One Final Forum to Create Memories

Tough to tell whether it was the dawn of a new era or the beginning of the end the Kings were celebrating in their home opener Friday night.

The Kings have their new uniforms and can’t wait to open the Staples Center. Then again, they still have to get through their 32nd and final season at the Great Western Forum.

So they showed the requisite video walk down memory lane, made the expected pitch for 1999-2000 ticket plans at the Staples Center and also managed to squeeze in a game against the Boston Bruins.

This hung-up status befits the Kings right now. It’s where they stand as a team; they have put good distance between themselves and that 24-40-18 record three seasons ago but they haven’t reached their destination.

What this season will be about is picking up passengers along the way. The Kings need to excite their fans and round up new ones, while enticing enough companies to buy suites.

Right now the Kings have to work back to restoring the buzz that hummed through the Forum in the two playoff games--which was several notches below the mania that swept through the city in the 1993 playoffs.

The sellout crowd of 16,005 Friday night was game--many were so dedicated they already had the new jerseys--but not raucous. They cheered at the expected times, such as the presentation of Rob Blake’s Norris Trophy, and at times that went beyond the normal requirements of fandom, such as the introduction of 27-year trainer Peter Demers.

They cheered when the Kings reassembled two-thirds of the Triple Crown line with Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor, plus Rogie Vachon.

The only three Kings with their numbers retired stood in the middle of the ice at the Forum, site of all those Kings . . . games.

Let’s face it, you’ve got your Miracle on Manchester, your Stanley Cup finals run, Gretzky’s 802nd goal, a few good rumbles, and that pretty much does it for historical moments. Even though they share the home, the Lakers did most of the decorating with their six championship banners.

As long as the NBA lockout remains in effect, the Kings have the building to themselves and they will be the ones shaping the final memories of the Forum as L.A.’s indoor sports capital. (Here’s an incentive for Jerry Buss to pressure his NBA owner buddies to end the lockout: if this season gets wiped out the last Laker game at the Forum will be that humbling, sweep-completing loss to the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference finals.)

Of course, the longer the lockout drags on, the more opportunity the Kings have to draw the people who are curious, bored or feeling a sudden wave of nostalgia for the Forum.

This is the NHL’s chance, its undeserved shot at redemption for blowing the momentum of the 1994 playoffs with a lockout of its own.

Of course, the league is offering up a product further watered down by expansion and a schedule that doesn’t guarantee every team will visit every arena.

The Kings and their fans got one break: the New York Rangers will come to town on Nov. 19, giving Wayne Gretzky one more chance to play in the building where he made Kings games a cool place to be.

There isn’t anything close to a name of Gretzky’s magnitude on the team now. These days the Kings are populated by the likes of Josh Green, players who won’t sell tickets but will give those fans who buy them a good effort for their dollars.

Green scored the first goal of the game. And he’s always working, always doing something, no matter where he is on the ice.

It seemed like Stephane Fiset had more than 23 saves, if only because almost every one came on a quality shot.

His teammates had his back; Steve Duchesne even stepped into the net to block a shot when Fiset was drawn out of the crease.

From a hockey standpoint, there was nothing bad about playing the Bruins--the leaders in the Eastern Conference coming in--to a 1-1 standstill for 60 minutes, even though Kings Coach Larry Robinson was not pleased with his team’s effort. It sure didn’t make for compelling theater.

Then, halfway through overtime, the Kings made a hustling play in their defensive zone, Luc Robitaille skated down the ice and fired a slap shot past Boston goaltender Byron Dafoe. A swift, exciting finish.

An exciting play, a good beginning to the ending.

The idea is to leave a good final impression, and that’s exactly what Robitaille did.