Practice Ice Time May Be Cut

Look for the Kings, their record notwithstanding, to cut back on ice time during practice for the rest of the season, schedule permitting.

There are a couple of reasons for that, one being the trip to the Iceoplex in North Hills, which they avoided while the NBA sorted out its labor problems and ice was available at the Great Western Forum.

That has ended, and the Forum has competition for time. The Kings went back to work Monday at the Iceoplex after the all-star break.

Another reason for an occasional respite is that Coach Larry Robinson has looked around the league and sees an idea that seems to be working in one port.

“They take days off in Dallas,” he said.

“You can get stale with too much time on the ice, so we’ll take some days where we’ll just ride the bicycle.”

Ideally, that would be once a week.

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King defenseman Rob Blake actually scored two goals Sunday in the All-Star game at Tampa.

“I tipped in that first one,” he said, somewhat sheepishly, of a goal scored by the World All-Stars’ Marco Sturm in the opening period.

“When I got back to the bench, [North American Coach Jim] Schoenfeld said, ‘Did you get the puck?’ ”

Somehow, displaying it on his wall in Manhattan Beach as his first All-Star goal seemed a bit much, so Blake waited until he scored what proved to be the game-winner in the second period to take a souvenir.