Firing Angers Mighty Duck Fans

By CHRIS FOSTER

May 21, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM — Mighty Duck fans were surprised to hear that Coach Ron Wilson had been fired Tuesday, then let stronger emotions take over.

“I am so [angry],” Newport Beach resident Doug Keith said at the Angel game Tuesday night. “My God, the guy won and the players liked him. He seemed to be ideal. He beat the [Phoenix] Coyotes in the playoffs. Detroit beat them in four, but they had five or six overtime [periods]. It’s an ego thing. It’s always an ego thing with Disney.”

Although fans varied in degrees of anger, their puzzlement was the same. How could you fire a coach who took an expansion team to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in four years?

Plus, Wilson led the U.S. team to the World Cup championship last September.

“I just don’t understand what’s going on,” said Ray Perez of Orange. “He had a great season.”

Said Lake Forest’s Jon Peterson: “He seemed to be the perfect coach for us. I don’t know why they would do this. I heard there was an ego clash with [Duck president] Tony Tavares.”

Tavares seemed to take much of the heat.

“I heard on the radio it was philosophical differences,” Keith said. “Just because Wilson speaks his mind, Tony Tavares didn’t like him.”

Even fans of other teams were perplexed.

“To me, teams seem to put up with odd personalities from all these players, but let a coach be himself and they want to get rid of him,” said Garland Bond, a Dallas Stars fan who just moved from Dallas to Manhattan Beach. “It all comes back to ego.”

Which left some Ducks fans looking for some Karma.

“Maybe the Coyotes will hire him,” Keith said. “That would be perfect. He can come back and beat the Ducks.”