Robinson’s Quite Weary of McCreary

Coach Larry Robinson did not have too many pleasant things to say about referee Bill McCreary after he was ejected in the first period of Tuesday’s loss to the Dallas Stars at the Great Western Forum.

“He had a burr up his rear end when he came to the rink, somebody didn’t clean the water bottle or something,” Robinson said about McCreary. “He was yelling at everybody all night. But don’t take it out on us, it’s a big game.”

Robinson was ejected for disputing the Stars’ first goal when, on a delayed penalty called on the Kings by McCreary, King goaltender Stephane Fiset played the puck behind the net but play was not stopped.

The Kings received a bench minor before Robinson’s ejection and Dallas scored a power-play goal to take a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

“I want to publicly apologize to [McCreary] for the obscene gesture. Whether he was right or wrong, it’s inexcusable,” Robinson said. “There are a lot of little kids and they shouldn’t see something like that. I don’t remember doing it, but I’ve done a lot of things when I’m in a fit of rage.”

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Right wing Vitali Yachmenev’s stay with the Kings did not last long as he was assigned to Long Beach of the International Hockey League. . . . Team President Tim Leiweke said groundbreaking for the Staples Center--the future downtown arena for the Kings and Lakers--will be March 26.