Ducks Break the Ice in Their Own Margaritaville

They came from the unwanted lists of Edmonton and Ottawa, from the discard pile of Hartford, from the circular file of San Jose.

They came to play ice hockey, in a land called Anaheim, where ice is traditionally crushed, mixed with tequila and served in salt-encrusted glasses.

They came to be Mighty Ducks.

Tonight, 25 brave souls make history when Orange County’s first professional hockey team plays Detroit in its NHL regular-season debut. The going is not expected to be easy.

At the very least, they deserve a proper introduction . . .

Robin Bawa: The last Duck selected in the Anaheim-Florida expansion draft--47th out of 48 overall--and something of a success story. Bawa survived one training-camp cut after another to make it to tonight, largely due to whom he knows (he played for Ron Wilson and Jack Ferreira during previous NHL stops) as well as what he knows (how to fight). The Ducks noticed the 381 penalty minutes Bawa racked up in Ft. Wayne, Ind., in 1990-91 and figured he had a future here.

Patrik Carnback: The Ducks’ only Swede. A little-known NHL by-law requires one on every team.

Bob Corkum: He’ll be the one shadowing Steve Yzerman tonight, as per his unfortunate lot as the Ducks’ checking center. Future assignments include Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux, Doug Gilmour and Eric Lindros. Corkum remains hopeful, however. The job, he says, is not to stop them--”just bring them down to the level of the rest of us.”

Bobby Dollas: He saw his picture on the front page of USA Today this week and went wild, telling teammates he was going to hit every newsstand in Orange County and buy 100 copies. A thumb injury will keep him out of tonight’s game; reliable sources insist it was not the result of a spring-loaded news-rack lid slamming Dollas on his ink-stained hand.

Peter Douris: Douris played for the Providence minor league team last season. So did Tim Sweeney. Ferreira was born in Providence. Wilson and assistant Tim Army attended Providence College. Call them the Rhode Island Ducks.

Todd Ewen: Ewen is an artist, sensitive and thoughtful. He creates tiny, intricate sculptures out of adhesive tape. He plays the piano and the guitar. He is presently writing and illustrating a book for children. He also accumulated 53 penalty minutes and two game misconducts in five Duck exhibition games. “Does this look like a tough guy?” Wilson asked as he introduced a nattily attired Ewen at Wednesday’s booster luncheon. “If he didn’t have a black eye, you wouldn’t know.”

Mark Ferner: Couldn’t Play For Ottawa--that was some albatross Ferner wore around his neck as he walked into Duck training camp. Ottawa had one of the worst teams in NHL history last season and Ferner couldn’t get off the farm club. That tends to motivate a man, which is why Ferner led the Ducks in teeth-rattling checks this preseason, which is why Wilson has him on the roster tonight.

Stu Grimson: The Grim Reaper loves children. Really. Whenever they allowed him out of the penalty box in Chicago, Stu would visit children’s hospitals and spend hours after games signing autographs. At 6-5, 227 pounds, however, he can be intimidating. “It’s all right, honey, go on up there,” mothers would tell their timid youngsters, quivering with pen and paper. “Don’t fear The Reaper.”

Guy Hebert: He’s a native Noo Yawker, born in Troy, about as French as those fries next to your Big Mac--yet the Duck goaltender pronounces his name Gee Ay-bear . A tad snooty, no? “My dad was a big hockey fan,” Hebert explains, “and he was sure someone in the family would end up playing hockey. So when I was born, he picked the name out of The Hockey News. Who better than Guy Lafleur?”

Sean Hill: The youngest Duck (23) and owner of the hardest shot on the team. He played for the Canadiens last season and will receive his Stanley Cup ring later this month when the Ducks pay their first visit to Montreal. So, the trip won’t be a total waste.

Bill Houlder: Credits former San Diego Gulls Coach Rick Dudley for reviving his career last season by introducing him to something called “pliometrics,” which sounds like what Marty McSorley did to his stick before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals but is actually a form of agility exercise that is said to improve quickness. Houlder went on to score a career-high 24 goals for San Diego, all of them, presumably, with a legal stick.

Alexei Kasatonov: Don’t ask him about “Miracle On Ice.” Alexei was on the losing side at Lake Placid in 1980. His penalty was 10 more years on the Central Red Army team, followed by a four-year banishment to the Siberia of the NHL, also known as New Jersey.

Steven King: Don’t ask him about “Carrie,” “Christine” or “Misery.” This Steven King doesn’t write lines, he plays on them, and consequently pulls down several million dollars less per year. Will get his own shot at “CuJo” on Dec. 12, when St. Louis goaltender Curtis Joseph comes to town.

