September 2007 Archives
Most the print stories obviously centered around the Ducks and contained their postgame comments, but here are the transcripts of online interviews that Jim Fox did with Brady Murray and Dustin Brown...
Continue reading Postgame interviews.
Unlike yesterday, today's effort looked much like the one the 2006-07 Kings would have given. That's not a good sign for a team that needs to establish a new identity. The Ducks came out with fire, which the Kings should have expected, but except in brief spurts they didn't do anything to match the Ducks' intensity. The Kings looked better in the third period, but that was against a Ducks team defending a 4-1 lead.
Jason LaBarbera will take some heat today, and he deserves some of it. He stopped 21 of 25 shots. But at times he was also a major victim of the play in front of him. From a pure goaltending standpoint, Bernier looked better yesterday, but certainly Bernier would have struggled some if he had started today's game.
The Kings had two shots on goal during five power plays. That's an easy way to lose a game. Give the Ducks credit for staying out of the box and for their strong, aggressive penalty killing. And, to be fair, credit the Kings for taking only one minor penalty after that dreadful first period.
The second-period line changes seemed to work a little, but the Ducks were still getting the better of the Kings. As the game went on, Frolov appeared to get more comfortable with Handzus and Nagy. Maybe the Kings have finally found a couple guys Frolov can work well with.
Patrick O'Sullivan and Brady Murray impressed again today. Michael Cammalleri and Anze Kopitar were solid again.
Jack Johnson played 22 minutes, 17 seconds, more than Rob Blake. Brad Stuart played 23:25 and Lubomir Visnovsky played 22:00.
The Ducks outshot the Kings 25-23 and won 30 of 57 faceoffs. Cammalleri and Kopitar each had four shots on goal for the Kings. Dustin Brown was credited with six hits and Scott Thornton with five hits. Visnovsky had four of the Kings' 16 giveaways.
I'll post postgame quotes as I run across them...
The aggregate score for the two-game series in England was 5-5. What's next, penalty kicks? Or is everyone already asleep after that third period?
Ducks 4, Kings 1
Similar to the first period, the Kings finally started skating late in the period, but it's not nearly enough. The Ducks are still faster and stronger to every loose puck and the Kings still look tentative, even in the offensive zone.
The Kings have yet to record a shot on goal on the power play. They're 0 for 3.
The line changes made for a slight improvement. The line of O'Sullivan, Armstrong and Calder seemed to have the most jump out of the three lines that were shuffled.
Jason LaBarbera is facing much more pressure than Jonathan Bernier faced yesterday, but even so, he's not holding up as well as the rookie did.
The Kings did manage to stay out of the penalty box, with the exception of Thornton's fighting major.
The Ducks are outshooting the Kings 19-15 and have won 22 of 38 faceoffs. Corey Perry and Chris Kunitz each have four shots for the Ducks. Cammalleri has four shots for the Kings. The Kings made strides in the hits and giveaways columns but still trail in both.
Brown-Kopitar-Cammalleri
Nagy-Handzus-Frolov
O'Sullivan-Armstrong-Calder
Thornton-Murray-Zeiler
That makes more sense, although Thornton is now off for five minutes for a fight with Parros. Lots of throws, little contact, although the Brits loved it. Just about midway through the period.
Cammalleri puts the Kings on the board. Just a simple wrist to the short side from the side of the net. The goal came 8:57 into the period. Assists to Armstrong and O'Sullivan.
The Kings finally started to put some pressure on the net during the previous shift.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how it looks...
Brown-Kopitar-Cammalleri
Nagy-Armstrong-O'Sullivan
Murray-Handzus-Zeiler
Frolov-Thornton-Calder
(Actually, now it's Nagy-Handzus-Frolov out there, so I think Crawford is just trying anything and everything.)
LaBarbera pushed the puck into the corner but Modry, with two Ducks on him, didn't get help couldn't work it out. The puck got flipped to Travis Moen in the slot and Moen beat LaBarbera with a simple high wrist shot. The goal came 4:10 into the period. Niedermayer and Marchant with the assists.
It's barely a game at this point. The Ducks are dominating all facets.
More of the same for the Kings...Corey Perry with the goal on a puck that came off the boards. LaBarbera was looking the other way. Brady Murray was stuck on the ice without a stick and the Ducks controlled the puck in the Kings' zone for a good 90 seconds, probably. The goal came 2:53 into the period.
There look to be some line changes.
Ducks 2, Kings 0
Are these the same teams from yesterday? The Ducks are playing like a team that's desperate to avoid getting on a transcontinental flight with two losses, and the Kings look like they would rather be somewhere else.
The Ducks are skating strong and smart and the Kings couldn't generate anything in the offensive zone. They finally showed some interest in getting to the net in the final four minutes, but by that point they trailed 2-0. The Ducks' goalie, Jonas Hiller, is making his NHL debut, yet the Kings were able to do very little to make him uncomfortable.
The bad penalties didn't hurt the Kings yesterday, but they did in the first period today because the Ducks have some jump and they're active around the net. Both goals came from close range. LaBarbera overplayed the puck on the first goal and the second-goal was just a scrum in front and the Kings couldn't clear the zone.
Lots of positives if you're the Ducks, almost none if you're the Kings. The 2006-07 penalty kill returned in that period.
The Ducks outshot the Kings 9-6. Chris Kunitz had three shots. The Ducks were credited with 16 hits to the Kings' seven, and that should tell you a lot...
Another power-play goal for the Ducks, with Brady Murray in the box for holding the stick. Chris Kunitz joined a scrum in front of the net and knocked it past LaBarbera. McDonald and Perry get the assists.
Less than five minutes left in the first period. The Kings are flat and the Ducks are flying.
The poorly taken penalties by the Kings finally hurt them. Andy McDonald whipped a pass into the slot to Corey Perry, who put a quick deke on LaBarbera and tucked the puck past him. It's a power-play goal with 9:11 left in the first period. Pronger also gets an assist.
