March 2007 Archives

Had a chance to talk to Mathieu Garon, who will be a free agent for the first time in his career at age 29. Pro athletes are very hesitant to discuss their future plans while the season is still going on, but I asked Garon about his thoughts, in a general sense, about being on the market this summer.

``I've started to think about it, but not really about what team I would go to,'' Garon said. ``Of course I've looked at the teams and thought about which ones might need goalies, but there's nothing I can do until July 1 so I'm not going to worry about it right now. I can't really worry about it. ... Even if I think I want to sign with a team, they still have to want me. It's not like I can just choose.''

I asked Garon about the Kings, since the goaltending situation in Los Angeles is far from stable. Cloutier will be coming back from hip surgery and beyond that, who knows?

``It's really none of my business,'' Garon said. ``I'm not the one making the decisions.''

I followed up and asked him, flat out, if he would want to return to the Kings.

Garon said, ``We'll see. It's tough to say. I haven't talked to anyone yet.''

Read into that whatever you will. It hasn't been easy for Garon here. He arrived after the lockout and Dave Taylor pretty much pronounced him to be the No. 1 goalie before training camp. Then he got locked into Andy Murray's rotating system (with Jason LaBarbera), went through an inconsistent season and then the Kings brought in Dan Cloutier. After two seasons, I'm still not sure what to make of Garon's game. It seems as though he's done his best work as a ``1A'' type goalie or a backup. Some guys are just better suited to that role. Garon would probably argue that he just deserves a chance to be a full-time No. 1, and maybe he will get that chance next season, somewhere.

Not too much came out of today's practice. Rob Blake's equipment remained in his locker stall, so he won't play Sunday at San Jose and I'd have to consider him doubtful for Tuesday as well. Blake has a neck strain. With only four games left, there's no sense in pushing it, but it's disappointing in the sense that the Kings would like to get a look at the Blake-Jack Johnson pairing and get the two of them comfortable with each other.

I got an e-mail asking about Joe Piskula and why he didn't play the other night. There's nothing wrong with him, but just remember that Johnson was making his NHL debut. It would be a little rough to have two defensemen in the lineup who were college kids mere weeks ago. That doesn't mean we won't see them both in the lineup together, especially since Johnson fared well in his debut and Blake is still out.

The chatter coming off the ice today was about the job the defensemen did on the forwards. In particular, Aaron Miller and Jamie Heward drew praise for their work.

Spent some time talking to Mathieu Garon about his future and I'll have some of that up later. For now, here are some articles about three Kings prospects that might be of interest. There's been a lot of talk about Scott Parse recently, and in the Omaha World-Herald he discusses his future.

Scott Parse
Jon Quick
David Meckler

I asked Anze Kopitar about his motivation. It seemed obvious to me that as a rookie, his motivation was to make the NHL and show people that he could play at this level, which he certainly accomplished. So I wanted to know about next season, and what would drive him during the summer. Being known as a No. 1 center? Leading the team in scoring? Instead, he gave me an answer that was relatively bland but said a lot about his maturity as a 19 year old.

``The next step is just helping the team make the playoffs,'' Kopitar said. ``That's the only thing I'm looking for next year.''

As a center, Kopitar has played with just about every winger on the roster this season. Marc Crawford certainly isn't shy about moving guys around. I asked Kopitar specifically about his pairing with Dustin Brown, since that connection seems to be working well in the last few games.

``He's a guy who can make plays and hit hard,'' Kopitar said. ``When he's out there, he creates more space for me and everyone beause people are aware of him and he makes plays and hits that give you a couple extra seconds when you have the puck. He's just overall really good.''

More from practice later.

A reader passed this along, and I encourage all of you to do the same. There are some stories that I just flat-out miss, so if you see something that might be of interest to others, please post a link or just let me know about it.

Anyway, here's a take on Crawford from the Vancouver paper:

Nothing's eating Crow

Since I've started covering the Kings, Dustin Brown has been one of the most interesting players for me to watch develop. He made his name early as a massive hitter, but he really attracted my attention when he had a big offensive year in Manchester during the lockout. It made me think a lot about him, and about how great of an overall player he could be if he put pucks in net more consistently. He's done a better job this year, with a career-best 16 goals, but today I got a chance to ask Marc Crawford about Brown's offensive potential.

Almost before I could finish the question, Crawford said, ``30 goals. I think he can be a 30-goal scorer but he has to do it consistently. The biggest thing is whether he wants to be.''

That was an interesting point on Crawford's part. It seems to me that Brown is so focused on being a big hitter and a responsible defender that sometimes he's not as aggressive when it comes to shooting or creating offensive chances for himself. Crawford contrasted Brown to a guy like Michael Cammalleri, who always seems hungry to put the puck in the net.

