Demitra, Suffering From Headaches, Sets Surgery

As the Kings were practicing Thursday for the first time under interim Coach John Torchetti, the much-missed Pavol Demitra was scheduling surgery for today.

“Right now there are just too many problems and they don’t really know which one is the problem,” said Demitra, who also has been experiencing headaches.

“It’s either my eye, a mild concussion or a sinus infection. I tried to skate the last two days but I can’t really breathe through my nose. They’re going to fix that and clean out the sinus infection, and then we’ll find out if it’s the concussion that’s keeping me from playing.”

The high-scoring Demitra has missed every game but one since returning from the Winter Olympics, where he was hit in the face by a puck while playing for his native Slovakia -- suffering a fractured nose and bleeding behind his right eye. He came back against the Coyotes on March 14 but was hit hard and left the game. The King forward was diagnosed with a concussion and missed the last three games.

It had been hoped that he would return to the lineup Saturday against the Nashville Predators.

“He has been skating this week on his own and having a lot of difficulty breathing,” said Dave Taylor, the Kings’ general manager. “After the surgery we’ll have a better idea when he might return. I think it’s too early to speculate at this point.”

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Torchetti sort of got off on the wrong foot Thursday. Moments after entering the locker room before practice, he strolled across the team crest without realizing this is taboo.

“Everybody’s like, ‘Hey! Hey!’ I just didn’t see it,” Torchetti said. “A real good way to start the day.”

Aside from that, it actually was a good day as the players seemed to practice with more inspiration than in recent weeks.

“Obviously, any time you get a new coach, everybody’s on their toes and everybody wants to make a good impression,” Luc Robitaille said. “So at this point I think that’s a good thing.”

Added Jeremy Roenick, “I played against this guy when I was a kid [in the summer leagues] and his personality is like when he played. He’s a workhorse and a go-getter, and a true-grit man, and I think that’s what we need around here.”

The Kings, who showed so much promise early in the season, have lost five of their last seven games and are in ninth place in the Western Conference, one spot away from a playoff berth. They had been leading the Pacific Division in early January.

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Roenick was asked about being singled out by Kings’ Chief Executive Tim Leiweke on Tuesday, hours after Andy Murray was fired as coach. Leiweke said of the veteran center: “Shame on Jeremy Roenick for not sticking his nose in every night.”

Roenick’s response: “Tim can be frustrated. The team can be frustrated. But there’s nobody more frustrated than me, especially because I’ve played 17 years at a certain level and for this to happen to me this year ... is very disappointing to me.

“But it doesn’t bother me that Tim singled me out. I respect him wholeheartedly.... He cares about the club and I don’t mind taking the heat and taking the brunt of everything. They were expecting more from me and it hasn’t been that way.”

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Forward Alexander Frolov (separated shoulder) pronounced himself “almost 100%” and said he would “definitely play Saturday night.”

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Times staff writer Chris Foster contributed to this report.