THE ROYAL TREATMENT.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

He rounded the corner, another commuter hurrying to catch a plane on Thursday morning. That's when the first person approached him at the Imperial Terminal at LAX. On his heels there came another and another and another.

These people, strangers mostly, were not carrying coin boxes for the poor or key chains for the deaf but cameras and notebooks and microphones.

That's when it hit Andy Murray like a jolt of caffeine: The Kings were L.A.'s professional sports charity case no more.

``A normal road trip,'' Murray, the Kings' second-year coach, quipped, squinting in the artificial lights of a triad of television cameras before boarding the team's chartered flight to Detroit.

Novel is what it is when all of Los Angeles is chanting Go Kings, Go!

A breakthrough is what it is when on a day that the Lakers announce their playoff roster and the Dodgers officially remove Kevin Malone from their payroll, Los Angeles came out in numbers to see the Kings off.

For the first week of their playoff run, the Kings had gladly accepted whatever currency Los Angeles could spare after it paid homage to its reigning world champion Lakers and spent an inordinate amount of attention on its dysfunctional Dodgers.

Then came Game 4 of the Kings' Western Conference quarterfinal series against Detroit. In the span of six minutes on Wednesday, L.A.'s hockey team erased six months of public detachment along with Detroit's seemingly commanding 3-0 lead.

Power-play goals by Scott Thomas and Jozef Stumpel and an even-strength goal by Bryan Smolinski with 53 seconds left sent the game into sudden-death overtime and Kings rookie Eric Belanger took it from there, doing in Detroit with the first postseason goal of his NHL career.

Just like that, Angelenos who didn't know Eric Belanger from Eric Piatkowski last week are going around saying, ``It's pronounced Belanger as in lingerie, stupid.''

Belanger is a 23-year-old French Canadian. He's obviously too young to know he should be ceding the L.A. stage to Kobe and Shaquille and Gary Sheffield.

Dressed to travel first-class, Belanger on Thursday morning looked as comfortable in front of the cameras that quickly surrounded him as a model posing for an Armani suit advertising spread.

``It was tough, at first'' to get to sleep after the game, Belanger admitted. ``I was watching TV and I saw my goal and everything.''

If he didn't believe what he was seeing, he could pinch the puck he rifled past Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood. In the pandemonium that followed Belanger's laser shot, teammates and fellow French Canadians Philippe Boucher and Stephane Fiset procured the prized puck.

Fiset later presented it to Belanger, who's sure to appreciate the gesture more and more as time goes on. Los Angeles, on the other hand, understood at once what a gift Fiset's thoughtfulness was, having watched Shaq and Kobe fight over the basketball and Sheffield snivel over the salaries being paid to a couple of his teammates.

If any L.A. athlete had a reason to pout, it was Fiset, who was the Kings' No. 1 playoff goalie last year and a perfect 2-0 in the exhibition season. A sprained left knee sidelined him early in the regular season, then newcomer Felix Potvin sidelined him late.

Dancing Boy has a higher profile at Staples Center these days than Fiset, which is why he looked so surprised when approached Thursday by a reporter as he walked briskly toward the plane.

Caught off guard, Fiset didn't snarl, he smiled.

Why did he go to all the trouble of hunting down the game-winning puck? That's easy, Fiset said. ``That's probably the biggest goal Eric has ever scored. I just wanted him to have something to remember the big goal he scored when he's done playing.''

Yes, it's easy to see why the Kings are always the first team Los Angeles votes off its radar. You have to possess much more cunning to survive in the bright lights of this city. Just ask Richard Hatch. Or Tommy Lasorda.

Luc Robitaille, the lone player left from the heady spring of 1993 when the Kings ascended to the Stanley Cup Finals before falling to Montreal, is the closest connection the Kings have to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles has always loved its Loooooooooooooc and the feeling is mutual. ``I've always enjoyed playing here,'' said Robitaille, who will never be confused with Sheffield.

When Los Angeles fills an arena, it can move mountains - or the Red Wings' 6-foot-5 defenseman Jiri Fischer. When Los Angeles rallies behind a team, it can solve California's energy crisis.

The electricity in Staples Center on Sunday night and again on Wednesday suggested the Kings are becoming a lightning rod for Los Angeles' affections.

``It was pretty amazing,'' Robitaille said of the home crowds. ``It was as loud as a building can be. People don't expect that of L.A.''

Not the Kings, anyway. Not until now.

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Photo:

(color) What public detachment? Luc Robitaille celebrates with the Staples Center crowd after the Kings beat Detroit in overtime on Wednesday.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press