Leiweke Says His Faith in Team Never Wavered

In late November, when the Kings were struggling to stay out of the Western Conference basement, the reports flew out of Toronto, where no hockey rumor is too silly to go unpublished.

The Kings were on the verge of unloading Coach Andy Murray, according to one. Another said they were considering cleaning house in their hockey operation, presumably starting at the top with General Manager Dave Taylor.

“None of it was true,” club President Tim Leiweke said.

Leiweke said that he and Taylor never lost faith in the team, even as it stumbled out of the gate amid great expectations, falling six games below .500.

Those outside the organization, he said, never understood the impact on the team of the deaths of scouts Mark Bavis and Ace Bailey in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Also, a slew of early season injuries and the Oct. 24 trade that brought center Jason Allison from the Boston Bruins impacted the team.

“Those three combined, we struggled to find our chemistry and our confidence during the first part of the season,” Leiweke said. “But we never looked at purging the organization, we didn’t look at doing anything with the coach, we didn’t look at dismantling the team and rebuilding.

“We had great faith in the core. We had an unbelievable development system coming up. So I think we’re in a good place. We weren’t going to panic.”

The resurgent Kings have lost only five of their last 23 games.

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Said former King defenseman Rob Blake, who was again booed throughout the game: “It’s not very much fun at all.... I have a lot of great memories here. They are the best memories in the world. By them booing, it isn’t going to bother any of the memories I have here.”

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Lubomir Visnovsky, benched for four games in the first month of the season because of lackluster play, was scratched Saturday for the first time since Nov. 1. Murray indicated last week that the move was coming, saying of the Slovak defenseman: “I had a little talk to him about raising the level of his play.” ... Craig Johnson, who suffered a cut on his right eye last Monday, sat out for the second consecutive game but is expected to play Monday night when the Kings and Avalanche play again, this time at Denver.

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Jerry Crowe