It's starting again. The Kings have taken two penalties to the Ducks' one. The Ducks had a brief 5-on-3 and now are on the power play because of a Nagy high-sticking penalty.
Oddly, David Courtney is doing the PA again today, but he's following the script usually used by the Ducks' PA guy. Sounds odd to the ear.
Same as yesterday, just flip Thornton for Ivanans. Good energy early on both sides. LaBarbera has been tested a bit early and the Ducks are getting more pressure down low than they did for the first 2 1/2 periods yesterday.
Brown-Kopitar-Cammalleri
Nagy-Handzus-Zeiler
Frolov-Armstrong-Calder
O'Sullivan-Murray-Thornton
Blake-Visnovsky
Stuart-Preissing
Johnson-Modry
This will be Jason LaBarbera's first NHL start since April 17, 2006, when he shutout San Jose.
J.S. Aubin, Kevin Dallman, Raitis Ivanans and Brian Willsie appear to be the scratches for the Kings today. Not surprisingly, Scott Thornton is in the lineup in place of Ivanans.
Here's more praise for Jonathan Bernier, from assistant captain Michael Cammalleri. Cammalleri was asked about Bernier's performance and how he could relate it to his own first NHL game.
``I think we're all really excited about the way he played. As a team, to get goaltending like that... Just with talking with a couple of the guys after the game, you kind of recap the game and you discuss what went well, and Armstrong says to me, `How about the goalie?' That's the difference. He made saves that could have easily gone in the net. So, a good game by him.
``As far as when you come in, in your first year... I was 20. He's 19. It was surreal for me. I barely remember those first few games. It was so exciting. It's a dream come true and I'm sure he's going through a little bit of the same. After the game, I went over to congratulate him on playing so well and he kind of looked at me like he didn't know where he was, but he looked pretty comfortable when the game was on, that's for sure.''
...from wire-service stories:
Crawford, on Bernier:
``I don't think you could've expected a better game from a 19-year-old goaltender. There was a lot of pressure tonight, and he looked like a really solid, solid goaltender. Not very many pucks bounced off of him, and he made a couple of great saves.''
Bernier, on his game and the delay at the start:
``I wasn't nervous. I just kept my focus. It was a long time I had to wait. ... It's always good to get the start of the season, especially at my age. I'm pretty happy with what I did tonight.''
Rob Blake, on Bernier:
``It's pretty amazing. I think it's a calming effect he has on all of us. The way he plays is very calm, he doesn't really move too much. The puck just seems to hit him. And that carries over to all of us. If you watch his demeanor around the room, he's a guy who's ready to play in the NHL. He's not a junior kid anymore. ... He has been our best goalie, and he showed it tonight.''
Crawford, on tomorrow's goalie choice:
``With the youth of our team, and the back-to-back settings, we're going to want to make sure we keep as fresh a lineup as we possibly can and try to get everybody to contribute.''
Cammalleri, on the game:
``I love London. It was good to us tonight. ... It felt like a North American hockey crowd. There wasn't much difference -- a couple of waves, like soccer, which was fun to watch''
Blake, on the uniqueness of playing in London:
``I don't remember taking a boat up a river to get to the game very often. But that was our format tonight.''
Crawford, on the delayed start:
``I think we had a lot of time to look around right at the start when they were trying to get the lights back on. I tried to soak it all in, all the different jerseys in the crowd.''
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, unlike Tim Leiweke, not so happy about playing in London, it seems:
``We made a decision last November, December to participate in this. The players voted and the managers had their chance to say yea or nay and we're living by that decision.''
Here's what Jonathan Bernier had to say during a quick postgame TV interview...
``I see the puck well, but I have to give credit to the guys. They played hard and they never gave up and we wanted to have a great start to this season and we did, so it's great.''
(You didn't seem to get too rattled by the lighting problem early...)
It's one of those things that happens, so you just have to keep your focus and that's what I tried to do.
(What's the biggest thing, making the adjustment to the NHL?)
For sure, the timing. It took a couple weeks but our defense (does) such a great job so it makes the job easier.
Jonathan Bernier...it's impossible to overstate what this guy just did. NHL debut...age 19...first game of the season...foreign environment...early 5-on-3 power play...late pressure, and he never wilted. Now, there's a big difference between late September and late March, but Bernier stopped 26 of 27 shots and looked nearly flawless.
Patrick O'Sullivan was huge in the third period after he looked a little lost early. Who would have guessed that he would end up being such a valuable penalty killer? Given how awful the Kings were in that area last season, O'Sullivan's play on the PK would be a huge bonus.
Another player making his debut, Brady Murray, looked very solid as well. Very good puck protection and energy.
Kopitar clearly is making an effort to be better in the defensive zone, but he has to do so without taking bad penalties.
That was the one negative area for the Kings today, bad penalties. They got away with it, even though the Ducks had an outstanding power play last season, but the Kings can't afford to consistently take bad penalties.
The Ducks really got their legs in the third period, controlled the last 10 minutes and got a lot of traffic in front of the Kings' net. Bernier held up perfectly, but we'll see if the Ducks come out tomorrow with that great effort again.
As previously mentioned, guys such as Cammalleri, Kopitar and Visnovsky came to play. Those are the guys who are going to have to be good every night if the Kings hope to improve this season.
The Ducks outshot the Kings 27-21. The Kings won 31 of 59 faceoffs. The Kings went 3 for 8 on the power play and the Ducks went 1 for 8. Cammalleri, Kopitar and Preissing each had three shots on goal for the Kings. Getzlaf had four shots for the Ducks. The Kings were credited with 32 hits, to the Ducks' 20.
If you're the Kings, you can't ask for a much better first game than that. Interesting that there wasn't a single 5-on-5 goal scored in the game. The Kings got three power-play goals, the Ducks got one and the Kings got a goal in a 4-on-6 situation.
The three stars, in order, were Cammalleri, Bernier and Kopitar.
