COACH KEPT HIS EYE ON THE GAME\Ice Dogs players were his focus.

Byline: Kevin Acee Special to the Daily News

It reached a point where the staff members were putting dibs on office supplies and players laid claim to toiletries.

It was inevitable that the Ice Dogs were going to fold, and they wanted something to take home.

But not the coach.

"Let's play hockey," he said.

To John Van Boxmeer, it was that simple. He came here to coach hockey and his players came here to play hockey. Nothing else mattered.

"There's no other choice," he said repeatedly during the past few months of uncertainty. "The other choice is you close the doors."

It was a softer, more relaxed Van Boxmeer who after a practice earlier this week sipped a cup of coffee and talked about his turbulent first few months as coach of the Ice Dogs, the International Hockey League's nightmare in Los Angeles.

Television executive Barry Kemp, whose purchase of the franchise was finalized last week, has made a long-term commitment to keep the team going and will move the club to Long Beach next season.

After months of speculation, salary-dumping and rumors the end was near, it appears the team's troubles are over; its focus can now be returned to the place Van Boxmeer has been concentrating his energy all along - the players.

Van Boxmeer's most-pressing concern, he said, is the icy temperature in the team's Iceoplex practice arena.

"My toes are numb," said the coach, who many credit with inspiring players worried for their jobs to keep winning.

Even after a recent four-game winless streak, the Ice Dogs were 18-15-5 and in third place in the Southwest Division entering Saturday's game against the Peoria Rivermen. (The Ice Dogs prevailed 7-4.)

"We're playing pretty well," Van Boxmeer said. "The guys are feeling pretty good about themselves."

Fred Comrie, the man who brought the Ice Dogs and Van Boxmeer to Los Angeles in January 1995 but had to sell the team when the financial losses got too great, said the Ice Dogs' decent record and fine morale are in large part due to their coach.

"In my mind, John Van Boxmeer's stock has gone way up," Comrie said. "When things got tough, he was there. He was outstanding."

Van Boxmeer deflected the praise. "Players don't play for a coach," he said.

And the players, weary of questions about the franchise's tough beginning, didn't exactly warm to queries on how their coach guided them this season. But, some allowed, he did help.

"He's kept our heads up," said winger Todd Gillingham. "He said, 'Plain and simple, you guys are playing for me.'

"One game he told us quite frankly, 'You guys have to concentrate on what's going on on the ice, just like I have to.' "

Yes, Van Boxmeer worried. At one point he thought he would lose up to 10 players - his 10 highest-paid players. And he had his own bills to pay - he has a wife, two kids, and he has to put super-unleaded gasoline in his Porsche.

But he rarely let it show. He thought reporters covering the team were only interested in the bad news. Yet, he answered all their questions. Only once, when a reporter began a post-game press gathering with a loaded question, did he show the strain by unleashing a profanity-laced, two-minute diatribe.

But to his team and to his boss, he was unwavering.

Comrie remembers Van Boxmeer approaching him and promising to coach any players the owner could afford:

"He said, 'Anything that needs to be done, I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes, and I'll put a competitive team on the ice.' "

That amazed Comrie and impressed the front-office staff. But, again, to Van Boxmeer, it was simple.

"He hired me to do a job," the coach said. "He put his faith in me. A lot of the guys came here because of my reputation (as a player's coach). These guys put their faith in me. My loyalty was to them."

Comrie said one of the things he will miss most about the Ice Dogs is Van Boxmeer.

"He never complained," Comrie said. "It was unbelievable. It made it a tremendous amount easier."