Ducks Get Shot to Be Kings : Hockey: Struggling Los Angeles meets Anaheim for the first time for Southern California bragging rights.

So what should Michael Eisner and Bruce McNall wager on tonight’s first regular-season meeting at the Forum between the Mighty Ducks and the once-mighty Kings?

Ducks win and McNall has to wear mouse ears for a month?

Kings win and Eisner either has to pick up all of McNall’s outstanding bills or cough up half of the profits to “Aladdin,” whichever is more?

McNall came up with an idea that could lift the intensity of play to that of a Stanley Cup final.

“The loser,” McNall jokingly proposed, “gets Euro Disney.”

Maybe that’s appropriate. The Kings have been slipping in the Western Conference standings almost as rapidly as Euro Disney has been in the hearts of potential customers. After the Ducks’ 5-2 victory over Winnipeg on Wednesday, the Kings and Ducks are tied in the standings, which makes tonight’s matchup all the more appealing.

“I’ve been saying all along, you can’t have a rivalry unless it’s close,” Mighty Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “If they’re 30 points ahead, what kind of a rivalry is that? But if it’s even. . . . “

Wayne Gretzky, in a way, is responsible for the birth of the Mighty Ducks. It’s a pretty safe bet that there would have been no team in Orange County and no hockey explosion inSouthern California had Gretzky not moved from Edmonton to Los Angeles in 1988.

The meeting of the Kings and Mighty Ducks is the hottest ticket in Southern California since the Stanley Cup finals, and Gretzky was asked if it was a game non-hockey fans would follow.

“I think you are in the minority if you are not a hockey fan now,” Gretzky said. “I think a lot of people will be watching. The rivalry is pretty much there already. It’s a situation where they’re the new team on the block and they’re playing very well and doing a lot of things well.”

Stylistically, the teams couldn’t be more different. The Mighty Ducks know their limitations and have stuck closely to a defensively sound, position brand of hockey. The Kings are a fast-paced, risk-taking team--fun to watch, unless you play in goal for them.

“We don’t want to get into a wide-open game against them,” Wilson said. “That would be like getting in a gunfight when you have a pea-shooter and the other guy has a magnum whatever-you-call-it. . . . If we let the game go, it would probably be something like 9-4, 9-5. If we tried trading chance for chance, they’re much faster, much better finishers. They have 50-, 60-, 90-goal scorers. We’ve got a couple of guys who’ve reached 20.”

It’s almost a no-lose situation for the Ducks. If the Kings win, it won’t surprise anyone. But the Stanley Cup finalists losing to a first-year team? That would attract some attention.

But for now, King Coach Barry Melrose is downplaying the rivalry.

“We hate enough teams already,” he said. “We don’t need to hate every team.”

Times staff writer Robyn Norwood contributed to this story.

* BACK TO WORK: NHL referees and linesmen will return to work today after ratifying a four-year agreement that boosts their salaries, playoff guarantees and severance pay. C3

* DEADLOCKED: The Mighty Ducks defeat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2, to pull even with the Kings in the Pacific Division standings. C3

Close Company

A look at how the Kings and Mighty Ducks rank in the Western Conference in terms of qualifying for the NHL playoffs. The two division champions and the top six other teams (based on points) qualify .

Team W L T Pts *Toronto 18 5 4 40 *Calgary 15 7 4 34 Dallas 12 9 6 30 St. Louis 12 7 5 29 Vancouver 14 10 0 28 Chicago 12 9 2 26 Detroit 11 11 2 24 San Jose 10 13 4 24 **Winnipeg 10 14 3 23 **Kings 9 13 2 20 **Mighty Ducks 9 15 2 20 **Edmonton 5 19 3 13

* denotes division leader

** would not qualify for playoffs