Team No Longer a Tough Sell

Al Coates, vice president of business operations for the Mighty Ducks, has a much easier job this summer thanks to the team’s playoff run. Win or lose in the Stanley Cup finals, selling season tickets and attracting sponsors will take less arm twisting than in past seasons.

“This has really brought the organization to the forefront in the market place,” said Coates, who was hired in April. “[Ticket] sales are already good. When we go back to people and get them in their seats, I’m expecting a big increase.”

Duck season-ticket sales have plummeted in recent seasons. Team officials refused to release numbers on season tickets this season, but it was believed to be between 7,000 and 8,000.

The Ducks finished last in attendance during the 2001-02 season and increased only slightly this season.

Crowds increased dramatically in the last few weeks of the season. Ad sales also picked up, as the dasher boards, sparse with ads much of season, filled up come playoff time.

“I have always believed that you’re not just selling a team, you’re selling hope,” Coates said.

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Steve Thomas’ 11-year-old son, Christian, is missing a few days of school this week. But when he returns to class in Toronto he’ll have a note from Dad with a very good explanation.

“This is an experience he might not be able to enjoy again, so I said, ‘You have to come out here and be part of this,’ ” said Thomas, who hadn’t seen his son, daughter and wife since Game 2 of the Ducks’ first-round victory over Detroit. “It might never happen again.”

Thomas’ wife, daughter and mother-in-law are also in Anaheim for the finals.

His family stayed in Toronto after he was traded to the Ducks in March.

But he has managed to share some distinctive experiences with his son: Thomas got two tickets to the gold-medal hockey game at the Salt Lake City Olympics last year and took Christian along. “It was an unbelievable atmosphere and just a great time,” he said.

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The subject was officiating in the Stanley Cup finals.

“It’s odd,” Duck center Adam Oates said. “You see a guy get called for a penalty. Then you see a guy have to fight through five players to get up ice and nothing is called.”

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Former Duck center Matt Cullen has come around to being a Duck fan.

Cullen, traded to Florida in the deal that brought defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh to the Ducks, went fishing and avoided the early rounds of the playoffs but is glued to his TV now.

“At first, I was jealous,” Cullen said. “I wanted to be there. But now I’m pulling for the Ducks. I have a lot of friends on that team.”

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Defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski did not play in the third period of Game 4, but said he was healthy. Vishnevski played only five shifts, one after the first period, when took a hit behind the Duck net.