Kings’ Fortunes Might Be Wayne-ing

How I wish I could disagree with Helene Elliott’s post-Gretzky column. Unfortunately, I feel I could have written it. Now that the Great One is truly gone, the one constant in Kings’ hockey becomes ever more apparent: The real mediocrity starts and ends with management.

Please, before those few of us who are willing to occasionally make the trek to the Forum change our minds, would someone pay attention to the underlying cause of the problem.

Otherwise, just buy us all some duck calls.

TERRANCE DUSHENKO

Hermosa Beach

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How do the Kings consistently manage to trade something for nothing?

JEFFREY D. DAVINE

Calabasas

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Dear Kings Management,

Since you didn’t bother to ask me about trading Gretz, don’t even think about asking me for playoff money.

Very truly,

Section 13, Row 10, Seats 9 and 10.

By the way, I won’t be needing these seats next year either.

SCOTT YASGOOR

Los Angeles

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For 21 years, I’ve been a loyal, die-hard Kings’ fan, something that has not always been easy. I’ve seen countless coaches, general managers, players and, recently, owners come and go.

I’ve seen horrific trades and horrible front-office decisions. However, trading Wayne Gretzky takes the cake.

Gretzky should have retired in a Kings’ uniform. This man brought respectability to an organization that has always lacked respect. He put hockey on the map in California and is the reason why Mighty Ducks’ fans have a team to root for.

However, even the Great One couldn’t bring the Stanley Cup to L.A. alone, especially while management has consistently blown trades and done a poor job of assessing young talent through the draft.

I only hope the new owners wise up and get rid of Rogie Vachon and Sam “the Disaster” McMaster.

DEREK KRAMER

Beverly Hills

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It took eight years for the Great One to make L.A. a hockey town and one day for Kings management to kill hockey here.

CHARLES SELESNOW

Woodland Hills

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For a while there, the Kings actually had something. For a while, they were actually talked about in the same breath as the Lakers and Dodgers. Then management stepped in and, with one amazingly incompetent move after another, systematically reduced the team to expansion status.

Now, with the Gretzky trade that is so bad it is stunning, the Kings once again are second-class citizens. The future of this team is in the hands of a front office that is so clueless the Kings will be looking up at the Ducks and Sharks for years to come.

JOHN FRASER

Aliso Viejo

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In a letter last July, I observed that the Kings initiate each new generation of management by hitting them in the head with a hockey puck. I was wrong--they’re using a Zamboni.

JAMES S. BRUST

San Pedro