``When you talk about Mike Cammalleri, there's no doubt that he wants to score goals,'' Crawford said. ``He gets a lot of pleasure and self value out of it. Dustin needs to get the same value out of scoring goals. He's been dedicated to his work on the power play and the penalty kill, but in five-on-five he needs to have the same desire that we see from guys like Cammalleri and Frolov.''

With some guys, it's just not in their nature to seek the puck, but in Dustin's case, that NEEDS to happen. He has the talent, and he's on the verge of being a major threat as a top-six forward. But as Crawford pointed out, it's easy to forget that Brown is only 22 years old.

``Luc (Robitaille) is always getting on him and saying, `Don't you know that the goal scorers are the guys who get paid?''' Crawford said with a laugh. ``Dustin takes pride in his physical game but he needs to take pride in scoring as well. He can score 30 goals by accident one year, but he needs to do it consistently, and he can.''

Brown said he realizes that he needs to take the next step in terms of becoming a top-level scorer, and said the challenge is to maintain his physical play.

``Obviously everyone likes to score,'' Brown said. ``I need to score like I have been (recently). It's a key part of my game, but if I'm struggling a little, or not scoring, there are other things I can focus on. My role this year is similar to one I had (in Manchester during the lockout). The one thing that's different is the goaltending, because it's much better. At this level it takes time to adjust and you have to work hard.''

Forgot to mention...Crawford said that a couple players from Manchester might be on the way up to the Kings to get a look in the final couple games. The one name Crawford specifically mentioned was Lauri Tukonen, who had a brief stint with the Kings in February and played one game. Tukonen has 12 goals and 17 assists in 54 games with the Monarchs this season.

By the way, for anyone who has the sports package on a satellite dish, the Monarchs' game against Hartford tomorrow night will be televised on FSN New England.

-- The Kings have signed goalie Jon Quick to an entry-level contract. This is a guy the Kings will be watching closely. Jonathan Bernier is still considered the top goalie prospect in the system but Quick took a big step forward this season at UMass. I remember Lombardi bringing up his name during an unrelated conversation a while back, but I didn't think too much of it at the time. It would be a real stretch to say Quick is NHL-ready at this point, but with proper development he could be around sooner rather than later.

-- I haven't heard officially, but I've been told that Noah Clarke is headed back to Manchester. That's not a surprise, and it's better for him to get minutes down there now that Armstrong is back.

-- Speaking of backs, I asked Anze Kopitar about his today and he said he's pain free.

-- Rob Blake's neck injury continues to be an issue, according to Marc Crawford. Blake might not play Sunday at San Jose but they're pointing toward Tuesday for a return.

-- Crawford confirmed what most have assumed for the last week or so, that Lubomir Visnovsky is done for the season with a broken bone in his foot.

-- I asked Crawford about Jack Johnson and who, if the entire defensive corps was healthy, he would prefer to have Johnson playing with. Crawford initially said Blake, then added Aaron Miller's name in there. Those would have been my two choices as well, for the same reason that Crawford offered. As a young guy, Johnson is going to have a tendency to want to do too much, and he needs a calm veteran back there with him to settle him down and to stabilize the team in general. ``He's not a shy young man out there,'' Crawford said of Johnson.

I spent a lot of time talking to Dustin Brown, and to Crawford about Brown, so I'll have some of that later.

The rage in baseball for the last couple years has been for general managers to try to find players who might be undervalued. Actualy that's always the goal, but recently they've been relying on statistics a bit more. You might be familiar with the ``Moneyball'' thing, with Billy Beane and the Oakland A's and their system.

Dean Lombardi is very interested in this. I talked to him a lot about it before the season but he didn't want to go into too many details. As he said, half joking, ``I've had too many of my ideas stolen over the years.'' But Dean does believe that the ``Moneyball'' ideas translate to hockey, in some form.

Along those lines, I stumbled across this on the www.hockeyanalysis.com website. The operators of that site have used stats to analyze the offensive and defensive production of NHL players. Their system is complicated and based, it seems, on how many goals a player is responsible for, as compared to the league average. It's kind of like a more in-depth plus-minus rating. Read more about it here.

Take it for what it's worth, but I thought fans might be interested to see how the Kings stack up. The ``average'' player is supposed to have a 1.00 rating, and only players with at least 350 minutes of ice time this season are included. These numbers are through March 13. Players have their FULL seasons analyzed, not just their time with the Kings (Modry, Heward, Lundmark, etc.)

