ANALYSIS : Which Is the Way to Turn? : Hockey: Another season of playoff failure brings questions about the Kings’ future.

Now what?

Tuesday night’s season-ending, ego-crushing loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of their Smythe Division semifinal series has left the Kings at yet another crossroads.

They have been here before.

And, inevitably it would seem, they have taken the wrong path over a quarter century of frustration, a quarter century of just trying to get past the second round of the playoffs.

The Stanley Cup? Forget it. They have not gotten close enough to see it, much less drink from it.

That was all supposed to change with the arrival of owner Bruce McNall four years ago.

And, indeed, it seemed McNall finally had put the long-suffering Kings on a slow, but steady uphill road.

He got Wayne Gretzky, the best hockey player in the world.

That first season, the Kings beat the Oilers in a seven-game, opening-round series, then ran out of gas in the second round.

Still, it seemed only a matter of time.

Injuries ruined McNall’s second postseason, but, last year, that elusive Cup seemed closer than ever.

Coach Tom Webster had the team to play defense. Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato vindicated General Manager Rogie Vachon’s controversial trading of Bernie Nicholls. The Kings won a club-record 46 games and their first Smythe Division title.

Injuries again knocked them out in the second round, but the team seemed to need only fine-tuning to reach its potential.

Instead, it was given a major overhaul.

This time, management took the wrong turn.

Steve Kasper, center of the checking line, and Steve Duchesne, the club’s only offensive defenseman, were traded for wing Jari Kurri, who proved to be only a ghost of his former self.

Bob Kudelski was handed the job of second-line center but couldn’t handle it. John McIntyre was made the checking-line center, but, at 22, needed time to grow into Kasper’s skates.

There were other problems management couldn’t control. Wayne Gretzky began the season with a back injury and ended it with a rib injury that got worse as the playoffs went on. He also had to endure the agony of watching his father suffer from an aneurysm on the brain. The result was Gretzky’s poorest offensive season.

He had company. Sandstrom, suffering from a shoulder injury, dropped from 45 goals to 17.

Rob Blake, the best the Kings have at the blue line, also struggled all season because of a shoulder injury.

Vachon obtained Paul Coffey late in the season to replace Duchesne, but Coffey also suffered from injuries.

Corey Millen and Mike Donnelly had excellent regular seasons but were shut down by the Oilers.

Only goalie Kelly Hrudey and forwards Luc Robitaille and Tony Granato excelled, Granato with his best season. Defenseman Peter Ahola also was a nice surprise.

As bad as the team’s physical problems, they paled in comparison to the mental preparation.

There was no telling which team would appear period to period, much less game to game.

It was a team that won eight consecutive games, then couldn’t win two in a row after March 9.

That cost the Kings in the playoffs. This time, they couldn’t get past the first round. And now, back at the crossroads, they look as if they are heading downhill for the first time in the McNall era.

There are no quick fixes. This is a club in need of help everywhere, from the wingers to the blue line.

McNall has a $13.5-million payroll for a team that is getting older, but not better. The cupboard has been stripped of draft choices. The number of top prospects in the minors is limited.

Will Gretzky ever again be the Great One? Will Kurri ever show up? Can Sandstrom and Blake bounce back from their injuries? Should the Kings keep Granato at second-line center or return him to his more natural position on the wing? And then, who takes his place? Can this team return to its tight defensive play of a year ago?

If the Kings decide to improve by trades, what can they offer from a club loaded with old players, high salaries and saddled with a dearth of future draft picks?

Questions, questions, questions.

But before answers are supplied, some basic questions of philosophy must be resolved.

When the Kings slumped in midseason, McNall threatened to step down and install a tough administrator as team president.

That still might happen, with executive vice president Roy Mlakar considered the favorite.

Vachon seems safe, but not Webster.

Asked about rumors of the coach’s imminent firing, Vachon would only say: “Bruce and I will talk about everything in the next few days.�

Hardly a vote of confidence.

One scenario, should Webster be forced out, would be to install assistant coach Rick Wilson as the new head man and move retiring Larry Robinson onto the staff as an assistant, joining Cap Raeder.

Then, there is the Eric Lindros option. The bidding is expected to be intense for the 19-year-old projected as hockey’s next superstar. It will take three or four starters to pry him loose from the Quebec Nordiques, the club he refuses to play for.

Asked if the Kings will make a bid, Vachon said: “It depends on the starters it would cost us.�

McNall says he won’t tear up his team to go after Lindros.

But such a bid fits his modus operandi . He always goes after the best, regardless of the cost, whether it’s Gretzky, football player Raghib (Rocket) Ismail or Honus Wagner’s baseball card.

Despite all their troubles, the Kings have sold out 74 consecutive Forum games. A marquee name such as Lindros could keep those seats filled for years to come.

It’s a tempting option for Bruce McNall, a man back at the crossroads in desperate need of a good map.