Robitaille Returns With Mixed Feelings

Left wing Luc Robitaille returns this week to the city he called home the last two seasons, his emotions as mixed as his experiences as a Detroit Red Wing.

Robitaille hoisted the Stanley Cup above his head two years ago in Detroit, a major player who contributed 30 goals to a high-octane offense. But he tumbled to a career-low 11 goals amid fourth-line duties and called last season the most disappointing of his career.

Robitaille, 37, signed a one-year contract in June with the Kings, his third tour with the franchise, and has looked spry in the preseason, leading the team with eight points in five games on the Kings’ second line.

He laments his diminished role last season with the Red Wings, “especially the way it ended,” after getting swept by the Mighty Ducks in the first round, he said. At the same time, Robitaille will remember the only Stanley Cup he won in his 17-year career when the Kings begin the season Thursday in Detroit.

“It’s always hard to go back and play against your old team,” Robitaille said. “It was always hard to come back here and play. I have great memories there for sure. We won the Cup and so forth. It’ll be a weird feeling.”

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The Kings released their official 23-man roster Tuesday, with four players on injured reserve to start the season: forwards Jared Aulin (dislocated shoulder) and Michael Cammalleri (sprained knee), and defenseman Aaron Miller (fractured wrist) and Brad Norton (lacerated forearm).

Center Jason Allison (whiplash) and left wing Adam Deadmarsh (concussion) were listed as nonroster players. They have not participated in contact drills and will not accompany the team on its three-game trip. Defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov, stranded in Russia for more than three weeks because of visa problems, was placed on the suspended list to start the season.

“I don’t know if this is really his fault,” King General Manager Dave Taylor said. “It’s more the technicalities we’ve all had to encounter.”

The Kings had hoped Kuznetsov would receive a visa to go to Canada and then travel to the U.S. by next week, but it has not materialized.

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Right wing Ziggy Palffy did not skate Tuesday morning because of influenza symptoms. He is expected to play Thursday.