OFFENSE
Cammalleri 1.42
Visnovsky 1.38
Armstrong 1.34
Frolov 1.30
Heward 1.26
Kopitar 1.22
Kostopolous 1.05
Modry 1.00
Blake 0.99
Brown 0.97
Willsie 0.96
Dallman 0.93
Thornton 0.89
Miller 0.89
Lundmark 0.74

DEFENSE
Modry 1.37
Armstrong 1.10
Kostopoulos 1.09
Lundmark 1.05
Heward 1.03
Cammalleri 0.99
Miller 0.93
Visnovsky 0.92
Frolov 0.90
Blake 0.89
Kopitar 0.89
Brown 0.81
Dallman 0.80
Willsie 0.79
Thornton 0.76

First of all, I owe a huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time, in the last couple days, to send some very nice e-mails. I try to personally answer all the notes I get, even the ones with creatively used four-letter words, but quite frankly the volume of them has been overwhelming, more than I ever thought possible. I'll get back to all of you, eventually.

At the risk of sounding self-indulgent, this blog has become a huge hit in the last few days, and for that I thank all of you. When the Jack Johnson stuff went down, my editor called and we agreed to just blog the you-know-what out of the story. Somehow, word spread and all of you found it. The Internet is a crazy friggin' thing. I owe a huge thanks to those who operate the websites and message boards. I don't want to name names, because I'll forget someone, but you know who you are, and I greatly appreciate the way you've been linking to the blog on your well-run sites. If your site doesn't already have a link on this page, e-mail me and I'll have it added.

Anyway, the point of this is that we want to keep it going, and make it bigger and better, but we need your help. We need to know what you want to see. Unfortunately, given the climate in the newspaper industry today, the NHL doesn't get a lot of attention in print. We can go around and around as to the reasons for that, but it's an unfortunate reality. The Internet, however, is ripe for giving information in a forum like this, and it's a good way to communicate directly with readers. I can tell you this: the blog has gotten so many hits in the last couple days that the Daily News editor made note of it in his staff meeting yesterday. That's the editor of the entire paper, not just the sports editor. This is a good way to show him that people in Southern California do indeed care about hockey, so please keep visiting, reading and commenting.

So the question is: what do you want to see on here? We're providing you, to the best of our ability, with breaking news, practice reports and little notes here and there. But things are coming up during the summer, such as the draft and free agency. What type of things would you like to see here? I have my own ideas, but I'd like to hear yours. Same goes for things we could do once next season begins. I'd love to hear any and all ideas.

Thanks again for all the support.

So, what did everyone think? Actually, that's a dangerous question, because it's not fair to evaluate Jack Johnson, or anyone for that matter, after one game. He had so much to deal with, not just in terms of playing with an entirely new group of teammates but simply just in living his dream, for goodness sake. I can't imagine what it would feel like to dress for your first NHL game. That said, I think Johnson, and the Kings, will be happy with his game as far as a first effort. He played 18 minutes, 45 seconds, a solid total, and got much more power-play time than I expected. He only took one shot, which probably disappointed a lot of people, but that will come.

How about Bulis going after Johnson in the second period? And Thornton going after Bulis? If you don't think that speaks volumes, you don't know anything about team sports. There was a thought in the back of my mind about Johnson. I wondered if any of the Kings might harbor a slight bit of jealousy over all the attention that has come Johnson's way. Thornton's actions negate any thoughts I might have had on that subject.

Derek Armstrong returned to the lineup and played almost 15 minutes, but Rob Blake missed the game with the same neck issue that cost him a game last week. I'll have to check tomorrow and see how much of an issue that is. Seems like Johnson played most of the game in a pairing with Heward. I'd have to assume that Blake would be his regular partner, but I'll also find that out tomorrow.

Sean Burke's ever-growing goals-against average took another hit, although not a big one because his GAA is already close to 3.00. Burke has allowed at least three goals in each of his last 11 full games. I long ago stopped putting too much thought into how many ``bad goals'' a goalie allowed, because I think the defense is often a huge factor, but numbers do mean SOMETHING, and Burke's aren't good, especially since he only faced 21 shots.

Dustin Brown continues to impress. I've always felt that if he could find a way to put pucks in net on a regular basis, he'd be a very valuable all-around player. Seems like he's closer to that than ever.

Kopitar got back on the board with a goal, his first since Feb. 24. I think he's been a bit gun-shy because of his recent back problems, which is to be expected, so maybe this goal will get him going again.

I've got nothing too insightful tonight, folks. I'm sick and it's time for NyQuil induced zzzzzzzz's.

Anyone who has watched the Kings of late, or even looked at the box scores, knows that Patrick O'Sullivan's game is coming around in a big way. In his last nine games, entering tonight, O'Sullivan has two goals and nine assists in his last nine games, but more importantly he looks like a more complete, confident player. The Kings expected a lot of O'Sullivan early in the season and he didn't deliver, to the point that he got sent to Manchester in November and was told that he needed a better work ethic.

