Kings’ Prize Would Be Series Against the Canucks or Jets

When the Kings got off to a 7-1-1 start last fall, reaction around the NHL was a collective yawn.

No matter the pace, this team has always managed to stumble before the finish line.

But, with two weeks to go in the regular season, the Kings and Calgary Flames are skating stride-for-stride in what baseball would call a classic pennant race.

Like most, Calgary, home of the three-time defending Smythe Division champion Flames, thought the Kings would cool off before the weather did.

But winter has come and gone in western Canada. The snow has been reduced to occasional patches, and the Kings are as hot as ever.

In the first of three games between the two in the final weeks of the regular season, the Kings squeezed out a 4-3 victory Saturday.

The remaining two--Saturday at the Forum, then the final regular-season game March 31 at Calgary’s Olympic Saddledome--figure to be just as close.

But wait a minute. What’s all the excitement about? This is, after all, the NHL, where they play for six months to eliminate five teams, then start the real season with the remaining 16 clubs.

Sure, it would be nice to win the division title. Especially for the Kings, who never have done so.

The division winner gets $5,000 a man, hardly a bonanza in these high-salary days.

And in reality, this is only the first leg of a marathon. The ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup, is four best-of-seven series, perhaps as many as 28 games away.

Off their records, the Kings and Flames figure to meet down the road anyway to determine who will represent the division in the conference finals.

So just how important is this Smythe title both clubs are fighting so furiously for?

This year, it may be crucial, for two reasons--whom the teams play and where they play.

In the first round of the playoffs, the division winner is matched against the fourth-place finisher, with the No. 2 team playing No. 3.

That means the division winner will get either the Winnipeg Jets or Vancouver Canucks, currently battling for the last playoff spot, while the Smythe runner-up must play the Edmonton Oilers.

This has been a miserable year by Oiler standards. Wing Jari Kurri played in Europe. Center Mark Messier played hurt or not at all because of leg and hand injuries. And goalie Grant Fuhr had to wait until last month to start playing because of a suspension for drug abuse.

Fellow goalie Bill Ranford, winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as last year’s postseason MVP, has had his share of off nights and injuries.

But Edmonton is the defending Stanley Cup champion. And remember, few were predicting great things for the club heading into the 1990 postseason--certainly not after Fuhr was injured and Ranford was blasted by the Jets in the Oilers’ playoff opener.

So what happened?

Ranford became nearly immovable as Edmonton went on to win its fifth Cup.

No one knows the Oiler capabilities better than Wayne Gretzky, who led them to their first four Cups.

And no one makes it clearer that this is a team to be avoided at all costs.

When he said that recently, Gretzky drew fire from Winnipeg over a perceived slight.

Asked about it again, he chose his words carefully. But the message was the same.

“If either we or Calgary had our first pick, we would not want to play Edmonton,” Gretzky said. “They are a good playoff team. They know how to raise their game to a higher level.”

Since Gretzky arrived in Los Angeles, the Kings’ hopes of becoming a Stanley Cup contender have been thwarted by having to play both the Flames and the Oilers in the playoffs.

Two years ago, the Kings bumped off Edmonton, then the defending champion, only to be swept by Calgary, the eventual Cup winner.

Last season, it was reversed. The Kings beat Calgary, the defending champion, then were swept by the Oilers on their way to the Cup.

With a division title, the Kings could play either Winnipeg, which they have beaten in their last four meetings; or Vancouver, which the Kings also had beaten four times in a row before losing Sunday night.

In the meantime, the Flames and Oilers would be banging sticks and generally wearing each other out, the winner probably staggering into the next round.

Where they play is nearly as important as whom. The Smythe winners get home-ice advantage in the second round, and if the Kings should meet the Flames, this could be critical.

True, the Kings beat Calgary in the playoffs in six games last season, even though the Flames had the home-ice edge.

But Calgary was unbeatable in the Saddledome for nearly three months this season, going a club-record 18 games (17-0-1) without a loss there until the Kings beat the Flames on Saturday.

It could be tougher next time around.

“Ask any team,” the Kings’ Larry Robinson said. “They’d much rather have the home ice. As hard as it is to win on the road in the regular season, it’s even harder in the playoffs.”

So the solution is simple. Win the Smythe title and make your life a lot easier.