Kings’ Race Ends in a 3-0 Loss

Tim Leiweke, the Kings’ chief executive, set the bar in August.

He proclaimed that the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement would allow his team to compete with the big boys, saying, “We’ve waited five years for this season.”

King fans might have been sitting at home Thursday thinking: We’ve waited five years for this?

At 8:22 p.m., just as Michael Cammalleri had chipped the puck into the Phoenix Coyotes’ zone, the Kings’ season came to an end.

The Kings still needed to go through the motions, and go through them they did in a 3-0 loss to the Coyotes. But the Kings’ Stanley Cup playoff hopes evaporated while they were on the ice, when the Edmonton Oilers finished off a 2-1 victory over the Mighty Ducks.

That left the Oilers, eighth in the Western Conference, out of reach.

King fans, promised a blockbuster season, were given a rerun of previous B-movie-like performances. The Kings have lost 11 of their last 15 games to fall out of playoff contention, reminiscent of 2003-04, when they lost their last 11 games to miss the playoffs.

“What would I say to the fans? Good question,” team captain Mattias Norstrom said. “You know, this is more than a job for me. I’m 34, I brought my family halfway around the world [from Sweden], missed birthdays, Christmas, school plays. This is not a job. This is my passion. This is not a job. This is what I live for. I hope the fans don’t ever think I take this lightly. I feel as bad as they do. We disappointed them and we disappointed ourselves.”

With disappointment comes some certainty -- Luc Robitaille’s last home game as a King will be Saturday against the Calgary Flames -- and even the uncertainties have a hint of finality.

Jeremy Roenick’s last game as a King will be Monday against the San Jose Sharks after an injury-riddled season. Sean Avery appears to be out the door after one too many incidents. And General Manager Dave Taylor’s time is expected to come to an end after nine years.

“I told the guys a month ago, only winning teams stay together,” Norstrom said.

The Kings led the Pacific Division by four points and were second in the Western Conference on Jan. 6, but two days later the Dallas Stars overtook them. The Kings have a 13-20-3 record since.

Leiweke has said he would decide Taylor’s fate at the end of the season, yet he seemed headed in a clear direction. He will meet with former San Jose Shark general manager Dean Lombardi this week, two league sources said. The Kings have denied the meeting.

Lombardi, a scout with the Philadelphia Flyers, has also talked with the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders but has maintained a home on the West Coast. Leiweke will talk with other candidates, a league source said.

Taylor declined to talk about his situation Thursday. He has one year left on his contract.

“We let Dave down, no doubt about it,” center Craig Conroy said. “He was an idol of mine growing up and he brought me here. We didn’t get it done for him. This should have been a playoff team.”

The Kings spent 60 minutes showing why they aren’t against the Coyotes.

They were outworked, they took too many penalties and their special teams handed the Coyotes goals. Derek Morris and Fredrik Sjostrum scored power-play goals and Keith Ballard scored short-handed as the Coyotes scored three second-period goals.

“We needed a big game in the last two weeks and we were not able to come up with one,” Norstrom said.

Leiweke intends to “clean house,” one league source said.

Of the players on the roster, the Kings have six unrestricted free agents, three with club options, including Roenick, who cost the Kings $4.94 million in salary. They also have five restricted free agents, including Avery, who was left home after an on-ice incident with assistant coach Mark Hardy on Wednesday.

“We had a disagreement,” Hardy said. “I wanted something done on the ice and he said no. I suggested Sean leave the ice. He did. There was a meeting and it was decided not to have Sean back.

“He has been a [heck] of a hockey player for us. We just want his focus on the ice and I don’t think that’s where it has been.”

The previous incidents, often public, leave the Kings deciding whether to retain his rights.

Avery will be a restricted free agent this season, but if the Kings do not give him a qualifying offer during the off-season, he becomes unrestricted.