League Decides Against Sticking It to Webster : Kings: NHL spokesman says there won’t be any investigation into coach’s stick-throwing incident at the Forum.

For Indiana’s Bob Knight, it was a chair.

For Cincinnati’s Lou Piniella, a base.

For Marquette’s Al McGuire, a ball rack.

Over the years, coaches and managers in various sports have vented their frustration by propelling the nearest handy object to the four winds.

Last summer it was Reds’ Manager Piniella flinging a base around Chicago’s Wrigley Field in a fit of pique, prompting his wife to observe, “I’m a 44-year-old woman married to an 8-year-old.”

Knight’s chair-tossing tirade during a game against archrival Purdue a few seasons back is legendary, and McGuire’s kick of a two-tiered basketball rack two decades ago drew retaliation. When the rack hit Dallas sportswriter Randy Galloway in the leg, he quickly got into the act, whipping the rack back at McGuire.

A new participant joined the infamous sport of hurling Thursday night.

King Coach Tom Webster picked up a hockey stick from his perch behind the bench, cocked it behind his right ear, and, looking more like Joe Montana than the former high-scoring right wing he once was, flung the stick onto the ice toward referee Ron Hoggarth.

Webster was:

--Furious when he didn’t get a whistle after King Brad Jones and Calgary Flame James Macoun had gone at it in a corner. Jones went down from a blow by Macoun but it appeared from the replay that Jones had swung first, after receiving a tough check. Calgary immediately scored at the other end on a two-on-one.

--Angry that his team was on its way to extending its winless streak to eight games.

--Determined to motivate his club. Better, he felt, to throw the stick and at least get his team’s attention than to throw in the towel and lose again meekly.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work,” Webster said.

“I was just upset more than anything else at the way the calls were going. I just reacted. If that helps motivate the team, fine. It shows I’m in there battling with them. I can’t go out there and help, so I have to show it by other means.”

Hoggarth ejected Webster for his outburst, but, based on Hoggarth’s report to the league Friday, no further action will be taken.

“There’s an automatic fine of $100,” NHL spokesman Gary Meagher said. “But after hearing from (Hoggarth), Brian O’Neill (a league vice president) has determined that he won’t investigate further.”

When told of the league verdict, Webster replied: “Isn’t that nice. You never want to put your team in a hole.

“The really discouraging part is that we didn’t come back and win the game. We’re just not getting any breaks, so you have to do what you can to try and turn things around.”

The Kings were losing, 2-0, when Webster left and they wound up on the short end of a 4-1 score.

But King goalie Kelly Hrudey was happy, nevertheless, to see his coach make the effort.

“I’m all in favor of doing whatever you have to do,” Hrudey said. “If the coach is doing something to motivate us, I stand behind that. It was good.”

Wing Tony Granato was also impressed with his coach’s action.

“He showed us how much he wants to win,” Granato said. “He showed us what a competitor he is. He was trying to do whatever he could to get the team going.”

And in the process, Webster joined a pretty select group, a wild bunch that rejects conservatism and throws caution to the wind.

Not to mention anything else they can get their hands on.