Fiset Can Only Stand So Much in Exhibitions

He faced a couple of two-on-ones Sunday night and one Thursday at Phoenix, but otherwise Stephane Fiset’s exhibition life lately has been spent in an occasional goalie crouch, in between long periods of standing and sipping water, waiting for something to happen.

“The guys are playing too good in front of me,” Fiset said after facing only 12 shots in shutting out the Mighty Ducks for two periods Sunday night for the Kings.

At Phoenix, he faced only 10 shots in 30 minutes.

Total: 22 shots in 70 shutout minutes.

“I’ve never had a start like this,” he said. “I think I’d remember it.”

So far practice has been harder.

Fiset has come to camp after a second summer of intensive strength and flexibility training, something he said he wishes he had started 10 years ago. The idea is to get through a season without serious injury, which for Fiset hasn’t happened since 1997-98--the only season in his career he has played as many as 60 games.

And in Andy Murray, Fiset is working for a coach who would like a goalie to play at least that many.

“Every player wants to play a lot, but if you want to play a lot, you have to do the job on the ice,” Fiset said. “I’m ready to do whatever Andy wants me to do.”

Murray’s mandate is simple: Stop pucks. But there haven’t been many sent his way so far.

“The two-on-ones are like game situations,” Fiset said. “If I can get a game with 20-30 shots, I’ll be ready for the season.”

And then a decision will be made as to which goalie--Fiset or Jamie Storr--starts the season opener at Washington with a chance to get a firm hold on the job.

“It’s a decision Andy will make, but he won’t really make it,” Fiset said. “We’ll make it for him by the way we play.”

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The Kings were off Monday for the first time since training camp opened, but they will make it up today by working out twice.

With the team split into two groups, that means four sessions on the ice for coaches, or about six hours in skates. Then the Kings will come back and do it again on Wednesday.

Murray has taken a page from some football coaches’ two-a-day drills. The Kings will emphasize individual skills in morning drills, with team play in the afternoon.

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The Kings report some progress in negotiations with holdout center Jozef Stumpel. The team and Stumpel’s agent, Benji Robins, have exchanged multiple offers. But the gap remains substantial, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Stumpel eschewed arbitration in the off-season and is seeking a multiyear contract, as are the Kings. Neither side was willing to talk about dollar amounts, but both sides have made proposals greater than the $1.75 million Stumpel earned last season.