Kings show nice touch

Though a cynic might see the move as a bid to ensure a sellout, the Los Angeles Kings deserve kudos for honoring Luc Robitaille by retiring his jersey No. 20 on Jan. 20, 2007, when the Phoenix Coyotes and Wayne Gretzky are in town for a Western Conference throwdown.

Robitaille, the highest scoring left wing in NHL history, will join Kings greats No. 30 Rogie Vachon, my second favorite goalie; the ever-grumpy, but hugely talented No. 16 Marcel Dionne (feel free to check out one of my signed Dionne pucks); No. 18 Dave Taylor; and the aforementioned No. 99 as the only Los Angeles players to have their jersey numbers retired.

Looking back, I suppose I should have picked up, for less than $60, one of those cool purple-and-gold Vintage-brand Kings jerseys, complete with Robitaille's name and number, that I saw at a store near John's Pass Fishing Village in Madeira Beach a couple Sundays ago. Then again, I'm pretty sure they'll still be available. Being in Florida and all, I'd be surprised if more than 10 people in Pinellas County alone could tell me who he is. I'll let you know, on the jersey, that is.

Now that Lucky Luc has become part-owner and team president of the USHL's Omaha Lancers, there's even a chance, provided I can get one of those jerseys, that I'd mail it to the team in hopes of getting it signed.

Addendum: After successfully dodging a pretty nasty thunderstorm that dropped nearly an inch of rain in less than an hour, I made my way to Madeira Beach on Tuesday afternoon and picked up my Robitaille jersey. My total, including tax, was $64.19. Not bad, eh, considering the original price was $150?

Addendum No. 2: Guess what? Luc signed the jersey. The guy is a class act.