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Road to playoffs uphill

Sweeping the Phoenix Coyotes put the Kings back among the playoff elite with 13 games to play, but it certainly didn't guarantee a postseason berth.

The Kings have a grueling schedule in the final three weeks, including Saturday's road game, the first of four with the Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks.

They then return home for five games, but three are against heavyweights St. Louis, Detroit and the Sharks.

"All we can do is prepare for the next one," Kings forward Ian Laperriere said. "If you think too much at this point in the season, it can hurt you."

The Kings close the season with five of seven on the road. Those games include Vancouver, Calgary, Colorado and then San Jose on April 4, the final day of the regular season. All of those teams, including the Kings, would be in the playoffs if they started today.

Tough, but not impossible.

Entering Thursday's game against the New York Islanders, the Sharks had dropped three in a row.

Unlike the Kings' Cristobal Huet, who has been impressive during nine consecutive starts, the Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov has gone cold. Nabokov, defensive player of the month for February, has been pulled in two of his last three starts. He allowed 11 goals.

Some perspective: Luc Robitaille's first-period goal Wednesday night marked the 16th time in 18 seasons he has reached 20 goals.

The goal was the 651st of his career. He is the sixth-active player to have 16 20-goal seasons.

But Robitaille is reaching a couple of other milestones.

He is six points away from becoming the highest-scoring left winger in NHL history. Boston's Johnny Bucyk holds the record with 1,369 points; Robitaille has 1,364 points.

On Saturday in San Jose, he will play his 1,000th career game as a King. Only Dave Taylor (1,111) has played in 1,000 or more games as a King.

Robitaille also needs 11 goals to break Marcel Dionne's club record (550).

Robitaille lived with Dionne, a fellow French Canadian, during his rookie season. Dionne also assisted on his first goal. But Robitaille said acknowledging milestones can wait.

"Right now all you think about are the games," Robitaille said. "Even when you win games, like we have the past two nights, you immediately have to prepare for the next game.

"But to pass Johnny Bucyk, that will really mean something. He was part of my childhood."

Quick whistles: The Kings will pass the all-time record for man-games lost during Saturday's game at San Jose. The Kings have lost 571 man-games to injury. The record is 573 by the 1991-92 Boston Bruins. Jason Allison, Adam Deadmarsh, Lubomir Visnovsky and Roman Cechmanek are on injured reserve.

Correction: Andy Murray set the club record for games coached (398) in Wednesday's 3-1 victory over Phoenix, breaking the mark held by Bob Pulford (1972-73, 1976-77). His 177 victories are two behind Pulford.

Home of the Kings - Past, Present, Future

It was then, what the brilliant STAPLES Center will be in 1999. The new, premier state-of-the-art sports and entertainment facility - The Forum. The Fabulous Forum, in all of its many incarnations over the years, was rivaled by few arenas, few buildings. Anywhere. The allure of the building, grand during its spectacular 1967 opening, has been home to stars on and off the theatrical-like stage.

The luster of the Forum, built by the late Canadian-born entrepreneur Jack Kent Cooke, was often compared to historic venues such as Madison Square Garden, the Forum in Montreal and Boston Garden. But the West belonged to the Great Western One, and that is what helped make Cooke's vision such an incredible, overwhelming success.

Cooke owned the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association and was driven to bring hockey and the National Hockey League, his sport and his passion, to the left coast. Wanting his new hockey team to take on a regal air, Cooke named his team the "Kings" and they kicked off play during the 1967-68 season.

They said hockey in Southern California would never work.

They were wrong.

A cast of colorful characters made up the early Kings. Nicknames for players, many dubbed by Cooke himself, were as common at the Forum as hot dogs. Eddie "The Jet" Joyal, Bill "Cowboy" Flett, Eddie "The Entertainer" Shack and Real "Frenchy" Lemieux were among those who graced Forum ice in the early days.

Later, established stars such as future Hall-of-Famer Bob Pulford in 1970, Rogie Vachon, Butch Goring and the popular Marcel Dionne put the Kings on the hockey map for good. Dionne's legend and unbelievable numbers grew greater after the Kings acquired two young players named Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer. The three Kings favorites joined forces to form the Triple Crown Line, and the trio went on to enjoy a spectacular run which saw the Line score like few forward lines in National Hockey League history. Off the ice, Dr. Jerry Buss in 1979 purchased the Kings, Lakers and Forum from Cooke for $67.5 million, the largest business transaction in sports history at that time. His house became The Great Western Forum.

