KINGS REPORT : Lindberg Gets Wish

The clock struck midnight for left wing Chris Lindberg, who requested his release from the Kings on Tuesday to make a deadline in Switzerland.

That request was granted.

“I’ll go to Calgary, then on to Europe,” said Lindberg, who will join Zurich of the Swiss National League this weekend and earn about $200,000, tax free, plus an apartment and a car.

He is a veteran of that league, having played with SC Rapperswill-Jona last season.

At 32, Lindberg, who had played with Calgary and Quebec in the NHL, was a longshot to make the Kings, but he took that chance because he is two games from qualifying for an NHL pension.

“But when you’ve got three veterans [actually four: Luc Robitaille, Donald Audette, Craig Johnson and Steve McKenna] and guaranteed contracts at your position, you know it’s going to be tough,” said Lindberg, who scored the game-tying goal in the 2-2 standoff at Phoenix on Saturday.

The Kings still have 33 players on their roster going into tonight’s game against San Jose at Oakland.

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Unsigned defenseman Mattias Norstrom said that a meeting with Dave Taylor, the Kings’ senior vice president and general manager, indicated no change in the team’s stance that he is worth a one-year contract at $1.045 million or a three-year deal at $3.65 million.