GOALIE DECISION IN STORR FOR KINGS : TOP DRAFT PICK OF '94 MUST SURPASS PERFORMANCES OF FISET, DAFOE IN PRESEASON.

Byline: Tim Trepany Daily News Staff Writer

Jamie Storr could make it easy tonight by falling on his face.

Then, the Kings' decision-makers would have no trouble justifying keeping Stephane Fiset and Byron Dafoe as the team's goaltenders and shipping Storr, 20, back to the team's minor-league affiliate in Phoenix for another year of seasoning.

Storr, however, isn't prepared to make it easy for the Kings when he starts in the net against the Phoenix Coyotes tonight in San Diego.

``I feel we're all playing for the No. 1 spot,'' he said. ``No one wants to be the backup. Who wants to play second fiddle?''

Certainly not Storr.

Nor Dafoe.

Nor Fiset.

But two of them will wind up disappointed. The Kings find themselves in the unusual position, for them, of having to choose between goalies.

For most of the previous seven training camps, the competition was between Kelly Hrudey and whatever suspect talents the Kings would prop up in hopes the veteran would at least be pushed to play his best.

But the Kings let the 35-year-old Hrudey go to San Jose via free agency in the offseason without making any attempt to keep him. Now they have three viable candidates fighting for the vacant No. 1 job, making it the deepest position on the team.

Their choices are between the 26-year-old Fiset, who played well for the Colorado Avalanche last season before being displaced by Patrick Roy; Dafoe, who got off to a spectacular start before fading dramatically; and Storr, the youngest of the three but probably the one with the most potential.

The front-runner appears to be Fiset, acquired on June 20 for Eric Lacroix. But, contrary to previous statements, team management hasn't given him the No. 1 spot by acclamation, now saying he has to earn it by outperforming the other two.

``I think we have three goaltenders who can play in this league and play at a very high caliber,'' said goalies coach Don Edwards. ``It's a great situation to be in. It's something we've never had before.''

No one seems to be sure how it will all play out.

When Fiset was acquired, Kings general manager Sam McMaster proclaimed him the No. 1 goalie and said Dafoe and Storr would battle to be the backup.

But just before training camp started two weeks ago, coach Larry Robinson said all jobs were open, including goaltender. He also said he wanted to keep only two goalies.

Then on Wednesday, Edwards said, ``We've made no decision whether we're going to carry two guys or three guys. That will play itself out in the exhibitions.''

Confused?

If you are, at least the three contenders aren't. To them, it's just a matter of going with whoever plays the best.

``Here I get a chance to play,'' said Fiset. ``If I play good I'm going to play. If I don't it's going to be my fault, not Larry's fault or the other goalie's fault. It's my fault.''

Fiset and Dafoe got their campaigns to be No. 1 off to impressive starts; Dafoe shutting out the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Sunday and Fiset making 32 saves against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. Storr gets his turn tonight.

``Just because Byron got a shutout and Stephane played well doesn't mean that I'm going to fold,'' said Storr. ``I'm going to try and play better than both of them.''

In Hrudey, the Kings had a proven No. 1 NHL goalie who, while he often let in cheap goals, usually kept the Kings in the game. In these three, the Kings have no established veteran, only question marks.

Fiset has the most experience, but, thanks to the Avalanche's acquisition of Roy, he hasn't been a No. 1 for an entire season since 1993-94, when he played 50 games for the then Quebec Nordiques.

Dafoe carried the Kings early last season when Hrudey was out with a torn ankle ligament but struggled miserably when he came back, at one point going more than a month between victories.

``I thought about it in the summer,'' said Dafoe. ``But I also thought about the first 20 games. I never played that well in my life. There's nothing wrong with dwelling on it and saying how do I do that for 50 games instead of 20.

``I'm not playing to be a backup or to make the team. I'm going for No. 1. I want to push Fiset just like he pushes me.''

Storr, the team's No. 1 draft choice in 1994, played well in Phoenix last season, where he was the team's most valuable player. At 6-foot-1 with great lateral quickness, his potential is enormous, but the knock on him is that he hasn't acquired the mental toughness to be an everyday goalie.

Storr has heard those criticisms before, but believes playing almost every game last year helped him improve in that area.

``This is my third year of professional hockey, this is the year I want to make it,'' he said. ``The other two years I kind of let myself off, saying `If I don't make it, it will be for development.' This year I said to myself, `I want to play here.' I don't want to go back to the minors because I want to play in the league I've always dreamed of playing in and that I worked hard for.''

He can take a big step toward that goal by playing well tonight.

``A lot depends on performance,'' Edwards said. ``It's a strength we've never had in the past. Anybody will tell you when you build an organization it has to start with quality goaltending. . . . We're getting to that stage.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1) STORR

(2) FISET

(3) DAFOE