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.
Continue reading “Johnson arrives” »

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.