Fiset OK After Practice Mishap

The Kings got a major scare near the end of practice Tuesday when goaltender Stephane Fiset went down with an injury after a collision with teammate Nathan LaFayette.

Fiset stayed on the ice for nearly three minutes before he was helped to the team’s dressing room at the Iceoplex. The good news is that his injury was only a deep bruise on the upper part of his right leg.

“It was just a play to the net and I caught an edge,” LaFayette said. “I kind of rode up [Fiset’s] stick and fell down into him. It was one of those unfortunate things. I talked to him about it and he knows that it was an accident. I apologized and hopefully he will be all right.”

Coach Larry Robinson downplayed the collision and Fiset’s injury.

“It’s a charley horse,” Robinson said about Fiset, who limped leaving the Iceoplex. “Which is just a bruise.”

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The Kings are in above-average physical shape, according to off-ice conditioning tests conducted last Sunday by Guy LeMasurier, the team’s fitness consultant.

Mattias Norstrom, Vladimir Tsyplakov, Dan Bylsma, Russ Courtnall, LaFayette, Yanic Perreault, Jan Vopat and Craig Johnson scored best on the cardiovascular test. Steve McKenna, Sean O’Donnell, Matt Johnson, Doug Zmolek, Garry Galley and Courtnall did the best on the bench press weightlifting test.

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With center Ray Ferraro returning to practice after sitting out two games because of a lower back injury, Robinson has plenty of line combination options as the Kings head into next month’s Olympic break.

“We’ll probably go back to what we did when [Ferraro] was here before,” Robinson said. “Yanic might play a little bit at right wing or left, and some center. [Center Ian Lapperiere] can now go over to the right side. [Craig Johnson] can now go to the checking line or put him with [Ferraro] or Luc [Robitaille] and give us some speed there. It’s not that complicated. I have a lot of options.”

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Defenseman Philippe Boucher, whose thyroid problem has caused him to lose nearly 15 pounds, will be examined again today. He has been struggling with the condition for nearly six weeks. . . . Rob Blake, Matt Johnson, O’Donnell and Zmolek will host a hockey show on AM 1150 tonight at 7.