Failure at the Top

Stymied by their owner, threatened by their president and even once banned from their own building, the Kings floated through Staples Center on Thursday night amid a familiar chop.

Most teams play on home ice.

The Kings play on home iceberg.

No Los Angeles sports team has played consistently harder this winter, yet no team has been so casually cut adrift by the very people charged with its care.

Amid management neglect, so many parts have been broken that sometimes only their spirit remains.

In a 3-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday in their final work before the All-Star break, it thrived.

For only their second regulation win in 20 games.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said defenseman Aaron Miller, shaking his head, the weary survivor of abdominal surgery and a broken foot. “I’ve never seen anything even close to this.”

He’s talking about the injuries, everybody’s talking about the injuries, nine guys missing Thursday’s game, the top line having played together in only eight of 48 games.

But what everybody’s afraid to say is that the most important injuries have had nothing to do with the players.

It’s about the Kings’ front office, which has suffered from fractured common sense, sprained brains, and a tightening of its medial collateral wallet.

One would think that two years of big crowds and spring success would have influenced even absentee owner Philip Anschutz to understand that it was time to make a serious championship push.

Instead, this summer, he dialed long distance to his lieutenants and ordered them to tighten their skates and stand still.

The thud has been deafening.

“With any organization, it starts with the owner,” said Miller. “If the owner is committed, then it all trickles down.”

Like fresh rainwater through bad gutters, the Kings’ problems have flowed like sludge.

It started this summer with their refusal to sign even one more veteran scorer, or add solid veteran depth, to a struggling offense that was still good enough to push the then-defending champion Colorado Avalanche to seven games in the playoffs last spring.

Down the road, the Mighty Ducks responded to empty seats by filling their pockets with veterans, including Thursday’s impressive acquisition of Florida’s Sandis Ozolinsh.

Here, the Kings responded to a full house of loyal fans by pulling out their pockets and shrugging.

“Mr. Anschutz’s approach is that this is the only way the league can survive, and I agree with him,” said Coach Andy Murray. “These big contracts is complete lunacy. Look at the teams fighting bankruptcy. The league is in trouble if we keep this up.”

Unfortunately, this noble attitude is not shared by those in places such as Detroit or Colorado or Dallas.

Those selfish, reprehensible teams want to do nothing more than win.

The nerve of them.

The King rank 12th in payroll, but just 19th in ticket prices, which leads them to believe they are serving their long-frustrated fans.

“I think we’re doing things for all the right reasons,” Murray said.

How about bringing those fans a championship, and then talk about ticket prices?

Think that shunned veteran depth might have come in handy now?

Said forward Bryan Smolinski: “We had a top four, but you need a top six. You need six solid guys who can get points.”

Said Miller: “It’s all about secondary scoring. We needed a couple of secondary scorers.”

The Kings initially claimed they were fine with four top rookies. But only one, Alexander Frolov, has made any impact.

And, really, rookies?

“In this league, you can’t throw rookies out there and expect them to do anything,” Miller said. “You have to give them time.”

With all the injuries, the Kings have wound up playing nine rookies, a sight as pretty as the Hansen Brothers smile.

So while others in the conference improved themselves, the Kings began the season in what most experts thought was a 10-point hole.

Then, as a reward for their understanding, the players were thrown out of the building.

Even though Anschutz also owns Staples Center, he sent his guys packing to make room for a failed women’s tennis tournament. While the actual tourney accounted for only three road games, it helped increase a stretch in which the team was gone for 27 of 31 days in October and November.

While Serena Williams’ serves were echoing through a near-empty Staples Center, the Kings were traveling through Canada trying to catch their breath.

The team protested several of the dates to the league office, but the protests were ignored, and one of the worst road stretches in pro sports history turned a bright fall into a sore winter.

The players were away from their local health specialists, away from their familiar training equipment, out of their element for far too long.

While the team actually played well on the road and hung together as only King teams do, the physical breakdowns occurred after their return, and it was probably no coincidence.

Said Miller: “It took its toll on all of us, it was definitely one part of the equation.”

Added Murray: “Physiological studies show what overload can do to a body over a long period of time.”

So as a reward for their travels and their toughness and their refusal to make excuses?

The teams veterans were threatened this week by President Tim Leiweke, who said he might dump potential veteran free agents such as Miller, Smolinski and injured goalie Felix Potvin if things don’t improve.

Nice.

“I like it here, I wish something could be worked out,” said Miller. “But it doesn’t give you much incentive when you hear they are thinking about getting rid of you.”

Murray, who spoke to the team about Leiweke’s comments, said, “It’s a fact of life in any organization. When you don’t win, change is an inevitability.”

But what happens when you’re not given a fair chance to win?

Anschutz is a real estate genius, and Leiweke has been a great asset to the city’s sports landscape.

But in seven years, have they ever given this team a truly fair chance to win?

Cristobal Huet, King backup goalie on the bench for his first NHL game Thursday, was hit in the cheek with a puck in the first period and required six stitches.

Welcome to Los Angeles, son.

You’ll be getting a bill for the puck.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Royal Pains

Injuries or illnesses suffered this season by the Kings. Total games lost: 246

*--* PLAYER INJURIES/ILLNESSES GAMES MISSED Jason Allison Right knee MCL sprain; hip flexor 26 Derek Armstrong knee sprain; groin strain 8 Eric Belanger back strain 15 Ken Belanger post-concussion symptoms 47 Kip Brennan knee sprain; foot contusion 10 Mike Cammalleri concussion-like symptoms 1 Brad Chartrand groin strain 5 Adam Deadmarsh concussion-like symptoms; 32 right-wrist sprain Mikko Eloranta sprained left knee 5 Alexander Frolov facial laceration 2 Craig Johnson flu 2 Steve Heinze concussion-like symptoms 9 Ian Laperierre back strain; cervical strain 2 Aaron Miller fractured left foot; hernia 31 Erik Rasmussen back strain/spasms 10 Mathieu Schneider groin strain; bruised foot 4 Bryan Smolinski eye laceration 11 Ziggy Palffy strained groin 6 Felix Potvin sprained right knee 1 Lubomir Visnovksy knee sprain; back strain; flu-like 18 symptoms Dmitry Yushkevich ruptured blood vessel in right eye 1 -- Roy Jurgens

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