Fleury Grateful He Decided Against King Offer

DETROIT — The right side of Theo Fleury’s face resembles a map crisscrossed by railroad tracks, with a purple bruise above his eye, a six-stitch cut beneath it and a three-stitch cut on his nose. They may look ugly, but the Colorado Avalanche right wing considers them beauty marks.

“My kids don’t like it too much. They say, ‘Oh, Dad, you’re hurt.’ But it’s all part of competing and doing what it takes to win hockey games,” he said Wednesday. “I don’t mind it. I’m fine. I’ll always be fine.”

He could have taken a less painful path by accepting a four-year, $25-million deal the Kings offered him as part of a proposed trade with Calgary. He declined because he wanted to play for a Stanley Cup contender, and if he has to pay for that in blood, he considers it a fair price.

He paid his share Tuesday by taking a high stick in the face that resulted in a double-minor penalty against Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and gave Colorado a two-man advantage in the first period. The Avalanche capitalized on that for the first of five consecutive goals in a 5-3 victory, cutting the Red Wings’ lead in their Western Conference semifinal to 2-1 and adding urgency for both teams when the series resumes today.

Fleury, who was acquired by Colorado on Feb. 28 and hasn’t signed a new contract, doesn’t regret sacrificing his immediate financial security.

“I could have gone to L.A. I’d be golfing. It’s more fun to be here playing hockey. It’s the first time I’ve played hockey in May in a long time,” said Fleury, who will wear a visor for a few games to protect his face. “I’d make that trade-off for a Cup any day.”

The Avalanche built a 5-1 lead Tuesday by driving to the net, fighting for rebounds and pouncing on Detroit’s mistakes. Fleury anticipates the defending Cup champions will tighten up defensively today, but he’s confident the Avalanche has found its stride after losing the first two games at home.

“It wasn’t our best game on Sunday [a 4-0 loss] and we wanted to come in here and show some pride. We did a lot of things we hadn’t done in a long time,” said Fleury, whose goal and assist Tuesday gave him a team-high five goals and 14 points in nine games. “We play a simple game on the road. We’re a skating team and when we have our jump, we’re as good as anybody.”

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Detroit goalie Chris Osgood, who sat out the first three games because of a sprained right knee, practiced Wednesday but is doubtful for today’s game. That would give another chance to Bill Ranford, who was replaced by Norm Maracle on Tuesday after giving up five goals on 24 shots.

“We gave [Osgood] two days off and he felt a lot better today,” said Red Wing Coach Scotty Bowman, who planned to announce his starter this morning, as he usually does on game days. “It’s got to be 100%. You can’t risk it.”

Ranford said he didn’t brood over the loss, his first with Detroit after compiling a 3-0-1 regular-season record and winning twice at Colorado.

However, he was surprised by the reaction of fans and media.

“Everybody’s up in arms about what happened [Tuesday]. They played a great game,” he said of the Avalanche. “If anybody thought this series was going to be easy they’ve got another thing coming.”

The Red Wings also may have to regroup without captain Steve Yzerman. His wife, Lisa, was due to deliver their third child Wednesday and he planned to attend the birth.

Notes

The Kings established a working agreement with Lowell (Mass.) of the American Hockey League and ended one with Springfield. Under the new affiliation, the Kings will send 12 prospects to Lowell next season and also will be responsible for hiring the coaching staff. The rest of the team will come from the New York Islanders next season, and in 2000-2001 the Lock Monsters will be made up completely of King farmhands. The Kings are also negotiating with the Ice Dogs of the IHL to extend an agreement that has run out. The Kings had six players at Long Beach this season.

Staff writer Jim Hodges contributed to this story.