King Defenseman Laidlaw Gets No Relief in Off-Season

Five months ago, defenseman Tom Laidlaw of the Kings limped off the Boston Garden ice. Minor injury, it was said. Back in a few days, it was predicted.

Days turned into weeks, the season into the off-season, but still the pain, centered in his back, persisted.

Another season looms only two weeks ahead, and Laidlaw is still no better. He’ll be absent when the Kings report to training camp in Hull, Canada, on Sept. 6.

Another defenseman, Bob Halkidis, also will miss training camp while he continues to recover from shoulder surgery in May.

Halkidis hopes to be back by the start of the regular season; Laidlaw has no target date.

“If I’m going to miss a good part of the exhibition games,” Laidlaw said, “I may miss a good part of the season as well.

“I don’t really have any answers. When someone breaks a leg, you put a cast on. When they take it off, they can rehabilitate it and are ready to play. But this is a real guessing game.”

The big concern on that St. Patrick’s Day in Boston was about Wayne Gretzky, who also left the ice limping. When the Kings left Boston, Gretzky’s injury was diagnosed as a pulled groin. Laidlaw, it was believed, had a hamstring pull.

By the time Laidlaw got home, however, the pain had moved into his back. And a minor problem suddenly looked major.

After a summer of therapy and tests, doctors believe Laidlaw may have a tear in the protective lining around one of his disks.

If further tests this week show loose lining material floating around, surgery to remove that material could be the solution.

For Laidlaw, a 10-year veteran, the thought has occurred that he may never be back.

“At 32,” he said, “time is not on my side. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I want to know, one way or the other.”