Fans, Other O.C. Franchises Cheer News : Reaction: Hockey lovers already thinking tickets, while officials with football Rams and baseball Angels say another professional team in town is good for all.

Pat Chiasson has been an avid hockey fan since he was in elementary school at Blessed Sacrament in Westminster, and Friday’s announcement that a National Hockey League team almost certainly will play in Anaheim Arena next season came as welcome news indeed.

“My dad used to take us to Kings games back when they were drawing about 2,000 in the early ‘70s,” said Chiasson, a purchasing supervisor at an Irvine electronics firm.

“My dad, a couple of buddies and I have our name on the interest list for a couple of season tickets (for the new Anaheim franchise). We’re going to split them up.

“We were a little worried about them working it all out in time to play next year, but this is great. I’m really psyched.”

Chiasson said he will remain a loyal Kings fan, but admits that he will be spending most of his sports dollars on seats for the new Disney-owned club.

“I’ve been a Kings fan since I was a little kid, but now I’ll be watching the Mighty Ducks in the Duck Pond,” said Chiasson, who recently moved with his wife and 2-year-old son to Hemet. “I can’t afford to go to every game, but going to Anaheim will be a lot more convenient for me. It lops at least an hour off the drive.

“My only concern is that everyone understands that they’ll be pretty lousy for the first three or four years. About as lousy as their nickname. I just hope all these people clamoring for tickets won’t be expecting much right away.

“The main thing is I just think it’s great that Orange County is finally getting a team.”

That pretty much sums up most people’s reaction, including that of officials at the local pro sports franchises.

“We welcome the arrival of the new National Hockey League team in Anaheim,” said Jay Zygmunt, the Rams’ senior vice president. “Our franchise has had a great and loyal following since we came to Anaheim in 1980, and we offer our congratulations and best wishes to the new hockey team.”

Richard Brown, the Angels’ president and chief executive offer, echoed Zygmunt’s sentiments and added that he doesn’t necessarily view the NHL team as competition for the Orange County spectator dollar.

“We’re very excited,” Brown said. “Certainly, there’s enough room for the Rams, the Angels and the Mighty Ducks or whatever they’re going to be called. And we’re equally excited about having Disney involved in pro sports because they are such a class organization.

“There is the thought that they may cannibalize on the Angels or Rams, but ice hockey fans may or may not be baseball or football fans, and baseball or football fans may or may not be ice hockey fans.

“Really, I think there’s more upside than downside. I think potentially there are more fans who will attend an ice hockey game at the arena and may end up testing a baseball game at the stadium, than fans who will give up baseball seats and buy hockey seats.”

David Wilson, owner of Toyota of Orange, has already purchased a 14-seat luxury suite for all events at Anaheim Arena. He says he won’t be giving up his suite at Anaheim Stadium, but expects he’ll have an easier time finding takers for his hockey tickets.

“I have 17 season tickets for football and six for baseball as well as the suite,” Wilson said. “I have 400 employees, and I use the tickets mainly as incentives for them. The last couple of years, the way the ‘Lambs’ and that baseball team have played, I couldn’t get anyone to take them.”

Wilson understands that the hockey team probably won’t have much on-the-ice success right away, but that, he says, doesn’t matter much in this case.

“The Disney Co. is the franchisee, and I expect the level of entertainment to be very high,” he said. “I don’t care if they’re competitive.”

No matter where the team ends up in the standings, it will likely lure even more youngsters into youth hockey locally. Part of the lease agreement states that the Anaheim Arena ice will be available at least 30 hours a year to youth teams.

“I’m sure it will add to the already dramatic explosion of junior, and even senior, hockey in Southern California,” said Ron White, managing director of the Glacial Garden Ice Arena in Anaheim. “We have been the home of the South Coast Hockey Assn. for 20 years now, and we have about 300 members playing on 16 traveling teams and eight in-house teams. (Disney Chairman Michael) Eisner’s son, Anders, plays here.

“For most of these kids, roller hockey is the feeder, and this is the obvious progression. And cable television has also played a huge role in the sport’s popularity.”

White, a Kings season ticket holder, says he will keep his seats at Inglewood’s Great Western Forum, home of the Kings, but plans to see a great deal of hockey in Anaheim as well. A hockey traditionalist, White isn’t overjoyed at the prospect of a team called the Mighty Ducks, but that won’t keep him away.

“Some of those players probably aren’t going to be overjoyed at being called the ‘Yucks,’ or whatever other names that will be thrown at them,” he said. “But then they didn’t put up the $50 million for the franchise.”

Wilson, on the other hand, thinks the nickname is a stroke of genius.

“I think Mighty Ducks is a terrific name,” he said. “Disney knows what they’re doing when it comes to marketing. I have a feeling they’ll be like the Mets were when they first started. The entertainment will be more important than the won-loss record.

“Now, if we could just get Disney to buy the Rams and the Angels, we’d really be set.”