Kings Turned Into Clowns in ‘Circus’ of an 8-2 Defeat

HARTFORD, Conn. —  And how did the Kings respond to the trade of popular right wing Rick Tocchet?

In losing, 8-2, to the Hartford Whalers on Thursday at the Civic Arena, it was their most one-sided defeat of the season, and certainly the most embarrassing. They had not yielded eight goals in a game since losing, 8-2, at Dallas on March 6, 1995.

Now, the Kings are winless in their last eight games, going 0-6-2, and have only one road victory in the last 17 games. Scoring third-period goals for the Kings were John Druce and Sean O’Donnell; Wayne Gretzky had one assist.

Afterward, King Coach Larry Robinson gave way to his growing frustrations and uttered his harshest words of the season.

“No character,” he said. “You have to have character to play this game. You have got to care. I honestly don’t know if they do. They’re nodding their heads, but it’s a blank face staring at you. Or through you. Or they’re someplace else.”

The Whalers ripped through two King goaltenders--Byron Dafoe, who gave up five goals on 14 shots in one period and Kelly Hrudey, who let in three goals as he faced 20 shots in the final two periods. Neither had much support from their overmatched defense.

Hartford had even played the previous night in Buffalo, but the Kings were the team with no jump.

“It was a circus,” Robinson said. “It was like they [the Whalers] were the Harlem Globetrotters, passing between their legs, making drop passes. And nobody responded. I would have been embarrassed. To me, it seems like the other team is trying to show me up.”