Trepanier Doesn’t Get Royal Treatment

Pascal Trepanier of the Colorado Avalanche emerged unscathed from Saturday’s 4-2 victory over the Kings, a surprising development considering what King Coach Andy Murray had said about him last fall.

After a blindside hit by Trepanier in a Sept. 29 exhibition game resulted in a concussion for King winger Nelson Emerson, Murray decried the hit as a “terrible cheap shot.”

He vowed that the Kings would “make life miserable” for Trepanier the next time the teams met, which was Saturday, and said of the former Duck defenseman: “He’ll be sore when he leaves our building, for sure.”

But except for a second-period confrontation with Emerson, which resulted in a two-minute roughing penalty for Trepanier and a four-minute roughing double minor for Emerson, Trepanier seemed to be left alone by the Kings.

His teammates may have forgotten but not Emerson, who was sidelined for eight games because of the concussion and then, after a brief return to the lineup, another 14 games because of post-concussion syndrome.

“I worked hard all summer to get ready for the season and I lost a big chunk of my season because of that,” Emerson said of Trepanier’s hit. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to put me out for that long, but it was pretty frustrating for me.”

Emerson seemed reluctant to talk about Saturday’s skirmish.

“It’s something that happens,” he said. “Just NHL craziness.”

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Murray disputed the notion that he had blown his cool during the final minute of Saturday’s game, when he drew a bench minor for “abuse of officials” and was ejected, saying that his actions were calculated.

“I knew what I was doing,” he said. “I didn’t lose control....

“I was trying to make a statement. I thought our team had played very hard. I thought we had taken some undisciplined penalties that I wasn’t pleased with, but I also felt that there were some things that went on in the game [with the officiating] that should not have happened.

“I felt our team needed to see that I was going to back them up.”

Murray also said that he hadn’t meant to praise the crowd’s reaction to his ouster, which brought down a rain of water bottles, soda, beer and other debris onto the ice, but he declined to condemn it.

“They thought we were getting hosed, and that was their reaction,” he said. “For me to criticize the fans for being supportive--I don’t think I can do that.”

TONIGHT

At Colorado, 6 PST, Fox Sports Net

Site--Pepsi Center.

Radio--KSPN (1110).

Records--Kings 23-19-7-2, Avalanche 30-16-6-1.

Record vs. Avalanche--0-1.

Update--The Kings, whose 12-9-4-1 record on the road is better than their record in Staples Center, open a two-game trip that will take them into the All-Star break. They have won only one of their last six games at Denver.

Jerry Crowe