Patience Wearing Thin for Leiweke and Front Office

By HELENE ELLIOTT and ELLIOTT TEAFORD

April 15, 2001 12 AM PT

DETROIT —

Tim Leiweke, the Kings’ president, wore all black Saturday to Joe Louis Arena, getting a head start on the “Back in Black” theme the Kings hope to create tonight at Staples Center.

The black clothing didn’t help end the Kings’ playoff losing streak, which reached 14. They also have a home playoff losing streak of six: Their last postseason victory at home came on May 27, 1993, at the Forum in Game 6 of the conference finals. They have since lost two games to Montreal in the 1993 finals, two games to St. Louis in 1998 and two to Detroit last spring.

“We need some credibility here,” Leiweke said of the need to win a playoff game. “Last year we thought it was good enough and it was ‘We’re happy to be here.’ That’s not enough anymore.

“As an organization, Dave [Taylor, the Kings’ general manager] and his people, the players, management--we’re not happy just to be here. If we’re going to win, we’ve got to take the first step. You win a game and you start thinking about winning the series.”

Leiweke also said the Kings will conserve electricity at Staples Center in deference to the state’s power shortage, although their power comes from the DWP and won’t be affected. “The marquee [outside the arena] won’t run as many hours of the day and the lights in the building will be turned on later,” he said. “We’re conserving because it’s the right thing to do, not because there’s an issue.”

The Red Wings set a record by winning their 13th consecutive first-round playoff game, surpassing the 12 in a row won by Edmonton from 1983-96. The streak began when the Red Wings won the last three games of a six-game series against Phoenix in 1998. It grew with a four-game sweep of the Mighty Ducks in 1999, a sweep of the Kings last year and the first two games against the Kings in this series.

Detroit forward Sergei Fedorov said he didn’t hesitate to use his foot to block a shot by King defenseman Mathieu Schneider while killing a five-minute penalty in the second period, even though teammates Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan suffered foot injuries by blocking shots.

“I was thinking about that,” Fedorov said, “but everything worked out. We need the penalty killing to work because five minutes is a long time. It did give us more confidence as far as penalty killing.”

Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios’ first game since breaking his left thumb March 17 featured plenty of the snarling play that has made him famous. Chelios spent much of his 16 minutes 12 seconds of ice time killing penalties.

“We got a good break when Chris Chelios said [Friday] he thought he could play,” Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman said. “He made a big difference in our defense.”

With Shanahan and Yzerman sidelined, Bowman decided to dress seven defensemen. In the end, Bowman needed all seven, but particularly Chelios during five short-handed situations.

“We got a good inspirational lift with Chelios coming back,” Bowman said. “We got him out there a lot on our penalty-kill. You didn’t anticipate having to play that many minutes short-handed in a playoff game.”

Detroit’s Darren McCarty, on Fedorov, who has a goal in each of the first two games: “He’s phenomenal. He’s unbelievable. He’s one of the most skilled guys in the league. He’s up there with [Pittsburgh’s Jaromir] Jagr and [Mario] Lemieux and [Colorado’s Joe] Sakic.”

There never is a good time to announce an increase in ticket prices, and announcing it after losing the first two games of a playoff series isn’t the greatest time, but here it is: The Kings will increase ticket prices next season by 2.5% across the board, a club spokesman said.

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