Injury Issue Has No Easy Explanation

Trying to figure out why the Kings, who were officially eliminated from the playoffs with Tuesday’s overtime loss to Columbus, have had such an injury-plagued season could give you a headache.

“We have to be a team that plays pretty hard and physical,” Coach Andy Murray said. “Do we pay the price for being that way? I don’t know.”

One theory behind the Kings’ record-setting injury season, which reached 465-man games lost to injury Tuesday, was the team’s eight-game, 17-day trip in November.

“You could say that was a contributing factor because the fatigue level caught up with us and led us to situations where guys were maybe not as physically or mentally sharp and were more open to injuries,” Murray said. “But it might just be bad luck. It might be one of those years.

“Look, we get [defenseman Maxim] Kuznetsov and he’s with us for about five days and he breaks his foot in practice. How often does that happen? It almost seems to be that somebody really wants to test us this year to see how strong we really are and what resolve we have to come back next year.

“I do believe that things happen for a reason in life and what’s happening now is setting us up to be even more determined next year.”

Although the Kings abruptly released speed-strength and conditioning coach Joseph Horrigan and his assistant Dave Good days before the All-Star break nearly two months ago, Murray does not believe that their firing was the result of the team’s injury problems.

“That was more of a group-dynamics thing than anything,” said Murray about Horrigan and Good, who were in their fourth seasons with the Kings when they were released Jan. 31. “We had a couple of successful years with Joe Horrigan and Dave Good. They were very professional; very knowledgeable and we benefited a great deal from having them around our team.”

Horrigan said he’s unsure why the Kings decided to go in a different direction.

“Our being released from the team had nothing to do with strength and conditioning,” said Horrigan, who headed up the Kings’ year-round conditioning program and is president of the Horrigan Sports Chiropractic and Soft Tissue Center in Los Angeles.

Defenseman Aaron Miller, who has been sidelined twice this season because of injuries, agreed with Murray.

“I just think that it was a business decision for the franchise,” he said. “I don’t think guys got hurt because of a certain [workout] program. If anything, guys might have been working too hard. I wish I knew what the cause was because we would have stopped it and put an end to it.

“Pro athletes get hurt. I don’t think it was a result from working out. It was just a weird thing. Guys get hurt all of the time, except normally it doesn’t happen all at the same time. You don’t get a concussion in the weight room.”

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TONIGHT

at Colorado, 5 PST, ESPN

Site -- Pepsi Center.

Radio -- KSPN (1110).

Records -- Kings 30-34-6-6, Avalanche 37-18-3-8.

Record vs. Avalanche -- 0-2-0.

Update -- The Kings have been outscored, 10-2, by the Avalanche this season. Colorado, which eliminated the Kings from the playoffs the last two seasons, will face Los Angeles twice over the final 12 days of the season.