Section One: Let the Games Begin

Before Play: First Hollywood, Then the NHL

On December 9, 1992, the National Hockey League granted conditional approval for a franchise to be established in Orange County, California, by the Walt Disney Company. On March 1, 1993, it was announced that the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim would begin play in the 1993 — 94 season. But before the first puck could be dropped, a staggering amount of organizational work had to be done in record time. To accomplish this, Disney forged a management team of professionals whose charter was not only to get the team up and skating, but to present a quality, entertaining sports package for fans both new and experienced.

Disney chairman Michael Eisner sought an executive to lead this effort who had management principles similar to his own: set high standards, make a total commitment, lead by example. Tony Tavares was a natural choice to be the president of the newly formed Disney Sports Enterprises (DSE). His training as an accountant, his knowledge of the sports industry, and his proven management skills developed while CEO of Spectator (a major facilities management company) would be absolutely essential to any successful venture of this magnitude. What Tavares also brought to the table was a personal dedication to success that permeated the entire project. And beginning June 7, 1993, Tavares would need every bit of that dedication.

On that day, a press conference was held to confirm the new name of the team to be the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and to unveil the team logo and team colors of purple, jade, silver, and white. The announcement was greeted by a resounding groan from hockey purists, who had already reacted unfavorably to the team name, and were now certain this new look would never fly. Complaining the colors and logo were demeaning to the macho image of hockey, some predicted players would refuse to be dressed up in outfits that looked more like movie costumes than sports uniforms.

Before the first game had even been played, the Ducks had become the laughingstock of the league and material for standup routines everywhere. Forgetting that another National Hockey League team named after a bird (and one that couldn't fly, at that) had its name on the Stanley Cup, critics predicted certain failure. They apparently also forgot who was doing the marketing. The imagineers who endeared mice and mermaids to the world set about doing the same thing with puck-passing ducks.

When the doors to what became known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim opened on October 8, 1993, for the first National Hockey League game in Mighty Ducks history, it was clear that Disney's marketing talent had risen to the task. Not only were all 17,174 seats filled with cheering fans, but most of them were wearing the once-ridiculed team colors. In fact, Mighty Ducks merchandise had quickly surged to number one in worldwide sales of such items, leaving the previous sales-leading San Jose Sharks in its wake. The press box and press lounge were filled beyond capacity. Working members of the media were far outnumbered by Disney guests and staff, local community leaders and politicos, and National Hockey League officials. Wearing the official NHL blazer and tie, I was still amazed that I was one of them.

My credentials for being an off-ice official were somewhat sparse. Certainly, hockey was a tradition in my family growing up in Minnesota. My grandfather and father had each played on state senior championship teams, and I had been a member of a national championship junior team. However, I had only officiated one hockey game ever, which was way less than successful. When a referee failed to show up at a Pee Wee game, I was reluctantly pressed into service. Being in high school at the time, and just slightly older than the players, I decided to call only the most obvious penalties. Unfortunately, by the time I had the nerve to call a penalty, someone else needed to call the Red Cross. As I whistled a player for a blatant trip, his father, who looked big enough to pick up a cement truck, yelled, "I'm gonna come out there and show you what a real trip is like." Sometime during the melee that followed, I became a staunch advocate for arming officials.

Remembering this incident as if it happened yesterday (rather than 35 years ago), I hesitantly applied for a position as an off-ice official assigned to the Mighty Ducks venue. The off-ice officials crew consists of a supervisor, an assistant supervisor, an official scorer, a video goal judge, two goal judges, a penalty timekeeper, a penalty box attendant, and two statisticians. The responsibility for selecting the crew was given to Tony Guanci, who was designated by the league as crew supervisor. Together with assistant crew supervisor Steve Bashe, Tony conducted the screening and interviewing of nearly 90 applicants. I began to feel...