An empty-net goal for Michal Handzus with 25 seconds left, after some great work in the corner by Patrick O'Sullivan on the penalty kill. O'Sullivan fought hard and worked the puck out of the corner to Handzus, who tapped it in. It was a 6-on-4 power play for the Ducks.
The goal came after a brilliant point-blank save by Bernier on Corey Perry, in which Bernier slid across and made a pad save.
Jonathan Bernier missed a chance to become the second goalie in Kings history to record a shutout in his NHL debut. Mario Lessard did it in 1978. The last NHL goalie to do it was Dallas' Mike Smith, on Oct. 22 of last year.
The Ducks score on a rebound in front of the net. Blake covered the front of the net on defense and Bobby Ryan snuck in behind him to score his first NHL goal with 6:51left in the third period. It was a power-play goal, the Ducks' first power-play goal in seven chances.
Michael Cammalleri is now being credited with the Kings' third goal, with assists to Preissing and Kopitar. Cammalleri waved at Preissing's shot and they're saying that he made slight contact with the puck in front of the net.
Ducks on the power play with 7:44 remaining. Frolov off for tripping.
The Kings score their third power-play goal of the game. The Ducks got a little confused during a change and Preissing just kind of sent a knuckleball toward the net that fluttered over the glove of Bryzgalov. The goalie seemed to see the shot just fine. Kopitar gets the assist, 1:10 into the third period.
Yes, he does have an assist, but more to the point, I don't like the line he's on. It struck my eye weird during training camp when I saw him playing with Armstrong and Calder, and I'm still not sure it's going to work. I know Crawford is looking for scoring balance, but if I'm coaching that team I think I try Frolov with Handzus and Nagy.
Kings 2, Ducks 0
That period ended at a good time for the Kings, because the Kings' legs started to look a little heavy and the Ducks spent quite a bit of time in the Kings' zone over the last five or six minutes.
Bernier...again, what can you say? He has made 17 saves through two periods.
Jack Johnson had a much better period, particularly with the defensive aspects of his game. He threw his body around against George Parros a couple times and got in the middle of the scrum that led to the 4-on-4.
Kyle Calder did some good dirty work in front of the net early in the period.
Raitis Ivanans, as previously mentioned, doesn't look ready to play.
Rumor is, Alexander Frolov is playing tonight.
Visnovsky is the hardest skater on the ice and appears to be in tremendous physical condition to start the season.
The Ducks are outshooting the Kings 17-14 and the Kings have won 21 of 36 faceoffs. Kopitar and Preissing each have three shots on goal for the Kings.
Get ready, Scott Thornton. Ivanans' contribution to the game so far has been two dreadful penalties. Looks as though Crawford is already skating Armstrong with O'Sullivan and Murray on some shifts.
4-on-4 coming up after a scrum in front of the Kings' net. Five minutes left in the second period.
Moments after Bryzgalov made a brilliant save on Kopitar, the Kings scored a power-play goal. Kopitar took the shot and Bryzgalov made the stop but lost track of the rebound. It ended up behind his skate and Rob Blake, playing down low on the power play, knocked it into the net. They announced the goal as Cammalleri's, but that will be changed.
Ducks are going back on the power play after another poor Kings penalty. Nine minutes left in the second period.
As I thought about the absence of Thornton and Willsie from the lineup, I remembered something that Crawford said during training camp about the fourth line. He talked about how they could use it differently depending on which team they're playing. If they're expecting a more physical game, they could go with one group, and a different group if they're expected a more ``skilled'' game. So this could be something we see for a while.
Then again, there's always the possibility of a trade. Lombardi has talked about it before, in general. His theory is that if a young player comes in and beats out a veteran, it gives him the opportunity to trade the veteran for a draft pick or another young player. I'm not saying that will happen with Thornton and/or Willsie, but it's never out of the question.
Kings 1, Ducks 0
Other than a couple unwise penalties, there wasn't much to criticize about the Kings' game in that period.
A great first period for Bernier, who had to deal with the snafu with the lights and then faced some power-play pressure early in the game. He made six early saves, then pretty much could have taken a nap for the rest of the period. The Kings did a good job of preventing a lot of pressure from getting to him.
That was particularly the case on the penalty kill. It seemed more aggressive and there were a good number of blocked/deflected shots, so we'll see if that holds up and if the penalty kill is truly improved.
The Kings' top players seem to be in good form, particularly Visnovsky, Cammalleri and Kopitar. Handzus and Nagy have a definite chemistry together and Handzus isn't afraid to whip the puck across the ice if he knows his countryman is somewhere in the area.
Each team had seven shots in the period. Ryan Getzlaf had three for the Ducks. The Kings won 11 of 18 faceoffs.
The lines that I just posted appear accurate. On defense it's Blake with Visnovsky, Johnson with Stuart and Preissing with Modry.
It's been a while since the Ducks have had a shot, thanks to the Kings' multiple power plays. Five minutes left in the first period.
Here's how it looks to me. Hard to tell because there's so much power-play time
Brown-Kopitar-Cammalleri
Calder-Armstrong-Frolov
Nagy-Handzus-Zeiler
O'Sullivan-Murray-Ivanans
First PP unit: Blake-Visnovsky-Cammalleri-Kopitar-Frolov
O'Sullivan and Zeiler might be flipped there, I'm not certain.
During a 5-on-3, Cammalleri whipped a quick one-timer with Calder running traffic in front. Calder might have gotten a piece of it but Cammalleri got credit, from Visnovsky and Frolov.
Bernier has already helped kill a 5-on-3 and made six saves, including a couple from close range. He dropped one fairly juicy rebound but otherwise has looked very composed.
We're about six minutes into the scoreless game.
Todd Bertuzzi took a penalty, but Anze Kopitar took one of his own less than a minute later. Jonathan Bernier got tested early, when Getzlaf went around O'Sullivan and put a backhand on net, but Bernier easily pushed it aside.
