Kings Lose, but Gretzky Is the News

NEW YORK —  For once, the Wayne Gretzky story didn’t reach larger-than-life proportions once the Kings rolled into New York.

It was already there.

There was little talk about the Rangers’ 21-game unbeaten home streak of 17-0-4 after they defeated the Kings, 3-1, in impressive fashion Monday at Madison Square Garden. Or how Ranger left wing Luc Robitaille scored the game-winning goal against his former teammates, his first goal in 12 games. And the Kings’ shoddy road record--only one victory in their last 15 games--did not draw any questions. Yanic Perreault scored the only goal for the Kings (16-20-11) and goaltender Byron Dafoe took the loss, not having won since Jan. 5 at San Jose.

Afterward, even Ranger center Mark Messier, having a MVP-type season, did not meet the media until he watched Gretzky’s news conference live on MSG network. Messier, leaning back in his chair in the team lounge, was concerned as he watched his friend.

“He certainly doesn’t look happy,” said Messier, a teammate of Gretzky’s during the glory years in Edmonton. “It’s a tough environment for him right now. It’s obviously been a tough two weeks since the story broke and I’m sure he’s tired of all the questions. . . . To see him not happy is tough. He realizes there’s not a lot of time, years left.”

The attention upon Gretzky increased at the All-Star game and resulted in a handful of critical stories, especially in Canada. King General Manager Sam McMaster did not attend the All-Star weekend in Boston but traveled with the team to New York. He sat in Ranger General Manager Neil Smith’s skybox, which of course sent reporters scurrying after Smith for comment.

Smith said Gretzky was mentioned, “but not the way you think.” And at a Board of Governors meeting last weekend, Gretzky’s name came up too. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman rapped a few knuckles on the tampering issue.

“He said, and I think very rightly, ‘Don’t be talking about other team’s players [in the media],’ ” Smith said. “ ‘It doesn’t do any of us any good.’ ”

As for Gretzky, the recent furor has taken a toll as he looked drawn and distracted, meeting the sizable media contingent Monday.

“It’s part of life, it’s part of the game,” he said. “Sometimes you like answering questions, and sometimes you don’t. The bottom line is to become available and answer questions.”

Said a reporter: “Is this one you like?”

“Not right now,” Gretzky said.

Every angle was pursued, and curiously he was asked about the state of his relationship with McMaster.

“I don’t know,” Gretzky said. “He’s the GM and I’m a player.”

King Coach Larry Robinson, who was able to escape some of the stress by playing polo in Florida during the break, said the topic has not been addressed in the dressing room, at least by him.

“It was never brought up and was never a subject,” he said. “To everyone else it seems like a distraction. There are a lot of distractions in life. You have to be able to overcome the current distraction whether it is a death in the family or all different things that go on. . . . I can feel very much for what Wayne is going through. He’s given a lot to the game and he’s given a lot to hockey in L.A.”

*

King Notes

Almost everyone has something to say about the Wayne Gretzky controversy and play-by-play announcer Bob Miller delivered a not-so-subtle message as he decided to read part of Mike Lupica’s Sunday column in the New York Daily News on the Prime Sports game telecast, quoting: “And when the Rangers got swept against the Flyers last spring and looked too old and too slow, [Mark] Messier did not go looking for another contract. He did not look to force a trade or to beat a contract. He went back to work.” In the same column, Lupica wrote how Messier, looking to renegotiate, once held out and missed training camp. But that line wasn’t read on the air.

* Times staff writer Mark Pargas contributed to this story.