MIGHTY DUCK NOTEBOOK / ROBYN NORWOOD : Luncheon Postponed by NHL Labor Dispute

Mighty Duck players took a small action in the NHL’s labor dispute Monday after a two-hour meeting with NHL Players Assn. chief Bob Goodenow, who informed club management that players won’t attend an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce luncheon in their honor Sept. 28.

Chamber of Commerce officials quickly moved to postpone the $40-a-plate event indefinitely.

Goodenow has told the NHL’s 26 teams that players won’t make public appearances--except for some charities--while the threat of a lockout looms. The decision is a reaction to a series of unilateral rule changes by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Sept. 1 that included the elimination of per diem meal expenses and training camp transportation expenses.

“The last thing we want to do is ruffle any feathers around here because of the (positive) way we’ve been treated here,” said center Bob Corkum, the Ducks’ player representative. “But the cold, hard fact is it’s a business. This is a war, and the war started with the (elimination of compensation for) training camp meals and flights. This is something we’re doing to fight back.”

Tony Tavares, president of Disney Sports Enterprises, called the decision “ill-advised,” and said, “all they’re doing is distancing themselves from the community. This doesn’t hurt the Mighty Ducks (organization) economically.”

Though Duck players are skipping the chamber of commerce luncheon--a function similar to those with the Rams and Angels that raises funds for the group’s operating budget--they have not backed out of an Oct. 10 golf outing that benefits Disney GOALS, a Walt Disney Co. program for underprivileged children.

Left wing Stu Grimson joked that perhaps players are more eager to play golf, but said, “we’re trying to treat charities with a little more concern. They are not part of this labor dispute.”

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Cam Neely, Adam Oates, Ray Bourque and former Duck Alexei Kasatonov are among the players the Boston Bruins are bringing for exhibition games against the Ducks at 7:30 tonight at The Pond of Anaheim and at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the San Diego Sports Arena.

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Oleg Tverdovsky, the second overall pick in the June draft, has had a quiet camp--partly because of Paul Kariya’s debut and partly because of a groin injury that has kept him from appearing in an exhibition game.

“It would have been great for him to get experience in an exhibition game where if you make a mistake it doesn’t cost you,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “His first action will be in a real game the way it looks right now.”

After the Boston games, the Ducks play Friday against Dallas and Sunday against Pittsburgh--both in Anaheim--before the scheduled season-opener Oct. 1 at Dallas.