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Suddenly, an indignant fan came into view, holding aloft a sign: "Will Sell Tickets! Cheap!"
Just as suddenly, the picture went blank.
Without Wayne Gretzky, the picture for the L.A. franchise may not be blank. But it's fuzzy, at best.
"They've lost two NFL teams,'' says former King Pat Conacher, now with Calgary. "You'd have to be pretty naive to think they couldn't lose a hockey team. That's a star-driven town. Who's a bigger star than Wayne? Will the fans be willing to go through some growing pains with a young team?
"The new owners obviously think they will. But, frankly, I can't see it. Until Wayne got there, the Kings were wearing those ugly purple and gold uniforms and playing in front of 5,000 people. It wouldn't take much to go back to those days.
"It's such a fragile bubble there.''
Gretzky's departure will surely trigger a flurry of trades involving the older Kings. His bodyguard-in-waiting, Marty McSorley. Jari Kurri. Kelly Hrudey.
Finally, the Kings seem committed to taking the arduous, but practical route to success. Building a team, rather than buying one. Developing players. Rather than bringing in quick-fix help at the expense of the future.
But will that approach be enough to tread water in L.A. until those prospects acquire enough polish to capture the imagination of the fans?
Many wonder why the Kings, knowing the Blues were desperate to land Gretzky, didn't demand one proven player to at least placate the people, rather than settling for three prospects and a first-round pick.
Others ask why the team didn't try to build around Gretzky, rather than without him.
"Two previous ownerships tried that, to build around Wayne,'' explained coach Larry Robinson. "And look where it got us. We have nothing in the minors.
"People say we traded probably the most popular player ever. If he's that popular, how come this is his third team?''
Truth be known, Gretzky, disenchanted with the Kings' hopeless prospects, wouldn't have returned regardless. Indeed, L.A. reportedly offered him a 10-year deal taking him into his retirement days.
He turned them down.
St. Louis probably wasn't Gretzky's first choice. Or second. But it wound up being his only choice. Semi-serious contenders willing to part with youth for age -- however brilliant -- and able to ante up $7-8 million a season aren't exactly in abundant supply.
The Kings appear prepared to construct their team around defenseman Rob Blake, a clone of Robinson and a potential Norris Trophy candidate. Right enough, if he could only stay healthy.
Outgoing czar Bruce McNall, awaiting sentencing on fraud and conspiracy charges, took a couple thinly-veiled shots at his successors as owners, Phillip Anshutz and Ed Roski.
"The Disney people know entertainment. They deal with it every day. They're not 'real estate developers', with all due respect.''
Yes, all due respect.
"I don't know the new owners,'' went on McNall. "I know they've got a lot of money. But I don't know if they're dedicated to the sport. I just hope they can rebuild quickly, before it all falls apart.''
The Kings are obviously the biggest losers in this protracted charade. But Gretzky hasn't emerged unscathed.
That spotless reputation has taken a bit of a battering. He's being portrayed in some forums as a self-serving deserter who helped create the mess in Inglewood and then beat it out of town before the clean-up began.
His critics tire of the obligatory yattering about how much Gretzky has done of the game. Sure, they agree, he has been a fabulous ambassador, going above and beyond the call of duty ... but he didn't do it for free.
And No. 99 is not, predictably, amused.
"Contrary to what some people say,'' he made a point of emphasizing during the post-game press conference after his debut as a Blue, in Vancouver, "I'm a loyal person.''
Gretzky insists he'll miss L.A. Not as much as it will miss him.
The Kings knew someday they would have to live without his presence on the ice, at the gate, and in the merchandising arena. But they must've hoped that when that day came they'd be better prepared to cope than they are now.
The proposed $220 million rink to house the Kings and Lakers is four years away. Anschutz and Roski are very wealthy men, but wealthy men didn't get or stay that way backing money-draining ventures for prolonged periods.
Reclocating sports franchises has become an epidemic in this day and age. Which is not to say the Kings would shift today, or tomorrow or in the next few years.
But ...
The arrival of Gretzky seven years ago saved the franchise.
It's not inconceivable that his departure could ultimately help kill it.
Across the Pacific
San Jose
Indispensible forward Ulf Dahlen, out 20 games due to a broken bone in a foot, has returned to the lineup -- too late to help a playoff run, of course ... General manager Dean Lombardi has, for the moment, broken a three-month silence with the local media ... Bad rumor: forward Owen Nolan to Jersey for defenseman Scott Niedermayer.
Colorado
Finally, the Avalanche are going to do something about the inadequate boards and ice in McNichols Arena. They''ve hired Crystalplex from Toronto to install new ones, hopefully in time for the playoffs. The final straw, apparently, was an incredibly bizarre goal against Damian Rhodes of the Senators -- a high shot from Warren Rychel that hit the glass behind the net and caromed wildly back over the goal, hit Rhodes and bounced in. "That was a Michael Jordan shot,'' joked Avalanche coach Marc Crawford, referring to his Airness's McDonald's commercials. "Off the stick, off the glass ... nothing but net.'' Earlier in the season, the gate to Colorado's players' bench actually fell during play. "Of all the NHL arenas, this is probably one of the worst,'' admitted Rychel diplomatically. "It's our home. Maybe it's time for a new one.''
Vancouver
Forward Roman Oksuita remains with the team, despite being sent home from a practice by coach Rick Ley and having his name tag taken off his locker at the team's practice facility. A post-game shouting match between the two men prompted the move ... By scoring twice against St. Louis last week, Alexander Mogilny became the fastest Canuck to reach 50 goals. He turned the trick in 60 games. It took Pavel Bure 63.
Calgary
Sitting in a corner seat at a recent home game, captain Theoren Fleury's wife Veronica was hit in the head with a rising puck that cleared the glass and cut her. "Good thing it didn't hit me in the teeth,'' she quipped later, "or I'd look like Theoren'' ... The trading of Phil Housley to New Jersey might cost the Flames a playoff spot but given their penchant for losing players and getting nothing in return -- i.e., Joel Otto and Robert Reichel -- forced general manager Al Coates to act before the March 20th trade deadline.
George Johnson, who covers the NHL for the Calgary Sun, writes a weekly Pacific Division notebook for ESPNET SportsZone.