ANAHEIM PRAISES PRESSLER EX-DISNEY EXEC BOOSTED DUCKS, ANGELS.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

You won't find Paul Pressler at the Stanley Cup Finals. Only his fingerprints.

You won't see his name on last year's World Series ring. Just his reflection in the diamonds and gold.

The truth is, most people haven't heard of Pressler outside of Disney's offices in Burbank and Anaheim. But in less than a year as president of the Angels and Mighty Ducks, he oversaw one of the great revivals in sports.

The Angels won the first World Series in their 41-year history. Beginning Tuesday, the Mighty Ducks are competing for hockey's biggest prize after many disappointing seasons.

Both now play before packed houses, complete with fireworks, Rally Monkeys and flying mascots. Once there seemed to be nothing but empty seats.

It has made the corner of Katella Avenue and the 57 Freeway in Anaheim the ultimate theme park for Disney, which runs the Ducks and until 10 days ago owned the Angels.

``I've never heard any place so loud,'' captain Paul Kariya said during the Ducks' surprising playoff run. ``We've come a long way in a short time.''

Certainly, the pieces of the Ducks and Angels' success didn't all fall into place on Pressler's brief watch, which ended last September when he took the position of president with San Francisco-based clothing chain Gap Inc.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia developed a plan and sold it to his players. General manager Bill Stoneman made important trades and signings. Ducks GM Bryan Murray brought in veterans Adam Oates and Petr Sykora and added a first-time coach, Mike Babcock, who had a few ideas of his own.

But Stoneman and Murray agree Pressler's influence, energy and enthusiasm on the day-to-day operation were overwhelming factors in both teams' magical runs.

In his brief tenure, he boosted the Angels' payroll from $50 million to $61 million last year and green-lighted big money to acquire Aaron Sele and Brad Fullmer. He also stepped in to halt early trade discussions for team leader Darin Erstad.

For the Ducks, he broke from Disney's usual bottom-line philosophy and gave Murray the chance to pursue high-profile deals. And after some haggling, Pressler agreed to the biggest move of the offseason, re-signing top center Steve Rucchin to a four-year, $16 million contract.

``The day Paul left, I remember saying, `I better go buy some Gap stock,' '' Stoneman said. ``You wanted to work 24 hours a day for that guy because it seemed he always was working 24 hours for you. He is the best boss I've ever had.''

Pressler, who declined to comment for this article, already was a busy man when he officially took over in January 2002 after Tony Tavares resigned as president of the Ducks and Angels to take a job with Major League Baseball.

A 15-year employee of the company, he was named president of Disneyland Resort in Anaheim in 1994, heading an expansion to include Disney's California Adventure.

He was responsible for the development and operations of Disney's six U.S. theme parks in California and Florida, four international facilities and the building of a new theme park in Hong Kong.

Even though Pressler, 47, had influence on the sports end before replacing Tavares, his background was in marketing. He made his early mark in 1986 promoting the enormously popular ``Teletubbies'' while working for Kenner toys.

He added the sports side of Disney even while the company's theme parks were struggling through a sluggish economy and terrorist concerns.

One of Pressler's first moves was to separate the marketing and publicity departments at Disney Sports. It was an idea that proved critical last October, when the Angels were headed to the World Series and the Ducks were starting their season while trying to rebuild their credibility in the community.

But it was the verve of his personnel decisions that created the most attention.

The Angels had been a frugal organization since the early 1980s, when lavish free-agent spending failed to produce a championship.

Stoneman said it was clear that Pressler, whose Burbank office was close to Disney Chairman Michael Eisner's, had the boss's ear.

Signing Sele to a three-year, $24 million contract not only gave the club a veteran right-hander, it showed the team was willing to do more to compete.

The Angels also acquired Fullmer, a first baseman/designated hitter scheduled to make $3.75 million in the final year of a contract.

``That was not just like going to your dad asking for 20 bucks,'' Stoneman said. ``It was a significant investment. Paul was asking the right questions, and I must have had the right answers because we were able to go ahead and do that.

``Those were very key moves for us.''

Two weeks after the end of the 2002 NHL season, Murray was home in Canada after coaching the Ducks to a dreadful 29-42-8-3 record.

Like the Angels' the year before, the Ducks' prospects didn't look much better. Disney was trying to sell off its sports teams, and expanding the payroll didn't seem likely.

Murray was skeptical when Pressler called to offer him the general manager's job after the firing of Pierre Gauthier. But in the meetings that followed, Murray found a willing partner in trying to improve the Ducks.

Before the season, they signed Oates, one of hockey's all-time leading assist men. They traded for Sykora, a former 35-goal scorer with the New Jersey Devils.

``I told him this is what I can do and the money it is going to take,'' Murray said. ``Paul said, `We hired you to do the hockey team, do it.'

``Those moves showed that we were serious, that we were going to do some things. It was important to show the fans, the organization and the players.''

Pressler, however, initially balked at the idea of a long-term deal for Rucchin, who missed most of the past two seasons with multiple injuries, including two severe concussions.

Rucchin was a year from unrestricted free agency. Pressler wanted to give him a one-year deal. Murray said Rucchin was an elite player and the Ducks needed to lock him up.

Ducks fans have been rewarded. Rucchin played all 82 games during the regular season. The organization boasted the league's largest attendance boost. Now they are playing the New Jersey Devils for the Stanley Cup.

``We talked a few times about that one,'' Murray said. ``Paul was worried about the injuries, but he is a great listener and asks informed questions.

``He had all these other things going on, theme parks in Asia, everything. But he always understood exactly what needed to be done.''

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

``You wanted to work 24 hours a day for that guy because it seemed he always was working 24 hours for you.''

- Bill Stoneman, Angels general manager

on former Angels and Mighty Ducks president Paul Pressler, left, now president of Gap Inc.

Box:

MIGHTY DUCKS vs. NEW JERSEY: Best-of-seven series