Club Sends Message, Waives Corkum

In the first of what promises to be a flurry of moves intended to end a 2-7-1 slump, the Kings put center Bob Corkum on waivers.

“The bottom line is we’ve not been as good a team lately as I’d like us to be, and there needs to be an awareness of that,” Coach Andy Murray said Thursday.

Corkum, signed in December 1999 as an unrestricted free agent, played primarily on the checking line with Stu Grimson and Kelly Buchberger. He had four goals and 10 points in 55 games, including a rare power-play goal Wednesday in the Kings’ 4-2 loss at Dallas. He had five goals and 11 points in 45 games last season.

Upset by the Kings’ decision, which he learned of Thursday morning at practice, Corkum declined to comment. The 48-hour waiver period expires today.

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Murray spent a considerable amount of time Thursday reviewing Dallas’ last two goals.

“First of all was to show what we had done wrong,” Murray said. “The second reason was to place an emphasis on the determination Mike Modano showed [in scoring the winner]. He was all over the puck in our zone. He won the faceoff and was so determined he blows by four guys in our zone and kept going and kept going. Here’s a player that made a decision to be a leader and contribute to his team’s success.”

No need to spell out that Murray wants similar efforts from his players.

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Murray took a group of broadcasters and production people to the high school where he coached, Shattuck St. Mary’s, in Faribault, Minn., about 45 minutes from the Twin Cities. For the Kings’ first visit, Murray needed 300 tickets to accommodate friends and family. This time, with his son’s team out of town, he won’t need nearly that many.

TONIGHT

at Minnesota

5 PST, Fox Sports Net

* Site--Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul.

* Radio--KSPN (1110).

* Records--Kings 24-24-8-1, Wild 21-24-8-3.

* Record vs. Wild--1-2.

* Update--Jozef Stumpel, who sat out the last two games because of a strained hamstring, was cleared to play and is expected to return. He will center for Bryan Smolinski and Ziggy Palffy. Jamie Storr will start in goal, after watching Steve Passmore make 23 saves in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss at Dallas. “Pass played pretty good for us, and my feeling is Jamie will play pretty good,” Murray said. “He will. I always think they’re going to play great.” The expansion Wild will add another sellout to its streak of 31, which includes two exhibition games. The goaltending of Jamie McLennan--who probably will start tonight--and Manny Fernandez, and Coach Jacques Lemaire’s emphasis on positional play, have kept the Wild competitive. Its team goals-against average of 2.32 ranks fourth in the NHL.