A Shot on Goal From Disneyland : No Mickey Mouse move in this bid to bring big-time hockey to Anaheim

The National Hockey League, in sore need of cash and some image-polishing, has turned in dramatic fashion to two proven giants, the Walt Disney Co. and Blockbuster Entertainment Corp., and conditionally approved new expansion franchises for Anaheim and Miami, respectively. A Frost Belt game makes new inroads into the Sun Belt as quickly as you can say, “Score on the power play.”

The Disney franchise for Anaheim especially has a storybook feel to it, not unlike the happy ending of “The Mighty Ducks,” the company’s pee-wee hockey movie that may provide the new Southern California franchise with a name. The host city has a white elephant in waiting, its nearly finished indoor sports arena, which to date has no hockey or basketball tenants. Without either, Anaheim could be stuck for several million dollars a year in payments to its partners, Ogden Corp. and the Nederlander Organization. So it’s “Disney on Ice” to the rescue.

Obtaining a hockey team as early as next season surely would take care of some of the taxpayers’ financial burden. That now suddenly seems very possible, provided the details can be worked out. There’s little doubt that they will be, because Anaheim isn’t in much of a position to bargain.

But as attractive as this deal sounds as a way out of a jam, Anaheim still must guard its financial interests as best it can. Disney also happens to be looking for a substantial public contribution to infrastructure improvements that will make possible a $3-billion expansion of its theme park across town. It may be tougher now than ever to find places to say “no,” but Anaheim, while rightly enthusiastic about this exciting park project, cannot give what it does not have.

Disney, too, has a stake in shoring up the landscape with booked nights at the new, but yet uncommitted, arena. Its chairman no doubt loves hockey, but the company’s brilliant stroke was in recognizing the potential of the empty sports arena as a marketing opportunity. Hockey in Disneyland will further support the company’s notion of making the amusement park a “destination resort,” a vastly upgraded attraction to lure visitors for years to come.

Money, too, has a way of making things happen. Disney has the resources to move quickly. It will give $25 million to the NHL and $25 million to ease whatever territorial concerns L.A. Kings owner Bruce McNall might have harbored.

It’s amazing how a little stardust from Tinkerbell melts the ice, even in the winter of Anaheim’s discontent.