Canucks Happy Ronning Is Home : Hockey: Traded to his hometown a month ago, he is leading Vancouver against the Kings in the playoffs.

At 5 feet 8, if that, and 175 pounds, Cliff Ronning doesn’t look too imposing.

Until you put a hockey stick in his hands, two imposing wingers at his sides, the puck in front of him and the immediate future of his hometown franchise on his shoulders.

Then, watch out.

Since returning to his hometown a little more than a month ago in a trade, Ronning has quickly become the center of attention in Vancouver by leading the Canucks to a 2-1 lead over the heavily favored Kings in their best-of-seven, first-round playoff series.

Game 4 at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum will begin tonight at 7:30 (Prime Ticket, XTRA radio, 690).

All Ronning has done thus far is:

--Get two assists and the deciding goal in Game 1 as the Canucks came back from a two-goal deficit with three third-period goals for a 6-5 victory.

--Get one of Vancouver’s two goals in Game 2, which the Canucks lost in overtime, 3-2.

--Score both goals in Vancouver’s 2-1 overtime victory in Game 3.

Not bad for a guy who jumped ship a year ago and went to Italy to resurrect a career seemingly going nowhere with the St. Louis Blues.

“I was not getting a lot of ice time in St. Louis,” he said. “I wasn’t enjoying playing hockey. There was a lot of frustration.”

In parts of three seasons with the Blues, Ronning had appeared in 132 games, scoring 40 goals and a total of 93 points.

But Italy wasn’t the answer, either. Playing for the Asiago club, Ronning had the numbers--74 goals and 134 points in 42 games--but not the satisfaction.

“I felt I was too young to stay over there,” he said.

So, at 25, he came back to the NHL after one season and sank back into semi-oblivion, skating on the fourth line for St. Louis, often lost in the understandable media circus surrounding Brett Hull.

Then, on March 5, Ronning’s life changed. Along with Geoff Courtnall, Sergio Momesso and Robert Dirk, Ronning was traded to Vancouver for Garth Butcher and Dan Quinn.

Most people going from a club hoping to be playing for a Stanley Cup in late May to a team making vacation plans for early April would be depressed.

Not Ronning. He was going home.

He grew up in nearby Burnaby, British Columbia. As a youngster, he waved his handkerchief for his beloved Canucks in the 1982 playoffs.

Not only that, Ronning was going from the fourth line to the first. His new coach, Pat Quinn, teamed Ronning with Courtnall and Trevor Linden, Vancouver’s leading scorer, and turned them loose. Suddenly, the new-look Canucks had some speed and firepower.

The results have been impressive. In 11 regular-season games with Vancouver, Ronning produced nearly half as much as he had with St. Louis in 48 games. After getting 14 goals and a total of 32 points with the Blues, he had six goals and 12 points for the Canucks.

Then came the playoffs.

“He’s on a wave,” King assistant coach Rick Wilson said. “He’s got two good wingers, he’s got forward responsibilities, he’s got the momentum, he’s got the crowd and he’s got talent.”

And, after nearly a decade, he has come home.

“It’s a great feeling,” Ronning said. “I feel very fortunate.”

A week ago, the Kings, facing a team that had finished 37 points behind them in the regular season, seemed in position for a quick, easy series and a chance to rest before the second round.

Instead, they find themselves in a battle merely to get to the second round.

“It’s awful,” Coach Tom Webster said. “It’s no fun going through what we’re going through.

“But you can’t throw everything away you worked on all season by overreacting.”

After falling behind, 5-3, in Game 1, Vancouver has taken the early lead in both subsequent games. That has bred confidence. And that, in turn, seems to have bred an aggressive style of play the Kings haven’t been able to repel.

In Game 3, the Canucks had their sticks in the Kings’ faces and the puck in the Kings’ zone through much of the first period.

Vancouver outshot the Kings, 10-1, at the start, but King goalie Kelly Hrudey closed the net, shutting out everything the Canucks fired his way.

In the old days, that might have been enough to discourage Vancouver.

But these aren’t the old days.

And these certainly aren’t the old Canucks.