ARENA'S CHANGE THE WORK OF `CLEANUP KINGS'.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

Phil Jackson and Andy Murray coached their respective teams in important games Sunday, but that duo had nothing on Lee Zeidman and his Staples Center changeover crew.

Zeidman, the arena's senior vice president of operations, and his staff of 45 transformed the floor of the Staples Center in the three hours between the Lakers and Kings games, a task carried out with military-style precision and only a handful of smiles or laughs among the laborers.

For a little more than two hours, the workers cleared chairs and trash, lifted hundreds of wooden planks off the floor to uncover the ice and installed the Plexiglas and penalty-box areas.

By the time hockey fans began filing into the arena a few minutes before 8 p.m., they had no indication that the Lakers and almost 18,000 of their fans were on the premises earlier that afternoon, except maybe for the tired looks on the faces of the ushers, most of whom had to work both games on Easter with no overtime.

``We really do have it down to a science,'' said Zeidman, whose crew had made the transformation 12 previous times in the arena's 18 months of operation, but only once before from basketball to hockey, and never under such a tight deadline.

Zeidman said the crew hoped to beat its record of 1 hour, 53 minutes, and after 1 hour, 45 minutes Sunday, the stands were almost completely clean and the Zamboni was on the ice, but Zeidman wasn't bragging.

``No, we still have one section up there to do,'' Zeidman said with a twinge of disappointment, pointing to the area where the basketball media had been seated. ``It takes longer to go from basketball to hockey. We lost about 15 minutes because we had to get all the announcers and everybody out of there.''

Zeidman and his crew were poised to get started at the conclusion of the Lakers game, which ended at 5:08 p.m. From there, the crew was hard at work because there were approximately 500 chairs and twice that many wooden planks to remove from the court.

5:22 p.m. Ushers have almost cleared the 18,000 fans out of the seats, and trash pickup begins. A few minutes later, workers begin covering the floor with large sheets of cardboard to avoid scratching when it is stacked on forklifts and stored.

5:30 p.m. The chairs and press areas behind the baskets are cleared and cleaned, and ushers are instructed to leave their posts for a 20-minute lunch. Fans try to stick around and watch the changeover but are chased away. ``But I have tickets to the Kings game'' is not considered an acceptable reason. Even ushers who stick around to watch the transformation are, well, ushered away.

The only spectators are a few arena officials and friends and family of the Portland Trail Blazers, who wait for the players to exit the locker room.

5:35 p.m. The final pieces of the risers behind the baskets are carried away, and three forklifts begin carrying away the basketball court, which is divided into panels of about six feet by three feet. At the other end of the arena, the panels of Plexiglas are rolled out.

6 p.m. The temperature in the building has dropped significantly from the basketball game. Officials want the arena cold, to help the ice, which can be soft when it is first uncovered.

For the first time, Staples Center looks more like a hockey arena than a basketball facility. The dasher boards are visible, and workers are beginning to install the penalty box and team bench areas.

Away from the arena floor, there is just as much chaos. Tom Fisk, who sells souvenirs on the concourse level, busily packed up Lakers merchandise and put up Kings apparel. Fisk and his co-workers operate on commission, so it stood to be a good day for them.

``We hope to have all the Lakers stuff down in a half hour, and all the Kings stuff up in 45 minutes,'' said Fisk, who planned to work from 11 a.m. to midnight.

The concession-stand workers prepared for similar hours, but without commission and without overtime.

``Its all right,'' said Brenda, who didn't want her last name used, ``but I'm tired and my bed is calling me all the way from my house.''

6:15 p.m. It's now an hour into the process, and Zeidman has checked his watch five times in the past 20 minutes. In one corner, workers remove the first section of wood planks, and the ice is visible for the first time. Workers carefully negotiate the ice and blow on their hands for warmth, but remarkably, none suffers an embarrassing fall.

6:35 p.m. The trash cleanup is almost complete, and with the Plexiglas installed, half of the workers turn their attention to picking up the planks, doubling their efficiency.

6:52 p.m. The last plank has been picked up, and five minutes later the Zamboni is on the ice, two minutes ahead of Zeidman's stated goal. There is still minor work to be done, but Zeidman is pleased.

``We did it,'' Zeidman said as the Zamboni rolled by. ``Pretty wild, huh?''

Wild enough even to warrant the attention of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

``They did a fantastic job in turning over the building as quickly as they did,'' Bettman said before the Kings game.

All in another days work for the Cleanup Kings.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The Staples Center crew transformed the arena from basketball to hockey in less than two hours. Here's how they did it:

5:08 - Lakers game ends with 105-100 victory over Portland.

5:22 - Nearly all of the 18,000 fans from Lakers game are removed from arena.

5:35 - Three forklifts begin hauling away the wooden floor planks.

6 - Temperature is dropped to help ice as it is uncovered.

6:35 - Plexiglas is installed and trash cleanup from basketball game is nearly complete.

6:52 - The last flooring plank is removed.

6:57 - The Zamboni is on the ice.

8:20 - Players take the ice.

CAPTION(S):

8 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Laker Girls perform a routine during a timeout in the final two minutes of the Lakers' game against Portland on Sunday.

(2 -- color) Staples Center workers start taking up the basketball court as soon as all fans have left the lower section.

(3 -- color) Workers cover the sections of court with cardboard to prevent scratches. Beneath the court is a gray cover for the Kings' ice.

(4 -- color) Once the Lakers' court has been removed, workers begin to remove the insulating cover and expose the ice.

(5 -- color) Workers with forklifts remove the sections of insulating cover in stacks.

(6 -- color) The Kings' logo is slowly revealed from under the cover in the hours before Sunday's first-round Stanley Cup playoff game.

(7 -- color) After the completion of the basketball-to-hockey transformation, a Zamboni cleans the ice at Staples Center.

(8 -- color) The Kings and the Detroit Red Wings warm up on the Staples Center ice before their first-round playoff game Sunday.

Photographs by Staff Photographer John Lazar 

Box: TIMING IS EVERYTHING (see text)