Team Getting Strong Marks on Taylor’s Progress Report

Winning the decisive seventh game of their second-round playoff series against Colorado tonight surely would do wonders for the Kings’ credibility--not to mention their advance ticket sales for next season.

But to General Manager Dave Taylor, it would be an affirmation of the moves he has made, such as hiring Andy Murray as coach and trading Rob Blake and Steven Reinprecht for Adam Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller, a prospect and two draft picks.

“It would be big, in that it gives us a chance to move on to the [overall] semifinals, or the Western Conference finals,” Taylor said. “We think we’ve made progress, despite what happened in the playoffs [in previous years]. We’ve had back-to-back 90-point seasons and we feel we have some good prospects in our system. Next year, we’ll run our own American Hockey League team in Manchester, New Hampshire, and that will help us develop our young players.

“We definitely feel we’re moving in the right direction. Everybody’s goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and we’re one of seven left right now. . . . The Avalanche is going to play its best game and I think we’ll play our best.”

Taylor, a nervous spectator during the best of circumstances, knows he will be especially antsy tonight in the press-level booth the Avalanche has provided King executives.

“I’ll be a little bit nervous, but proud of the way we’ve played,” he said. “We’ve competed at a high level and done that for 2 1/2 months.”

And if playing at such a high level has given prospective free agents Felix Potvin and Mathieu Schneider reason to ask for more money in salary negotiations this summer, Taylor doesn’t mind.

“That’s the nature of this business,” he said. “Successful players will do well. They’ve got results and stats they can point to, and we want to continue and have them continue to play this way.”

Would it be poetic justice, or the hockey equivalent, if the Kings were to advance to the conference finals against St. Louis and Blake would be done for the season?

If Blake wanted to play for a Cup contender, would he have been better off staying with the Kings?

“I don’t think Rob left because he wanted to play on a contender,” Murray said. “He saw the potential this team had. Rob Blake is his own business. He made a business decision. I don’t feel any animosity toward him. He understands why our fans were on him [at Staples Center]--they were rooting for the Kings. . . .

“If we were to lose the game and Rob Blake scored the goal from Steven Reinprecht, I wouldn’t have liked it, but I would have been happy for those guys.”

Taylor, a former King player, praised the team’s fans for their support in the playoffs, calling it “the best I’ve seen in my 24 years with the organization.”

“Our fans have been absolutely phenomenal,” he added. “It was nice to get a win at home in Game 6 for our fans after losing Games 3 and 4.”

From the You’d Better Believe It Wouldn’t Happen Today file: Taylor recalled that the Kings traveled on the same plane to Edmonton as the Oilers for the final game of a best-of-five opening-round series in 1982.

The Kings lost Game 4 at the Forum after rallying from a 5-0 deficit to win Game 3, 6-5, in the “Miracle on Manchester.”

Game 5 at Northlands Coliseum was played the night after Game 4 at the Forum and the teams received permission from the NHL to share a chartered plane to Edmonton.

“Both teams flew back on the same jet,” Taylor said. “The Oilers got on first and sat in the back, leaving the first few rows for us. It was pretty quiet because we flew right after Game 4.”

The Kings won Game 5, 7-4.

For what it’s worth, Colorado defenseman Ray Bourque has the best personal record in Game 7s of an active player. Bourque is 6-1 in Game 7s, which includes last season’s loss to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference finals.

Mark Messier of the New York Rangers is 7-2 in Game 7s, which includes his predicted victory in the final game of the Eastern Conference finals against the New Jersey Devils in 1994.

Among active players, Doug Gilmour of the Buffalo Sabres and Al MacInnis of the St. Louis Blues have played in the most Game 7s, 10 apiece.