On April 10, 1982, post-season hockey really took off in the Southland with the famed "Miracle on Manchester" game. Down 5-0 in the third period, the Kings steadily chipped away at Edmonton's commanding lead. Trailing the Oilers, 5-4, the Kings kept on the attack until Steve Bozek's shot beat Grant Fuhr to tie the historic contest with five seconds remaining. The Forum was rocking when overtime began, and at 2:35 of the extra period, rookie Daryl Evans sent the puck over the goaltender's shoulder to seal an improbable end to an incredible game.

Six years later, the Kings again shocked the sports world by acquiring center Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton. The sport drastically changed and grew as a result.

Regarded by most as the greatest hockey player of all-time, the effects of the Gretzky trade to a major media market were felt immediately. A ticket to a Kings game was hard to get, team merchandise featuring the new silver and black colors soared to unprecedented levels in popularity and ice rinks in California were built to accommodate the skyrocketing number of youth hockey participants.

On the ice, Gretzky, known simply as "The Great One," set team records for points on his way to earning the NHL's most valuable player award in just his first year in Los Angeles. Throughout his career as a King, Gretzky continued his torrid scoring pace, including his assault on the NHL's all-time goal and point records, and the team made its first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993. Matched against the tradition-rich Montreal Canadians, the Kings won the first game in the series before enduring three consecutive heartbreaking overtime losses. Montreal won their unprecedented 23rd Stanley Cup, but not before the Kings spread hockey fever throughout Southern California.

Jack Kent Cooke's dream of making an impact on an established sports market became reality thanks to the vision and efforts of many throughout the history of the Kings.

And the excitement remains, as hockey enjoys its greatest popularity in Southern California. Led by Taylor, the club's Vice President and General Manager, and Head Coach Larry Robinson, a seven-time Stanley Cup Champion and NHL Hall-of-Fame defenseman, the Kings are taking the necessary steps towards becoming one of the League's role-model franchises and legitimate Stanley Cup contender into the new millennium.

Tremendous ownership, the STAPLES Center and a young, talented hockey team are the foundation of that exciting future. And as the Kings celebrate their final year at the Great Western Forum and begin their move downtown to the plush STAPLES Center - The Entertainment Capitol of the Entertainment Capital - we are sure that: Comparison will surely be made - just not in our lifetime.

And they said hockey would never work in Southern California.

Jack Kent Cooke owned the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association and was driven to bring hockey and the National Hockey League, his sport and his passion, to the left coast. Wanting his new hockey team to take on a regal air, Cooke named his team the "Kings" and they kicked off play during the 1967-68 season.

A cast of colorful characters made up the early Kings. Nicknames for players, many dubbed by Cooke himself, were as common at the Forum as hot dogs. Eddie "The Jet" Joyal, Bill "Cowboy" Flett, Eddie "The Entertainer" Shack and Real "Frenchy" Lemieux were among those who graced Forum ice in the early days.

Later, established stars such as future Hall-of-Famer Bob Pulford in 1970, Rogie Vachon, Butch Goring and the popular Marcel Dionne put the Kings on the hockey map for good.

Dionne's legend and unbelievable numbers grew greater after the Kings acquired two young players named Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer. The three Kings favorites joined forces to form the Triple Crown Line, and the trio went on to enjoy a spectacular run which saw the Line score like few forward lines in National Hockey League history.

Off the ice, Dr. Jerry Buss in 1979 purchased the Kings, Lakers and Forum from Cooke for $67.5 million, the largest business transaction in sports history at that time. His house became The Great Western Forum.

On April 10, 1982, post-season hockey really took off in the Southland with the famed "Miracle on Manchester" game.

Down 5-0 in the third period, the Kings steadily chipped away at Edmonton's commanding lead. Trailing the Oilers, 5-4, the Kings kept on the attack until Steve Bozek's shot beat Grant Fuhr to tie the historic contest with five seconds remaining. The Forum was rocking when overtime began, and at 2:35 of the extra period, rookie Daryl Evans sent the puck over the goaltender's shoulder to seal an improbable end to an incredible game.

Six years later, the Kings again shocked the sports world by acquiring center Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton. The sport drastically changed and grew as a result.

Regarded by most as the greatest hockey player of all-time, the effects of the Gretzky trade to a major media market were felt immediately. A ticket to a Kings game was hard to get, team merchandise featuring the new silver and black colors soared to unprecedented levels in popularity and ice rinks in California were built to accommodate the skyrocketing number of youth hockey participants.

On the ice, Gretzky, known simply as "The Great One," set team records for points on his way to earning the NHL's most valuable player award in just his first year in Los Angeles. Throughout his career as a King, Gretzky continued his torrid scoring pace, including his assault on the NHL's all-time goal and point records, and the team made its first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993.

