Anaheim Mighty Ducks Hockey Team

Wearing his flip flops and blue jeans, looking as shy as any 10-year-old at a party full of strangers, Jason Marshall tries to stay anonymous. Marshall, a hard-nosed defenseman for the Mighty Ducks, has joined his wife, Sonia, at a special party. Sonia works for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization of Orange County and on this holiday evening, at a small office building in Tustin, 50 families have gathered to receive a gift of food, presents and holiday trimmings.

Ending its foray into sports team ownership, the Walt Disney Co. agreed Friday to sell the Mighty Ducks to Orange County technology entrepreneur Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, seemingly assuring that the NHL franchise would remain in Anaheim. The deal, which must be approved by the league's Board of Governors, was said to be worth $75 million and includes Disney Ice, the team's Anaheim training facility.

Those stepping into Anaheim Arena for the first time might find themselves scratching their heads, doing double takes, wondering if they are in the right place. Is this a sports and entertainment arena or the Ritz-Carlton? Doesn't Orange County already have a Performing Arts Center?

Robin Bawa 26 Age: 27 Right Wing Shoots: R Big, strong and tough, but without a standout NHL track record. A former San Jose Shark, Vancouver Canuck and Washington Capital. He's scored only six career goals in 49 NHL games. Selected in the expansion draft from San Jose, where he played 42 games last season. Patrik Carnback 21 Age: 25 Center Shoots: L Swedish player has moved from wing to center with Ducks.

Is there a star more star-crossed than Paul Kariya? And was there a team less able to withstand the loss of its captain, leader and best player than the Mighty Ducks, who were swept out of the playoffs Tuesday despite a feisty effort in a 3-0 loss to the Red Wings at the Pond? Proving the cynic's adage that no good deed goes unpunished, Kariya broke his right foot Sunday while blocking a shot by Nicklas Lidstrom during a Detroit power play.

The man who soon could rule big-time sports in Orange County--the Mighty Ducks and the Angels--got the job by not applying. Tony Tavares, then merely a consultant, spent countless hours the fall of 1992 and early '93 crunching numbers and quietly delving into whether the Walt Disney Co. should acquire a National Hockey League team--and how much money could be made. When Disney Chairman Michael D.

Between them, Henry and Susan Samueli have two doctorates, a bachelor of arts degree, a bachelor of science and a master's. Both have had impressive careers: Henry, an electrical engineer, was a professor of electrical engineering at UCLA and is the co-founder, board chairman and chief technical officer of Broadcom. Susan was a systems engineer at IBM until she left to raise the couple's three daughters. They also have a net worth of $1.

Nineteen leotarded women smile wide and breathe heavily. Each one kicks her legs high in the air--higher! higher!--trying to project that special something, that magical quality sometimes called, for lack of a better word, pep. At Thursday night's tension-filled tryouts for the 1995-96 Mighty Ducks Decoys squad, every aspiring cheerleader on hand had a carefree smile fixed on her face. But, inside, most were suffering a massive attack of stage fright, or ice fright, whichever the case may be.

There were tiny, pearl-handled pistols that looked like toys, a battered Egyptian field rifle, an 1881 Mauser military carbine and an illegal, sawed-off shotgun, the latter brought in only after a call from its owner seeking assurances that he would not be arrested on the spot. The weapons were among 104 firearms surrendered to the Anaheim Police Department on Saturday in a successful, one-day tickets-for-guns exchange sponsored by the Mighty Ducks hockey team.