Security Tight Tonight

Fans attending tonight’s exhibition game between the Kings and Mighty Ducks at Staples Center should allow extra time to get into the building.

Security will be tight in the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks.

Everybody entering the facility will be checked with a hand-held metal detector and all bags will be searched.

More than 35 LAPD officers will be on site, up from six for a typical game last season, and about 200 security personnel will be on duty, more than double the number used last season, King President Tim Leiweke said.

“The building has been in a lockdown mode ever since 15 minutes after all this started occurring in New York, and we’ve tried to do everything to make sure the building is secure,” he added. “We’re on high alert and trying to make sure that when people come into our building they’re absolutely safe.”

Staples Center was host to three sold-out Madonna concerts after Tuesday’s attack and Leiweke, also president of the arena, said no problems were reported.

“It takes a while to get everybody in, but everybody was very patient and understood what we were doing,” he said.

“There are still a few kooks out there who don’t understand the magnitude of the issue we’re dealing with.

“But when it’s all said and done, I think most people understand what we’re trying to do, and they felt very safe in the building.”

Tonight’s game will be preceded by a moment of silence for the victims of the attacks, among them King scouts Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis, who were aboard one of the hijacked airliners that was crashed into the World Trade Center.

There will also be video-screen tributes to Bailey, Bavis and the firefighters who tried to save them.

Net proceeds from the game will be donated to families of New York City police and firefighters who died in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

As of late Monday, about 5,000 tickets remained unsold.

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Felix Potvin and Travis Scott will split goaltending duties for the Kings tonight, with Stephane Fiset and Jamie Storr scheduled to play Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks at San Jose.

The Kings made their first cuts late Sunday night and Monday, trimming the training camp roster to 44 by reassigning goaltenders Marcel Cousineau and Alexei Volkov, defensemen Joe Rullier and Jon Shockey and forwards Jerred Smithson, Greg Phillips and Nate Miller to their American Hockey League affiliate in Manchester, N.H., and reassigning Craig Olynick to his junior team, the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League.