Bullfrogs Have Their Eye on a Smaller Pond : Sports: Roller hockey team may leave home at The Pond if talks with Anaheim about a new, smaller arena prove fruitful.

What is it lately about this city that makes professional sports teams so jumpy?

Earlier this year, the Rams couldn’t get their own stadium and packed up for St. Louis. Unhappy with the aging Anaheim Stadium, the Angels are pressuring the city for a new baseball-only complex.

Now, the Bullfrogs--the city’s professional roller hockey team--want to leap out of their current home at The Pond of Anaheim and into a brand new sports venue too.

Bullfrogs owner Nelson Silver has been negotiating with city officials for several months about building a new team home in a city redevelopment zone. Silver and city officials are expected to continue talks in closed session at tonight’s council meeting.

“It’s still at the inception stages at this point,” said Silver, a 34-year-old Los Angeles resident. “But I hope, please God, it will come to fruition.”

Unlike Anaheim’s other pro sports brethren, the Bullfrogs aren’t croaking for luxury boxes and exclusive use of a facility. Instead, the Bullfrogs are looking for a smaller arena, possibly 10,000 seats, to host some or all of the 12 home games each year, Silver said.

The Bullfrogs averaged about 10,000 fans at home games last year at The Pond. The Pond, which holds more than 19,000, has hosted all the Bullfrogs home games since the Roller International Hockey league was founded three years ago.

Silver and city officials won’t discuss details about the proposed development deal. But city officials say they are eager to retain the team.

“We are trying to keep the Bullfrogs happy and in Anaheim,” city spokesman Bret Colson said. “We view them as an important part of the community.”

But even if a new arena is eventually built, it’s still unclear how many home games the Bullfrogs would play there, Silver said.

“I don’t want to step on The Pond’s toes. We may play all our home games at a new arena, but we may play none,” Silver said. “We will have to see.”

Negotiations have centered on nailing down a price for an approximately 19-acre parcel just south of the Riverside Freeway. The property is bounded by East La Palma Avenue, Harbor Boulevard, Lemon Street and West Romneya Drive.

A new arena would serve as a Bullfrogs practice facility and a recreation center for local youth, Silver said.

“We want to give something back to the community, which has been so good to us,” Silver said. “The sport is really growing and the kids need a place to play that is safe.”

Also, the new smaller arena could be rented out for college basketball, concerts, boxing matches and other events that might have trouble selling out a larger venue, Silver added.

“We have to see if the math adds up for this whole project,” Silver said. “With everything going on right now, maybe this would be another way for Orange County and Anaheim to generate more revenue.”

Some Bullfrogs fans feel a more intimate arena would make games more exciting.

“I would miss The Pond,” said Bullfrogs fan Mike Von Flatern, who has attended more than half of the team’s home games. “But with 8, 9, or 10,000 fans you can get a little lost in the place.” A new arena would give the Bullfrogs “their own identity,” the 38-year-old bartender from Orange added.

The Bullfrogs won the World Championship in their inaugural season and were division champs last year. The team’s 24-game season opens June 3 at The Pond.