For Ducks, It’s a New Sales Job

The television in Al Coates’ office -- just steps from the Mighty Ducks’ dressing room at the Arrowhead Pond -- replayed the morning’s news: Paul Kariya had signed with Colorado.

“Yeah, today for sure, my job got harder,” said Coates, the Ducks’ senior vice president of business operations, hired April 7 to, among other duties, bolster season-ticket sales. “I totally understand that people will be angry.

“We got some calls when [the news] was first released, people calling to voice their concerns or displeasure that he ended up somewhere else. But some people called to say they understand that this is a business.”

Before Thursday, business at the Pond looked promising despite an 11% average hike in season-ticket prices. The Ducks’ stunning run to the Stanley Cup finals produced 1,500 to 1,600 new deposits -- a nonrefundable $250 per seat -- for season tickets, Coates said. As of 4 p.m. Thursday, Coates said none of those people had canceled.

“We believe, by and large, that those deposits are going to translate into season tickets,” he said.

Coates refused to specify the Ducks’ current season-ticket base, but it is believed to be between 7,000 and 8,000 in a building that seats 17,174.

“We have to get over 10,000,” he said. “It’s safe to say we have a way to go.”

Coates intends to get there by developing traditions. Already, hundreds of framed action photos of Ducks hang in the Pond that did not the day of his hiring.

“I used to come here with the Flames, and I know I didn’t like it,” said Coates, a Canadian by birth and traditional hockey fan by birthright whose career took off in 1995 when he began a five-year run as Calgary’s general manager.

“I paid attention to some details and I did not like it.”

He promises fewer gimmicks. Less ear-splitting music. Less of the anything-for-a-laugh-at-the-stadium mentality promoted by the Bill Veecks of the sports world.

“It’s all about traditions,” said Coates, who landed his first NHL job in public relations for the Detroit Red Wings in 1971. “Forever in this business, I have heard about tradition. We are creating a brand.”

Tradition, Coates said, can be anything, no matter how quirky. The Ducks -- 10 years young as a franchise -- have little for him to work with compared to the Montreals and Bostons of the league. That makes a mascot such as the Ducks’ Wild Wing next to indispensable. Coates said Wild Wing is the only NHL mascot to descend from the rafters, making it, at the very least, something unique to Anaheim.

The most significant change, Coates hopes, will be the addition of a 360-degree video board, the kind prevalent in many new-sprung NHL and NBA arenas. Boston’s FleetCenter installed such a board last summer at a reported cost of $1.5 million.

“We’ll make every attempt to get that done,” Coates said. “That’s the biggest difference [fans will see].”

That, and no No. 9 captaining the Ducks. Without Kariya, Coates must focus on building on the memories of a playoff push that featured series victories against Detroit, Dallas and Minnesota.

For a model, he needs only look across Katella Avenue to Edison Field, which on Thursday was packed with 42,579 spectators for a game between two teams, the Angels and Texas Rangers, a combined 31 1/2 games out of first place in the American League West. The defending World Series champions rank third in the American League in attendance at 36,367 despite a 44-41 record.

The Ducks filled the building for every playoff game but sold out only seven regular-season games. The first was opening night against Detroit. Two came in the final home games of the season when interest soared in anticipation of the playoffs. The four other times fans packed the Pond, they did so to see high-profile opponents.

To the fan reeling over Kariya’s absence, Coates drew on an observation he made last summer when the Devils did not retain Bobby Holik, then considered the best defensive center in hockey.

“There were a lot of glum faces around New Jersey last year,” Coates said. “What did they do about it? They lost one of their top-end players and won the Cup. That’s where we’re at today....

“We’ve got months, [General Manager] Bryan [Murray] does, to make sure the team is competitive, entertaining and gives us the opportunity to ... be playing into June again next year.”