Passmore Sent Down to Protect Him on Roster

The Kings call it “protection of assets,” the asset in this case being goalie Steve Passmore, who was sent down to Lowell of the American Hockey League on Thursday.

Marcel Cousineau was brought up.

Passmore was 1-2-1 with a 2.80 goals-against average for the Kings. His victory was a 5-0 shutout of Boston on Oct. 13 in a game he started because Jamie Storr missed a morning meeting.

Passmore also had a strong game against Nashville, a 1-1 tie in which he stopped 34 shots, but was hammered at St. Louis in a 7-1 King loss to the Blues on Nov. 16.

The primary reason for his departure is the NHL’s waiver rule, which requires a team to ask waivers on any player sent down to the minor leagues after playing 10 NHL games or being on the team’s roster for 30 days.

After exposing Passmore to the waiver draft and last summer’s expansion draft, the Kings find themselves trying to protect him.

Cousineau, who spent parts of last season with the Kings, was 3-4 with Lowell, with a 2.62 goals-against average and a 0.903 save percentage. He stopped 28 of 29 shots Wednesday night in the Lock Monsters’ 4-1 win over Louisville.

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Stephane Fiset, who figured as the Kings’ No. 1 goalie before suffering a knee injury in an exhibition in September at the Arrowhead Pond, is skating with pads and taking shots that require side-to-side movement to stop.

But because his left knee isn’t ready, he isn’t yet doing the up-and-down scrambling necessary to play the position. Fiset figures to be out a while longer.

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Though wife Stacia was probably most impressed by the wine country trip given Luc Robitaille by the Kings on Wednesday night to commemorate his 600th NHL assist and 1,000th point as a King, Robitaille was more moved by the silver stick given to him by the players.

“I saw those that were given to ‘Mess’ [Mark Messier] and Wayne [Gretzky], and they were great,” said Robitaille, happy at joining what he considers exalted company.

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Robitaille, on the Kings getting offensive production from three lines:

“It’s a good thing. Right now, we’ve got a lot of players scoring goals, and in the long run it helps you because the other team doesn’t know who to check.”

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The Kings took Thursday off and return to the ice today to prepare for Saturday’s game at Phoenix. . . . They are 2-2 in the Pacific Division, after struggling to an 8-13-3-3 record in the division a year ago.