Los Angeles Kings coach Andy Murray lashed out at his team following last Saturday night's loss at Detroit, and early this week he was not taking back any of his words.

	Felix Potivn is one of the Kings' "difference makers" who hasn't been making a difference.

"I was embarrassed, and I let them know they should be embarrassed by their effort," said Murray as the Kings prepared for Tuesday night's game at Calgary. "I didn't tell the media anything I didn't tell the team.

"I spoke from the heart. There is so much passion in this game, I just thought it was awful to come up with the kind of effort we had (10 shots on net). I thought it was an insult to every parent who gets up at 5:30 in the morning to bring their kids to hockey practice."

Unlike some tirades, in which a coach goes off the deep end and blasts his team, Murray spoke in measured words. There was no sense of a deep animosity for any of his players, and certainly no sense that some of his players are not willing to do what it takes to compete.

"The fact of the matter is that we have played hard over the past couple of seasons. We have reached the point where it is tough to play against the Los Angeles Kings, and we intend to keep it that way.

"Our problem has been that there are too many nights with 90 percent effort, rather than 100 percent," he said. "It's not a matter of going from 60 percent, we do work hard."

Murray said that his primary players have to be more "difference makers."

The Kings are a bizarre study in statistical analysis. Despite a spot in the division cellar, they have allowed the third fewest shots per game, giving up only 23.6, a shade behind Boston and Buffalo. However, when you talk about "difference makers," consider that the Kings goaltending came into the week last overall in save percentage at .883. That falls on the shoulders of last spring's hero, Felix Potvin.

"No doubt," said Murray, "like all goalies, he is one of the difference makers. It's the same with all teams."

The problem over the first quarter of the season has also been integrating nine players who did not play for them last season, a major trade which brought in Jason Allison, injuries to key players such as Mathieu Schneider, Aaron Miller, Adam Deadmarsh and Ziggy Palffy, all of which has added up to 10 one-goal losses, eight of them by a score of 3-2.

"You take any of those games, and you get a huge save here, a big goal there. Those are the difference makers," said Murray. "That's what we have to change."

Murray has also admitted that the deal to get Allison, which sent Jozef Stumpel and Glen Murray to the Bruins, cost the Kings in the short term.

"We basically traded two players to get a half a player," said Murray. "By that I mean, Allison had not played, and he was not near his ability. At this point, I'd say he is three-quarters of his ability, but he'll get there, and in the long run, the Kings will be better off for the deal."

Still the goalie king
Any doubts about who is the king of the goaltending world have been put to rest again by Patrick Roy. The only reason the Avalanche haven't been buried by their own slow start has been the play of Roy, who has strung together three consecutive shutouts.

Along the way, he has also cemented his spot as the No. 1 goalie for the Canadian Olympic team. The only question now is who will serve as his backups in Salt Lake. It's pretty clear that Martin Brodeur does not want to go just to watch the show, so Wayne Gretzky will have to look in his own backyard in Phoenix at Sean Burke, or perhaps Florida's Roberto Luongo.

Bad trade? What bad trade?
Remember back last summer when fans of the New York Rangers were anguishing over the fact that general manager Glen Sather got hoodwinked by the Flyers in the deal for Eric Lindros? And remember when most of the griping concerned the fact that the Washington Capitals didn't have to give as much for Jaromir Jagr as the Rangers did for Lindros?

At the quarter pole, the Lindros deal looks like the best in the NHL this season. If Lindros avoids injury, it might turn into one of the best in Sather's Hall of Fame career.

In the meantime, the Capitals are struggling as they try to play a different style of game with Jagr.

The Caps also had to give up on the Trevor Linden experiment. For whatever reason, Linden fits into the landscape of Vancouver far better than any other team, and the Canucks will benefit from his leadership.

Back with a vengeance
Early lead in comeback player of the year, Mike Richter of the New York Rangers. Richter is coming off his second major knee operation in as many years, and his performance is a testament to how hard he has worked at rehab. There are not many veterans who would have worked as hard as Richter to come back as early as he did. Then again, the Rangers have a hat trick of comeback players with Theo Fleury controlling his off-ice issues, and of course Lindros.

Let the Pavel Bure trade rumors begin
Maybe we should start the guessing now as to where Pavel Bure will be sent at the trading deadline. How about the Chicago Blackhawks, after they trade away Tony Amonte? Bure got rocked with a check from Toronto's Darcy Tucker on Monday, but he was also rocked earlier in the week during a chat with coach Sutter about the Panthers' style of play.

Bottom line, Bure will obviously be given some freedom to roam the ice, but he is going to have to be more diligent on defense to earn that right.

In other words, things are still broken in Florida.

Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.