Exhibition Against Ducks Is Part of Postponements

An exhibition game between the Kings and Mighty Ducks at Staples Center is one of 11 Saturday NHL exhibitions that have been postponed or canceled by the league in the wake of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.

The Kings are looking for an alternate date at Staples Center to play the exhibition. It will be canceled if none can be found.

The Kings also announced that all net proceeds from their first exhibition game at Staples Center, whether it be a makeup date against the Ducks or a Sept. 29 game against the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, will be donated to families of fallen New York City police and firefighters.

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Training camp won’t be interrupted, so it was with heavy hearts that the Kings opened practices Wednesday.

Wearing black armbands on their practice uniforms to honor scouts Garnet “Ace” Bailey and Mark Bavis, who were killed aboard the second hijacked airliner that crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the Kings began preparations for the 2001-02 season at HealthSouth training center in El Segundo.

Not all of them, however, wanted to be there, despite General Manager Dave Taylor’s claim that the team was united in wanting to move forward with the start of camp.

“It was kind of divided,” said defenseman Mathieu Schneider, a native New Yorker. “Some of the players felt we should sit out, some of the players felt we should go on.

“Dave and Andy [Murray, the Kings’ coach] knew [Bailey and Bavis] best, and their feeling was, they would have wanted us to go on.

“That’s kind of a hockey mentality anyway, and [practicing] takes your mind off things, that’s for sure, even if it’s only for a couple of hours.”

Despite some reluctance, the Kings worked through a spirited three-hour session that included a scrimmage.

Murray described it as a “tremendous” practice.

Not that it was easy.

“It was hard getting on the ice,” winger Kelly Buchberger said. “Especially because you want to start the season in an up-tempo mood and, obviously, when you lose a couple of your partners, it really brings down the mood in the dressing room.”

How to explain the intensity?

“The thing about hockey players is, once you get here and put the gear on, you’re focused on the game,” Schneider said. “For Day 1, I thought that was a pretty good scrimmage.

“Overall, it was a pretty good day on the ice for us.”