POOR-MAN KINGS BEAT AVS IN HOME FINALE KINGS 5, COLORADO 3.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

The Kings held their annual ``fan appreciation'' festivities during Wednesday night's 5-3 victory over Colorado at Staples Center, and at least one fan appreciated that the team seems to be telling the truth.

Philip Propper received unprecedented access to the Kings' financial records last month, and Wednesday he confirmed the franchise's claim that it will lose more than $10 million this season.

Propper posted his report on letsgokings.com, an Internet fan site, and said the Kings will lose approximately $12.5 million this year and that the franchise has lost $108 million since it was purchased by the Anschutz Entertainment Group in 1995.

A Forbes magazine report claimed the Kings made $7 million in 2001-02, which further infuriated those Kings fans who were upset by the team's unwillingness to sign top-level free agents.

Propper, a 42-year-old financial manager and a Kings season-ticket holder, received permission from team president Tim Leiweke to examine the Kings' records, and Propper concluded the Kings weren't lying: they simply don't have enough revenue coming in.

``The key top line issue ... is that there are not enough fans willing to pay to fill up the arena, and that demand is too weak to drive higher ticket pricing,'' wrote Propper, who also found no improper financial dealings between the Kings and Staples Center, which is operated and co-owned by the Anschutz group.

According to Propper's report, the Kings lost $6.5 million in ``operating cash'' last season, and total losses were pushed to $11.3 million by interest payments and deferred contracts. Propper added another $1.2 million to this season's total because of a lack of playoff revenue and salary increases.

Propper said the Kings' worst season under AEG was 1998-99, when the team lost $31.7 million, and the ``best'' season was 1999-00, when they lost $8.2 million. Propper said the examination made him conclude that the NHL needs to contract at least four franchises in order to restore financial stability.

``The evidence I have seen proves that the economic model of the NHL is broken,'' Propper wrote. ``The individual teams are mere victims of this larger picture.''

If all games could be like Wednesday's, the Kings might be in better shape in terms of money and winning. A standing-room-only crowd of 18,393 watched a Kings team that is without playoff hope battle hard against an Avalanche team that is fighting for playoff position in the Western Conference.

Colorado eliminated the Kings from the playoffs the previous two seasons, and the teams played another spirited April game, even though this one was of relatively little importance.

``We beat them in the last game, for once,'' Kings forward Ian Laperriere said jokingly.

The boos directed at former Kings defenseman Rob Blake were as fierce as ever, as was the intensity on the ice during the Kings' final home game of the season. The Kings finished 19-19-2-1 at home.

``I just wish we could play a few more games this year with that kind of intensity,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``We may not have been as efficient as we wanted to be this season, but we worked hard.''

Eric Belanger knocked a rebound past Patrick Roy 2:33 into the first period to tie the game 1-1, and then Derek Armstrong's goal gave the Kings a 2-1 lead with 2:13 remaining.

The second period belonged to the Avalanche, which outshot the Kings 20-10. Colorado tied the game 9:01 into the period on a power-play goal by Martin Skoula and took the lead with 1:48 remaining when former Kings forward Steven Reinprecht knocked a rebound past goalie Cristobal Huet.

Laperriere scored a power-play goal 1:32 into the third period. Then Ziggy Palffy, named the Kings' MVP this season during Wednesday's game, scored the game-winner 6:10 into the period on a wrist shot from a tough angle just to the left of Roy.

Belanger clinched the game with an empty-net goal with 51 seconds remaining. Huet made 30 saves.

``The key thing for this team was to feel how it feels to win again,'' team captain Mattias Norstrom said. ``This game didn't mean anything in terms of the standings, but it was nice to get the victory.''