Kings Go From Bad to Worse

His South Bay house is for sale and he thought he was moving twice before, possibly to Dallas or back to New York.

Yet the trading deadline passed on Wednesday--a bunch of deals were made--and King goaltender Kelly Hrudey was still standing in the crease after the dust cleared.

And, remarkably, he was still upright Wednesday night after the explosive Colorado Avalanche defeated the Kings, 5-2, on the strength of left wing Valeri Kamensky’s hat trick before an announced crowd of 11,801.

Earlier in the day, Hrudey tried to keep his mind occupied with household duties before the noon deadline, filling up the family cars at the gas station.

When the phone rang at noon he turned to his wife, Donna, and both were nervous. It turned out to be a false alarm, not King management.

“I’m not going to lie, these can happen very quickly if the deal is right,” he said. “I was very, very nervous.”

With the recent departures of Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Marty McSorley, Hrudey is the top King player in terms of seniority, having joined them on Feb. 22, 1989. How long the 35-year-old Hrudey remains with the team after the season’s final game is still to be determined because he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

“I’ve said for years, I’d love to finish my career here,” he said. “I love playing for the team and I really enjoy the area. It feels like home. I’ve been here for part of eight seasons and seven years.”

King General Manager Sam McMaster said no decision has been made regarding re-signing Hrudey. Doing that, however, would seem to go against the team’s rebuilding efforts.

As for the present, it grew dimmer with Wednesday’s developments. Winnipeg lost, once again. But Dallas defeated St. Louis and jumped past the Kings, pushing them back to 12th place in the Western Conference.

With nine games remaining, the Kings (21-37-15) trail the eighth-place Jets by six points and the ninth-place Mighty Ducks by five.

Colorado dealt the Kings their fifth consecutive loss, matching a season high. The other losing streak of five games in a row was on the road from Nov. 21-Nov. 27.

At least the Kings were saved the embarrassment of a shutout. After stopping 21 consecutive shots, Avalanche goaltender Stephane Fiset was finally beaten by King forward Gary Shuchuk, at 8:14 of the third. Fiset, who faced 32 shots, was brilliant and has lost only once in his last 13 starts.

King Coach Larry Robinson was quite upset--with the team’s shoddy power play (one for seven), a seeming inability to take shots on goal and a penchant for costly turnovers.

He said the Kings were playing “hoping hockey,” and said defensemen Philippe Boucher and Sean O’Donnell, in particular, were struggling.

“It is an evaluation for next season,” Robinson said. “We are all fighting for our jobs next year. Nobody is safe, myself included.”

King Notes

The Kings acquired defenseman Jaroslav Modry and an eighth-round draft choice in 1996 from Ottawa in exchange for right wing Kevin Brown, 21.