AFTERMATH: AFTER LOSS IN FINALS, THE DECLINE KINGS NOW RECOVERING FROM YEARS OF DISARRAY.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Just minutes removed from their devastating, series-ending Game 5 loss in Montreal, the Kings vowed revenge, promised themselves that next time they would bring home the Stanley Cup.

``I remember sitting in the locker room (and) getting on the bus saying, `Screw those guys, we'll be back,' '' Luc Robitaille said. ``We really believed we would get another chance.''

They wouldn't even come close, as the Kings missed the playoffs the next season, and the next three seasons as well. The financial problems of then-owner Bruce McNall, and personnel mistakes, put the franchise in a hole from which it is just now recovering.

``We didn't know at the time, but Bruce's empire was already crumbling back in 1993,'' coach Barry Melrose said. ``When we made that playoff run, it gave him enough money to keep going for a while.''

McNall flaunted his cash and took on Wayne Gretzky as a business partner in several ventures - including the world's most expensive baseball card and a Canadian Football League team - but financial woes caught up with him.

In 1994, McNall sold part of the team to businessmen Joseph Cohen and Jeffrey Sudikoff, who, it turned out, had their own money problems. All the while, the Kings dumped players such as McSorley, and draft picks, in an attempt to save money but remain competitive.

Problems also surfaced away from the front office as Melrose, a beloved figure during the 1993 playoff run, feuded with general manager Nick Beverely.

The Kings lost 18 of 25 games during an early-season stretch of 1993-94 and never recovered, hurt in large part by the injuries that eventually ended the career of Dave Taylor. In an embarrassing twist, the Kings finished behind the expansion Mighty Ducks.

``People forget, but that wasn't a young team,'' goalie Kelly Hrudey said. ``That run started a few years before, not (in 1993), and a lot of those guys were going for their last championship.''

Sam McMaster took over as general manager in 1994 and made wholesale changes, including the unpopular moves of trading Gretzky, Robitaille and talented young defenseman Alexei Zhitnik.

Almost every one of McMaster's moves failed, and the Kings never totaled more than 67 points in a season under his watch. The roster was in disarray, and even worse, players were uncertain about their futures.

``At the end of my first year (1994-95), paychecks were bouncing,'' current goalie Jamie Storr said. ``You tried not to think about it, but guys were looking around the dressing room, wondering who wasn't going to be there tomorrow.''

Stability arrived slowly. Current owners Philip Anschutz and Ed Roski bought the Kings in October 1995, general manager Dave Taylor was hired in 1997 and coach Andy Murray arrived a season later.

Murray has guided the Kings to the playoffs in three of his four seasons, but still, it's been 10 years since the Kings had their brush with glory.

``That's like saying, `You won the lottery 10 years ago, why haven't you won it since then?' '' Storr said. ``This team is in good shape now, and we have the ability to get back there.''