KINGS NOTEBOOK: CALL-UPS ARE A BIG HELP.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - As the injured Kings begin to trickle back into the lineup - Jeff Cowan on Monday, soon to be followed by George Parros, Mike Weaver, Eric Belanger, Dustin Brown and Pavol Demitra - coach Andy Murray will have some choices to make regarding which players will return to the American Hockey League.

And Murray hopes his decisions have to be difficult ones.

The run of injuries has resulted in a stream of players arriving from the Kings' minor-league affiliate in Manchester, N.H., and some of them have earned their keep with impressive efforts in the NHL.

``They're great kids,'' Murray said. ``You love to see that twinkle in their eye and just the excitement of being here. They've been pretty good. We've been pleased with them.''

Noah Clarke, Jeff Giuliano, Denis Grebeshkov, Connor James, Petr Kanko, Richard Petiot and Matt Ryan are the most recent Manchester call-ups who have been pressed into regular duty because of injuries, and it's been their challenge to show Murray that they deserve roster spots as the Kings get healthier.

``It's unfortunate when you have guys go down,'' James said, ``but when you get the opportunity you want to make the most of it. Of course when guys get healthy you're probably going to go back down, but while you're here you want to take advantage of it and impress them as much as you can.''

To make room for Cowan on their roster, the Kings put Brown on injured reserve on Monday and removed Kanko from the lineup in the first of what could be a series of roster moves in the coming days.

--Comeback trail: Belanger might return sooner than thought. Belanger (strained groin) skated in practice Monday and afterward, Murray said Belanger might be ready to play either Thursday in Boston or Saturday in Buffalo. A day earlier, Belanger said he expected to be out until after that road trip.

Murray said that Parros (ankle), Weaver (hip flexor) and Brown (upper-body injury) also are all probable for the road trip. The status of Demitra (leg bruise) is less certain. Demitra visited Dr. Ronald Kvitne on Monday afternoon, and MRI results were negative.

--Homecoming: Clarke, who grew up in LaVerne, about a 20-minute freeway drive from Anaheim, played his first regular-season game at the Pond before several friends and family members.

Clarke said he played on the ``Junior Ducks'' youth team but added, ``I was always a Kings fan.''

--Clarification: The NHL office, in an e-mail to the Kings last week, ``encouraged,'' not instructed, the team to be more forthcoming when discussing injuries with reporters. The league, unlike the NFL, does not require teams to provide full disclosure when a player misses a game.