NHL Heinze doesn't miss minors

The former Bruins and Kings player was shipped to New Hampshire, then back to L.A.
By MARK WHICKER
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
ANAHEIM -- He made his minor-league debut in October, at the age of 32, but this was no Jim Morris story.
This wasn't Dennis Quaid lifting our spirits in "The Rookie." There were no violins for Steve Heinze.
Instead, this was the sound of bus wheels whining on the Massachusetts Turnpike, and a nine-year NHL veteran wondering if this is where the music stops.
The Kings sent Heinze to Manchester, N.H., to play for their American Hockey League affiliate, the Monarchs, at the end of training camp. The ticket was one-way.
The charms
He had never experienced the AHL's charms. "It's a little different, riding on the bus for hours, carrying your own bag, coming to the game wearing sweats," Heinze said Friday.
In '92 Heinze went from Boston College to the U.S. Olympic Team to the Boston Bruins, bypassing the bushes altogether. He had scored 173 NHL goals since, mostly for the Bruins, but he had 15 for the Kings last season.
Unfortunately for Heinze, all 15 came in the first 55 games. He was shut out in the final 27 and benched by Andy Murray in nine.
The Kings lost to Colorado in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and it was decreed that they had become too much of a one-line team, that their supplementary forwards had shot too many pucks high and wide. Heinze was on that list.
"It's their job to make those decisions," Heinze said Friday. "They're in the business of winning games. They make those calls, not me. I didn't agree with what they decided, but I wasn't going to sulk about it. It was my job to work as hard as I could, wearing whatever sweater I was wearing."
He had just taken off the sweater he preferred, the purple one.
Heinze was summoned back to L.A. on Thursday. He got the word after the Monarchs' game at Bridgeport late Wednesday night. He called his wife Lori from the plane. "Yesterday was her birthday," Heinze said. "I said, 'Happy birthday and have a great Thanksgiving. I'm going to L.A.""
Has hand in win
Heinze showed up at The Pond on Friday and, early in the third period, went to the corner and fired a pass to Eric Belanger, who scored and put the Kings ahead, 2-1.
Keith Carney tied it for the Ducks almost three minutes later, and it ended that way, a half a loaf for the teams tied for second place in the Pacific Division.
Anybody named Heinze who is wry enough to wear No. 57 is somebody worth keeping around. But these are the Kings, and they're in a hurry to ketchup to the rest of the conference.
The worst part for Heinze was not the hard motel beds. The worst part was watching the Kings call up Manchester teammates Derek Armstrong, Steve Kelly, Mike Cammalleri and Pavel Rosa, leaving Heinze behind each time.
"I don't know what to say about any of it," Heinze told writers. "I mean, how many pages have you got? I went from shock to being (ticked) off to settling down and trying to accept it.
"I thought they would trade me, which would have been preferable to being in that situation, but that didn't happen. And then they'd bring the kids up, and I was wondering why it wasn't me - although they all did a good job up here.
Enjoyment not enough
"There's some good hockey in that league. And I was playing a lot. I was on the power play and on the penalty kill and getting over 20 minutes of ice time a game. That part was fun. It's the type of league you could enjoy - if you didn't already know there was a league that was higher than that one. And that's really the only one I want to play in."
Had the Kings known they would use their Triple-A roster so often, they might have stationed it in Long Beach. Jason Allison, Adam Deadmarsh, Ian Laperriere, Lubomir Visnovsky and Ken Belanger have missed 30 man-games. Considering their injuries and their wanderlust (15 road games in their first 23), the Kings look hungrily toward the New Year and, for that matter, to upcoming years.
"At least we've gotten to see a lot of people in our organization," Coach Andy Murray said.
They were slightly better than the Ducks through most of Friday, and might have won if Mathieu Schneider's breakout pass in overtime had connected with Ziggy Palffy.
For most of them it was another day to cross off the schedule. For Heinze it was heaven, however temporary.
"I ran into a lot of guys (in the AHL) who would ask what I was doing there," Heinze said. "Ted Donato was playing in Hartford. He and I basically broke in together with the Bruins. He's up with the Rangers now.
Generation gap
"With the team, there was a generation gap, sure. I've got a wife and a son.
"Most of those guys were single, and their stories about the night before were a lot different from mine. But they'd ask me what it was like in the NHL, I'd tell 'em about playing with Ray Bourque.
"Sometimes I'd mention an NHL veteran and they'd say, 'Who?' That part of it was fun."
Murray was asked about Heinze's play.
"He worked very hard out there and he had a good game," Murray said. "Good for him."
That did not sound like a long-term commitment.
Later, Murray said, "I know Steve is very determined to prove he can still play in this league, and to prove us wrong. And I hope he does."
If so, well, Heinze would not be the first athlete whose dreams came true. Eventually, all of them find that their fears do, too.