CHANGE OF SEASONS FALL AND SPRING HELD DIFFERENT MEANINGS FOR THE KINGS AND MIGHTY DUCKS, WHO SAW THEIR FORTUNES TURN IN THOSE SPANS.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Pass the turkey, the stuffing ... and the playoff position. At Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, roughly one-third into this NHL season, the Kings had a 15-6-1 record and 31 points, second in the Western Conference, while the Ducks labored at 8-11-4, 20 points and 12th place.

A lot can happen in four months, as the Ducks and Kings would attest. Both teams' regular seasons ended Monday, and the Kings, despite their onetime-lofty position, will be watching the postseason from home while the Ducks earned the sixth seed in the Western Conference and are considered a dark-horse team in the playoffs.

"It's hard to believe we're in this position," Kings center Craig Conroy said. "It happened so fast."

There were many turning points in both teams' seasons, and twice, they overlapped. And in this uniquely Canadian sport, one of those times came right around the day of a uniquely American holiday.

On Thanksgiving Day in Nashville, the Kings went scoreless on the power play, allowed three power-play goals and lost 4-3. The next day, the Ducks upset conference-leading Detroit 3-1.

For the Kings, it was the start of a four-game losing streak; for the Ducks, a four-game winning streak. And although the bulk of the season was still yet to be played, the tide was beginning to turn.

"That's when things started to get better for us," Ducks winger Teemu Selanne said. "We started playing with some confidence and learning how to play together as a team."

On the verge of being a major disappointment, the Ducks got going. The Detroit victory was the middle game of Selanne's five-game goal-scoring streak, and with goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere injured, Ilya Bryzgalov allowed only one goal in four consecutive games during the Ducks' winning streak.

Things started to click. New teammates meshed and everyone started feeling more comfortable with the nuances and demands of first-year coach Randy Carlyle.

"It took a while," center Rob Niedermayer said. "There was a new system to learn and a few new teammates to adjust to. We learned as we went along, but we always felt we were a good team."

So did the Kings, but the schedule would eventually prove them wrong.

In October and early November, outstanding production from the top line of Conroy, Pavol Demitra and Alexander Frolov, along with some timely goaltending from Mathieu Garon and Jason LaBarbera, carried the Kings, but once pucks started trickling in and injuries set in, the Kings were doomed.

They held on for quite a while, until the second turning point, in early March.

The Kings' two victories before the Olympic break gave them momentum, and temporarily saved the job of then-coach Andy Murray. But Demitra and Frolov both suffered injuries during the Olympics, and after an illusionary three-game winning streak the Kings had 75 points March 9, five more than the Ducks.

Two problems: First, two nights earlier the Ducks beat San Jose 5-4 in overtime. Sandis Ozolinsh, who returned after the Olympics from a substance-abuse program, scored the game winner, which started the Ducks on a streak of nine victories in their next 10 games, the streak which led them to the playoffs.

"We played well for three or four months," Giguere said. "We deserved to make the playoffs."

Second, the Kings lost that night, as Garon, spectacular in the four previous games, got shelled in a 7-4 loss to Detroit. The Kings won just three of their next 11 games and basically fell out of the playoff race.

Frolov returned March 25 and Demitra a week later, but by then it was too late.

"We had all kinds of injury problems," Conroy said. "It wasn't the same without Pavs. He missed (24) games and we weren't the same team. I know I wasn't the same player without him. You can't take (Jaromir) Jagr off the Rangers and expect them to be the same team."

The Ducks, meanwhile, stayed relatively healthy, and peaked while the Kings faded. But while the Ducks certainly are in a better position than their crosstown rivals, they recognize that the job isn't finished.

"Obviously, things turned around to the point that we made the playoffs, but I don't think of anything in terms of a turning point," defenseman Scott Niedermayer said before Monday's regular-season finale. "I don't think this team should get too excited. We're happy to have this opportunity, but we still have work to do."

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Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (Mighty Ducks player)

(2 -- color) no caption (Kings player)

Photos coutesy of Getty Images

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