Gamble Fails and Kings Lose Crossman

Although King General Manager Rogie Vachon tried to steer Bill Torrey into another deal, the New York Islanders’ president and general manager picked King defenseman Doug Crossman on Tuesday as the player to be determined later in the late-season trade for goaltender Kelly Hrudey.

Vachon had gambled in not including Crossman among the 12 Kings he was allowed to protect, betting that with the Islanders making a strong commitment to youth, they would pass on Crossman, who will be 29 next Tuesday. Vachon thought it was more important to protect some of the younger players in the Kings’ organization.

So, to get Hrudey Feb. 22, the Kings have given up promising young goalie Mark Fitzpatrick, promising young defenseman Wayne McBean and Crossman, for whom the Kings traded Jay Wells to Philadelphia last September.

Crossman is not happy about the trade, the fourth in his career.

“I understand his point,” Vachon said. “It is difficult to leave our team right now. The Islanders are rebuilding, and it is going to be tough on him.

“But we knew we were going to have to give up somebody pretty good. We had to protect some of our better prospects. A list of 12 is short. We had to leave some veterans unprotected. It did surprise us when they took Crossman.”

King Notes

Rick Dudley, coach of the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate in New Haven, Conn., was in Los Angeles recently and met with Rogie Vachon, interviewing for the coaching position left vacant when Robbie Ftorek, another former New Haven coach, was fired. . . . Vachon said that there was “absolutely no truth” to the rumor that he was considering trading Bernie Nicholls and Steve Duchesne for Boston’s Ray Bourque.

King owner Bruce McNall was selected as executive of the year in the National Hockey League by the Sporting News. Pat Burns, rookie coach of the Stanley Cup finalist Montreal Canadiens, was selected as coach of the year.