KINGS NOTEBOOK: BLAKE SIGNS NEW CONTRACT : DEFENSEMAN SETS SALARY RECORD.

Byline: Roger Phillips

The Kings and defenseman Rob Blake agreed to terms late Thursday on a contract that will make the 28-year-old Norris Trophy winner the highest-paid defenseman in NHL history, a source close to the negotiations said.

Terms and length of the deal were unavailable. The signing will be announced at a 12:30 p.m. news conference today at the Kings' Iceoplex training facility in North Hills. The Kings also will announce the signing of enforcer Matt Johnson at the news conference.

Blake's signing brings to an end difficult negotiations that have dragged through the summer. His salary will surpass the average salary of St. Louis defenseman Al MacInnis, who had been the highest-paid defenseman at $5 million a year.

Blake earned $3.15 million last season, when he led NHL defensemen with 23 goals and helped the Kings make the playoffs for the first time since they reached the Stanley Cup finals in 1993.

The signings of Blake and Johnson, who earned $400,000 last season, will leave the Kings with two unsigned players. Goalie Jamie Storr said Thursday that he thought he might be close to signing a new contract, but it hadn't happened as of Thursday night. And defenseman Aki Berg has returned to his native Finland and has said he might soon sign a contract to play in Finland or Sweden.

The Kings open exhibition play with games Saturday and Sunday against Colorado in Las Vegas. It is uncertain whether or not Blake or Johnson will play in those games, though they have been skating with Storr before Kings practices.

Out in the cold: Kings executive Rogie Vachon was in his office Wednesday when media-relations director Mike Altieri delivered the news he'd been hoping not to hear.

Once again, Vachon - a former star goalie with the Kings and three other NHL teams - had been denied entrance to the Hockey Hall of Fame, this time in his final year of eligibility.

The 53-year-old Vachon now must wait to be elected in the veterans category after he's been retired for 25 years. Vachon, seventh in NHL history with 355 victories, retired during the 1981-82 season after a 16-year career.

``It's a little disappointing,'' Vachon said Thursday. ``What can you say? You're at the mercy of people voting, and somebody obviously didn't think I did enough to make it. For an athlete, making the Hall of Fame is icing on the cake. But, hey, life goes on.''

Players elected Wednesday were former Quebec Nordiques Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet, and the late Roy Conacher, who played for four teams in the 1930s, '40s and '50s.

``I'm pretty proud of what we accomplished here in the 1970s,'' Vachon said. ``We put hockey on the map. Of course, Wayne (Gretzky) brought it to a different level. But I was proud to be a part of that era.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: ROGIE VACHON

He won 355 games in a 16-year career but was denied access to the Hall of Fame