KINGS NEED A DEAL WITH, NOT FOR, GRETZKY.

Byline: Michael Ventre

For as long as I can remember, the Kings have been primarily a bumbling organization with intermittent periods of competence and only one special and thrilling season.

The run toward the Stanley Cup in 1993 stands as the Kings' zenith. Remember, they didn't even win it; they might have if not for Marty McSorley's stick blade. Nevertheless, when Kings fans are in the throes of woes - like now, for instance - they can look back fondly and remember the time when the club outlasted Doug Gilmour, Felix Potvin, Pat Burns & Co., and then came up short in the finals in the most storied building in hockey.

Those were the days.

The most indelible memory of that season was Wayne Gretzky, especially in the Toronto series. He was criticized and written off, and he responded with a brilliant display of leadership and offensive potency that should have solidified his standing as an all-time untouchable.

Unfortunately, we seem to be amidst one of the aforementioned eras of ineptitude, where the only difference between the current owners and a band of slobbering pinheads is the actual slobber. It wouldn't be so terrible if these new hobbyists and their minions simply made imbecilic personnel moves. That's been done. Kings fans endured the days of George Maguire, so nothing fazes them anymore.

But this latest episode of dragging The Great One through the muck of trade rumors and media savagery and hockey humiliation is probably the most heinous act ever perpetrated by any monarchy associated with this franchise.

Eccentric and reclusive new owners Philip F. Anshutz and Edward P. Roski Jr. should have instructed their henchmen - including Sam McMaster, who, if I'm not mistaken, got his job as a direct result of Gretzky's recommendation - to sign him to a contract extension and also promise him that every effort would be made to assemble a championship-caliber team.

It didn't happen. Now, in every port, Gretzky is facing the klieg lights, explaining that he knows as much as the media about his future. That is sickening.

What it tells me is that these owners will not be anything like Bruce McNall. True, McNall is headed to the big house, and his unsavory antics outside of hockey deserve to be deplored. But the man knew what Kings fans wanted - entertainment and success - and he made every effort to give that to them.

These owners don't understand that. They are treating Gretzky like one would treat a third-year fourth-liner. They are shoving him out the door, but trying to make it look like it is all Gretzky's doing. They want to rid themselves of his salary, but they want to make it appear as if they have no choice.

Gretzky at 35 is not as mercurial as Gretzky at 25 or 18. He won't score 92 goals ever again, like in 1981-82, or compile 215 points, like in 1985-86. But put talented wingers on his line, add some defensive help in order to keep Kelly Hrudey out of the loony bin, and you have yourself a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

Kings fans don't want to see grinders. They don't want to see clutch-and-grab defensive hockey. They want to see a wide-open, free-skating bunch of wizards, led by the greatest hockey player ever to play the game.

I know there are many who feel that the Kings should trade Gretzky now while he can still bring something in return. As they say in the East Coast: Fuhgettaboutit.

Fans of the Eric Lindros deal between Philly and Quebec will remember that it revitalized both clubs. They'll also remember that Lindros was brand new to the NHL and had his whole career ahead of him. His market value was spectacular.

The Kings won't swing that kind of a trade, partly because of Gretzky's age and partly because they've let this thing linger so long that now they're perceived as desperate and any negotiating leverage they had has withered away.

What the Kings will do is more like what Peter Pocklington did when he traded Gretzky from Edmonton to L.A. That franchise has been crippled ever since. They can't even fill the building up there. When you can't fill the building for a hockey game in a bustling metropolis like Edmonton, you should think about filing for Chapter 11 and maybe seek a career in computer programming.

Note to the Kings' owners: Do you want to be just like Peter Pocklington? Think about it.

No, the Kings' trade for Gretzky will reap something like this:

Four players. One was a promising winger in junior hockey, but just hasn't had the right guidance or situation. Another is a burly defenseman who led the AHL in penalty minutes five years ago. A third could someday be among the NHL's scoring leaders if he can just get the right specialist to repair a bulging disk in his back. And the fourth is a former big-name star two years away from retirement.

In the future, when you go to a game and the announcer bellows, "Your Los Angeles Kings!" that is what you're going to get.

There's still time. Before management makes the most idiotic mistake in the history of the Kings franchise - and that's saying something - it should secure Gretzky to a new contract and promise him and everyone else that next year we will be watching competitive hockey instead of the crud we're witnessing now.

Gretzky deserves as much. So do the fans.