Players Return to Work : Hockey: On first day after strike settlement, Kings practice before heading to Vancouver.

Everything was back in place Saturday. The Kings were on the ice and playoff talk was in the air.

It was as if the 10 days of the NHL strike had been nothing more than a bad dream.

It’s hard to believe that 48 hours earlier, the Kings were playing basketball and volleyball to stay in shape and NHL President John Ziegler was talking about canceling the postseason.

The league’s players officially ended the only strike in the NHL’s 75-year history Saturday by ratifying the new collective bargaining agreement. The vote was 409-61. That wasn’t quite as decisive as the 460-4 vote to go on strike April 1. But both sides seemed pleased with the new agreement, which is retroactive to last September and runs until Sept. 15, 1993.

“Throughout these long and tough negotiations, the players never lost focus of their objectives,” said Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHL Players Assn. “They are pleased with the new agreement as shown by the vote and they are happy to be back playing before their fans.”

The Kings opened practice to the public at their Culver City rink. After two one-hour sessions to get out the kinks, stretch the muscles and get reacquainted with their linemates, the players headed for Van Nuys to board their private jet and fly to Vancouver.

The Kings resume play tonight against the Canucks.

“I never thought we’d go on strike in the first place,” King defenseman Paul Coffey said. “But we can be proud that we hung tough and stuck to our guns.”

But will they be able to put it all behind them in 24 hours and refocus on hockey?

“Nothing was even mentioned about it (the strike) today,” Coffey said as he left practice, stopping to satisfy the requests of the autograph seekers, who were also back in midseason form.

“Everyone’s excited to be back,” Wayne Gretzky said. “It’s going to be fun to be back playing hockey.

“From an economic standpoint, it (the new agreement) is going to be good for hockey. One of the things we wanted to do is move forward. There’s been so much criticism of our game and how we market it and how we sell it. . . . For the betterment of the game, everybody wanted to see if there was a solution, a way to make both sides happy.”

Along with his owner, Bruce McNall, Gretzky has received a lot of credit for breaking the deadlock, but Saturday he downplayed his influence.

“I really didn’t do a whole lot,” he said, “except to make sure everybody kept talking.”

With all the talking done, the following are the highlights of the agreement that put the NHL back in business:

--Licensing and Endorsements: Clubs recognize that the players own exclusive rights to their individual personality, including their likeness. This debate centered on hockey trading cards. Players will retain their 68% share of the revenue from those cards, but the owners hope to make future marketing activities a joint venture with the players.

--Salary Arbitration: There will be a panel of eight salary arbitrators, to be jointly agreed upon by both parties, and new procedural rules for arbitration.

--Free Agency: There is a reduction in the compensation scale, creating fewer restrictions for movement by players aged 30 and under. Group III free agent age is reduced from 31 to 30. A player who has completed 10 professional seasons or more (minor league or NHL) and who, in the last year of his contract, did not earn more than the average NHL salary, can elect once in his career to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of his contract.

--Salary and Awards: The players’ playoff fund is increased from $3.2 million last season to $7.5 million this season to $9 million next season. The agreement also establishes a new minimum salary of $100,000.

--Insurance: The NHL provides $200,000 in disability coverage, general dental improvements, broad-based medical improvements, a 100% increase in life insurance for players and establishes coverage for wives.

--Pension: There are improved pension contributions to between $8,000 and $12,500 per player per year over the term of the agreement, depending on the number of NHL games in which a player has appeared.

--Schedule and Roster: The season is expanded to 84 games, beginning next season. For the last two games, all arrangements and revenues will be shared on a partnership basis by players and owners. The rosters remain at 18 skaters and two goalies.

--Entry Draft: Cut from 12 rounds to 11.

--Supplemental Draft: There will be one selection by each of the teams not making the playoffs.

There may be lingering problems down the road, but, on Day One of the poststrike season, Coffey summed up the bottom line for himself and his fellow players: “There is nothing like being on the ice.”