According to Marc Crawford, that's the thing. Crawford knows the talent is there with O'Sullivan, so it's just a matter of effort. That effort has been there since O'Sullivan returned in late January, and just in the past couple weeks it's really been paying off. I asked O'Sullivan about the cliche that the game ``slows down'' for players when they start figuring things out, and he said the following...

``Obviously it doesn't (literally) slow down, but your confidence level goes and the feeling you have on the ice improves. I've experienced that in the last 10 or 15 games. Now I'm at the point where I can make the plays, at this level, that I've been able to make at every other level. Before, I wasn't creating as much offense as I was used to.''

The transition wasn't easy for O'Sullivan. He dominated at the AHL level last season (47 goals in 78 games) and, truth be told, probably thought the NHL would be a bit easier than it was. He quickly found out otherwise.

The comparison might fall flat, but when I think about O'Sullivan, I think about the way Michael Cammalleri started his career. In Cammalleri's case, the offensive skills were evident early, but the coaches were always on him to be stronger on the puck and create offensive chances for himself, rather than wait for others to set him up. In a way, I think O'Sullivan was in the same boat, and now he freely admits that a return to the AHL this season did him good.

``I think I needed to be back in the AHL for a bit,'' O'Sullivan said. ``There was no point in having a bad attitude about it or think negatively about the situation. I've overcome too many things in my life, so I just had to take my medicine and get back to the place I wanted to be. Being down there made me understand better what is expected of me.''

I asked O'Sullivan about looking around the dressing room and seeing so much young talent, between himself, Kopitar, Brown, Johnson, Cammalleri, etc. O'Sullivan said, ``If you can't get excited about that, something's wrong with you.''

I'm not sure if I've seen Marc Crawford more excited and energetic than he was this morning. The arrival of Jack Johnson has perked up a lot of people these days, not just because of who he is but what he represents. With Johnson in the fold and O'Sullivan playing well, you can start to look around the Kings' dressing room and see the future, and it looks pretty good. The bottom line remains the same for the Kings -- they MUST develop a No. 1 goalie -- but the pieces are in place for a successful franchise.

Crawford said he'd been talking to some veteran members of the organization and concluded that ``there's about as much excitement for a new player being brought into the organization as there's ever been, going back to Gretzky.'' I'd have to agree.

The most interesting item of the day is that Johnson was included in the power-play meeting. Afterward, he said he might get power-play minutes if the Kings had a lead late in the game.

Johnson said: ``(All year) I could envision myself coming to L.A. and now I'm excited that everything is coming into place.''

One thing I've noticed about Crawford is that he's not afraid to pump up his guys. I have a lot of respect for Andy Murray, but he was a coach who would always frame his players within the team concept. I'm not saying Crawford isn't a team guy, but what he's basically saying is, ``Hey, this kid is special, let's enjoy him and let him have some fun out there.'' It's refreshing, because Crawford isn't putting a ton of pressure on Johnson, but at that same time he's aware that he's got something special on his hands.

Crawford said: ``If I'm Jack Johnson, I'm excited to play and (as a coach) you want to tap into that. He has always played his best hockey when he's excited and passionate.''

The only other real news from the skate is that it seems Derek Armstrong will return tonight. He made it through another skate without problems, but hockey being hockey, you never really know about these things until game time.

I spent some time this morning talking to Patrick O'Sullivan and I'll try to post some of that a bit later.

With all the Vancouver reporters in town yesterday, of course Marc Crawford, their former coach, was a popular man. He faced some questions about the present and future of the Kings, particularly in regards to the trades the Kings have made to become younger. I thought he gave one interesting answer, in particular.

``Trading away guys like Conroy, Avery and Norstrom, that was to signify that we're changing,'' Crawford said. ``We knows if we're right or wrong. Only time will tell, but we thought it was right to just tear things down and build in the right way.''

When Dean Lombardi got hired, he had a couple different plans for the direction of the team. Privately, I'm told that Lombardi wanted to go with the burn-and-rebuild strategy immediately, but some in the organization were nervous because it would all but assure a rough season, and the Kings didn't know how fans would respond to that. Well, as it turns out, the season was rough anyway, and now Lombardi is free to do what he wanted to do from the start, which is build around his young players and acquire a small army of draft picks. The same strategy worked well for him in San Jose, so we'll see if he can pull it off again with the Kings.

As always, your questions and comments are welcomed, either as comments on here or in e-mails directly to me. I got an e-mail today with some questions that I thought were worth sharing, since they're questions that a few Kings fans probably have. So I'll do my best to answer them...

1) Do you feel that Dan Cloutier’s poor play this season was due to the undisclosed/undiagnosed injury, or is he simply a bad goalie?