The ice is three feet shorter in this arena, and they took it out of the neutral zone.
The teams are now back in the dressing rooms during the delay. Bang-up job there, AEG...
The lights won't come on, apparently. Perhaps a test run would have been in order...
Here's the first big shakeup of the season...according to the NHL's web site, the Kings' healthy scratches are Brian Willsie, Scott Thornton, Kevin Dallman and J.S. Aubin.
Good morning to everyone, even if this does seem to be an odd way to start a hockey season...
I'll do some game blogging today, although it seems that most people have figured out a way to watch the game. We can track important things, such as how Jonathan Bernier looks in goal and, more importantly, what hairstyle Jim Fox has chosen for the 2007-08 season. To gel, or not to gel? That is the question.
Just over a half-hour until the opening faceoff...
The Kings and Ducks currently have a big graphic for their London matchup as the lead story on espn.com. ESPN ranks the Kings 13th in the conference. The writer is not too fond of the team's offseason moves. He especially doesn't like Nagy.
Saturday's game will be on Center Ice. If you have DirecTV, it's channel 764. It's also on HDNet, for those who get that. For those who have blackout issues with Prime Ticket, I don't know how this will impact you. I would recommend calling your cable/satellite people. Sunday's game is on Versus only.
The news is fast and furious this morning...
Jon Klemm cleared waivers this morning and will be headed to Manchester. So this is good news for Kevin Dallman, most immediately.
I'll attach the release below, but it's Rob Blake as captain, and Scott Thornton, Lubomir Visnovsky and Michael Cammalleri as assistant captains.
No Derek Armstrong. Fascinating...
Continue reading Captains named.
The punchline is at the end, about Bernier...
''His play is going to dictate what happens,'' said Crawford. ''We know we've got gold there . . . we're also all very conscious of the fact we know he's going to be a great goaltender and we want to do the right thing for him.
''You want young kids to come in to your training camp and make it very difficult for you to anything but keep you. And he's done that.''
So who starts in net Saturday?
''I'm leaning right towards rewarding the guy that really deserves it,'' Crawford said with a smile.
I understand that a lot of people are having problems accessing the blog from different places, particularly if they're overseas. Well, here's the problem, as I tracked down this morning. When the last upgrade took place, they made an attempt to eliminate the spam messages. It was successful, but it also ended up blocking a lot of international IP addresses, and apparently some domestic ones as well.
The solution is both easy and complicated. Anyone who is having problems accessing the site just needs to e-mail me their IP address (the number assigned to your computer that kind of looks like a social security number). I will pass it along to the proper person and the problem will clear up instantly. Now, of course, the catch is that most people who need to see this message probably won't be seeing it. So I'm asking for your help here, to spread the word via message boards, e-mail, etc., to anyone who might be having trouble.
This thing is still in its infancy, so we're still working out the bugs. Thanks for your help and your patience...
Here's a couple articles about the upcoming series in London, starting with mine from today (shameless plug). I'd be curious to see what the NHL is doing to actually promote the series over there, beyond just selling tickets and having the players show up.
Trip to London may not work in Kings' favor
Skating on thin ice
NHL bloody well wants to grow game
I'm told, through a team spokesman in London, that Handzus practiced yesterday and is ``likely'' to play this weekend. That's all I've got. I don't know specifics. You have to understand that Crawford hands out injury information the way most people hand out $100 bills. If I hear anything more, I'll certainly pass it along.
OK, let's hear them...
1) Where will the Kings finish in the Western Conference?
2) Who will be the leading scorer this season?
3) Which goalie will end up with the most starts by the end of the season?
Here's the last of today's postgame interviews, with assistant coach Jamie Kompon.
Continue reading Kompon 9/26 postgame.
Here's the postgame interview with Derek Armstrong...
Continue reading Armstrong 9/26 postgame.
Here's the transcript of Daryl's interview with Jonathan Bernier.
Continue reading Bernier 9/26 postgame.
Here's the transcript of Daryl Evans' postgame interview with Dustin Brown, as graciously provided by Thomas LaRocca of LAKings.com
Continue reading Brown 9/26 postgame.
Patrick O'Sullivan, Lubomir Visnovsky, Michael Cammalleri and Anze Kopitar had goals, with Kopitar picking up the game winner. It seems that the goalies split the game, much like an average preseason game. Bernier got the start and, according to the Kings' web site, stopped 17 of 19 shots and LaBarbera stopped 15 of 16 in relief.
...which you probably already knew by this point. I ended up being away all day, rather just part of the day as I previously thought. Anyway, I'll attach the press release below and if I get interview files out of Austria, they'll be up here as soon as possible.
I know everyone is hungry for injury information, but that's the hardest thing to get at this point. All injury information must come from Marc Crawford, as deemed by Marc Crawford, and I have no way of getting in touch with him until the wheels touch down in North America. Certainly if I hear anything, I will be happy to post it. As far as I know, Frolov should be scheduled to practice tomorrow and play Saturday. That's the timetable I was given. I have no idea what the situation is with Handzus.
Continue reading Kings win 4-3.
Believe it or not, the NHL has actually put the video stream of today's game online. Click below for the details. It's actually working, and the video is high quality.
http://kings.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=338401
Opening faceoff is just over an hour away for the Kings' second game in Austria, against the Swedish team Farjestads BK. This team is no lightweight in Sweden. It has won two league championships in the last six years and reached the finals in five of the past six seasons. Former Kings forward Esa Pirnes is an alternate captain on the team.
I'll be in and out this afternoon, but I'll pass along updates when I can. LAKings.com should be providing live updates. Like yesterday, I'll get the postgame quotes on the blog as soon as possible.
Here's the last of today's postgame interviews, with Anze Kopitar. Thanks again to LAKings.com for the help...
Continue reading Kopitar 9/25 postgame.
Here's the postgame quotes from Kings assistant coach Dave Lewis...
Continue reading Lewis 9/25 postgame.
