It’s Not the Money, but Then It Is

Theoren Fleury said Saturday he considered the Kings’ offer of a four-year, $25-million contract for a couple of days, talked it over with family and friends and decided to pass, thank you.

Not that it wasn’t enough.

“I don’t care about the money. I don’t play hockey for the money,” said Fleury, who plays right wing for Calgary for $2.7 million this season, but probably won’t thereafter because the Flames can’t afford him.

“I just want to stay here,” Fleury said of being traded before season’s end. “I don’t want to uproot my family in the middle of a season. The best thing that can happen is for me to stay here and help this team get into the playoffs.”

His wife, Veronica, is due to give birth to their second child April 8.

Fleury wants to find out what he is really worth as a free agent. The Kings have made the first step in setting the market with the only firm offer to date.

“I figure I’ve come this far, so why don’t I go the full route?” Fleury said.

Flame General Manager Al Coates acknowledged talking with the Kings as far back as last summer, and also said that he has talked with nearly every other team in the NHL about Fleury.

Coates also is in a difficult position because Fleury’s refusal to sign a long-term deal lowers his value on the trade market, and because the Flames are in a playoff run and losing Fleury would signal a white flag to their fans.

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The humor was of the gallows variety after the Kings made it to Calgary on the second try Friday night. The first resulted in their chartered plane turning back to LAX because a warning light signaled engine trouble.

“It was very scary,” defenseman Rob Blake said. “A couple of guys looked out the window and saw us dumping fuel. A guy came around selling cell phones the other day, and some guys were trying to make one last phone call home.”

The problem, Blake said, was the way the players learned of the trouble from a flight attendant through the plane’s intercom.

“Her voice was shaky,” Blake said. “It’s difficult to be calm when you’re hearing about trouble and the voice is shaky.”

The plane landed without incident at LAX, amid emergency vehicles and fire trucks, and another was used to take the team to Calgary.