Life-Threatening, and Life-Changing

Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of Andy Murray’s one-vehicle wreck outside Sparta, Wis., a near-fatal accident that kept the King coach away from the team for five games. He said he has never been the same.

“I don’t have any major problems,” he said. “I just know that I’m not the same as I was before. I still think there are effects....

“My energy level is still high. My biggest thing is my memory. That’s the thing I’ve noticed more than anything. I used to be real good at remembering names and details. Now, things will still come to me ... but I know I’m not as sharp as I once was.”

Murray was en route from his home in Faribault, Minn., to Madison, Wis., to watch his older son, Braden, play in a high school hockey tournament during the NHL’s Olympic break when he encountered a patch of ice on Interstate 90.

Traveling at about 65 mph, his truck slid off the highway, crashed through a wire fence and rolled several times down an embankment through a wooded area, landing with its wheels up about 300 feet from the icy interstate.

Murray suffered four broken ribs, a concussion, separated left shoulder and numerous cuts and scrapes. He rejoined the team three weeks later.

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Eric Belanger returned to the lineup after sitting out the previous 14 games and 20 of 22 because of a back injury.... Erik Rasmussen sat out because of back spasms.... Jared Aulin and Jason Holland were reassigned to the Kings’ American Hockey League team at Manchester, N.H., to make room on the roster for Belanger and Lubomir Visnovsky. Visnovsky, however, has not yet been activated. The defenseman has sat out the last 12 games because of a knee injury.