I don't believe Cloutier simply forgot how to stop pucks. Do I think the Kings overvalued him a bit last summer? Yes, but this is a guy who had goals-against averages of 2.27, 2.42 and 2.43 in his last three full seasons. The Kings couldn't have expected that this season would be such a disaster. They did, however, put all their eggs in a flimsy basket, since Cloutier was coming off serious knee surgery. The biggest mistake they made all season was not carrying three goalies at the start of the year. Cloutier looked strong enough in training camp to convince them to send LaBarbera to Manchester, and that was a killer. I'm still not convinced that Cloutier was 100 percent at the start of the season, from a physical and/or mental standpoint. The Kings say he was, and I'm not calling them liars, but something was just wrong from the beginning. The best they can hope for is a fresh start in the fall.

2) Has there been any discussion of Jack Johnson reporting to Manchester for postseason play, or is he simply lacing them up for the Kings’ final games and truly returning to school?

The latter, from everything I've been told. I believe that was the plan all along, and it was confirmed by Johnson's father in a story this week, when he said that Johnson would only be gone from Michigan for three weeks and that he promised the coaching staff he would get his degree. So it's probably five-and-out for Johnson.

3) Do the Kings still retain Parse’s rights? His whole scenario seems odd to me, as I know he traded some jabs through the media with Hextall. Bottom line: Do you get the feeling the Kings will have him signed in time for camp?

The Kings retain Parse's rights until the middle of August, even though he signed an amateur-tryout deal with an AHL team. As for signing him, this could go either way. I think the Kings woud really like to have him in the fold, but Lombardi doesn't strike me as a guy who is going to back down very easily. It could go either way, which is a wishy-washy answer, but I honestly don't know.

4) Any particular reason why Aaron Miller is still with the Kings? I have to think teams came calling at the deadline. I was assuming there was no chance he would be re-signed, but now I don’t know. Thoughts?

In the weeks before the deadline, I thought certain Miller would be moved, but after the deadline, I learned that the market for him wasn't as strong as I presumed it would be. It's hard to tell what Lombardi is thinking about Miller. If the Kings wanted him back for sure, they could have locked him up with an extension, the way they did with Armstrong. But by looking at the roster, it seems like the Kings will need at least one stay-at-home ``defensive'' defenseman. Is Miller the best option? Probably not, but he's an option.

5) Finally, what does your (realistic) off season free agent/trade wish list look like? A goalie, a defenseman and 2 forwards perhaps?

Sounds reasonable, although I might add another defenseman to the list. As of now, Blake, Visnovsky, Johnson and Dallman are locked up. The Kings think pretty highly of Piskula and Peter Harrold, but I think two veteran defensemen would help, especially to support a group of forwards that is still young and improving. The goalie situation will be interesting. It seems that Cloutier and LaBarbera (restricted free agent) will be back, but now the Kings are stuck in the same boat with Cloutier. Do they go with only two goalies and presume Cloutier will be OK? If not, who do they bring in? It won't be a big name, unless they just want to cut LaBarbera loose. I like Garon as a backup, or a 1A-type goalie, but he will probably seek a better situation elsewhere. Should be interesting.

There's a very interesting story on TSN (link) about the way that Dean Lombardi and the Kings structured the contract of Joe Piskula. Essentially, Lombardi gave Piskula a huge bonus simply for appearing in five games. That has upset some who believed it's a glorified signing bonus, because signing bonuses are limited to $85,000.

Whatever you think of what Lombardi did, the NHL entry-level situation is a mess. The intentions were good, but the way it's structured and counted against the cap causes huge headaches all around. The union and league would be wise to examine this during the summer, and not just because of Lombardi's actions.

The funniest part, to me, is the implication that teams such as the Kings have some sort of advantage because they have ``cash to throw around.'' Now there's a phrase I never thought would be attached to the Kings.

The Manchester Monarchs, the Kings' AHL affiliate, today signed University of Wisconsin defenseman Jeff Likens to an amateur tryout agreement. (Yes, the same thing Scott Parse signed with Grand Rapids). Likens, who just completed his senior season, had not been drafted. He was a teammate of defenseman Joe Piskula, who is now with the Kings. Likens, 5-foot-11 and 178 pounds, had one goal, five assists and 42 penalty minutes in 40 games with the Badgers this season.

The Monarchs, for those scoring at home, are in first place in the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division, with 91 points. That's the fourth-most points in the 14-team conference. The Monarchs' regular season ends April 15, and on April 6 they will honor the Kings by wearing Gretzky-era black-and-silver jerseys.

Derek Armstrong, who has missed eight consecutive games with a knee injury, is considered ``probable'' to play Thursday against Vancouver. Armstrong skated with the full team in practice Wednesday for the first time and said he wasn't totally pain free but felt good enough to play. ``There's some stiffness, but that just comes with the injury,'' Armstrong said. Armstrong, it seems, had a mild MCL issue. ``It got lucky. It could have been a lot worse,'' he said.

