Luc Robitaille

* High-scoring left wing for the Kings Get Your Motor Runnin': In the off season, on Friday, my wife, Stacia, and I ride our Harleys into Westwood--it's only a five-minute ride from home. First up is dinner at Mustache Cafe. You can't go wrong with the smoked chicken fettuccine. It's outstanding. Stacia loves the Cajun chicken salad, and we usually split the chocolate souffle for dessert. After dinner, it's back on the Harleys and over to catch a movie.

VANCOUVER, Canada -- An off-ice note before we get to the on-ice festivities leading up to the Kings' playoff opener against Vancouver on Wednesday night at Rogers Arena. The Montreal Canadiens are interested in talking to Luc Robitaille, the Kings' president of business operations, and Ron Hextall, the Kings' assistant general manager, about the vacant general manager's job in Montreal. However, nothing is expected to proceed until the Kings' season is over. The Kings would have to give permission for Montreal to interview them.

A women's group recently named him one of the 10 most watchable men in the English-speaking world. He is represented by the William Morris Agency and dates an actress. And, though he plays for a team that ranks near the bottom of the National Hockey League in the standings and in attendance, he is the people's choice to start at left wing for the Campbell Conference tonight in the NHL All-Star game.

Montreal's continuing search for a new general manager could end up winding though the Kings' organization to its Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille. The Montreal-born Robitaille is the Kings' president of business operations, the team's alternate governor and popular public face of the franchise. Sportsnet reported Wednesday morning that the Canadiens were planning to reach out to Robitaille. They are in the early stages of assembling possible candidates for the position. In fact, the Canadiens already have been in talks with AEG's Tim Leiweke, who is the president of that organization and governor of the Kings.

Nina McCormick snapped a picture, then walked up to the athletic-looking guy holding the big silver cup in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, and asked, "What's your name?" "Luc Robitaille," the man replied, with a grin. And the cup's name is Stanley. Stanley Cup. The real one that they gave to the Detroit Red Wings this past season. McCormick, who hails from the Motor City, blushed redder than her hometown hockey team's insignia.

Champagne doesn't flow freely around the Kings' offices, what with the playoffs a distant memory and one Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1967, but two bottles sat in a bucket in their conference room Tuesday beside a cake decorated with ripe strawberries and the words "Congratulations Luc."

Whoever wrote the script summarizing Luc Robitaille's career for the highlight film that accompanied his hockey Hall of Fame induction Monday got it wrong. "All Luc Robitaille did was score goals," the narrator intoned, but that wasn't true. Robitaille scored a lot of goals -- 668 of them. And 1,394 points, the most ever by a left wing in NHL history. But that's no more a description of Robitaille than calling Wayne Gretzky a hockey player. Robitaille was the heart of the Kings through good times and bad, for 14 of his 19 NHL seasons.

Luc Robitaille was never the fastest skater or most purely gifted player on the ice at any level he played. For a while, he wasn't even the most prolific scorer. "It's funny he got 600 and some-odd goals in the NHL. It surprises me because he used to be a passer," said his father, Claude. "I would say, 'You could score once in a while.' He'd say, 'Yeah, but it was the better play. We have more chance of winning. The other guy is a better scorer than I am.' " Somewhere along the way he learned how to score like few before or since.

"The Curse of Marty McSorley" finally has been broken. The Kings at last started exorcising the Stanley Cup playoff demons that have haunted them since McSorley was found to be playing with a stick that violated the rules in Game 2 of the 1993 finals against the Montreal Canadiens. The Kings actually won a postseason game Sunday, defeating the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1, in Game 3 at Staples Center and ending their miserable 14-game playoff losing streak.

Once again, I would like to thank Dave Taylor for running Luc Robitaille out of town and for trading Rob Blake. Both of these future Hall of Fame players have their names on the Stanley Cup, something that wouldn't have happened had they remained in L.A. Jan Stephens Irvine

The aftermath of a soured business partnership between Hockey Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille and jailed financier William "Boots" Del Biaggio III that left Robitaille responsible for a $2-million line of credit has led a bank to foreclose on the Santa Monica home owned by Robitaille, a longtime favorite of Kings fans and president of the club's business operations. Robitaille, however, isn't expected to lose the home and won't lose his job while he settles his financial obligations.