Here's the interview with Michael Cammalleri, as conducted by the one and only Daryl Evans...
Continue reading Cammalleri 9/25 postgame.
Here are the quotes from Marc Crawford. The reporters are a bit difficult to understand on the recording, but I believe I did a decent job of picking up their questions. Here goes...
Continue reading Crawford 9/25 postgame.
I'm transcribing the interviews from Salzburg, and in reference to Frolov and Handzus, Marc Crawford said, ``Those guys are hurt.'' Did anyone in Vegas see anything suspicious? I was led to believe it was a healthy scratch today.
Here's the box score from today. Quotes to follow soon...
Scoring Summary
1st Period: RB: Remi (Jackman) 2:08
RB: Bicek (Olsson) 2:46
RB: Banham (Trattnig, Green) 3:18
LA: Cammalleri (Kopitar) 4:11
LA: Nagy (Visnovsky, Thornton) 5:58
LA: Kopitar (Cammalleri) 8:39
LA: Kopitar 17:52
2nd Period: RB: Bicek (Olsson) 9:59
RB: Welser (Dieter) 12:22
LA: Armstrong (Penalty Shot) 15:37
3rd Period: LA: Nagy (Armstrong) 1:26
LA: Kopitar (Cammalleri) 3:15
RB: Pinter (Grabher-Meier) 15:48
Shots on Goal: LA 40, RB 40
Power Plays: LA 4-9, RB 3-10
Penalties: LA (9-18), RB (10-20)
For those who were wondering the other day, Jeff Giuliano has now officially been assigned to Manchester after clearing waivers.
I should have some quotes a little later, as provided by the good folks from LAKings.com
Derek Armstrong scored on a breakaway with 4:37 remaining in the second period.
This is like live-blogging basketball. Too much scoring!
The opposing goalie is Reinhard Divis, who you might remember from the St. Louis Blues a couple years back.
Cammalleri took a four-minute roughing penalty and Red Bull scored on the power play with 7:37 left in the second period.
...at the start of training camp, that the Kings' best goalies (in order of strength) would be Jonathan Bernier, J.S. Aubin, Dan Cloutier and Jason LaBarbera...?
Could have won some money on that bet.
Things seem to be slowing down in Salzburg. Still 3-3 it seems.
The Kings trailed 3-0 and Jason LaBarbera got pulled in favor of J.S. Aubin after just 3:10. The Kings tied it with goals from Cammalleri, Nagy and Kopitar.
They're still just about nine minutes into the game!
It seems that LaBarbera has given up two goals in the game's first 2:46, one on the power play...
...in Austria with nobody to see or hear it in the United States, is it really being played?
Hopefully, updates will work their way out of Salzburg in some form. The game should just about be underway.
Thanks again to the folks at LAKings.com for providing audio today. Here's what Marc Crawford had to say about his goaltending plans for the two-game series in Austria, plus his impressions of what the exhibition series means.
``No, we won't play (Bernier) tomorrow,'' Crawford said. ``We're going to play Jason LaBarbera tomorrow. Jonathan played a great game, but we also know we've got two other great goalies here, in Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Jason LaBarbera. We're going to give Jason the start tomorrow and then we'll decide, for the following game, who we'll come back with. But we've been pleased, certainly, with Jonathan and how he's played and we're hoping that Jason has a great outing tomorrow. I know he's looking forward to it.
``What will happen, I'm sure, is that many of the teams we're playing, or all of the teams we're playing, will be extremely motivated to play the National Hockey Leaguers. There's lots of ex-NHLers on all the teams, especially the teams from the Swiss elite league and the Swedish league. There's a couple former players on the Red Bull, and with that motivation I'm sure there will be a little emotion and a little bit of passion in the game. We've got to stay focused on the preparation that we've got for our game against Anaheim. We want to really zone in on how we're playing in our own end, make sure our line combinations and our penalty-killing combinations and power-play combinations are continuing to develop and continuing to improve.
``Having said that, you're always trying to win, and the competitive juices will take over once the emotion of the game starts to stir up. ... You've not only got the motivation of different leagues playing against each other, you've got different countries playing against different countries. Any time you can add a little bit of nationalism into a sporting event, I think it adds a little bit of luster, and this exhibition series will probably be the (start) of something that will continue to happen.''
Just a FYI...the Kings have told me that they will provide me with copies (audio files, I believe) of whatever interviews LAKings.com does with players/coaches while in Europe. I'm not sure what I'll be getting -- hopefully the raw files of interviews -- but at least it will be something, so thanks to those guys for the help. We'll see how it goes!
Since I can't travel with the team, I've been getting my Kings fix in the NHL '08 EA Sports video game. So far, through 22 games, the Kings are 12-8-2. Rob Blake leads the league with 21 assists to go with two goals. Patrick O'Sullivan is tied for third in the league with 13 goals to go with eight assists. Frolov has 11 goals and nine assists, Cammalleri 10 goals and 12 assists, Kopitar nine goals and 12 assists and Brown eight goals and 10 assists .When I'm on offense, I prefer to have the puck with O'Sullivan, Brown or Cammalleri. They just have more speed in the game. I played consecutive epic games against San Jose. In the first one, Frolov tied it with 13.3 seconds left in the third period, then Cammalleri won it in OT. Next game, O'Sullivan scores game-winner with 38.5 seconds left in the third period.
Anyone else playing?
I saw a comment about how few NHL goalies had thrived when starting at a young age, and it made me think...how did some of the best start out? So I looked at the top 20 NHL goalies, in terms of regular-season victories. For some perspective, I also included Bill Ranford and Ron Hextall, two guys who will have a big say in Jonathan Bernier's development. I found it interesting how Ranford and Hextall had different paths to the NHL. So here's how it looks...
Continue reading Some NHL goalie history.
This is your chance to act like Lombardi and Crawford (you'll just have to pretend that you make as much money as they do).
