Robitaille Was Deserving King

Luc Robitaille’s career shouldn’t have ended in bitterness and frustration, with Andy Murray and then John Torchetti determining that he could best help the Kings by not being part of their lineup. Or with Robitaille going behind the back of each coach to plead his case with General Manager Dave Taylor, only to discover that Taylor’s standing is more tenuous than his own.

Robitaille, who will announce today that he will retire at season’s end, stayed too long in a game that has been deeded to the young and the swift. In that, he’s hardly alone.

Few athletes can peer through the gauze of self-deception to recognize their flaws. Brett Hull, also a prolific goal scorer, quit a few games into this season, unwilling to expend the energy to play the NHL’s new, high-tempo game. Ron Francis, who set up more goals in NHL history than anyone except Wayne Gretzky, knew it was time to leave after the lockout ended and he couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to be a second- or third-line center somewhere.

Gordie Howe stayed so long that he became a gimmick. Mark Messier also hung around past the point where he could lead by example and not just by word. Gretzky, however, left fans wanting more, not less. He could have played another year or two or three and been good, or very good. Instead, he exited with his aura and records intact, the ideal note on which to go.

If Robitaille is guilty of anything, it’s that he cared profoundly about the Kings, who continue to stagger along a road pitted with failure. If that’s the worst that can be said about him, that he cared too much about a team he represented with class, in a city that was better because he made his home here and willingly helped those less fortunate than he is, it’s a sin he can proudly live with.

Robitaille grew up a King, arriving in Los Angeles nearly 20 years ago as a distant longshot prospect. His tag was good hands, bad feet, and he was chosen after 170 other people in the 1984 entry draft.

He never got much faster, but he never needed blazing speed or dazzling one-on-one skills to score 668 goals and 1,394 points.

His instincts were unerring and he managed to get to where he needed to go with enough efficiency to score more goals than any left wing in NHL history.

He was the franchise’s favorite son, a constant amid the comings and goings of draft picks and coaches and general managers, seasons bad and good. When Gretzky arrived from Edmonton and the Kings needed new bandwagons to hold all the hangers-on, Robitaille cheerfully moved over and made room.

When Gretzky developed back problems and played only 45 games of the 1992-93 season, Robitaille carried that team with career-bests of 63 goals and 125 points.

And when Gretzky began to gain more influence in personnel decisions, Robitaille was traded to Pittsburgh in 1994 for Rick Tocchet, a pal of Gretzky’s. Robitaille later bounced to the New York Rangers, back to the Kings, and was allowed to leave as a free agent in 2001. Nowhere did he have the success that he enjoyed in Los Angeles, and he never forgot his roots.

Throughout his career, he has been a friend to saints and sinners. When Times columnist Jim Murray died in August 1998, Robitaille attended the funeral on his own, explaining that he’d never forgotten a column Murray had written about him during his rookie season, a piece of prose Robitaille had carefully cached in his wallet. When former King owner Bruce McNall went to prison for financial fraud, Robitaille visited him and displayed more loyalty than McNall ever did. He gave his time and energy to charities, to kids. To fans who made the chant “Luuuuc” sweeter than any symphony.

In a perfect world, Robitaille would exit triumphantly, but the Kings have a history of creating unhappy endings. Marcel Dionne left in a huff in 1987, surprised that the Kings took him up on his dare to trade him. Gretzky left for St. Louis in 1996 after he couldn’t persuade new owner Philip Anschutz to invest in upgrading the roster, insulted when Anschutz asked if he merely wanted more money. It’s no coincidence that Gretzky didn’t let the Kings retire his jersey until 2002, when McNall could be there.

If there’s a sad note, it’s that Robitaille had to leave Los Angeles to get his name on the Stanley Cup. He won it with the Red Wings in 2002, but he didn’t belong to Detroit. He belonged in Los Angeles, where he is a king among men and among Kings.