Mighty Ducks Pick Up Where Gretzky Left Off

In 1983, when Wayne Gretzky called the New Jersey Devils “a Mickey Mouse operation,” he could never have foreseen that Mickey Mouse would own and operate an NHL team.

Or that he would be responsible for its existence.

Gretzky’s arrival in Los Angeles in 1988 to play for the Kings glamorized the sport and grabbed the attention of the empire-building folks at Disney, who put the Mighty Ducks on ice in a few swift months. Gretzky has since left town, leaving the Kings to rebuild around kids instead of the stars they used to collect. The Lakers can sell Shaquille O’Neal; can the Kings sell Yanic Perreault? Fans have yet to demonstrate they will buy generic after becoming accustomed to premium, and the legacy of the Gretzky trade is still unclear.

But the Ducks are his legacy, too, and his return to Anaheim Friday with the New York Rangers, who lost to the Mighty Ducks, 5-2, came at a pivotal point in the course of hockey in Southern California. While the Kings attempt to establish an identity, the Ducks are attempting to become a contender and not merely a novelty. Gretzky’s time here has passed, but the Ducks’ is yet to come. The next few weeks will determine if that time is now.

Gretzky, who was booed lustily by the sellout crowd of 17,174, is the hero of the past, the player who gave hockey a widely recognizable face here and led the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup finals. The electricity and sense of anticipation that once surrounded Gretzky and the Kings can now be found in Anaheim, where wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne combine explosive speed with breathtaking skill in a dynamic duo that may entertain fans for years.

But as the Ducks approach the end of their fourth season, generating excitement is no longer enough. They must make the playoffs, and it’s likely that almost despite themselves, they will finish among the top eight in the Western Conference.

As well as their defense has played recently, only one player--Bobby Dollas--would rank among the top six on an upper-echelon team. Dan Trebil has shown promise but is inexperienced; David Karpa’s penchant for taking bad penalties has been costly in the past. The margin for error here is thin.

Nor are the Ducks likely to get reinforcements. General Manager Jack Ferreira said the Edmonton Oilers, who have discussed defensemen Luke Richardson and Bryan Marchment with several teams, wouldn’t deal with him because the Ducks are a conference rival. And to get anyone who could help, the Ducks would have to give up someone of value, which they can’t spare.

“Some teams have made some major moves a little earlier than usual,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said of the New Jersey Devils’ acquisition of Doug Gilmour and Dave Ellett and the six-player trade last week between Boston and Washington. “I don’t know about us. We’ll have some people coming back [from injuries] around the trade deadline, and you usually make trades to get that spark. . . . I don’t think any deal we would make would be a blockbuster.”

That’s because you’ve got to have blocks to make a blockbuster deal. “Maybe we could make a Legobuster,” Wilson said.

The margin is also thin in goal. Guy Hebert has been superb, compiling a 1.67 goals-against average and .947 save percentage in his last seven games, but he’s in danger of being overworked. He has started 33 of the last 34 games, and if he starts every remaining game, that would be 49 of 50. Should he get tired or hurt, the Ducks’ house of cards will collapse faster than a Selanne wrist shot.

Selanne and Kariya, the Ducks’ two constants, have been dazzling. Friday, Selanne created the first spark when he victimized veteran Ranger defensemen Jeff Beukeboom and Brian Leetch to fly up the left side and convert a pass from Steve Rucchin for the Ducks’ first goal. Kariya scored the Ducks’ fourth goal and Selanne capped the Ducks’ scoring with an empty-net goal. Few teams have one game-breaker with their world-class skills, let alone two.

Get past Selanne and Kariya, though, and the consistency and talent level drop off rapidly. There’s no second line that can be counted upon to step up when Kariya and Selanne are checked into submission, and the third and fourth lines aren’t threatening. Depth is decisive when the hitting gets harder and the tempo gets faster in April and May, and the Ducks are lacking there.

Several factors are working in the Ducks’ favor, most notably the Vancouver Canucks’ 4-11-1 nosedive and the inconsistency of the Calgary Flames and Phoenix Coyotes. Also crucial is that unlike last season, the Ducks are the hunted, not the hunter. Their 13-4-3 drive last season started too late and depended on too many other teams to falter. If they stay where they are or solidify their hold, they won’t need help. “I think we should have learned that last year,” Ferreira said. “You’ve got to really do it yourself.”

The Ducks boosted their playoff chances Friday by outplaying Gretzky and the Rangers. They have paid their debt to him, and the only remaining debt is to their fans, to whom they owe a playoff berth.