One streak ended in San Jose on Monday, when the Sharks halted the Kings' run of six wins in a row. Others fell Wednesday at Staples Center, where the Kings had been perfect in eight games this season. With the Kings' defense suddenly not so sturdy, the Columbus Blue Jackets handed the Kings their first home loss, 5-3, after Rick Nash beat Jonathan Quick on the glove side with 3:12 left in the third after going around defenseman Davis Drewiske in the left circle. Nash added another goal, his eighth, by scoring into an empty net with 39 seconds left after the Kings pulled Quick for an extra attacker.

Mattias Norstrom thought he had left hockey behind when he retired in 2008 and went home to Stockholm, where he joined two friends in starting a business that insures Swedish athletes and artists. But hockey won't let go of Norstrom. It maintains an unbreakable hold through the many friends he made during a solid career that included 11-plus seasons with the Kings and the distinction of being the first European-born player to serve as their captain. Norstrom, 38, made a tentative return to the game in February as an assistant coach of Team Sweden at the Vancouver Olympics.

Kings today VS. ST. LOUIS When: 1 p.m. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 1150. Records: Kings 17-10-2, Blues 11-10-5. Record vs. Blues: 1-0-0. Update: Winners of three straight games, the Kings can match their season best of four, which they've hit twice. However, they're 1-2 in afternoon games, two of those at home. The Kings will honor Hall of Fame winger Luc Robitaille by giving fans bobbleheads with his likeness today.

Whoever wrote the script summarizing Luc Robitaille's career for the highlight film that accompanied his hockey Hall of Fame induction Monday got it wrong. "All Luc Robitaille did was score goals," the narrator intoned, but that wasn't true. Robitaille scored a lot of goals -- 668 of them. And 1,394 points, the most ever by a left wing in NHL history. But that's no more a description of Robitaille than calling Wayne Gretzky a hockey player. Robitaille was the heart of the Kings through good times and bad, for 14 of his 19 NHL seasons.

Luc Robitaille was never the fastest skater or most purely gifted player on the ice at any level he played. For a while, he wasn't even the most prolific scorer. "It's funny he got 600 and some-odd goals in the NHL. It surprises me because he used to be a passer," said his father, Claude. "I would say, 'You could score once in a while.' He'd say, 'Yeah, but it was the better play. We have more chance of winning. The other guy is a better scorer than I am.' " Somewhere along the way he learned how to score like few before or since.

Tomas Sandstrom of the Kings was added to the Campbell Conference team by Edmonton Oiler Coach John Muckler for the NHL All-Star Game at Chicago Jan. 19. The Kings' Wayne Gretzky will start at center for the Campbell Conference with teammate Luc Robitaille at left wing and Brett Hull of St. Louis on right wing.

The Kings scored three goals in the second period and beat Vancouver, 5-3, in a National Hockey League exhibition game before 2,063 fans at Duncan, Canada on Sunday. Rookie Jimmy Carson scored the Kings first goal at 2:25 of the second period, then assisted on two others. Carson had two goals in Saturday night's victory over Vancouver. Vancouver cut the lead to 3-2 early in the third period but the Kings sealed the win on goals by Craig Duncanson and Luc Robitaille.

Champagne doesn't flow freely around the Kings' offices, what with the playoffs a distant memory and one Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1967, but two bottles sat in a bucket in their conference room Tuesday beside a cake decorated with ripe strawberries and the words "Congratulations Luc."

Luc Robitaille plans to spend today at his desk at the Kings' El Segundo offices, but it won't be business as usual. This is the day the Hockey Hall of Fame will announce this year's inductees, and Robitaille has an excellent chance to be among them. The limit in the players' category is four, and the strong pool of first-year eligible players includes Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Dave Andreychuk and Alexander Mogilny.