Numbers game
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.
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About Rich Hammond
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
78 would have been ridiculous. 33 is fine for now, and when Aaron Miller goes byebye, either next year or the year after, Johnson can make the decision to slot himself into 3 or stick with 33. As for Fukufuji... he wore 36 in camp, and that he was given 33 for the time he was in the NHL means nothing other than it was available and they stuck his name plate on it. He could wear 333 for all I care, as we will never see him in an NHL game again... at least we PRAY that we will never see him in an NHL game again.