LOS ANGELES — Luc Robitaille couldn't believe his eyes when he walked into Staples Center for the final time as an NHL player. Everywhere he looked in the empty arena, there was evidence of what he has meant to the Los Angeles Kings and their fans.
Stretched around both ends of the rink, there were banners proclaiming "Luuuuuc!" His familiar No. 20 also was prominently displayed, along with "Thank You 20" placards sitting in every seat before the arena doors were opened Saturday night.
"When I came in and saw what they did, it's almost embarrassing that they're making this about me," said Robitaille, the league's career scoring leader among left wings and the Kings' career goal leader.
"As a hockey player, you play for the team and for your teammates. You never play for yourself or think about yourself. This is not tennis, where you're alone on the court. Hockey is a team game, so this is very hard for me to handle. It certainly is overwhelming."
Robitaille has scored 557 goals with the Kings — seven more than boyhood idol Marcel Dionne, whose franchise record he eclipsed on Jan. 19 with a hat trick in an 8-6 victory over Atlanta.
The 19-year veteran has 597 assists and 1,154 total points in 1,076 regular-season games during his three stints with the Kings, spanning 14 seasons. His point total is second on the franchise list behind Dionne's 1,307.
Robitaille got his nickname "Lucky" from former teammate Dave "Tiger" Williams. But his 19th and final NHL campaign hasn't been pretty.
Robitaille has 15 goals and nine assists and missed nine games in November because of fractured bone in his leg. He was benched for three games in December by coach Andy Murray, who was fired on March 22.
Murray's replacement, John Torchetti, sat Robitaille down for one game last week. Three days later, the eight-time All-Star announced that he would hang up the skates for good after Monday night's regular-season finale at San Jose. And he has no regrets.
"I call it a celebration. I mean, that's how I feel. It's been the greatest time in my life. I've been living my dream," said Robitaille, who turned 40 on Feb. 17. "It's definitely going to be my last time putting my skates on in this locker room, and I'm trying to take it as a normal game — even though it's not. I looked at the ice surface, and it's a little bit overwhelming. I'm just been trying to enjoy every moment more as a player and not think back 14 years."
Robitaille wore the captain's "C" for the game and will again at San Jose, while Mattias Norstrom switches to alternate captain.
Robitaille, playing on a line with Dionne and Bryan Erickson in his NHL debut on Oct. 9, 1986, scored the first of his 668 goals against St. Louis' Rick Wamsley on the first shot of his first shift 16 minutes into the first period of a 4-3 loss to St. Louis at the Forum. He had 45 goals and 84 total points that season and won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year — becoming the only rookie to this day who has led the Kings in scoring over an entire season.