You know all the background and the circumstances, so... Jonathan Bernier: stay or go?
A) Send him to him junior team after London.
B) Keep him around for his nine-game trial and see what happens.
C) Keep him on the NHL roster for the whole season.
Here's the part of Lombardi's interview that I referenced the other day, the part where he talks about why Brian Boyle played center instead of defense during his final exhibition game with the Kings. In short, Lombardi said they're not abandoning the move to defense, but then gave a long, detailed explanation about why the defense experiment might ultimately make Boyle a better center. Draw your own conclusions.
This is all in response to my question about whether or not they were rethinking the Boyle-to-defense strategy:
Continue reading Lombardi, on Boyle.
Jeff Giuliano was placed on waivers and Peter Harrold was sent to Manchester. Giuliano is now in the same situation as Cloutier. If he clears waivers 24 hours from now, he would be assigned to Manchester. But, at $455,000, Giuliano has a much more reasonable salary if another team is interested. It looks like Brady Murray won the fourth-line center spot.
Bernier goes the whole way and makes 24 saves. It's getting hard to deny that Bernier is the team's best goaltender, 19-year-old or not. Even though I'm in Los Angeles, I'll get the final two cuts before the team leaves for Europe up as soon as I can find out.
We're now well clear of the 9 a.m. deadline and, shockingly, nobody grabbed Dan Cloutier. The move to Manchester isn't automatic...the Kings have to announce it, but I would expect that to happen before tonight's game in Vegas.
If you go with the presumption that 21 spots on the team are already secure -- Brown, Kopitar, Cammalleri, O'Sullivan, Handzus, Nagy, Calder, Armstrong, Frolov, Thornton, Willsie, Ivanans, Blake, Visnovsky, Johnson, Modry, Preissing, Stuart, Aubin, Bernier and LaBarbera -- then there are four spots still open for London.
I would guess that out of Giuliano, Murray and Zeiler, two will make the London roster, and it's almost certainly a choice between Giuliano and Murray.
On defense, it's probably two out of three between Dallman, Harrold and Klemm.
Then, when they return to the U.S., one additional cut will have to be made, or two cuts if the Kings keep three goalies. I think that made sense...
I've been watching the Rangers-Devils game for five minutes, and already Sean Avery has started a scrum near the Devils' bench and run a New Jersey forward into goalie Kevin Weekes, causing Weekes to leave with a head/neck injury.
In a preseason game.
Here's the transcript of the Lombardi interview. Just to clarify, this leaves the Kings with Aubin, Bernier and LaBarbera in goal. They are allowed, by the NHL, to carry all three in London thanks to eased roster restrictions. Once they get back to the states, they'll have to decide whether to use an extra roster spot on a third goalie. Bernier can play in nine games before the Kings must either a) send him back to his junior team or b) play him in a 10th game and burn a year of his NHL contract.
Here are the quotes:
Continue reading Lombardi, on Cloutier.
-- Brian Boyle and Lauri Tukonen have been sent to Manchester and Thomas Hickey has been sent back to his junior team. If my math is correct off the top of my head, Cloutier's departure will leave the Kings with 27 players, leaving two more cuts for tomorrow.
-- Lombardi says they're sending Cloutier to Manchester to give him work. Says he's physically fine but needs more games and will get them there. The plan is to bring Cloutier back to the Kings at some point, but that depends on how he performs.
-- If he's claimed coming back up, the Kings are on the hook for half of his total remaining salary, which would be $1.55 million this year and next, slightly prorated, I believe, depending on when it would happen.
-- No decision yet on Bernier. They're still playing it very close to the vest.
-- Keeping three goalies on the roster, even after London, is something they're considering. (Most likely to get Bernier his nine games before they have to make a decision.)
-- Boyle is still playing defense. They just wanted to get a look at him at forward the other night.
Full transcript of the interview will be on the way...
Here's what Lombardi told the Globe and Mail (they sure are fascinated with Cloutier up there...)
“The reality is, he hasn’t played for three years,” said Kings’ general manager Dean Lombardi. “The only way to really get his rhythm back and to get him where he needs to be is to get him to play. You see this in baseball all the time, where established pitchers have to do a form of rehab assignments if they lose their fastballs and the only way to get it back – to get totally confident – is to go back to the minors and do it.
“Obviously, we gave this a lot of thought. The bottom line is, we thought this was the only way we could get him back to where he was comfortable. Physically, he’s totally healthy. But as we all know with goaltending, a lot of it has to do with his confidence and his state of mind. The only way he was going to get it all together was to play and to play a lot and not have to do it at this level.”
Dean Lombardi will be addressing the Cloutier issue in about 40 minutes, so I'll get the answers up ASAP.
If a team took Cloutier off waivers right now -- not going to happen -- the Kings would be free and clear of his $3.1 million. But, as we learned last season with LaBarbera, if they attempt to recall him and someone grabs him, the Kings would have to pay half his salary. Would a team with goaltending woes be willing to take a $1.55-million chance? Perhaps, so this situation could get even more interesting once the season gets going.
From what I understand -- and I'm still waiting to hear official word on this -- it's a 24-hour waiver process. If the Kings started the process before 9 a.m. Pacific time today, we'll know by 9 a.m. Pacific time tomorrow what Cloutier's fate is. Teams can pluck him off waivers, but that's highly doubtful given his huge salary. The next logical step, after he clears waivers, would be an assignment to Manchester.
I will do my best to get both Crawford and Lombardi on the phone today, as well as firm up these details...
Ten days after training camp started, the Kings seem no closer to finding a No. 1 goalie. If anything, it's more distant than ever. Last night, Aubin started and stopped 13 of 15 shots. LaBarbera came in and stopped 12 of 16. Not exactly world-beating stuff, and when I talked to Marc Crawford today he didn't seem particularly enamored with either player's game.