Randy Ladouceur: The Hartford Whalers left their captain exposed to the expansion draft because Ladouceur was 33, slowing down and planning to soon make the move to coaching. The Whalers didn’t think anyone would take him. But the Ducks liked his leadership qualities so much they selected Ladouceur as their fifth defenseman. And Disney has bent over backward for him, even allowing Ladouceur to keep his mustache.

Troy Loney: He is to the Ducks what Gretzky is to the Kings and Lemieux is to the Penguins. That is to say, team captain. “I don’t look at myself as being on the same level,” Loney humbly notes, but he did help Pittsburgh win back-to-back Stanley Cup and has two championship rings to flash in front of the young Ducks’ wide eyes. They do look awfully good in the room.

Myles O’Connor: Stay-at-home defenseman who was invited to camp anyway. Made the final cut, surprisingly, without spending a single preseason minute in the penalty box.

Joe Sacco: The closest thing the Ducks have to a big-name scorer. Joe Sakic, just one syllable away, had 48 goals and 105 points for Quebec last season.

Anatoli Semenov: He set a career high for assists last season while playing for Vancouver, where Wilson was an assistant coach. Now he and Wilson are reunited in Anaheim, asking the same question: How to do it without Pavel Bure?

Tim Sweeney: Comes to the Ducks with impeccable minor league credentials, including the 1980 Ken McKenzie Trophy for being the outstanding U.S.-born rookie in the International Hockey League. Of course, “there were only two Americans in the league at the time,” Sweeney quips, but who’s counting?

Jim Thomson: On loan from the Kings, who set some kind of NHL record by losing Thomson in three consecutive expansion drafts. Lost him to Minnesota in ‘91, got him back, lost him to Ottawa in ‘92, got him back, lost him to Anaheim in ’93 and then Bruce McNall jokingly told him, “I’ll get you back.” Why not? Plane fare’s much cheaper now.

Ron Tugnutt: Resilient goaltender who faced 73 shots in one 1991 game against Boston and literally thousands of shots in 153 games with then-feeble Quebec. He now says he believes the Ducks can qualify for the playoffs in ’94. You are permitted to draw your own conclusions.

Garry Valk: A favorite of Wilson’s when he averaged eight goals per season in Vancouver. Double that in Anaheim, Garry, and you’ll have a friend for life.

Shaun Van Allen: Gretzky once played center for Edmonton and will one day have Canadian towns named after him. Shaun Van Allen once played center for Edmonton and was named after a Canadian town. Shaun Van Allen was born on Aug. 29, 1967, in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan.

David Williams: Ferreira has signed him twice now--first in San Jose in ’91 and now in Anaheim. Ferreira must like his consistency. Last season, Williams had one goal and 11 assists for San Jose . . . and one goal and 11 assists for minor league Kansas City.

Terry Yake: Should be the Ducks’ top goal-producer. Scored 22 goals with limited playing time in Hartford last season; now the Ducks are projecting him for 30 goals, minimum. Should he score 40, the Ducks will name the arena after him: “Yake Arrowhead.”

The Countdown to the Mighty Ducks’ Opening Faceoff

Approximately 8 tonight--The puck is dropped at Anaheim Arena as the Mighty Ducks take on the Detroit Red Wings in the franchise’s first NHL regular-season game.

Approximately 7:30 tonight--Disney-produced extravaganza celebrates the first game.

Sept. 29--Ducks get their first exhibition victory, defeating New York Islanders, 3-2, at Anaheim Arena.

Sept. 18--Ducks play first NHL exhibition game, losing to Pittsburgh, 5-2, at Anaheim Arena.

Sept. 10--First training camp opens at Anaheim Arena.

Aug. 10--Ducks make their first trade, acquiring right wing Todd Ewen and center Patrik Carnback from Montreal for a 1994 third-round draft pick.

June 30--Ron Wilson is named team’s first head coach.

June 26--Paul Kariya of the University of Maine is taken with the fourth pick overall at the NHL entry draft in Quebec City, making him the team’s first NHL entry draft selection.

June 24--Goaltender Guy Hebert is the team’s first selection in the NHL expansion draft, giving him the distinction of being the first Duck. Twenty-four more players are chosen from list of unprotected players from other NHL teams at expansion draft in Quebec City.

June 7--Logo and uniform design unveiled, with goaltender’s mask in shape of a scowling duck face.

March 23--Jack Ferreira named vice president and general manager of Mighty Ducks. Pierre Gauthier named assistant general manager.

March 1, 1993--Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner announces team named the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim will enter the NHL in October, 1993. Eisner unofficially dubs the arena “The Pond of Anaheim.” Jack Lindquist named chairman and Tony Tavares named president of Disney Sports Enterprises.

Dec. 9, 1992--NHL Board of Governors recommends awarding of conditional franchises to Walt Disney Co. for team in Orange County and to Blockbuster Entertainment for team in Florida.

Sources: The Mighty Ducks, Robyn Norwood