April 19, 1999
For two months, Larry Robinson had sensed his days as coach of the Los Angeles Kings were numbered. The team made it official Monday when his contract was not renewed.
The Kings had a 32-45-5 record this season and failed to reach        the playoffs for the third time in Robinson's four years. They were swept by St. Louis in the first round last season, when Robinson was runner-up for NHL coach of the year.
General manager Dave Taylor said he told Robinson before
Sunday's 3-2 loss to St. Louis that he would not be returning as
coach. Also out of jobs are assistants Don Edwards, Rick Green
and Jay Leach.
''I wished I hadn't asked because it was a long game,'' Robinson
  said.  Robinson, 47, was in the final year of a four-year contract. He declined to sign a three-year extension that was offered last
September when the team was struggling. He said at that time
he wasn't sure he wanted to continue coaching, which Taylor
interpreted negatively. ''It was difficult to understand why he didn't accept the extension,'' Taylor said during a separate news conference at the Forum. ''He was not sure of himself and that has given the wrong image. ''The players look to the coach for leadership. For him to have any hesitation is the wrong message back to the players. There was a lot of speculation to Larry's future all year and that was a distraction to the club.''
Robinson, who won six Stanley Cups during a Hall of Fame
playing career with Montreal, had a 122-161-45 record in four
seasons as coach. He retired as a player with the Kings in 1992,
having never missed the postseason in 20 years. ''I feel I let myself down,'' he said.
The team's fortunes appeared to be on the upswing a year ago
 when it made a 20-point improvement from the previous season
 and posted its best record since 1992-93 to finish second in the
 Pacific Division. But things unraveled this season. The Kings lost 25 games by one goal, had one of the league's worst power plays and lost 335 man-games to injuries or illness. ''We lacked consistency, and at times we lacked the work ethic,'' Taylor said. ''That's not acceptable.''
Robinson was well-liked by his players, and left wing Luc
Robitaille suggested that niceness might have been his undoing.
Robinson came to the Kings after being an assistant with New
Jersey when the Devils won the Stanley Cup in 1995. He said
he would like to be an assistant or head coach again.
Taylor said the Kings have not yet begun a search for
Robinson's replacement, and said there is no timetable for hiring
 someone.

Farewell Wayne

April 16, 1999
After 21 years of NHL stardom, Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers announced his retirement at a Friday press conference at Madison Square Garden. The "Great One" will make his final appearance Sunday, when the Rangers close their season against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gretzky leaves the game as the NHL's all-time leading scorer. In 1,486 games, he
has 894 goals and 1,962 assists for 2,856 points. He was named
the league's most valuable player nine times and led the league
in scoring 11 times. ''I've thought about this for a long time,''
said Gretzky. "But I didn't want to be disruptive to the team
during the playoff drive.''

April 9, 1999
Rob Blake was suspended for two games and fined $128,475.60 Friday by the NHL for delivering a cross-checking to the head of San Jose's Alexander Korolyuk. The incident occurred in Thursday's game at Los Angeles and resulted in a minor penalty for Blake. The suspension will sideline him for games Sunday at Dallas and Monday at Nashville. He will be eligible to return Thursday against Anaheim. Blake, who was suspended for three games for slashing in December, was fined under the league's repeat offender category, which assesses 1-82nd of a player's salary for each day suspended.

April 8, 1999
Manny Legace and Jason Podollan have been recalled from the Ice Dogs.  Jamie Storr sprained his ankle while wrestling with Larry in a Nashville gym.  He is listed as week-to-week.

March 23, 1999
The Los Angeles Kings have reached a mutual agreement with
defenseman Steve Duchesne and have traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Dave Babych and a fifth-round draft choice in the 2000 NHL entry draft.
Babych, 37, comes to the Kings in the midst of his 20th NHL season. In 33 games with the Flyers, the 6-2, 215 pound native of Edmonton, Alta., has six points and 20 penalty minutes.

March 23, 1999
The Los Angeles Kings have acquired right wing  Jason Podollan and a 1999 third round draft choice from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for center Yanic Perreault.
Podollan (poh-DOH-luhn), 23, is currently with the St. John`s
Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League and has 68 points
(42-26=68) and 65 penalty minutes in 68 games. He currently
leads the AHL with 42 goals and is tied for third with 15 power-play goals. In four games with Toronto, the 6-1,
192-pound native of Vernon, British Columbia, has no points and
no penalty minutes.

March 20, 1999
Steve Duchesne cleared waivers.  Now we just have to wait the next few days to see what happens.

