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They like this goalie ‘problem’

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Times Staff Writer

The careful handling of an often fragile package, a 19-year-old goaltender, is crowding into the active mind of Dean Lombardi, worrying the Kings’ president and general manager.

“This kid has thrown me for a loop,” he said during practice in El Segundo.

The kid is rookie goaltender Jonathan Bernier. Adults might be concerned about long-term implications, but the teenager has seemed blissfully immune to big league pressures, especially in his NHL debut, a winning effort, on Saturday in London.

“It’s still early. Way early,” Lombardi said. “But it’s a good problem to have.”

That cuts both ways. The Kings have the luxury of some time before a decision is truly necessary. Should Bernier play in 10 games, then it counts as one year in his three-year entry-level NHL contract. That would not be triggered if he is sent back to his junior team in Lewiston, Maine, before his 10th game.

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So Lombardi is doing research. To that end, he said he recently called Glen Sather to ask the New York Rangers’ president and general manager how he handled then-19-year-old goalie Grant Fuhr while with the Edmonton Oilers in the 1981-82 season. Lombardi said Sather told him about Fuhr being out of shape.

Former King and Oiler Marty McSorley, who was watching practice with Lombardi on Thursday, ended up in Edmonton a few years after Fuhr’s rookie season. McSorley remembers that the team had Fuhr run the arena stairs in a garbage bag to drop weight.

McSorley also said that Sather had a stern father-son talk with Fuhr after the young goalie famously ripped the fans after getting booed that first season. Lombardi paused and thought about his chat with Sather, saying: “He didn’t tell me that.”

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With J.S. Aubin’s right groin injury improving, the Kings will soon have three healthy goalies and that could force their hand.

“Right now, we have just played it a day at a time and I think we’ll continue to keep playing it that way,” said Coach Marc Crawford, who will name a starting goalie today for Saturday’s home opener against the St. Louis Blues. “I know long-term it’s not the optimum way you want to advance but right now, it’s what we think is the best thing for our club.”

The Kings said a limited number of tickets remain for the home opener.

The team expects a sellout, which isn’t always a certainty around the NHL these days.

In Detroit, an announced crowd of 17,610 -- 2,456 shy of capacity -- went to Wednesday night’s Ducks-Red Wings game, ending a streak of 396 consecutive home sellouts. And the Colorado Avalanche failed to sell out its home opener against Dallas, falling short by about 500. This was a first for the Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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