BLAKE'S HURT KNEE PAINED A FRANCHISE.

Byline: Michael Ventre

Rob Blake spends a lot of his time now playing volleyball on the sands of Manhattan Beach. The Southern California lifestyle has seduced him completely. The sun is warm, the girls are pretty and his worries are few.

That is true now. Not long ago, he was hanging around Manhattan Beach in a completely different frame of mind. He was a bum, albeit a relatively wealthy one. He had nowhere to go. He had no idea what to do. He was lost, disoriented, confused. ``There was no structure in my life,'' he said.

This isn't a story of a man who found religion, or who discovered the really important things in life. This is just about a young guy with a bum knee and how a whole professional hockey franchise might have changed forever because of it.

First, the knee. It didn't seem bad at first. Just a hit taken from an opponent in a game at Washington. Then it buckled, but he was able to keep skating. Not until the next stop on the Kings' road trip, in Pittsburgh, was Blake notified that he should fly back to L.A. because it might be something serious.

An MRI revealed a ligament tear. Suddenly, Rob Blake couldn't play hockey anymore.

He harbored thoughts of a return to the ice for the final 10 games of the regular season and then the playoffs. He forgot those. No chance. The Kings' best defenseman, the man designated by former coach Barry Melrose as an eventual Norris Trophy winner, a player who could make or break a season . . . well, he broke it.

``I went to most of the games right after that,'' said Blake this week, clad in a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers at a trendy South Bay eatery. ``I was a commentator on a couple. After a while, it was really hard to watch.''

He wasn't the only one who felt that way. The Kings went on a skid that included lots of losing, in addition to the Tony Granato scare and, of course, the speculation over Wayne Gretzky's future. Kings games were no longer the glitzfests created during the Bruce McNall era. In a city that had difficulty warming up to ice hockey in the first place, this was bad ice hockey.

Then the Gretzky watch began. He spoke out. Club honchos fidgeted. Fans were unhappy. The media leaned closer. Speculation grew.

One of the more rampant opinions uttered during this period was this: If Blake hadn't gone down, the team would have survived, therefore Gretzky wouldn't have spoken out, and the Great One would still be in an L.A. sweater.

``I've heard that a few times,'' Blake said. ``I wish I could have been there to help change things.

``Management has to realize that injuries happen. A team has to play through them. When we went to the finals, we lost Gretzky for a good part of that season, but we managed to play through it.''

Management explained that it had no choice, that Gretzky forced its hand, that he really wanted out no matter what. Privately, the players grumbled because a legendary player and leader was being unceremoniously shipped out like a rent-a-pitcher during a pennant race.

``I know all the players wish we had him,'' Blake said. ``Wayne Gretzky was our best player by far. He is still the one player you'd want on your team during the playoffs. He was so good to the other players. In my six years, I improved so much just because of what he taught me.''

The odd aspect to all this is that Blake's knee might have hastened Gretzky's departure, which means that now the Kings will need a new captain. It will probably be Rob Blake.

Although it hasn't been made official, it's as obvious as Michael Jordan making the All-NBA team.

``Those are important shoes to fill,'' Blake said. ``I got to watch him for six years and see what kind of a leader it takes to be a captain.''

What kept Blake semi-sane during his rehab was the opportunity during the latter part of the season to skate with his teammates. After being on the outside, not feeling a part of anything, it was vital to feel accepted. Rehabbing the knee was a slow, tedious process; athletes who are used to fanatical fits of exercise often agonize over the glacial pace. Blake's sessions with the Kings kept his head out of the oven.

Now, he says, the knee is 90 percent. He'll test it in the World Cup in August. By September, when the Kings go to training camp, Blake hopes to be his old self.

He'll have new teammates and new challenges. ``I went from being one of the young guys to being one of the older guys in the space of three weeks,'' he said.

He is only 26, which means he fits in equally well in a beach scene or on the Kings' defense. The question of which one he enjoys more will be answered in the fall, after a long, long wait.

MEMO: Michael Ventre's column appears in the Daily News four days a week.

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PHOTO (color) Blake