Shaq Not Only Big Center in L.A.

DENVER — The Lakers aren’t the only Los Angeles-based team with a dominant, versatile center, King Coach Andy Murray said this week, suggesting that Jason Allison is the hockey equivalent of Shaquille O’Neal.

“You look at some of the things he does and you kind of go, ‘Holy smokes; he’s on our side,’” Murray said. “He gives us certainly playmaking, offensive skills, but he also gives us some grit and bite up the center-ice position.

“It’s nice when your top center can be that kind of player too--can compete physically. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing a Rob Blake or an Adam Foote, he’s going to go head to head with them. He gives us that capability.

“I don’t know if there are many big guys with the kind of hands he’s got. He’s an interesting player because you can have his body tied up but if you don’t have his hands tied up he can still make the play.

“He’s the Shaq of the NHL because he can bring people to him and then he kicks the ball out and somebody else benefits. Or you can double-team him and he’ll find a way to get the puck to the front of the net, just like Shaq can get it to the hole. Very similar in the way that they approach their specific sports.”

After a 28-8-5-2 surge, the Kings stumbled into the playoffs with a 4-5-2 finish, but there seems to be no consensus as to whether that’s cause for alarm.

“The year we won the Stanley Cup in Montreal,” said defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who helped the Canadiens defeat the Kings in the 1993 finals, “we lost eight out of our last 10 going into the playoffs. Everyone was writing us off. But each series is new.”

Revenge is far from the mind of King defenseman Aaron Miller, who missed out on a championship run after the Colorado Avalanche traded him late last season.

“The trade is old news,” Miller said. “I’m an L.A. King now. I’ve played that team 11 times since the trade. It’s really just going to be another series for me. For me, the trade was a long time ago and now I’m just playing against the Colorado Avalanche. That’s a big enough challenge as it is without worrying about the trade.”