Robinson Focuses on Future, Not Fame : Kings: New coach selected to Hockey Hall of Fame, but he prefers to concentrate on job at hand.

Applause rang through the King dressing room at the morning announcement of Coach Larry Robinson’s selection to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Robinson, new on the job, calmly accepted the congratulations, then quickly got down to the business of the first day of training camp at Iceoplex in North Hills. The King players noticed that there was no basking allowed.

“It’s typical of Larry--he’s going in the Hall of Fame and it took him all of three seconds and then he’s talking about defensive coverage,” goaltender Kelly Hrudey said.

Robinson, who played on six Stanley Cup-winning teams in Montreal and was a six-time all-star defenseman, was a unanimous selection by the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Also selected on Monday: Fred (Bun) Cook, who played with the New York Rangers in the ‘20s and ‘30s, and former New York Islander General Manager and Florida Panther executive Bill Torrey and Gunther Sabetzki in the builders’ category. All will be formally inducted Nov. 20.

“I think it’s a cherished thing,” said Robinson, 44. “Only a select few should have the right to be there. There’s been a lot of great players who have never made it. That’s why I’m very honored.”

The news made Robinson’s first day something of a whirlwind in what has been a whirlwind year for him.

“You think after winning a Stanley Cup [as an assistant with New Jersey in June] and being appointed to your first head coaching job that things can’t get better,” he said. “But then along comes the Hall of Fame to top it off.”

The Kings were upbeat after the first day of the Robinson era. Wayne Gretzky, for one, endorsed Robinson’s idea of taking the scoring load off himself and Jari Kurri.

“We welcome anybody that can take the pressure off Jari and I,” Gretzky said. “It’s important for everybody to contribute. We need a guy like Robert Lang to score 80 points. He’s a second-line center. He’s got to do it. It’s time.”

After the team’s yearlong turmoil and financial problems, Gretzky was asked if he had thought he would be playing elsewhere this season.

“Yeah, I’d probably be lying if I said I hadn’t thought of that,” he said. “Not because of any one thing. Nobody knew what was going on. I like it here too much, and I’ve been treated good here. I hope this is it for me. I really don’t want to go anywhere else.”