Royal Pains

Since June 2, 1993, when Marty McSorley was penalized for using an illegal stick in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals at Montreal, little has gone right for the Kings. Here’s a look at some of their misfortunes:

* June 2, 1993: McSorley is caught with a stick that exceeded the limit for curvature, giving the Canadiens a power play. They tied the game and won in overtime to tie the series. Montreal won the next three games to win the Cup.

* June 9, 1993: Wayne Gretzky hints he’s considering retirement. Gretzky, whom the Kings made the highest-paid player in the NHL, later decides to return.

* Aug. 27, 1993: The Kings match a free-agent offer to McSorley made by St. Louis and trade him to Pittsburgh for Shawn McEachern, who quickly falls into disfavor with Coach Barry Melrose when the season starts.

* Dec. 15, 1993: Telecommunications executives Jeffrey Sudikoff and Joseph Cohen reach agreement with Bruce McNall to buy “a substantial” stake in the Kings.

* Feb. 16, 1994: The Kings trade Tomas Sandstrom and McEachern for McSorley and Jim Paek. Sandstrom has 40 points this season, more than any King besides Gretzky. The Kings trade Paek to Ottawa in June for future considerations.

* May 16, 1994: Sale of the team officially closes after several months pass and numerous hurdles are cleared. Sudikoff and Cohen’s stake turns out to be 72%, for a purchase price of $60 million.

* May 18, 1994: After a season of open strife between Melrose and the front office--and a failure to reach the playoffs--General Manager Nick Beverley is fired.

* May 24, 1994: Sam McMaster, a longtime junior hockey executive, is named general manager.

* Oct. 1, 1994: After failing to reach a collective bargaining agreement with players, the NHL institutes a lockout of players that lasts 103 days. For the financially strapped Kings, loss of ticket revenue is devastating and drives them to tap into a line of credit offered by the NHL.

* Nov. 14, 1994: McNall is charged with defrauding six banks of more than $236 million over a 10-year period.

* Dec. 14, 1994: McNall pleads guilty to two counts of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. He faces a maximum of 45 years in prison. He resigns as president of the Kings.

* Feb. 14, 1995: The Kings trade goaltender Robb Stauber and defensemen Charlie Huddy and Alex Zhitnik to Buffalo for goalie Grant Fuhr and defensemen Denis Tsygurov and Philippe Boucher. Boucher injures his wrist in his sixth game and undergoes season-ending surgery. Fuhr is 0-6-2. Tsygurov was scratched from four of six recent games.

* Early March, 1995: The Kings offer the GM and coaching jobs to Mike Milbury, a former NHL defenseman and coach and current ESPN analyst. He turns them down. Soon after, Rogie Vachon is promoted to the club presidency.

* April 6, 1995: Tony Granato suffers a season-ending foot injury. Rick Tocchet sits out his second successive game because of a back problem that continues to plague him.

* April 7, 1995: NHL trading deadline passes. So do the Kings.

* April 21: Melrose is fired and Vachon is named interim head coach. His assistants are John Perpich and Dave Taylor, assistant to the general manager.