They Are Becoming Mightier Than Even They Expected

Promotional brochures for the majestic Anaheim Arena offer a number of enticements for 1994, including “the silky, sexy sounds” of singer Luther Vandross in concert on Jan. 13 “as he brings a night of romance and love to Anaheim” (and when you think of romance, you automatically think of Anaheim) plus, every bit as silky but not quite as sexy, the big Feb. 16 Tractor Pull and Mud Bog.

I can suggest another reason to visit.

The name is Yake, Terry Yake--rhymes with rake . Although I do not know what kind of a name Yake is, I can tell you that on at least two occasions this hockey season, including once over a public-address system, someone has improperly introduced him as “Terry Yock-key,” as though he were named after marinated meat.

Yake plays center for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and both he and this team are appreciably better than anyone had a right to expect. Why in the world the skill-impaired Hartford Whalers felt they could afford to abandon a goal-scorer of Yake’s capability is a mystery for the ‘90s, but believe me, the Ducks are grateful, and believe me, they have thanked the party responsible.

“Thanks a lot, Burkey,” called out Ron Wilson, the Anaheim coach, upon running into his good friend Brian Burke, now an NHL vice president, at a recent hockey game. It had been Burke who in one of his last acts as Hartford’s general manager had made the gaffe of leaving Yake unprotected in hockey’s expansion draft.

“Best move you ever made!” Wilson needled.

Expansion teams are expected to win once or twice a month, are forgiven for surrendering six or eight or 10 goals a game and are supposed to be scraped off the ice as though by a Zamboni. Instead, rarely do the Ducks go down quietly. Through 37 games, only once since opening night did Anaheim’s defense yield more than five goals. A half-dozen games lasted into overtime. They could even have a shot at the playoffs , which could compromise the arena should there be any more Mud Bogs lined up.

As Yake caught his breath in the clubhouse after Sunday night’s 3-2 defeat by the Kings, there was detectable pride in his voice when he said: “We’ve been in a position to win practically every game we’ve been in when the third period begins.”

Whereas, say, the Kings last season lost games by scores like 6-0, 8-3 and 10-2.

Funny thing is, by the very next breath, Yake’s sentiment had changed radically.

“It’s definitely better than getting blown out,” he said, with a trace of exasperation. “But it’s time to start winning more of these games.

“We know how to start. What we have to do is finish.”

See, Yake and his teammates quickly have become disenchanted with simply being in the game . In only three months’ time, there has been a perceptible change in attitude from the Ducks, who no longer are content at having avoided ridicule. Pleased to be taken seriously and not to be mocked as rinky-dinks of the rink, their players have skated full circle. All they craved at first was to maintain some dignity. Now they have raised their sights.

It didn’t take long for this attitude adjustment to kick in, and it was Yake who did the kicking.

The Mighty Ducks went to a Madison Square Garden party, where we wished them a lot of luck. The date was Oct. 19 and the occasion was the history-making first road game in Anaheim’s virtually blank hockey scrapbook. An introductory offer of five home games had gone exceedingly well, from the stardust sprinkled by Tinkerbell at the gala season opener to a couple of very acceptable ties with Boston and Calgary, solid clubs both.

This game, though, was something else, a baptism of fire on ice. What were the chances of the Mighty Ducks defeating the Rangers at the Garden? Approximately those of Mrs. Doubtfire winning the Miss America pageant. They knew that the Rangers had the likes of Mark Messier, Mike Gartner and Steve Larmer. Whereas the Ducks, well, what they basically had was Bill Houlder and Jim Thomson and Steven King. It wasn’t quite equitable. It was the Dallas Cowboys against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was an indecent mismatch. It was . . .

It was Mighty Ducks 4, Rangers 2.

Yake outscored the New York team single-handedly. He scored three times, the first hat trick for a team that had expected to keep few milliners occupied.

“All of us could imagine what teams would be thinking,” Yake said. “New team in the league. Chance to rack up some easy goals. A real pushover. You could picture the stars of some of these teams looking at the Mighty Ducks as a great opportunity to rack up some numbers.

“We were worried about being shown a lack of respect, yeah. Being new, that name of ours, the Disney stuff, the whole bit, I don’t know what people must have expected--maybe a bunch of amateurs. People see us in a different light now. Their kids may be saying, ‘Look, it’s the Ducks!’ But as for the players around the league and some of the fans, they’re already looking at it more now as, you know, a tough night on the schedule against Anaheim.”

Particularly up north.

Across the provinces of Canada, where hockey is taken so seriously that the very name of the Ducks made many traditionalists cringe, esteem was earned when the Ducks hopscotched their way to consecutive victories at Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg. Spectators who came for a laugh were left shaking their heads. Even Wilson, hardly the NHL’s funniest coach, came out of the locker room grinning after one victory and declared: “Break up the Ducks!”

A few weeks later came travel successes at Winnipeg again, at Dallas and an astounding 1-0 victory at Toronto.

Yake assisted on linemate Tim Sweeney’s shorthanded goal to win that one.

“That was the night, I think,” Yake said. “That was the night other teams got the message that making fun of the Mighty Ducks was just wasting their energy.”

Leading scorer for the club, Yake could be an NHL All-Star in the making. His team is out of town for a time, but Hartford will be appearing in Anaheim on Jan. 14, one night after Luther Vandross. The Whalers have a better chance of suiting up Luther than they have of getting back Terry Yake.