March 17, 1999
Steve Duchesne was placed on waivers today.  If no team picks him up, the Kings have a few options.  They could trade Duchesne for whatever the market will bear.  They only have until March 23 to do that.  They have talked to a few teams (Philadelphia, Carolina, Florida) about paying part of his $3.75 million contract.  They could keep him, send him to the minors, or buy out his contract.  Whatever they do, I hope they don't play him.  We'll have to wait and see what happens.

March 2, 1999
Nathan LaFayette has been recalled from the Long Beach Ice Dogs.

Theo's new team

Feb 28, 1998
Theo Fleury, one of the NHL's top scorers, was
traded from the Calgary Flames to Colorado in a
move the Avalanche hope will bolster their offense for the
playoffs. Fleury, an unrestricted free agent at the end of the
season, went to the Avalanche with winger Chris Dingman.
The Flames received forward Rene Corbet, defenseman
Wade Belak and future considerations. Fleury, sixth in
league scoring with 30 goals and 69 points, has said
repeatedly he wouldn't sign a new contract until testing the
free-agent market this summer.

Feb 26, 1999
Pavel Rosa has been assigned to the Long Beach Ice Dogs.
Eric Belanger has been reassigned to Long Beach from the Springfield Falcons.

Feb 12, 1999
The Los Angeles Kings traded  left wing Eric Lacroix to the New York Rangers for center Sean Pronger.
Lacroix, 27, the son of Colorado Avalanche general manager
Pierre Lacroix, joins his third team this season after starting this
season with the Avalanche before being dealt to Los Angeles on
Nov. 17 for left wing Roman Vopat and a sixth-round draft pick.
Lacroix has struggled this season, picking up just one assist and
14 penalty minutes in 34 games. The Rangers, six points out of
the final Eastern Conference playoff berth, are hoping he regains
the form he flashed in 1996-97, when he established career highs
with 18 goals, 18 assists and 36 points.
Pronger, 26, also joins his third team this season. He began the
season with the Pittsburgh Penguins but was traded with Petr
Nedved and Chris Tamer to the Rangers in November for Alexei
Kovalev, Harry York and future considerations.
Pronger has played only 16 games this season, picking up three
assists. The older brother of St. Louis Blues defenseman Chris
Pronger, he broke into the NHL with the Mighty Ducks of
Anaheim in 1995-96 and had a career-high 21 points on six goals
and 15 assists for Anaheim and Pittsburgh last season.

Feb 12, 1999
National Hockey League suspended San Jose Sharks right wing Brantt Myhres 12 games, without pay, for an incident February 6 against the Los Angeles Kings.

Feb 12, 1999
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Mark Visheau was today placed on the injured reserve list , Kings Vice President/General Manager Dave Taylor announced. Visheau, 25, has missed the last four games due to a congenital urinary tract obstruction. In 28 games this season, he has four points (1+3=4) and 107 penalty minutes, second on the club to Sean O`Donnell`s 110 penalty minutes. Visheau is expected to undergo surgery next week and will likely miss the remainder of the regular season.

Jan 28, 1999
Dan Bylsma has been assigned to the Springfield Falcons.

Jan 17, 1999
Forget the Bure watch!
The Vancouver Canucks have traded high-scoring holdout Pavel Bure to the Florida Panthers in a seven-player deal, according broadcast reports Sunday.
Both teams called news conferences for Sunday night.
Bure, a three-time 50-goal scorer, has missed the entire season after announcing last August that he would never play again for the Canucks. Suspended without pay, Bure is in the final year of a five-year deal that would reportedly pay him about $8 million.
Canucks sent Bure and defensemen Bret Hedican and Brad Ference to Florida for defenseman Ed Jovanovski, centers Dave Gagner and Mike Brown and  goaltender Kevin Weekes.

Jan 7, 1999
Luc Robitaille joined an exclusive club Thursday night when he became the 27th player in NHL history to score 500 career goals. Robitaille's 500th goal came when he skated past the left side of the net, flipped the puck in off a pass from rookie Pavel Rosa to beat Buffalo goalie Dwayne Roloson with 1:46 remaining in the game. His two goals helped the Kings beat the Sabres 4-2 for their fifth straight victory. ''The key is to keep going, can't stop there,'' said Robitaille, in his second stint with the Kings during a 13-year career. ''Until I get my hand on the Stanley Cup, nothing will be accomplished.''

Jan 2,1999
Right wing Glen Murray, second in goals, assists and points, is expected to miss 8-10 weeks after tearing a ligament in his right knee.  Glen left the ice on a stretcher with 7:12 remaining in the first period with a severely sprained right knee.  An MRI exam revealed the sprain and damage to his medial collateral ligament.
Left wing Steve McKenna will undergo abdominal surgery Monday.  He's expected to miss 10-12 weeks.

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