Anaheim Mighty Ducks Hockey Team

Somebody handed Mighty Duck defenseman Bobby Dollas the final score sheet Wednesday night. He took a quick glance, then tossed it aside, not in anger but with a chuckle. "One-nothing game," Dollas said, smiling. "Not much to look at." Right. Just the way he likes games this time of year. Tight-checking. Few scoring chances. Close to the vest.

Now that Paul Kariya has already doubled the Mighty Ducks' record for goals in a season, there's really only one personal milestone left. Fifty goals. Kariya would rather have four points in the standings and a spot in the Western Conference playoffs. But after scoring twice during the Ducks' 7-3 loss to Colorado Wednesday, he has 48 goals, leaving him two away from one of the NHL's landmark achievements with two games left in the regular season. It's something few 21-year-olds accomplish.

The Mighty Ducks will be eliminated from the playoff race if they lose either of their final two games--tonight against Dallas or Sunday against Winnipeg. But they still have a chance to make their first postseason appearance if . . . * The Ducks go 2-0 and: Toronto goes 0-1 or Calgary goes 0-2 or 0-1-1 or Vancouver goes 0-1 or 0-0-1 or Winnipeg goes 0-2 or 0-1-1. * The Ducks go 1-0-1 and: Vancouver goes 0-1 or Calgary goes 0-2 GAMES REMAINING Toronto--Saturday vs. Edmonton.

The out-of-the-playoffs Mighty Ducks took out their frustrations on the playoff-bound Winnipeg Jets, the team they couldn't catch, Sunday at the Pond. It was far from the meaningless season-ending game it could have been after the Ducks were officially bounced from the playoffs Saturday night. For Guy Hebert, there was a great deal riding on Sunday's outcome. Big bucks, in fact.

Team from Anaheim wins its regular-season finale . . . and forces a virtual tie in the standings with team from up north . . . and only one of them can advance to the playoffs . . . and . . . oh, all right, we better stop here before somebody gets hurt. Too late. Minutes after the Ducks had seen their season end on a TKO, Coach Ron Wilson was already wishing out loud for a fate fit for the 1995 Angels. "This is what I'd like to see," Wilson ominously began. "We tied Winnipeg.

Mighty Duck Coach Ron Wilson has agreed to coach the U.S. team in the World Championships beginning Sunday in Vienna, Austria, and said he expects to be named coach of the World Cup team, perhaps as soon as today. "I think it's safe to say I'm the coach," said Wilson, who received a message that Lou Lamoriello, general manager of the U.S. World Cup team, is trying to reach him. Lamoriello was Wilson's coach at Providence College and Wilson has been considered the favorite for that job.

Mighty Duck defenseman Milos Holan is in stable condition at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte after being readmitted to the hospital because of a complication in his recovery from a bone marrow transplant. Holan returned to the hospital Saturday, two days after going home for the first time since undergoing a Feb. 21 marrow transplant to treat his leukemia. Dr.

Toronto made the Mighty Ducks wait for the second game of the "Hockey Night in Canada" doubleheader Saturday night. Vancouver made them wait until next year. The Ducks can still win their season finale against Winnipeg at the Pond today--but it won't mean anything after Toronto's 6-3 victory over Edmonton and Vancouver's 5-0 victory over Calgary eliminated them from the Stanley Cup playoff race.

Mighty Duck defenseman Milos Holan is making progress toward leaving the hospital after overcoming a setback in his recovery from a Feb. 21 bone marrow transplant to treat his leukemia. "The prospects look really good," said Rich Winter, Holan's Edmonton-based agent. "He had a little dip, which happens a lot with non-related donors. He had a little rejection, but he's overcome it. I went down to see him, and by the time I got there he was back on top of the world.

There was a time when hockey was a simpler matter, hardly more complicated than lacing one's skates, removing one's teeth and being versed in terms such as "icing," "high-sticking" and "mild contusion." Things change, of course, and hockey is no different. It's as likely to be played on a cul-de-sac as on a frozen pond these days; witness the sport's popularity here in Orange County, an area better known for ocean breezes than winter freezes.