Matched against the tradition-rich Montreal Canadiens, the Kings won the first game in the series before enduring three consecutive heartbreaking overtime losses. Montreal won their unprecedented 23rd Stanley Cup, but not before the Kings spread hockey fever throughout Southern California.

Jack Kent Cooke's dream of making an impact on an established sports market became reality thanks to the vision and efforts of many throughout the history of the Kings.

And the excitement remains, as hockey enjoys its greatest popularity in Southern California. Led by Taylor, the club's Vice President and General Manager, and Head Coach Larry Robinson, a seven-time Stanley Cup Champion and NHL Hall-of-Fame defenseman, the Kings are taking the necessary steps towards becoming one of the League's role-model franchises and legitimate Stanley Cup contender into the new millennium.

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This time, Los Angeles fans weren't rushing for the exits. Many in the crowd of 12,559 stood cheering as 32 years of Kings' history flashed on the overhead scoreboard in a final salute to hockey at the Forum.

The Kings closed out their residency in the circular building on Manchester Avenue with an 8-1 victory over the rival Anaheim Mighty Ducks in an exhibition game Monday night. Neither team left without a fight.

"If you're going to end it, end it with a bang," Kings left wing Luc Robitaille said. There were six separate fights in the third period when referees assessed 149 penalty minutes and coaches Andy Murray of Los Angeles and Craig Hartsburg of Anaheim got into an argument between their benches.

"It was a case of our team being emotionally charged with the last game at the Forum," said Murray, in his first year with the Kings. "I thought the people were into the mood of the last game here and I think that inspired our team. We got off to a good start and everything seemed to click."

The Kings and the Lakers, the Forum's more successful tenant, are moving to the new Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, about 25 miles from their old digs.

The Kings' first game there is against Boston on Oct. 20. The Lakers will play two exhibition games at the Forum next month before the building becomes predominantly a concert venue.

"You're never glad to leave," Kings defenseman Rob Blake said. Hockey brought unique sights and smells to the venerable arena that Jack Kent Cooke built in 1967. Before each game, sparks flew from skates being sharpened in the hallway outside the visitors' dressing room and the pungent scent of cream used to soothe sore muscles wafted up the narrow stairwell.

Such nostalgia was on the minds of many who paid $15 and $10 for a chance to watch hockey from the orange and gold seats one last time. Paul Carvo, 28, of Lake Elsinore, wore a black-and-white jersey covered with autographs of current and former Kings. "That's kind of what I always liked about it. It's in the middle of a workingman's town," he said of the Forum's blue-collar neighborhood. "It's always been kind of a grinding team."

No more so than on April 10, 1982, when the Kings played the famed "Miracle on Manchester" playoff game. Trailing 5-0 in the third period against Edmonton, the Kings went on the attack and tied the game with five seconds remaining. Rookie Daryl Evans scored in overtime to complete an improbable comeback.

Six years later, the Kings pulled off a blockbuster trade, acquiring Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton. Hockey became the toughest ticket in town and soared to new levels of popularity in Southern California.

In 1993, Gretzky led the Kings to their only Stanley Cup finals appearance, where they lost to Montreal 4-1, including three straight overtime defeats -- two in front of roaring Forum crowds.

"It was exciting. The building was really alive," said general manager Dave Taylor, whose No. 18 is one of three retired jerseys in Kings' history. "The Forum is a great building for the fans. The sight lines are good, it's a very loud building when it's full." Blake has played his entire 10-year NHL career with the Kings in the Forum. He and Robitaille are the only players remaining from the '93 Stanley Cup team.

"Going to the finals and the excitement created around there, I think that'll live in this building for a long time," he said. The Forum's last big hockey moment occurred March 23, 1994, when Gretzky broke Gordie Howe's record for most career goals with his 802nd against Vancouver.

Gretzky was traded to St. Louis two years later, former owner Bruce McNall went to jail for a scheme to bilk banks and the team out of millions, and the Kings were eventually sold. They've made the playoffs just once in the last six years. But those troubled times were distant memories Monday night.

Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell and Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan joined the rest of the cheering crowd on its feet late in the third period as announcer David Courtney said, "One minute remaining in the fabulous Great Western Forum."

Wearing a jersey autographed by Robitaille, Laura Niznik of Torrance soaked up the atmosphere.

"Kind of sad, because the Forum has so much history to it," she said. "Everybody knows the Forum. I remember when it was the Fabulous Forum years ago. It's a great place to watch a game."

Niznik's favorite moment was watching Robitaille score his 500th goal last season.

"The crowd just went wild. There was so much energy here from all the fans," she said. "It was just a great moment, especially when the Kings don't always do as well as they should."

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