KINGS LEAVE IMPRINT ON VALLEY ICEOPLEX DAYS OVER AS TEAM HEADS SOUTH.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

The players were gone and the truck was packed for the final time.

But as coach Andy Murray walked back to his empty office Friday on the Kings' last day at the Iceoplex in North Hills, he was stopped by a man with a pen and a request.

Was there a goalie stick left over for the man's young son, who had taken up hockey in one of the many leagues available to Valley kids since the place opened nine years ago?

Murray had just finished a hard practice with his team, one night after their woeful 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars. The memory was still painful more than 12 hours later. But in the spirit of a game that often has looked out of place in Southern California, Murray complied.

``In a lot of ways, it's like it is back in Canada in this place, a place where you can meet the players while they're working,'' said Kings winger Luc Robitaille, who is a minority owner of the Iceoplex. ``That's how you pass down a sport, by taking the time to meet the fans and the kids. You always felt that here.''

Few of the Kings players and staff are as nostalgic about the Iceoplex as Robitaille. Many now live in the South Bay and are eager to open the team's new practice facility in El Segundo called Health South, which the Kings will share with the Lakers.

But the Iceoplex, located north of the Van Nuys airport and just west of Tommy's and the Budweiser plant on Roscoe Boulevard, isn't going anywhere. And it certainly does have a legacy in Los Angeles.

It has been a barometer for a sport that boomed when Wayne Gretzky took the Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993 and soured when the team failed to make the playoffs five of the next six years.

Through it all, Iceoplex helped expand hockey in an area that has added ice rinks in Panorama City, Sylmar and Simi Valley, with another scheduled to open in Valencia. Since Iceoplex opened, the number of youth and adult club teams there has nearly doubled from the original 58.

``We're leaving, but the best part is the sport is still growing,'' Kings captain Rob Blake said.

After Gretzky arrived, mid-week practices were standing-room only. The lobby of the 35,000-square foot converted warehouse was as hot as any night club.

When the team began to struggle, the bar and the restaurant were closed. The facility, which was built for $1.5 million by Robitaille and two partners in 1991, catered to the Kings by day, but mostly to figure skaters and late-night amateur hockey.

``You can always tell how the Kings are doing by the traffic coming through here,'' said Lisa Sakata, Iceoplex manager.

``When we first opened and then when the Kings went to the Stanley Cup, you couldn't move in this place. There obviously were some down years for the team, but there was a good feeling before this season and there were a lot of fans here for training camp last summer. It's sad to see them go.''

Iceoplex has been the best place in town to be if you wanted to meet a professional athlete. Security was kept to a minimum to let fans mingle with players. It gave the casual observer a chance to see the all-time greats like Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, whose jersey No. 66 is displayed in the hockey office.

``I brought my son here once to meet Wayne Gretzky,'' said Janet Keegan of North Hollywood. ``We went up to him for an autograph and he treated my son like Bobby was the star. Neither of us ever forgot that.''

The Iceoplex also gave the diehards a chance to take their frustrations right to the source.

``There was a young woman after practice in a team jersey who kept yelling for me to play Pavel Rosa more,'' said Murray, referring to the Kings' popular but seldom-used forward. ``Somehow she got my cell-phone number and she kept after me. Don't tell me they don't love their hockey here.''

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Photo: (color) The West Valley Wolves Mite-A hockey team takes a break Thursday night from its practice at the Iceoplex in North Hills, where the Kings practiced for the last time Friday.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box: NHL AT A GLANCE