Is there a more underrated player on the Kings' roster than Armstrong. The Kings showed what they think of him when they locked him up with a two-year contract extension last month. He has a plus-14 rating on a team that has scored 216 goals and allowed 264 (second-worst total in the Western Conference).

It was interesting to see so much buzz over a practice in late March, especially since the Kings have been out of the playoff race for so long. Of course, Jack Johnson was the topic of conversation. The Vancouver Canucks were on site, waiting to practice after the Kings, and with them came a handful of Canadian reporters eager to talk to Johnson. And, even more stunningly, a Los Angeles-based television crew was on hand. There's something you don't see every month.

Johnson got to work with his new teammates for the first time and everything seemed to go well. He got the expected ribbing from teammates for drawing extensive media attention, but coach Marc Crawford said that having Johnson around brought an extra energy to practice, because the players were eager to finally get a look at him. Most, including Crawford and fellow Michigan alum Michael Cammalleri, had seen very little of Johnson, despite all the hype.

Crawford skated with Johnson for a bit in practice and made small talk, asked Johnson where he was from and which teammates he already knew, little things like that to make Johnson feel comfortable.

Here's some of what Crawford had to say about Johnson, who will make his NHL debut Thursday at Staples Center:

On what he expects from Johnson's debut: ``I talked to him and said, `Just go out and play with passion.' There's going to be a lot of time for us to make corrections. We're going to give him limited instructions on how we play. We just want him to go with his instincts and play with passion.''

On how Johnson is fitting in: ``(Players) have heard all about him and they know he's going to be a part of our future for years to come. I thought Jack handled himself well and we're happy to have him.''

On Johnson's game: ``People who watched the World Juniors know he plays hard and with a lot of passion. He's a top talent. You see, right away, that he's got some real good skill. When you look at the pedigree of guys who come out of Michigan, they all seem to do well, especially the top-level guys.''

As for Johnson himself, he couldn't stop smiling as he patiently answered question after question for more than 30 minutes. I asked him if he had any expectations about what his first NHL game would be like.

``It's going to be fast,'' Johnson said. ``Obviously it's as good as it gets. Honestly, I don't know what to expect, but it's going to be a fun night.''

A couple other practice notes will come later, including an update on Derek Armstrong.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, Scott Parse, a Kings prospect, signed an amateur-tryout contract with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins yesterday. I wasn't able to talk to Dean Lombardi, who is working back east this week, but a Kings official told me what everyone has pretty much assumed. Contract negotiations with Parse weren't going well, so he signed a deal to get on the ice right away. It wouldn't seem to be a great statement on Parse's behalf, in terms of his optimism about getting a deal done with the Kings, but negotiations will continue. The Kings think it would be better for Parse to start in Manchester, but he doesn't agree, so at some point someone will have to bend, or the Kings will lose Parse altogether.

Because of last night's game in San Jose, practice will have a noon start today. I'll be there to provide an update on Jack Johnson's first practice and anything else that might come up.

The Kings should double Patrick Marleau's salary, just so they don't have to play against him anymore. The King-killer struck again with two goals and despite an honest effort, the Kings slumbered again offensively and couldn't do much against a motivated San Jose defense and a sharp goalie, Evgeni Nabokov.

In the end, there's a reason why the Kings are the Kings and the Sharks are the Sharks. It wasn't a terrible effort by the Kings, but it wasn't good enough to beat one of the NHL's top teams. Sean Burke stopped 18 of 19 shots through two periods, then gave up two goals on seven shots in the third, but it's hard to fault him.

The Kings generated a good number of chances in the second period but got only one goal, and that was really their only period of sustained offense. The Sharks didn't get a ton of chances either, but they put three in the net.

Other thoughts:

-- Patrick O'Sullivan looks so much more comfortable than he did earlier this season, and it's showing on the stat sheets. With an assist tonight, he has two goals and nine assists in his last nine games.

-- Dustin Brown is a guy who is now able to contribute on the power play and penalty kill. The last piece of the puzzle for him is putting the puck in the net. He showed a great scoring touch in the AHL during the lockout and if he can ever get it to click in the NHL, watch out.

-- John Zeiler is a guy to watch for the future. He took a couple unfortunate penalties in the second period but he brings a lot of energy and he's a good guy to have in the dressing room.

-- The Sean Burke party is over. He gave the Kings a boost when he arrived, but he has allowed at least three goals in each of his last 10 games, and that doesn't even include the two-goal, zero-save clunker against the Ducks.

