AT LAST, ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME KINGS' DEADMARSH, FAMILY FIT IN.

EL SEGUNDO - For Adam Deadmarsh, the most comforting part about leaving for this year's training camp was knowing home is only five minutes away.

After daily workouts at the Kings' facility, it is just a quick drive to be with his wife, Krista, and twin infant daughters, Alexis and Madison.

Just five months ago, seeing his family meant anxiously flying back to Denver for a few hours on an off day, then joining his new club on the road.

Finally, Deadmarsh has settled in nearby Manhattan Beach, playing with a team he helped get within a game of the Western Conference finals.

Although he admits he cried the day last March when he was traded from Colorado as part of the Rob Blake deal, Deadmarsh was a playoff hero for the Kings and hopes to keep that going.

``The biggest thing I learned last year was really something I already knew, that family was the most important thing,'' Deadmarsh said Saturday before the Kings played an intrasquad game. ``Without them, this really doesn't mean much.''

Not only was Deadmarsh traded from a team that eventually went on to win the Stanley Cup, it came just after his daughters were born two months premature. Every time he went out on the road with the Avs last season, he was filled with great uncertainty, first about his wife's difficult pregnancy, then for the health of his newborn children.

``My wife and I had a really tough time, some scary times,'' Deadmarsh said. ``Mostly before the babies were born. Now they're fine and things are really going well.''

The experience taught Deadmarsh, 26, not to sweat the small stuff. During the summer, he underwent surgery to remove bone chips from his left wrist. Deadmarsh wore a cast for three weeks and currently is not participating in contact drills.

Just before camp, he flew to Colorado Springs to participate in an orientation camp for the U.S. Olympic hockey team, which will be playing in February in Salt Lake City. Most of the time, he just skated and made sure he didn't aggravate the hand.

He will be ready Oct. 4 when the Kings open the season at home against Phoenix.

Deadmarsh will be needed. Kings coach Andy Murray is looking for someone to fill the scoring void left when Luc Robitaille signed with Detroit.

``We have 37 goals to fill,'' said Murray, who has Deadmarsh on the first line with Ziggy Palffy and Jozef Stumpel. ``Adam can help with that. So can a few other players.''

Deadmarsh, who had missed 35 games last year with a variety of injuries, scored a career-high 33 goals during the 1996-97 season. He has averaged 22 during his seven-year career.

After the trade, he had four goals in the final three weeks of the regular season. But it was during the Kings' first-round victory over Detroit that he cemented his season.

He scored the game-winner in Game 5, then came back in Game 6 with his first career playoff overtime goal at the 4:48 mark. The Kings, swept by the Red Wings the year before, were headed to the second round for the first time since 1993.

``Playing his whole career in Colorado, Adam brought playoff experience to the team and a lot of credibility,'' said Kings goaltender Felix Potvin, another postseason standout. ``You could just see how much the guys responded to his style of play. They watched and their confidence grew.''

Deadmarsh impressed Murray, not just with his scoring touch, but with the way he took the opponent's top players into the corners. His grit was legendary in Colorado and something the Kings desperately needed to get to the next level.

But during the Detroit series, Deadmarsh found himself staying up late, tuning in to the first-round matchup between the Colorado and Vancouver. He had been with the Avs since they were the Quebec Nordiques. Peter Forsberg is his best friend. League MVP Joe Sakic was more than just a linemate on the power play.

They all had gone out to dinner when the Kings and Avs met in the final weeks of the regular season in L.A., but the playoff meeting was all business.

Potvin posted back-to-back 1-0 shutouts during the series, but Colorado won in seven games.

The Kings had gone on a magical playoff run, but Deadmarsh already had a Stanley Cup ring from 1996. He knew they hadn't gone far enough and certainly didn't get comfort from taking the Avs to the edge of elimination before that team went on to win the Cup again.

``It was hard, I'll be honest,'' Deadmarsh said. ``I didn't enjoy watching after we were knocked out. I didn't watch too much. I have a little bit of a jealous bone, that's for sure. As close as we were, it was difficult knowing we didn't get there. But we regrouped and the one great thing about hockey is there is always next year.''

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Photo:

(color) Adam Deadmarsh, left, gave Nelson Emerson, right, and the rest of his new Kings teammates a lesson in playoff hockey last season after coming over from Colorado.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press