Lacroix Reacquired in Trade

With at least part of the blame being tossed his way for a season-opening 1-5-1 record at Colorado, embattled left winger Eric Lacroix went to the general manager, his embattled father Pierre Lacroix, and requested a trade.

Where better to send his son than to a place that liked him so much that the fans voted him the team’s most popular player?

That’s how Lacroix returned to the Kings on Thursday, traded for seldom-used winger/center Roman Vopat and a sixth-round choice in the 1999 entry draft.

“He’s a physical player who goes to the net, and he fits in well with us,” said Dave Taylor, King vice president and general manager. “We’re very comfortable with him.”

Lacroix, 27, averaged 16 goals and 33 points over his last three seasons, most of the time playing on the third or fourth line. He had no points this season for the Avalanche.

Sources close to the team said that Eric paid for the sins of his father, who traded a large portion of the team after the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 1996. Among those traded were backup goalie Stephane Fiset, sent to the Kings in a deal for Eric Lacroix on June 21, 1996.

Lacroix, who had 16 goals and 16 assists in his one season as a King, is in the second year of a three-year contract and will earn $700,000 in 1998-99.

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Fiset, who injured his left groin Wednesday at New Jersey in his first game back after injuring his right groin against Colorado, probably will sit out at least the next four games. . . . Backup goalie Jamie Storr, who has been on the injured list since Oct. 18 because of a groin strain, is said to have “improved” and is skating again. . . . King center Jozef Stumpel, out for five games since owning up to a hip injury, was examined Thursday after adding abdominal pain to his list of ailments. He will be examined by a hernia specialist today. . . . King center Ian Laperriere is to rejoin the club for full practices next week. Laperriere, who suffered a partially torn knee ligament in the season-opening game at Edmonton, will wear a brace.

TONIGHT vs. Tampa Bay

7:30

Fox Sports West

Site--Great Western Forum.

Radio--KRLA (1110).

Records--Kings 4-3-2, Lightning 3-5-1.

Record vs. Lightning--0-1.

Update--Tampa Bay’s three-game winning streak, which included a 3-2 win over the Kings on Friday at Tampa, was ended Wednesday night by the Ducks, 5-3. In that game, the Lightning’s Wendel Clark scored his 300th NHL goal. The Kings will come back with goalie Manny Legace, making his home ice debut after playing in all five games of the just-completed trip. One of those games was at Tampa, where Legace suffered a mild concussion when he was skated over by the Lightning’s Darcy Tucker, who scored on the play.