-- It will be very interesting to see what the Kings' defense looks like next season. Barring an unforseen trade, Blake and Visnovsky will be back for sure, and then there's you-know-who, the rookie. Beyond that, who knows? Aaron Miller? Mike Weaver? Joe Piskula? Peter Harrold? It's assumed that a chunk of the free salary-cap money will go to one or two defensemen, so we'll see how that works out.

Believe it or not, there is other news today. There's even a game tonight, and the Sharks lead the Kings 1-0 at the moment. But amid all the Jack Johnson celebration, there's a bit of interesting news. Scott Parse signed an amateur-tryout deal with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. Parse, a sixth-round pick by the Kings in 2004, is a big-time NCAA scorer out of Nebraska-Omaha and a two-time Hobey Baker finalist. The fact that he's signing with another team's affiliate, instead of with the Kings, doesn't look good at face value. It could just be a move intended to get him on the ice while he negotiates with the Kings, or it could be a sign of trouble between Parse and the Kings. I'll ask Dean Lombardi about this tomorrow and try to get an answer.

For those who haven't seen it, I'll attach a brief video of the Michigan phenomenon known as Jack Johnson Sr., who entertained the home crowd during games by dancing. Sort of. Jack Johnson was asked today whether he dad would stop the routine now that Jack's NHL career has begun.

`` I hope so,'' Johnson said with a laugh. ``He dances but he can't dance. He had a lot of fun with the student section. He actually kind of got sucked into it and then it became a tradition so he couldn't get out of it. It was just a fun thing for the students.''

There has been some question about what number Jack Johnson would wear with the Kings. The Kings' press release said 33 and when I saw Jack's dad at the skate this morning, I asked him about it. He said he thought Jack was wearing number 78, but Jack Sr. was corrected by a Kings official. Jack Sr. seemed a bit surprised, I must say. Someone told me early this season that Dean Lombardi isn't a fan of players wearing big numbers, for reasons I'm not quite certain of. In that case, I'm not certain how John Zeiler got number 73, but he's the only King with a number higher than 44.

After his workout today, Jack Johnson told the story of how he first met Rob Blake, roughly seven years ago. Johnson played for the bantam team at Shattuck-St. Mary's, the school at which Andy Murray coached before he joined the Kings. Murray invited the team to skate at the training facility in El Segundo and afterward, Johnson ran across Blake in the hallway and Blake handed a stick. ``I still have it in my room,'' Johnson said. Johnson was 13 years old at the time. That won't make Blake feel old at all, will it?

First impressions? Johnson is not as big as you might think. He's 6-foot-1, but the highlight tapes make him seem like a monster. He's solidly built and plays bigger than his actual size, which is fine. This isn't basketball, so a 6-1 pit bull is just as formidable as a 6-5 monster. Beyond that, it's hard to tell too much from today, because all he did was work with Dan Cloutier, skate around cones and put pucks on net. Johnson obviously is a strong skater with a rocket shot. He rang one off the goal post that echoed throughout the whole rink. And he seems like a nice kid. There's a quiet confidence there, but I'm happy to report that he's unlikely to be Sean Avery II. That's always a relief.

Johnson and his family arrived from Denver last night and got to their hotel around midnight, so it's been a whirlwind for them in the last couple days. The details of his contract are still a little sketchy. Obviously most of it is made up of bonuses, which could be in the range of $2-$2.5 million. Regardless of what the actual number ends up being -- and we won't know until after next season -- the kid did well for himself. His entry-level package trails those of only Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin. That's pretty good company.

Here's some of what Johnson had to say today:

On playing alongside Rob Blake: ``It will be something else. He's one of the best defensemen in the world and growing up, he was one of the players I tried to be like. To be sitting in the same locker room, it's quite an honor.''

On what the last couple days have been like: ``During my time in Denver I was just sitting there thinking about what it was going to be like, and now I'm here getting to see everything. It's pretty unreal at this point.''

On what he would like to accomplish this season, and what fans should expect from his game: ``I want to be able to help this team win and be able to contribute. I don't want to be a liability. ... I try to play a complete game, be physical in my own end and when the puck's going up the ice, try to contribute offensively and try to pitch in in every aspect of the game.''

More updates throughout the day...

Just got back from watching Jack Johnson work out for about 30 minutes with Dan Cloutier (fill in your own punchline here). I'll be posting a report and other tidbits throughout the day. Bottom line is that Johnson looked ready to play and will make his NHL debut Thursday night against Vancouver.

I'll be off to El Segundo in a bit to check out Jack Johnson's first workout. I'm not sure who he will be out there with, since the team is in San Jose, but Dan Cloutier has been working out also. I'll report back with quotes and notes, and for anyone who might be in the area of the training facility, he will be on the ice sometime between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.

Click below for the Kings' press release. Johnson will wear No. 33 with the Kings.

