Thursday morning skate
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.
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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.
awesome write-up i just found this site and im in love with it. theres a good article in the LA Times today about how Jack is coming into the league the exact same way as Blake did. Blake joined the team at the end of the season and played five games and had zero points. The following year he made the all rookie team. So dont get discouraged if JJ doesnt live up to his hype in these remaining games of the season.
Love the morning skate notes and practice notes Rich! Good to see the whole team is as excited about JJ as us fans are. Should be a fun game to watch!