Storr Gets His Shot in Goal Tonight

Stephane Fiset had his turn first, seniority being what it is, and tonight Jamie Storr begins the process of trying to expand his claim in goal with the Kings.

Storr will start in an exhibition against the Colorado Avalanche at Denver, play about 30 minutes, then turn things over to Marcel Cousineau. Coach Andy Murray will take note, and the evolution of this season’s goalie job will continue.

Murray is a traditional coach with a nontraditional team. Traditional coaches want to play a goalie night after night. The Kings have flown in the face of that tradition, with Fiset and Storr sharing the job, in part because of injuries to each.

“I’m going into my fourth season playing with Steph,” Storr said. “When he’s on his game, he’s on his game.

“I’m prepared to play as much as they want me to play.”

Murray would like one or the other to play 60 to 65 games, something Storr, 24, has never done; and something Fiset, 30, has done only once, in 1997-98, when he led the Kings into the playoffs.

For years, Storr has been the heir apparent, but he has remained apparent.

“I’m not Curtis Joseph,” said Storr. “I’m not Dominik Hasek. With me, every game played is a game earned.

“They play 70 games a year. For them, they play four, five, six great games and then if they have a bad game or two, they know they’re still going to be in there.”

In the past, Storr could play four, five, six great games knowing that he could play a bad game or two and continue to play only if Fiset was injured. Fiset’s injury was usually the only way Storr was going to play six consecutive games in the first place.

Whether that continues remains to be seen.

Fiset turned back 10 shots in 30-plus minutes in the Kings’ 1-0 exhibition victory at Phoenix, and one of those rejections was a sliding stop of a Shane Doan shot that finished off a two-on-one opportunity.

He will probably be back in goal Sunday night against the Mighty Ducks at Staples Center.

The two remain close, and Storr defers to Fiset at every opportunity. Storr played in 42 games last season and was 18-15-5 with a 2.53 goals-against average. Fiset played in 47, going 20-15-7 with a 2.75 goals-against average.

Fiset has long been considered the No. 1 goalie by everybody except those who employ semantics to make the position a job-share situation.

Storr understands that.

“He played the playoff games last year,” Storr pointed out. “I got like 30 minutes.”

He would like more. Anybody would.

He’s prepared to accept less.

“If Steph plays 60 games and I only play 20, that will mean he’s playing well and we’re winning,” Storr said. “That’s what I want to do: win. That’s why we’re here.”

And if Storr plays the 60 and Fiset the 20, barring injury, it will be for the same reason. And the heir will no longer be apparent.

*

The Kings tonight will use only five players who were on the ice Thursday: Marko Tuomainen, Eric Belanger, Kevin Baker, Steve Thomas and Nate Miller. Otherwise, the lineup will be completely different.