KINGS NOTEBOOK: HEINZE FLEES MINORS.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - First it was Derek Armstrong, then Steve Kelly and Mike Cammalleri and finally Pavel Rosa. Four times in the previous five-plus weeks, the Kings needed to recall a forward from their minor-league affiliate, and each time they passed over Steve Heinze.

Finally, the number of Kings injuries reached such a ridiculous level they had little choice but to bring up Heinze from their American Hockey League affiliate in Manchester, N.H. Heinze played almost 19 minutes Friday against the Mighty Ducks and assisted on Eric Belanger's second-period goal.

``I thought Steve played really well,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``You come up and you're put in the lineup right away ... Good for him.''

Heinze, at 32 a veteran of 11 previous NHL seasons, was left off the roster when the Kings broke training camp in early October. Expected to be one of the team's top scorers last season, Heinze had just 15 goals in 73 games and did not score a goal in his final 27 games.

The Kings have been trying to trade Heinze, who was left to toil with the minor-league Monarchs. Heinze said he couldn't help but wonder why he was continually passed over.

``Yeah, yeah, that, um ... yeah,'' Heinze said with a chuckle, obviously trying to hold back. ``I don't want to get too far into it, except that yeah, you have confidence in yourself. Certainly I believe that I never should have gone down there, and then the first guy gets called up and the second guy gets called up, etc.

``But you can't get down on yourself, you have to work hard and get back up here. The guys who did get called up did a good job here, but you always want to be that guy.''

Heinze and Murray had a clear-the-air meeting before Friday's game, but it's unclear exactly what will come of Heinze's stint with the Kings. For now, he's just happy to be out of the minors, a place where he never spent any time before October.

``It was a lot what I expected,'' Heinze said. ``There's a lot of carrying your own bag and wearing sweat suits to the game. It's a good bunch of guys, it's pretty good hockey down there, but it's not `The Show.'

``That's where you work your whole life, your whole career, to be, so the hockey was fun as long as you didn't realize there was a level about that. I played power play, penalty kill, 20-some minutes a night, so in that was it was fun, but your pride and your ego say you shouldn't be there, and you want to get out.

``I'm a King until I do get traded, so I'm going to be a man about it, be a professional and do the best I can.''

--Sore sight: Dmitry Yushkevich made his Kings debut Friday and played 23 minutes. Yushkevich, who missed Wednesday's game with a ruptured blood vessel in his right eye, played with a full face shield, and the highlight of his game was a sliding stop of the puck on a 2-on-1 chance by the Mighty Ducks.

``I thought he battled,'' Murray said. ``He's a warrior. He's not going to win any beauty contests the way he looks right now, but he played hard.''

--In good fun: One of Murray's favorite pastimes is taking shots at the Mighty Ducks, in particular referencing the number of Kings fans who make the trip to Orange County when the teams play. Murray found a way to take another jab after Friday's 2-2 tie.

``You have to like our level of determination and finding a way to get points,'' Murray said. ``This is another road game, no matter what it sounds like when we get into the building.''

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