Nicholls’ Hat Trick Gives Kings 6-4 Win Over Vancouver

Bernie Nicholls has been playing for the Kings for years. Most of them frustrating years.

But it was a living. A decent job. And at this point in the season, the Kings were either destined for quick elimination in the playoffs or ready to start summer vacation.

But this season, Nicholls’ eighth and best with the Kings, things have changed. The Kings are still going through the motions but not because everything is lost but because, as Nicholls put it: “We want to get these games out of the way so we can get on to what it’s all about.”

In getting Saturday night’s game out of the way, Nicholls helped the Kings to a 6-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks by recording his fourth hat trick of the season, improving his club record for goals to 70 and reaching his personal goal of 150 points.

Nicholls was ecstatic and planning to take tonight’s game at Vancouver, the final one of the regular season, off.

The Kings are going into the playoffs against the defending champion Edmonton Oilers this week with the home-ice advantage.

“There’s pressure on us now because there are some high expectations,” Nicholls said. “But that’s the way it should be. That’s the way it is every year for the Lakers. That’s the way it is every year for the Dodgers. That’s the way we want it to be for us. We should be expected to beat Edmonton.”

The difference?

Wayne Gretzky, of course. His mere presence has breathed new life into the franchise.

So when team awards were presented Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 16,005 at the Forum, and Gretzky picked up tokens of appreciation for being the Kings’ most valuable player (voted by the media), most popular player (voted by the fans) and leading scorer (a matter of record), the team honored the man who made the trade for Gretzky.

Owner Bruce McNall was voted by the players as newcomer of the year.

McNall, who bought the Kings last March, has made several deals to help turn the Kings into contenders. The Kings could finish the season with the third-best record in the National Hockey League.

Nicholls has always been quick to credit Gretzky for his surge in scoring this season. So it was fitting that Nicholls picked up his record-setting award for most goals in a season by a King, that Gretzky was credited with his 1,200th career assist on Nicholls’ second goal of the night. Nicholls’ 69th goal of the season gave the Kings a 5-4 lead at the end of the second period.

Steve Duchesne also picked up a record-breaker award Saturday night for scoring 25 goals, the most in a season for a Kings’ defenseman. Duchesne was named outstanding defenseman.

Tom Laidlaw was honored as the outstanding defensive player.

The coaching staff named Tim Watters the unsung hero of the season, and the team named John Tonelli the most inspirational player.

In recognition of the fans, who were, after all, the ones who set the team record of 24 sellouts of the season (tripling the previous record of eight sellouts in a season) the Kings presented a plaque to Henry Dewilligen of Glendale, a season-ticket holder since the Kings’ first season.

“The fans have been great this year,” Nicholls said. “It goes along with the thrill of playing with Wayne, the fun of winning--the fans are into every game. In the past, we would have sellouts against the Oilers and maybe a couple of others. Now, we have sellouts all the time. Even when it’s not a sellout, the crowd is with us. Like the other night in the game against Winnipeg, we had a faceoff with about a minute to play and the fans started going nuts. That really helps.

“There was a time when we were out of the playoffs in February,” Nicholls said. “You don’t have much to play for, but you still have to play and you have to go to practice every day. That’s not fun.

“Even when we were fighting for fourth place, that’s like fighting for your life.

“There have been seasons when we’d get to this point and it would feel like we’d already played 100 games. This season has gone by so fast, it feels like we’re only about halfway through.

“Here we are finished with the regular season with, hopefully, a lot more games to go. Instead of getting to this time of the year and feeling like it’s almost over, I feel like it’s just beginning.”

King Notes

The Kings will play the Canucks again at 7 tonight, in Vancouver. There will be no telecast of the game, but it will be broadcast on KGIL (1260) and KORG (1190). Although the Kings did not announce which players would be allowed to stay home to rest up for the playoffs, the list was expected to include Wayne Gretzky, Bernie Nicholls, Dave Taylor, John Tonelli, Tim Watters, Tom Laidlaw, and Steve Kasper. . . . Sitting out Saturday night to rest for the playoffs were wingers Mike Krushelnyski and Luc Robitaille and defensemen Dean Kennedy and Steve Duchesne. . . . Out with injuries were Mike Allison (back) and Phil Sykes (groin).

Jim Fox, who has missed the entire season after knee surgery, was given an award by the club Saturday night for his work in community relations this season, especially for his part in the “Tip a King Night” that raised $85,000 for Love Is Feeding Everyone. . . . The Kings will receive $2,500 each in bonus money for finishing second in the division.