There was a question about Jack Johnson's contract. Because of the way rookie contracts are done under the new CBA, rookies can make a max of $984,200 when it comes to base salary. The bulk of their money comes from bonuses, so it's hard to determine, right away, how much Johnson will make. I could estimate, or give a ballpark figure, but it wouldn't be totally accurate. I do know that his contract package, including bonuses, is the fourth-largest package since the new CBA was signed in 2005. Johnson's deal is behind those of only Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin. For some comparison, Malkin's deal included bonuses that could have netted him almost $3 million extra per season. So, Johnson fits in somewhere below that.

I was talking to Dean Lombardi, not too long ago, about this subject, and it's frustrating for teams because the entire bonus gets counted against the cap at the beginning of the season, whether or not the player achieves the entire bonus. If the player doesn't achieve all of the bonuses, it's obviously not counted on the final cap total, but by the end of the season, what difference does that make? I hope I explained that properly.

It's interesting to note that Johnson's third game will be at Vancouver. Johnson has a bit of history with hockey fans in Canada that dates to the 2006 World Juniors. Johnson became a public enemy for a brutal hit on Team Canada's Steve Downie, a hit that many fans in Canada believed to be dirty. It would be a surprise if Johnson got booed fairly viciously in Vancouver.

I didn't expect to hear anything else today, but I just got a call from agent Pat Brisson, who confirmed that a deal is done for Jack Johnson to join the Kings. Negotiations weren't easy, it seems, because they started Saturday evening and didn't conclude until this afternoon, but Brisson said Johnson is excited to be a King and eager to play his first NHL game on Thursday. ``There was a lot of negotiation,'' Brisson said. ``I respect where the Kings were coming from and now both sides are happy and that's the most important thing.''

Call off the search parties...Jack Johnson won't be seen in Los Angeles until tomorrow. No official word about the signing will come down tonight, but don't fret. According to sources, Johnson is on his way to Los Angeles and will attempt to get in some sort of on-ice workout tomorrow in El Segundo. Expect the big announcement to be made tomorrow morning and expect Johnson on the ice Thursday night against Vancouver.

Looks as though Thursday's home game will be the debut of the highly touted defenseman. More details to follow. For those who aren't familiar with Johnson or the overwhelming buzz that has accompanied his impending debut, here's a profile done on him by FSN Atlantic.

The NCAA Division I hockey tournament got underway Friday. Hockey junkies will note that Jon Quick, the goalie who made 33 saves in Massachusetts' 1-0 overtime victory over Clarkson, is a Kings prospect. And so is Jeff Zatkoff, who made 43 saves for Miami (Ohio) in a 2-1 victory over New Hampshire.

The future of young goalies is famously difficult to predict, but privately, Kings management is thrilled with Quick's progress. He was taken by the Kings in the third round of the 2005 draft, back when Dave Taylor and Al Murray were calling the shots, but the new management team likes what it sees. And Zatkoff, taken in the third round last year, has made huge strides this season as well. With Quick, Zatkoff and Jonathan Bernier in the fold, the Kings should have a bright future in goal...right?

Of particular interest to Kings fans will be tonight's game between Michigan and North Dakota. That's because as soon as Michigan is eliminated, Jack Johnson will be free to sign a NHL contract. Some hope remains that Johnson will be in a Kings uniform before the end of this season, but that will depend on two things: how soon Michigan is eliminated and how well contract negotiations go. There's a salary cap, of course, but there are bonuses that need to be negotiated.

The first round of the NCAA tournament wasn't kind to the Kings' communications staff. Stephanie Krauss (New Hampshire) and budding radio star Mike Kalinowski (St. Cloud State) watched their teams bow out in the first round.

Finally, there's a story in the Boston Globe about Kings prospect Brian Boyle, who has shifted to playing defense for Boston College.

Since my contibutions to Wednesday's Daily News print version are limited to NBA basketball and NCAA Division III diving, I thought this would be a good forum to let Kings fans know that Derek Armstrong has been nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

The award is supposed to be awarded `` to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.'' More recently, and unfortunately, it has become the NHL's version of the comeback player of the year award, which explains why Luc Robitaille, who was a couple good deeds short of Gandhi status last season, didn't win it. So Armstrong is a longshot but he's a very worthy choice. In addition to the extensive charity work he does, you won't find a more solid citizen in the Kings' dressing room, and in hockey that's really saying something. Without fail, he's polite, honest and good natured.

On the ice, Armstrong is one of those guys who isn't brilliant at any one thing, but he's good at many things. Here's all you need to know: Armstrong has a plus-14 rating on a team that has been in last place in the Western Conference for a big chunk of the season. The next best number is Michael Cammalleri's plus-8. The Kings made sure to lock up Armstrong with a contract extension before the end of the season. They didn't want him to get away and they want him to be around to mentor some of the kids in the next couple years.