Hockey’s Best Want Fireworks -- Within Reason : All-Star game: There figures to be plenty of scoring, but no one seeks a repeat of last season’s 16-6 rout.

Even King Coach Barry Melrose can’t fault the size of the team he will have in today’s NHL’s All-Star game.

Earlier this season, Melrose lamented the Kings’ lack of big players. One look at Dave Andreychuk, Al MacInnis, Sergei Fedorov, Joe Nieuwendyk and other members of the Western Conference squad during Friday’s practice at Madison Square Garden brought a smile to Melrose’s face.

“This is the first team picture I’ve been in in two years where Rob Blake wasn’t the tallest guy,” Melrose said of his 6-foot-3 defenseman. “There are at least three guys who are taller.”

The West and the East, which is coached by Montreal’s Jacques Demers, have size, depth and skill. And both coaches are determined to showcase those skills without repeating last year’s 16-6 Wales Conference (now East) rout.

“It’s going to be offensive-minded, but we do not want to make it a joke,” said Demers, who, as did Melrose, earned the all-star honor by guiding his team to last year’s Stanley Cup final. “We can’t have people turning their TVs off after one period. Let’s say it ends 9-8. People will be satisfied. If it’s 16-6 again, people will switch to another sport.”

As incentive to take the game more seriously, the NHL will pay $5,000 to each member of the winning team. The real appeal, though, is to players’ pride.

“You don’t want to go out there and let too many goals by you,” said Toronto’s Felix Potvin, the fans’ choice to start in goal for the West. “But you don’t want to get too disappointed if you do, because there are a lot of great players in the game.”

Said New York Ranger goalie Mike Richter: “Five thousand bucks is a lot. Hey, we have contests after every practice for a couple of bottles of Gatorade. . . . I think this game will be a little more interesting, maybe a little more defensive-oriented. But most of these guys were picked for their offensive talent, and we goalies just have to try to do our best.”

The West boasts the league’s top four scorers: the Kings’ Wayne Gretzky, Fedorov of the Red Wings, Andreychuk--the leader with 38 goals--and Doug Gilmour of Toronto. The East has three of the NHL’s stingiest goalies in Richter, Florida’s John Vanbiesbrouck and starter Patrick Roy of Montreal; and three of the top scoring defensemen in Ray Bourque of the Boston Bruins, Garry Galley of the Philadelphia Flyers and Brian Leetch of the Rangers.

Players’ experience ranges from Gretzky’s 14 consecutive selections, one short of Frank Mahovlich’s record for most in a row, to 13 first-time honorees. For Vanbiesbrouck and Mighty Duck defenseman Alexei Kasatonov, it’s a double first, because each represents an expansion team.

“I’m proud to be here,” Kasatonov said. “It’s for my family . . . history. I’m proud to be the first player from the Mighty Ducks.”

The game will be light on strategy and heavy on reminders to have fun. Melrose planned to reunite Fedorov with his former Soviet linemate Pavel Bure and might complete the line with Gretzky. “That Selanne kid who plays the right side isn’t bad, either,” Melrose said of Winnipeg’s Teemu Selanne, who scored 76 goals last season. “It’s fun to watch these guys play. It’s fun just to be here.”

Bure, Fedorov and Selanne head a contingent of eight European-trained players, the largest such group at an NHL All-Star game.

“You watch guys like Bure and Mogilny and Fedorov, they have just such tremendous skills,” Gretzky said, “and the thing about the skills is they do them at such a high-speed level. They’ve raised the level of our game a notch, and I think they fit into our game and have made it a better sport.”

Demers hadn’t decided his lines and defense pairs, but he intended to keep teammates together when possible to promote cohesion. That meant the Flyers’ Eric Lindros centering for right wing Mark Recchi and playing the Rangers’ Adam Graves to the left of Mark Messier.

“As a defenseman, I wouldn’t mind seeing a little closer game,” said Bourque, a four-time Norris Trophy winner. “Hopefully, we’ll talk about things and go out with a semi-game plan. You have so many skilled guys, so you can’t expect them to go out and check.”

Blake, a first-time pick, hopes to see those skills translate into goals. “It’s meant to be fun for the fans and the crowd, and if it’s 1-1, it probably won’t be as much fun,” he said. “These players have great skills and I’m sure it’s going to be exciting.”

Exciting enough to keep St. Louis right wing Brett Hull off the golf course.

“Someone asked me if I’d rather play Augusta 36 holes a day or be here,” he said, “and I’d rather be here.”