movie Field of Dreams.
He may answer to the nickname Gordon Bombay, Emilio Estevez’s character in The Mighty Ducks movie, but it’s the Kevin Costner vehicle he admires most.
Wilson, 38, said he imagined his father’s ghost appearing Oct. 8 and the two sharing a conversation.
“He shows up,” Wilson said, “and we talk about the Detroit Red Wings, the team he coached for 40 games, and he says, ‘Son, is this heaven?’ And I go, ‘No, it’s the Pond.’ “
Had Larry Wilson been there to see his son continue the family tradition, he would have seen the Mighty Ducks in over their collective bills. Detroit toyed with them, exposing the team for what it is-the product of a system that leaves precious few players available to new teams.
More than half of the Mighty Ducks played in the minors last season. The absence of talent is most evident among the forwards. Anaheim’s arsenal, not including the U.S. military’s missile silos located nearby, is barren.
The dozen forwards who played against Detroit combined for 70 goals in 580 NHL games last season. Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres scored 76 goals in 77 games all by himself.
Defenseman Sean Hill scored the Mighty Ducks’ first-ever goal, a rebound effort in the second period that drew a standing ovation from the capacity crowd of 17,174.
General manager Jack Ferreira acknowledged the obvious-that his team has few scorers-but said his objective is to ice a tough team that establishes a fierce work ethic.
Neither was in evidence on opening night, although former Chicago Blackhawk Stu Grimson did his part, demonstrating character on and off the ice.
Grimson tangled with NHL heavyweight champion Bob Probert of Detroit during the game and before it, expressed concern whether Chicago sports fans could survive the double blow of Nos. 23 Michael Jordan and Grimson leaving the Windy City.
A sense of humor will be important this season, but defenseman David Williams did not crack a smile when he offered this prognosis. “I don’t think we’ll be the worst team in the league,” he said.
That dubious distinction will most assuredly fall to the Mighty Ducks or Florida Panthers.
The Panthers, whose payroll (they have an average salary of $375,000 to Anaheim’s $320,000) and skill level (they have more scoring power) is higher than the Mighty Ducks’, got off to a very good start.
Florida was 1-1-1, including a 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers opened with an impressive 4-4 road tie against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Anaheim was decidedly worse in its debut. Most alarming to management and players alike was the effort. “If you play your best game against them and lose, you can accept it,” Loney said. “But that wasn’t our best game.”
Wilson pointed out the pre-game ceremony, reportedly a minimum $400,000 extravaganza, went off without a hitch, but the game didn’t.
The show featured figure-skating cheerleaders, Disney-sounding music and a goalie duck-cum-mascot dropped from the rafters. It landed safely, but if the harness ever fails, the mallard mascot will be a dead duck.
Already deceased is the Ice Man, a rock-and-roller who roamed the stands for two periods trying to whip up the full house. He was booed into submission during the second intermission.
“The Ice Man cometh and goeth on the same night,” said team president Tony Taveras.
With the season underway and the Ducks in flight—albeit wobbly-attention can turn to on-ice fortunes, not just the fortunes Disney will make from sales of hugely popular team merchandise. It is No. 1 among NHL teams.
“Now we’re just another hockey team,” said assistant GM Pierre Gauthier.
It promises to be a long and trying season for the Mighty Ducks, but the man who holds ultimate authority insisted it won’t be that bad.
And if it is? Disney chief executive officer Michael Eisner will be prepared. “I worked at ABC when we were fifth among three.” Eisner said. “People in the industry joked the way to end the Vietnam war was to put it on ABC.”
The Mighty Ducks appear on their own airwaves, the Disney channel. At least they’re guaranteed not to be preempted by Seinfeld-as the Toronto Maple Leafs were in hockey-mad Canada on their 1993-94 opening night.
And people worry about Disney respecting NHL traditions.
Anaheim played better in its second game, losing 4-3 in overtime to the New York Islanders. But if Eisner had his way, the game would have been decided a different way.
Eisner joins a number of NHL gov-more-including Marcel Aubut of the Quebec Nordiques-who want tie games settled with shootouts.
Hockey purists dislike the idea.
“We have to have a shootout,” Eisner said. “In my opinion, the game is long enough. We don’t need a five-minute overtime. We need a shootout where 17,000 people will go crazy. If you’re in the entertainment business that’s a no-brainer.”
And if you’re in the hockey business? “It’s still a no-brainer,” he said.
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