``The goaltending was not good on the penalty kill but it was good 5-on-5,'' Crawford said. ``Aubin was probably the better of the two. LaBarbera did not have a top-flight night but he still had his moments. We're going to take every practice and every game into consideration. We're still going to take as much time as we need with this. It's not comfortable for anybody, but it is what it is.''
Crawford wouldn't say who he plans to start in goal Saturday. I asked him if he planned to play the guys he wanted to get a final look at, and he said only that he would put together a ``very competitive'' team.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Bernier is still hanging around...
As some of you noticed last night, Brian Boyle was playing center. I asked Marc Crawford about the switch today and here's what he had to say:
``We decided we were going to try him there one time,'' Crawford said. ``We told him right before game time and I really appreciated how well he dealt with it. When I came back from (a scouting trip in) Manchester last year, I was convinced that this guy had the ability to play at forward. But you also say, `Hey, he's got the ability to play both positions, so we want to see what his learning curve is.' We wanted to see him that one time at center. He was all right. He was every bit a good as I thought he would be. He's close to being a player in this league. The only question is how good he's going to be and how quickly he can be ready.''
Hmmm...there's a lot that can be read into those quotes. I understand what Crawford is saying, but it's hard to see it as just a one-game whim. Boyle is closer to being a NHL-ready forward than a NHL-ready defenseman. Has the Kings' depth on defense improved to the point that they want Boyle to make a more immediate impact, as a center?
We'll see. It will be interesting to keep tabs on Boyle when things start in Manchester. By the way, he had a goal while playing center last night.
The Kings will introduce a new mascot tomorrow on LAKings.com. Bailey, a lion, will make his arena debut Saturday during the Colorado game in Vegas. Bailey was named in honor of Garnet ``Ace'' Bailey, who served as the Kings' director of pro scouting for seven years and had a long NHL playing career before that. He will wear No. 72, apparently for the average temperature in Los Angeles.
Alexander Frolov and Michael Cammalleri both have mild groin strains. Frolov will be kept out of action for a week but is expected to be back for the season opener. Cammalleri is expected to play Saturday in Las Vegas. Frolov got hurt at the end of the final practice in El Segundo while Cammalleri got hurt early in Tuesday's exhibition game as he took a slap shot.
More later from Crawford about Boyle, the goaltenders and the penalty kill.
From the NHL's press release on the London games... I know several people in the Kings organization who will be surprised to learn that ``everybody...is thrilled'' about the trip to London.
“This is a historic and exciting event for the Kings, the NHL and The O2 Arena,” said Timothy J. Leiweke, who in addition to serving as Kings Governor serves as President & CEO for AEG, the parent company of the Kings and owners and operators of The O2. “Everybody associated with the Kings and AEG is thrilled with the unique opportunity to take our team and the great game of hockey overseas. There could not be a better venue than The O2 to host such an event. The Kings-Ducks rivalry has been a lot of fun for many years in Southern California. The NHL Premiere Series in England takes it to an unprecedented level.”
Rob Blake, Michael Cammalleri, Derek Armstrong, Alexander Frolov and Dan Cloutier are among the Kings scheduled to play in Luc Robitaille's charity poker event Friday night at the MGM. If you're going to be in Vegas, swing by the poker room at 6:30 p.m. and you should see the Kings and other celebrities starting to play. If you're playing and want any tips, I'm an avid poker player.
As Rich said, we wish we could travel with the team. I tried multiple times to sell the editors on going to Vegas but was told the travel budget is too tight right now.
A pretty awful night for the Kings, or at least it would seem from the numbers. Outshot 31-20, allowed four power-play goals and LaBarbera stopped only 12 of 16 shots.
The Kings got goals from Harrold, Armstrong and Boyle and nobody had more than one point tonight. Zeiler was on the ice for both of the Avs' even-strength goals and Willsie, productive once again, led the Kings with five shots on goal.
Stastny and Brunette both had four-point nights for the Avs.
I'm expecting to talk to Crawford tomorrow, so we'll see what he has to say about it...
Another power play goal...the previous goal was actually by Stastny, his second. This goal was by Hensick, his second, with an assist from Hannan. Brunette and Liles had the assists on Stastny's goal.
LaBarbera has allowed four goals on 13 shots. Seven minutes remaining in the third period.
The Kings had to kill a 5-on-3 power play for 55 seconds after a Visnovsky penalty, and they couldn't. Hensick gets his second goal of the game, from Hannan, with 8:03 remaining in the third period. LaBarbera has allowed three goals on 12 shots (I believe).
Boyle scored, with assists from Giuliano and Murray, at the 8:21 mark. It was described as a 12-foot wrister. Kings are now going on the power play.
Brunette from Stastny and Sakic, 44 seconds into the third period.
It's getting confusing going back and forth between live stats and delayed, but Nick and Daryl just mentioned that Boyle is playing forward tonight. That will definitely be a topic of conversation tomorrow.
Avs 3, Kings 1
The Avs are outshooting the Kings 20-11. Each team took two penalties in that period but the Avs got the only power-play goal, and one even-strength goal. It would seem that LaBarbera stopped four of five shots after he replaced Aubin.
LaBarbera is in for Aubin, who stopped 13 of 15 shots. Maybe. Who knows? I believe the switch was made right after the second Colorado goal.
Now, there are five minutes left in the second period and the Avs are going back on the power play. Boyle off for hooking.
Hensick scores on the power play for the As, from Brunette and Stastny, 10:43 into the second period. Scott Thornton was in the box with his second penalty of the night.
Gotta love it...the NHL's score sheet credits Budaj with having played 37 minutes...and we're 30 minutes into the game. This game needs some Benny Hill music as a sound bed.
I believe Aubin allowed that goal, and that LaBarbera is now in the game.
Peter Harrold scored on the power play, 2:16 into the second period. Assists to Dallman and Handzus.
Avs 1-0
Aubin stopped eight shots in that period but the Kings were outshot 9-4. The official scoresheet is a mess but it looks as though the Kings failed on three power-play chances.
This is giving me a headache.
