Ducks Pull an Upset; Kings Grab No. 1 Goalie : Hockey: Anaheim passes on top prospect to pick defenseman Tverdovsky. L.A. takes Storr.

Mighty Duck General Manager Jack Ferreira called goaltender Jamie Storr the surest bet to become a star of any player in Tuesday’s NHL entry draft--then passed over him with the No. 2 pick, allowing the delighted Kings to snag the goalie with the seventh.

“It’s the old cliche--we couldn’t believe the player we wanted was available,” said new King General Manager Sam McMaster, who rated Storr second in the draft behind Radek Bonk.

The Ducks also passed over Bonk--the top prospect in many eyes--after Florida made defenseman Ed Jovanovski the No. 1 selection. Ferreira, with no tempting trade offers, then used the second pick on Ukranian defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky--a player he insists was their first choice all along.

Bonk fell to No. 3, where Ottawa took him in a first round that didn’t lack for surprises.

The Ducks’ selection of Tverdovsky was the first real upset of the draft--and marked the first time two defensemen have gone 1-2. True, the Ducks had little need for another goalie, even if they did consider Storr the best goalie in the draft in many years. And though Ferreira says money didn’t enter his consideration, club President Tony Tavares made it clear the Ducks weren’t interested in another contract stalemate like the one they’re in with Paul Kariya, the fourth person taken in the draft last year. That was the prospect presented by Bonk, who at 17 starred last season with Las Vegas of the International Hockey League.

Most observers ranked Tverdovsky third or fourth, but the Ducks saw it differently.

“When I saw him play in Russia, he brought me out of my seat,” said Ferreira, who describes Tverdovsky as a future quarterback for the Ducks’ needy power play, though perhaps not as soon as next season. “He’s the type of offensive defenseman that every team that wins championships has, a Sergei Zubov, a Brian Leetch, a Ray Bourque. I’m not comparing him to them, though, I’d never put that pressure on him.”

David McNab, the Ducks’ director of player personnel, said the difficulty of scouting Tverdovsky in Russia might explain the difference of opinions among teams--though most everyone agreed he was the top European player. Tverdovsky was scratched from a big tournament McNab tried to attend, and the performance that impressed him most came at a game no other scouts witnessed.

“It was not something I had to go back and see again,” he said. “When you shoot the puck as well as he did--you don’t do that one day and never again. A pitcher doesn’t throw a 95 mile-an-hour fastball one day and never do it again.”

Tverdovsky said he was “a little bit surprised to be picked by the Ducks.

“I have heard a new arena has been built,” he said. “I know it is called The Pond or the Pool, or something to that effect.”

The Kings, who figured Storr would by gone by the seventh pick, got their man--avoiding Brett Lindros, who reportedly had made it clear he didn’t want to play with Wayne Gretzky.

“We probably would have taken young Lindros--and worried about it later,” McMaster said.

Instead he got Storr, a player he knows extremely well, having seen him play perhaps 100 games when he was a general manager in the Ontario Hockey League and Storr played for the OHL’s Owen Sound Platers. McMaster also was the director of operations of a championship under-17 national team Storr played on. Most recently, Storr was named best goaltender of the 1994 World Junior tournament, which Canada won.

Drafting goalies at 18 is considered risky business, but McMaster had no doubts.

“He’s the best,” he said. “He had a .918 save percentage and his team was weak defensively. I was in junior hockey 18 years and never saw another like him.”

Storr also is used to facing a lot of shots--something the King goalies know all about.

“I averaged about 48 a game during the regular season and 51 a game during the playoffs. I’m used to seeing the puck a lot. It only makes you better,” said Storr, who, in contrast to Lindros, was hoping fervently for the chance to play with Gretzky.

The Kings expect Storr in training camp, but McMaster says the young goalie will determine what happens after that.

“I want to make sure you know this, we have two good goaltenders in Robb Stauber and Kelly Hrudey. We are not going to rush Jamie Storr. I think the worst thing you can do is rush a goalie.

Hrudey, 33, is going into his option year and seeks a raise. Stauber has been unsteady and there are questions about his durability over a full season.

“I hope (Storr, 18) can be a No. 1 goalie at 23 or 24,” McMaster said.

The Kings also were able to fulfill their other big need, for a big forward, taking 6-foot-5, 225-pound Matt Johnson in the second round with the 33rd pick overall. Johnson, who looks at least as big as he is listed, played with Peterborough in the OHL and knows McMaster and Storr well.

The Ducks used their second-round pick, the 28th overall, on Swedish forward Johan Davidsson, a slender but still growing 6-footer whose skills are skating and playmaking.

Richard Park, a South Korea native who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes and has played for the Belleville Bulls of the OHL since 1992, was taken by Pittsburgh in the second round with the 50th pick overall.

Notes

The draft concludes today with rounds 3-11. . . . In Tuesday morning’s supplemental draft involving older undrafted players with college experience, the Ducks took Steve Rucchin, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound center from Western Ontario and the Kings took Quinn Fair, a 6-1, 210-pound defenseman who is transferring to Bowling Green after Kent dropped its program.

The Ducks have joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in a working agreement with Russia’s Central Red Army team, which once was among the best hockey teams in the world but fell on hard times after the dismantling of the Soviet sports machine. Disney Sports Enterprises, which owns the Ducks, has purchased an interest in Penguins Army Ltd. as part of a three-way working agreement that will include player development but also emphasize marketing. The Penguins joined efforts with Red Army last year in an historical deal, and the team has since competed as the Russian Penguins.

With the Ducks involved, Disney will help design a new logo to somehow incorporate the three traditions--and also will be involved in selling team merchandise and spreading the Duck logo into Europe.

General Manager Jack Ferreira said it is possible some young North American players will play in Russia, but only if they choose to. He is more likely to seek to assign some of the team’s young Russians to play under legendary Coach Viktor Tikhonov. He also emphasized the scouting advantage of the arrangement.

MIKE PENNER: The Mighty Ducks take the path of least resistance with their first pick in the draft. C9