Teams Wrestling With Consequences : Kings: Both sides talk about everything but the game on the day after things got crazy. Series will resume tonight.

Is this the Campbell Conference final or a remake of “Slap Shot?”

Tuesday’s developments in the King-Maple Leaf playoff series focused on Marty McSorley’s hit on Toronto star Doug Gilmour, Los Angeles Coach Barry Melrose’s haircut and Toronto Coach Pat Burns’ weight.

Maybe it was appropriate that the series got out of control off the ice, because it veered off course in the Maple Leafs’ 4-1 victory in Game 1 Monday night. And it’s a pretty good bet that no one is talking about Islander Coach Al Arbour’s hair or Montreal Coach Jacques Demers’ weight in the Wales Conference final.

McSorley got it all going when he flattened Gilmour with an elbow late in the third period, apparently retaliating for Gilmour’s run at King defenseman Alexei Zhitnik’s knee earlier in the period. Maple Leaf captain Wendel Clark then took on McSorley, sparking a multi-player fight.

In the midst of the melee, Melrose looked over at Burns and puffed out his cheeks at the chubby coach. That incensed Burns, who tried to get at the Kings’ bench before he was physically restrained. Said Burns, yelling: “Get a . . . haircut.”

“He kind of made me laugh because I know Pat,” said King left wing Luc Robitaille, who played junior hockey for Burns in Hull, Quebec.

A day later, Burns tried to put the issue aside, difficult because all the talk was about Game 1 and its possible negative ramifications for tonight’s Game 2 tonight at Maple Leaf Gardens.

“You’re trying to make a WWF (World Wrestling Federation) thing out of this and there’s nothing there,” Burns said.

“Barry can talk about it all he wants, Pat Burns is not talking about it. It’s over. There’s nothing more to be said. I love the Kings again today. Ninety-nine percent positive.”

A reporter asked Burns, “Do you like Barry Melrose’s hair?”

“Billy Ray Cyrus,” Burns replied, comparing Melrose’s long shag to the popular country singer.

“I’m a great fan of Billy Ray. My hair is going, I don’t have much on the top anymore.”

Burns was a little sensitive, though, about his weight.

“Maybe when Barry hits 41 or 42, he’ll find that his stomach might go out a bit, too,” he said. “It’s harder to keep it in. When I was 36, it was easier.”

This is not the first time Melrose has mocked a heftier coach by puffing out his cheeks.

“I did it before in junior (hockey),” Melrose said, laughing.

Melrose, though, isn’t the No. 1 villain in Toronto, not as long as McSorley is around. But Melrose emerged as one of the central figures in the series when Burns and the Maple Leafs implied that he had sent McSorley out to get Gilmour. Burns said he was told that Melrose said on the bench there was more to come and Monday was just the beginning.

Melrose said he had said nothing.

“It’s hilarious, what’s going on,” he said. “It’s funny. I love this. This is the time of my life. When I walked into the rink, 20 guys were yelling at me and five asked me for my autograph. When the (fan) threw the crutch on the ice (during the melee Monday), we thought the wheelchair was coming next.”

King goaltender Kelly Hrudey was crouching in his net when the debris came raining down.

“Wow! I can’t comprehend someone being that much of an idiot to throw a crutch,” he said.

Later, one fan did hit his target, throwing an egg at Robitaille as he was going to the team bus. On the ice, the Kings were appalled at the lack of security between their bench and the crowd. Club management complained, and it is believed Toronto security people by the bench will be replaced.

“That was atrocious,” Melrose said. “We were very disappointed. There were three World War I veterans with pea-shooters. That was our security. They don’t let (reporters) in the building today. But they let the (fans) attack our bench.”

Hrudey summed up Game 1 and the tone of the series. “If you play 2-1 games, you’re not going to sell the game,” he said. “This is entertainment and the ice is our stage.”

But no one has thrown a crutch on the stage at the Pasadena Playhouse lately.

King Notes

Several Kings did not skate at Tuesday’s practice. Among those sitting out were left wing Warren Rychel, because of a sprained left knee; forward Pat Conacher, pulled groin; and forward Jari Kurri, sprained wrist. Rychel, who has 12 points in the playoffs, was not in uniform for Game 1, but Barry Melrose expects all of the injured Kings to play tonight. . . . Maple Leaf Coach Pat Burns hinted at the possibility of enforcer Ken Baumgartner, a former King, being in the lineup. He said that center John Cullen, a scratch for Game 1, might play in Game 2.

The Kings need center Corey Millen to regain his scoring touch. He has two goals in 12 playoff games but has not scored since Game 6 against Calgary. Millen had two excellent chances in Game 1, including one in the first period when he was all alone but couldn’t lift the puck over Toronto goaltender Felix Potvin, who was down. “Playing against giant teams, Corey has to be at the top level of intensity,” Melrose said. “Some nights he hasn’t been that way. But I thought his line was one of our best lines (Monday) night.”