Flames Worried About Cover-Up : Stanley Cup playoffs: Gretzky says his back is fine, it’s only a charley horse, on eve of Game 3.

Wayne Gretzky’s playoff injuries traditionally elicit the most interesting reactions. If it’s April and Gretzky cuts himself shaving, Canadian television stations are likely to interrupt regular programming.

In 1990, for instance, when Gretzky suffered a back injury that caused him to miss Games 1 and 2 against Calgary and the Kings were sequestered in Banff, Gretzky never left Los Angeles--but there were dozens of “Wayne sightings” across Alberta.

Three years later, the validity of the most intensely covered charley horse in hockey has been questioned by the Calgary Flames. Gretzky suffered the injury to his right leg late in the first period of Game 1 and missed most of the second period and all of the third. He returned for Game 2 on Wednesday but mostly watched, along with the other Kings, as the Flames’ offense rolled in Calgary’s 9-4 victory.

That got Calgary Coach Dave King thinking during the team’s flight to Los Angeles for Game 3 of the best-of-seven playoff series tonight at the Forum. King, not to be confused with Oliver Stone, was asked by Calgary reporters whether there might be a possible King “conspiracy.”

Call it Dave King and the single-horse theory.

The evidence was that Gretzky wasn’t skating as well as usual in Game 2. Was Gretzky’s back acting up again?

“That’s a possibility,” King said. “Because you have so much respect for the guy, you know that just when you think he can’t do it, he steps it up to another level. But he didn’t look like he was skating really well.

“Usually, it’s common in the playoffs when somebody gets hurt you never tell anybody what it is. Their doctor was very quickly quoted in the paper as what it was. If that was our doctor, we would have probably shot him.”

King was smiling as he made the last comment. Which is what Gretzky did when the conspiracy theory was mentioned to him.

“It’s definitely not my back,” he said. “I guarantee it’s not my back. It’s 100%.”

He paused for dramatic effect. “It’s a charley horse.”

Even Gretzky realized how these seemingly normal occurrences can somehow spin out of control during the playoffs. Last season, he was not playing up to his usual standard during the Kings’ first-round playoff ouster by the Edmonton Oilers. Time and again, he was asked whether anything was wrong.

Gretzky said no.

But after Bernie Nicholls and the Oilers eliminated the Kings, Gretzky revealed that he had suffered from sore ribs. As it turned out, the sore ribs were a symptom of his herniated thoracic disk, which forced him to miss the first 39 games of this season.

“Secrecy is a great thing in the playoffs, no question about it,” Gretzky said. “I don’t think the injury was a factor at all.”

In fact, Gretzky was self-deprecating about his own play in Game 2. The Flames, for the most part, tried to put center Joel Otto on the ice whenever Gretzky was out there. But Otto turned into an offensive force on Wednesday, scoring twice.

“I think I was chasing him,” Gretzky said. “He was chasing something that was behind him.”

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Despite the Kings’ one-sided loss in Game 2, the mood after practice Thursday remained upbeat. No one was more ebullient than Coach Barry Melrose, who realized he was better off than his counterparts in Montreal, Chicago, Toronto, Boston and Winnipeg. Heading into Thursday’s action, the Canadiens trailed the Nordiques, 2-0, as did the Bruins in their series against the Sabres. Winnipeg, Chicago and Toronto all trail 2-0 as well.

Goaltender Kelly Hrudey will start again in Game 3 and Rick Knickle will be the backup, Melrose said. Robb Stauber remains No. 3.

“Robb is practicing very hard,” Melrose said. “I’m very happy with him. He’s trying to show me I was wrong. I love that. He just needs to do what he’s been doing. He’s handling the situation well. If Robb wants to talk, that’s fine. I like fiery guys. I don’t like robots. I like emotional guys.”

Defenseman Charlie Huddy, who left Game 2 with a pulled groin muscle, didn’t practice Thursday and is questionable for tonight.

“We hope he can,” Melrose said. “You can either play or you can’t play. There’s no in-between with this injury like there is with other injuries. You’ve got to be able to move your feet.”

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Melrose has been calling Calgary’s coach Mr. King. He said it isn’t meant sarcastically.

“Because I don’t really know him,” he said. “I don’t like calling someone I haven’t really met by their first name. I do the same thing with (Vancouver Coach) Pat Quinn. Or maybe it’s because they’re so much older than I am.”