[0] KINGS' HOPES DIM\COLORADO 5, KINGS 2.

Byline: Tim Trepany Daily News Staff Writer

At 35 years of age and in the final year of his contract, Kings goalie Kelly Hrudey appeared to be a perfect candidate to be traded Wednesday.

Unfortunately for Hrudey, the contending teams are set at goalie and weren't interested in trading for a player who would be free to sign with any team starting July 1.

So Hrudey is stuck on the sinking ship that is the Kings the rest of the season.

With the afternoon trading deadline passed without his being dealt, Hrudey started Wednesday night in what is likely one of his final games as a King.

It doesn't look as if he'll be taking any fond memories with him from these last couple weeks judging from the way the Colorado Avalanche routed the Kings 5-2 before an announced 11,801 at the Forum.

Their fifth-straight loss dealt another blow to the Kings' faint playoff hopes. With the Dallas Stars beating the St. Louis Blues, the Kings slipped to 12th in the Western Conference standings and, with nine games left, are six points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot.

"Whether or not we're fighting for a playoff position, we are fighting for our jobs next year," Kings coach Larry Robinson said. "It is an evaluation for next season."

If Hrudey's teammates weren't being beaten to the puck on rebounds, they were turning it over or leaving him exposed with bad defense. Left wing Valeri Kamensky took advantage for the Avalanche, getting his second hat trick of the season while Peter Forsberg added three assists.

The Kings were so upset about their play that they held a players-only meeting after Robinson left the locker room.

"All I'll say (about it) is that we do need to continue to play the same way for 60 minutes," Hrudey said. "We can't be where we decide it's an important time in the game. We are what we are. We have to play for a full 60 minutes."

Hrudey said he prefers to re-sign with the Kings but management hasn't told him its plans, so he is poised to leave in the offseason. Seeing that the team is ready to go with 25-year-old Byron Dafoe and 20-year-old Jamie Storr, who played in Phoenix most of this season, he put his Redondo Beach house up for sale months ago.

And although Robinson told him Saturday he probably wouldn't be traded, Hrudey said he didn't stop worrying about it until after the deadline, calling the Kings office promptly at noon to see if he had been dealt.

"I think Jari (Kurri) said it best in the paper after he was traded," Hrudey said. "He said even though you're a professional . . . it still wears on you. It's an uncomfortable time and it's really stressful. It's no different for myself.

"I was very, very nervous this morning."

Now Hrudey just has to ride out the final days of his seven-plus seasons with the team, something that doesn't figure to be easy.

Kamensky's first goal came at the end of a three-shot flurry by the Avalanche and his second goal was set up when Forsberg stripped Kings center Yanic Perreault of the puck at the blue line with the Avalanche on a power play. He completed the hat trick by converting on a 2 on 1 with 1 minute, 10 seconds left.

But the Kings' miscues didn't end there. Forsberg raced up left wing untouched to set up a goal by Claude Lemieux in the second period and Hrudey was flat out beaten on the Avalanche's fourth goal, a 40-foot shot by defenseman Jon Klemm.

Notes: The Kings made a final trade before Wednesday's league-imposed deadline, getting defenseman Jaroslav Modry and a 1996 eighth-round draft pick for minor-league forward Kevin Brown. Modry, 25, had four goals, 18 points and 38 penalty minutes in 64 games this season. He played the past two seasons for the New Jersey Devils when Kings coach Larry Robinson was an assistant. Brown, 21, spent most of the season with International Hockey League farm team Phoenix, but played seven games for the Kings, getting one goal and four penalty minutes.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo (color) Peter Forsberg of Colorado shoots as Kelly Hrudey defends. Associated Press