Moving a Step Closer to the Throne

During the off-season, veteran center Ray Ferraro decided he wanted to play two more seasons with the Kings, so he agreed to an option year with his existing contract.

Since the Kings had just failed to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, some questioned Ferraro’s decision. In 12 NHL seasons with four teams, he has never played in a Stanley Cup final series.

But to Ferraro, his reasoning was simple. He wanted to end his career the same way he began it--part of a rebuilding team that qualified for the playoffs after a long postseason drought.

In 1985-86, Ferraro was a second-year pro with the Hartford Whalers, who had not reached the playoffs in five seasons. As one of the young players in the team’s rebuilding process, Ferraro helped lead the Whalers to the second round of the playoffs, where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens in seven games on an overtime goal by Claude Lemieux.

After digesting the Kings’ off-season moves, which included promoting Dave Taylor to general manager and acquiring forwards Luc Robitaille and Jozef Stumpel, Ferraro believed the Kings had a good chance to be like his former Whaler team.

“This team is starting to look a lot like that [1985-86 Hartford team],” said Ferraro, who led the Kings with 25 goals last season. “A lot of depth . . . a lot of good veterans, a lot of good young guys. Good goaltending. It’s a nice mix.”

King Coach Larry Robinson and Taylor sure hope so. Over the last couple of seasons, it has been no secret they were having problems. Attendance was near an all-time low and the team had become a laughingstock around the league.

This summer is when the team finally made some changes. Taylor replaced Sam McMaster as general manager and Robinson followed with a commitment for the final two years of his contract. The Kings drafted Olli Jokinen, an 18-year old Finnish forward with great potential, with their No. 1 pick (third overall) and acquired former Kings Garry Galley and Robitaille.

Throw in forwards Stumpel and Sandy Moger, picked up in a trade with Boston for forward Dimitri Khristich and goaltender Byron Dafoe, and Ferraro was eager to begin the season.

From the first day of training camp, the Kings have rallied behind their underdog label. They won six of seven exhibition games to record their best preseason record since 1980.

The Kings say they realize they have to play hard every night to be competitive. Not even Robinson, who in years past was quick to get excited over the team’s play, is talking playoffs.

“[Going 6-1 in the exhibition season] doesn’t do a damn thing for us through the season,” Robinson said. “It’s certainly encouraging that the guys are playing hard and playing for each other. But it doesn’t mean anything until we start playing for real.”

It’s going to take time to determine whether the Kings can be considered a legitimate playoff contender, but they should be improved.

With more size and speed up front, the Kings suddenly have turned into a team that is tough to match up against. They still may lack an offensive player good enough to create his own scoring opportunities, but they have several players with solid skating ability and a good sense of team play.

Robinson, who rarely sticks to the same lines, will have Stumpel, Ferraro, Yanic Perreault, 20-year old rookie Donald MacLean and Ian Laperriere at center; Robitaille, Jokinen, Craig Johnson, Vladimir Tsyplakov and Matt Johnson at left wing; and Glen Murray, Brad Smyth, Moger and Roman Vopat at right wing.

Captain Rob Blake heads a solid group of defensemen that includes Aki Berg, Doug Zmolek, Mattias Norstrom, Sean O’Donnell, Jan Vopat, Philippe Boucher and Galley.

Goaltender Stephane Fiset, hampered because of a stomach injury most of last season, is healthy and the Kings are looking for steadier play from him. If Fiset struggles, former first-round draft choice Jamie Storr will be given a chance to take over in his first full NHL season.

“I value a lot what other players in the league say,” said Blake, who is in the final season of his contract. “We played Colorado twice this training camp and San Jose twice, and I know a lot of guys on both teams and by talking to them, all I heard was that we are a hard team to play against now. In the past, we hadn’t been. We’d lose and we’d lose easy. Teams didn’t have to worry about playing us.”

The Kings will get an early chance to see how they match up when they begin the season with a five-game, nine-day East Coast trip. In his first two seasons as coach, Robinson’s teams got off to winning starts but they played at least three home games among their first five.

“We have skill like we never had before,” said Laperriere, who like Jokinen, MacLean, Perreault and Roman Vopat can play center and on a wing. “This team is much different. You can tell from the coaches to the players that everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to make the playoffs. We know that the only way we are going to get respect is to win. That’s the only way we are going to bring our fans back.”