Kings Shake It Up to Get Kurri : Hockey: Duchesne, Kasper are gone because Gretzky’s former linemate could be difference.

Jari Kurri, who flew here from Finland for an introductory news conference by the Kings, was asleep in his hotel room when he was shaken awake by Friday’s earthquake.

The Kings hope Kurri, acquired in a trade on May 30, will return the favor and shake the team to the Stanley Cup finals next season.

An all-star right wing, Kurri spent 10 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, where he played on five Stanley Cup champions. Playing on center Wayne Gretzky’s line for eight seasons, Kurri scored 474 goals and 569 assists in 754 games.

Kurri left the Oilers after the 1989-90 season, spending 1990-91 in Italy, where he played for Milan because he wanted to be closer to his home in Helsinki.

“It wasn’t an easy decision (to leave the Oilers),” Kurri said Monday at the Forum. “But I’d been in Edmonton 10 years and I felt I had to make a change because I didn’t want to stay there the rest of my life.”

The Kings, after being eliminated from the playoffs by Edmonton in the Smythe Division final last April, figured they had to make a deal for Kurri if they wanted to advance beyond the division final.

“We came really close last year and we thought we were going to go all the way,” General Manager Rogie Vachon said. “We were all disappointed at not making it. But the next day I went back to my office and looked on the board to see what could be done to improve our team to go all the way and I felt very strongly that this was one move we had to make.”

So Vachon acquired Kurri and defenseman Jeff Chychrun in a complicated three-way deal with Edmonton and Philadelphia.

“Obviously we were the last team that Edmonton wanted Kurri to come to,” Vachon said. “That’s why we engineered a three-way deal with Philadelphia.”

The Kings sent defenseman Steve Duchesne, center Steve Kasper and a fourth-round pick in the recent draft to Philadelphia. The Flyers sent forwards Craig Berube, Scott Mellanby and defenseman Craig Fisher to Edmonton for Dave Brown, Corey Foster and the rights to Kurri, which they traded to the Kings.

Is this the deal that will propel the Kings to their first Stanley Cup?

“We certainly hope so,” Vachon said. “If Kurri stays healthy, he’s the type of player who can make a difference in a game. I think we’re getting much closer to going all the way.”

Expected to play on the Kings’ first line with Gretzky and left wing Tomas Sandstrom, Kurri is looking forward to being reunited with Gretzky.

“We had a good eight years together,” Kurri said. “He made me a better player.”

Gretzky looks forward to playing with Kurri again.

“He’s very unselfish,” Gretzky said. “He plays hard every game and he’s extremely unselfish. Every year our team has gotten more and more unselfish and he’s that kind of a player. He helped me to be more unselfish and that’s aided my career.”

The Kings got Kurri for his scoring, but Gretzky said he will also improve the Kings’ defense.

“I think he’s going to show people not only how good he is offensively, but how strong he is defensively,” Gretzky said. “The man can play defensively with any forward in this league.”

Chychrun, a tough defenseman, wasn’t merely a throw-in.

A 6-foot-4, 215-pounder, Chychrun spends almost as much time in the penalty box as he does on the ice. He has only three goals and 17 assists in 199 games, but has accumulated 606 penalty minutes.

“Talent-wise, we’re as talented as any of the top four teams in the league,” Gretzky said. “But I’m not sure if we were tough enough last year. Maybe we weren’t big enough and Chychrun is going to be an important part of our hockey club next year.

“As much as I (criticized) fighting in the NHL, intimidation is part of our sport and I’m not sure we were big enough last year. (Chychrun) is going to be a big part of our hockey club.”