SAVING THE NHL SEASON : TICKETS : Kings Plan to Send Out New Packets, Ducks Undecided

With NHL players and owners agreeing to end a 103-day labor dispute Wednesday, officials for the Kings and Mighty Ducks scrambled to set ticketing policies into place.

The Kings released their revised ticket policies for the reconfigured season, with the schedule expected to be released by the league Friday.

The Ducks continued to follow a refund policy adopted Oct. 19 and are expected to announce their new plans when they have a final copy of their schedule.

Kings--For fans holding season seats and mini-plans, all packages will be reprinted with new dates and opponents and distributed by an overnight courier. King General Manager Sam McMaster said it should take about two days to get the tickets back from the printer and another two days to organize packets and send them out.

Season seats and mini-plans previously issued will not be honored for home games.

Individual game tickets previously purchased will be valid only for the dates printed on the tickets. But tickets can be refunded or exchanged at the original point of purchase if they were purchased for games originally scheduled from Oct. 5, 1994 to Jan. 14, 1995; if they were purchased for dates no longer on the schedule; or if they have valid dates but opponents other than designated on the tickets.

The revised policy concerning individual game tickets is the same for those holding group tickets. Refunds are available from the Kings’ group sales office.

After the new schedule is released, it will take about 24 hours to enter TicketMaster’s computer, meaning fans might be able to purchase tickets by Saturday. King officials said they expect to open the season at home on Jan. 20 or 21 against an undetermined opponent.

Earlier, the Kings offered a refund policy during the lockout.

For further information call (310) 419-3160.

Ducks--Fans holding tickets to Duck games should keep their tickets. The team expects to announce more information after it receives its schedule from the NHL. That could happen today, but the Ducks might not make an announcement until later.

The Ducks also must determine whether they will reprint and distribute new tickets for all home games, which figures to be the most likely scenario.

The Ducks’ refund policy remains the same as when it was originally announced.

They have asked fans to wait until the day after the scheduled game date to return their tickets at the point of purchase. Single-game tickets purchased from TicketMaster should be mailed to TicketMaster/Mighty Ducks, P.O. Box 76838, Los Angeles, 90005. Tickets must be returned to receive a refund.

Season ticket-holders have had their tickets refunded on a monthly basis.

Tony Tavares, Duck president, said he has heard of few fans asking for refunds and fewer complaints. He also said a plan was in the works to address mini-plan ticket holders.

The fans who stood to lose the most were the individuals and corporations that leased luxury suites at a price of $70,000 to $100,000 per year. Buried in the text of the lease was a clause that said the team was not required to compensate them if games were lost to an NHL labor dispute.

Tavares said that he will try to make it up to them, but the details have to wait until he learns more about the schedule.

“We’ve had our creative juices flowing,” Tavares said. “It’s not like we haven’t had time to prepare. We’re going to get into the fan appreciation business pretty heavily. We’re going to be giving away prizes as a way of saying thanks. We’re going to be printing up loyalty T-Shirts to give away to our loyal fans.”

Call (714) 704-2701 for further information.