Finally, Fuhr Finds His Way

From now on, it’s all up to a bunch of old goalies.

Trying to save themselves from the embarrassment of missing the playoffs again, the Kings have placed their fate in the hands of one retired goaltender (Rogie Vachon) who has become their coach and in the mitts of two active but hardly youthful masked men (Grant Fuhr and Kelly Hrudey) who currently mind their nets.

It was Fuhr who won Sunday’s game at the Forum over the Mighty Ducks, 2-1, for his first victory as a King. I hope somebody gave him the game puck.

One of the most successful goalies ever, Fuhr came to the Kings back on St. Valentine’s Day in a trade that has been called one of the team’s worst. They went out and acquired a goalie in his 14th season to support a goalie in his 12th season, Hrudey, who had just been given a new two-year contract three weeks before.

Once upon a time, landing someone such as Fuhr would have been cause for a celebration. Instead, the people running the Kings ended up being ridiculed for making the deal, seeing as how they had traded a prized defenseman, Alex Zhitnik, from a team that has a nasty habit of not keeping its prized defensemen.

Loyal fans took out their frustrations on Fuhr personally because he just couldn’t seem to win a game. He was 0-6-3 going into Sunday’s play. And the Kings were doing a nose dive, in danger of missing the playoffs in a league in which almost everybody makes the playoffs if they can skate without falling down.

Looking at a team with Fuhr and Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri and such, it is difficult to believe that it could struggle this much. But the ugly truth is, the Kings hadn’t even defeated the Ducks this season before Sunday. A two-year-old expansion team was making them look bad.

The Ducks also had their playoff plans on the line. They gave it everything they had.

“They were playing like their season depended on it,” Fuhr said. “They came out for the third period with desperation in their eyes.”

But he held them off.

In the nick of time, Fuhr came up with a big game, and so did another guy busting out of a slump, namely Gretzky.

For all anybody knew, Sunday’s game could have been a major turning point in the franchise’s history, perhaps even the last game Gretzky ever played at the Forum. There has been so much upheaval, who can be sure that Gretzky won’t up and retire (Joe Montana warned nobody) or even be traded somewhere that he would have a more realistic chance of winning one more Stanley Cup in this lifetime.

Fuhr said he thinks the Kings “could be a dangerous team in the playoffs. This is a team that could do a lot of damage, if we get out there.”

Big if.

“A very big if,” Fuhr said. “There are about 120 minutes left in our season if we don’t make the most of every one of them.”

At his age, pep talks are hardly necessary. But when the old goalie Vachon took over the team near season’s end for the dismissed Barry Melrose, he inherited two veteran goaltenders who both expected to play. And one of them, Fuhr, on the ice was in a funny kind of funk.

“There were so many high expectations when Grant got here,” Vachon said. “And then everything goes bad for him right away, and for us. We had a million injuries. And he wasn’t sharp. He started trying too hard, I think.

“The truth is, right now Grant Fuhr is real sharp. He doesn’t fight the puck. The last three weeks or so, he’s been playing very, very well, and I hope people understand that.”

At first, he was shaky, yes.

But in his last four starts, Fuhr has allowed two goals in a loss to Edmonton, gained 3-3 and 2-2 ties against the Oilers and Ducks, respectively, and held Anaheim to a solitary goal Sunday.

Grant Fuhr is granting fewer goals.

“This is a good time of year to be playing,” said the man who won five Stanley Cup rings with Edmonton. “I only hope we keep on playing.

“I don’t know about this being my best outing for the Kings or not, but it was definitely a long time coming between wins for me. We knew we could take (the Ducks) out (of the playoffs) by winning, but otherwise a win’s just a win.

“This one doesn’t get us anything. It just gets us to the next stepping stone to the playoffs. The question is, will we get there?”

And will he be the goalie?

Since taking over as interim coach, Vachon has been giving Fuhr and Hrudey advance notice, regarding which one would start. If the Kings win their next two games, they could clinch a playoff spot, but Vachon isn’t yet sure which goalie will get the next start.

But at least Fuhr’s season with the Kings hasn’t been a total loss. At one point, he had said he felt himself adrift at sea while out on the ice.

Asked if someone finally had thrown him an oar, Fuhr said, “I don’t know about that, but at least I finally got a breeze blowing in the right direction.”