Rink Transition in Record Time

Add this to the Stanley Cup playoff record book:

The changeover from Sunday afternoon’s Laker-Sacramento King NBA playoff at Staples Center to Sunday night’s King-Colorado Avalanche NHL playoff was accomplished in 1 hour 59 minutes, a building record for a basketball-to-hockey changeover.

The record for a changeover of any type, according to Lee Zeidman, Staples Center’s senior vice president of operations, is 1 hour 50 minutes for a hockey-to-basketball conversion done this season for a King/Clipper doubleheader.

“It’s pretty incredible, when you think of what we have to do to go from one sold-out, second-round playoff game to another sold-out, second-round playoff game,” Zeidman said. “I don’t think any building in the country has ever done two sold-out, second-round playoff games in one day.”

Zeidman worked at the Forum from 1988-98 and said no such changeovers were done during his tenure, although he said one might have occurred before he arrived. He said Sunday’s record time was achieved because of extensive pre-planning and the practice that arena workers had April 15, when the Lakers played a regular-season game that began at 2:30 and the Kings played a first-round playoff game against Detroit that night at 8:30. Sunday’s crew numbered 45, nearly double the 24-person crew that handles normal changeovers.

“The toughest thing is to get the floor clear,” Zeidman said. “You’ve got a network broadcast, scorer’s table, press table, all compounded by the fact you’ve got people milling around. Another strike against you is one of the two entrances [to the arena floor] is by the visiting NBA team’s entrance, and there are people milling around there, and that bogs you down a little bit. . . .

“In 13 times we’ve done this, we’ve never had a major problem.”

Zeidman also said his crew began preparing the ice last Wednesday at 1 a.m., grooming it so it would hold up while being covered by the basketball floor.

Colorado center Joe Sakic returned Sunday after missing most of Game 3 and all of Games 4 and 5 because of an injured right shoulder. The Avalanche had felt Sakic’s absence on faceoffs and on its power-play unit: The Kings won the majority of the draws in Game 3--the game in which Sakic was hurt--as well as in the next two games. Colorado had a substantial advantage on draws in the first two games, with Sakic in the lineup.

To accommodate Sakic’s return, the Avalanche scratched Steven Reinprecht.

The Kings made one minor lineup change: defenseman Jaroslav Modry returned and took the place of Andreas Lilja, who had played in Game 5.

“A big game like this, do you go with the guys that got you here and played well for you all year?” King Coach Andy Murray said.

“I think whenever you can show respect for the players that got you there, you do it, but you don’t want to do it to the point where it weakens your lineup.”

As in Game 5, he double-shifted Jozef Stumpel, Luc Robitaille, Ziggy Palffy and Adam Deadmarsh.

There were no screenings of “Rocky” or other inspirational movies at the Kings’ training center Sunday before Game 6.

Murray showed what he called an “effort video,” which highlighted plays that weren’t flashy but were effective and reflected players’ selflessness.

“We were showing backchecking, strong one-on-one play, blocking on faceoffs and winning faceoffs,” he said. “There was one clip at the end of a Colorado player showing frustration, and we’d like to see more of it.

“We didn’t show the goal [from Game 5]. We showed a backcheck on the power play, when they had a three-on-two and Ziggy [Palffy] came back to break it up.”

Avalanche defenseman Rob Blake, who was booed throughout Games 3 and 4--his first games here since the Kings traded him to Colorado--correctly anticipated he would be booed again Sunday.

“Fans got all fired up when the Kings pushed this to a Game 6,” Blake said.