This time it was Ivanans vs. Dale Purinton. Use your imagination as to how it turned out. Seems as though Purinton also got a game misconduct for the instigator.
4:47 left in the first period.
No radio, and spotty internet coverage. Please, please, let someone step up and defend Gary Bettman. Baseball's spring training games have full internet coverage and most of them are on XM. Hockey? *crickets*
The Kings have had two power plays but have yet to record a shot with the man advantage. They're being outshot 7-3 with 5:15 left in the first period. Stastny's goal remains the only one of the game.
It would seem that there was just a fight between Brian Boyle and Ian Laperriere. There's one I would have liked to have seen...
Thanks to an astute reader, you can find the game audio (Colorado version) at http://www.fan950.com
By the way, the Kings are without a shot through the first 8:18. Still 1-0 Avs.
Paul Stastny scored 64 seconds into the game, from Jaroslav Hlinka and T.J. Hensick. It's Aubin in net for the Kings. vs. Budaj.
Here's the lineup tonight for the Kings: Blake, Stuart, Armstrong, O'Sullivan, Visnovsky, Willsie, Klemm, Handzus, Thornton, Giuliano, Dallman, Ivanans, Preissing, Nagy, Harrold, Murray, Boyle, Zeiler, Aubin, LaBarbera.
From what I understand, the game in Denver will be streamed on 1150-AM's website, but for anyone who might not be able to listen to it for some reason, I'll provide periodic updates throughout the game. I'm not expecting the final cuts to take place until Saturday, but if for some reason they happen tonight, I'll get that news as well.
For now, here's something you might want to check out. One of our writers, Justin Frank, is a budding video guru and shot some clips of my interviews with a few guys the other day. This is the kind of stuff we're working on for the future, so in a way you're getting to see the evolution of online journalism here. There will be more cool stuff once the season gets going.
I actually posted this yesterday...on the Laker blog. No joke. And it only took me several hours to figure it out! Anyway, it's still relevant, so here goes:
I tried to push Marc Crawford a little on the fourth line today, to see who he might be leaning toward, but he didn't give much. In fact, he resisted the tag ``fourth line'' a bit, but then, a few minutes later, referred to Ivanans as a ``fourth-line player.'' Hmmm...oh well. Anyway, here's what he had to say about it.
``You like every line to be different,'' Crawford said. ``We're trying to see which combinations work well together. In terms of who is going to round out our lineup, we've got a lot of options. It makes it easier when you have more depth. If we play against a team that's more physical, we can put a physical line out there. If we play against a team that's more skilled, we can put a skilled line out there. We have a lot of people who can fit into those roles.''
Which makes it likely that the 13th and 14th forwards (if they keep 14) on the Kings' roster will get a good share of work this season.
According to reports today, the NHL board of governors is likely to vote, in November, to scrap the ``unbalanced schedule'' beginning in 2008-09. That means every team from the East would once again play in Los Angeles every year. Some folks within the Kings think it would help their travel also. Or, more accurately, hurt the East Coast teams, who wouldn't be as fresh when the playoffs come around. That's the theory, anyway.
Things certainly came to an abrupt end here. The furious pace of training camp ended when the team left for Denver last night, and left behind all the writers in Los Angeles. It's terribly frustrating for Matt or myself not to be able to travel, and if I say any more than that I might get in trouble with the people who distribute my paychecks. So, yeah.
I'm trying to organize something with the Kings' PR folks so that I can talk to Crawford on a regular basis, or at least have access to what he's saying in media sessions. That will be the best way to remain plugged in while the team is away. I'll do what I can.
To that end, I've put out a message seeking info about why Cammalleri didn't play late. I would imagine it's the same as many folks have been saying...that they just wanted to get a look at other guys, but when I hear something more official, I'll let everyone know.
The Kings were outshot 38-22. A big reason for that was the 10 power plays the Kings allowed. Both goalies played pretty well given the pressure. By adding a shorthanded goal, the Kings were only outscored 2-1 on the 10 power plays.
Brian Willsie led the team with six shots, scoring once and adding two assists. I've heard talk around camp that he's the most-improved King from last season.
Jack Johnson spent a team-high 33:32 on the ice and looked good, getting an assist. After the game, he talked about the first NHL game he ever attended. He was 14 years old and it was a Kings game with his bantam hockey team. He was able to go into the Kings locker room after the game and Blake gave him his stick. He's never told Blake this story.
Clouts looked pretty good today. Allowed one bad goal but then came up big in the shootout.
``It was better. It's going take a little bit of time for me to get back to where I want to be but tonight I did feel better than last game, which is a good sign. I felt my movement from side to side was a lot better''.
``My hip is feeling pretty good. I think coming in the first couple practices it didn’t feel so great but as training camp is coming along, it's feeling good in practice. I had some great saves in both games and also had goals I should have had, so it’s getting there. It’s frustrating but I’m sure now that we're going to be cutting down again I'll get to see more NHL guys on a regular basis, which is good for a goaltender.''
On final save in shootout: ``I actually bit a little bit too much on his move but that’s just one of those things that you don’t give up and you try to throw any part of your body there. He happened to throw it in my glove, which was nice.''
On cuts earlier today: ``Today was a tough day because some of our best young prospects had to be sent down. Some guys who will probably end up making the team, in the grand scheme of things, won't be as good as some of the players we sent down today. Marc-Andre Cliche I think will be a very good player in this league, as with Trevor Lewis and Edward Purcell. I think Joe Piskula is a player that's going to play for a long time as a solid, two-way defenseman. Matt Moulson was probably one of our better players in camp but at left wing now with O'Sullivan, Calder and Cammalleri, that's a pretty tough left side to crack. Then Thornton and Ivanans add some toughness and experience. We just don't have a position available for Matt Moulson right now, although if this had been any other time, he certainly deserved a longer look. He did everything we asked and he improved. As we told him, just make sure to take another step.''
On Cloutier: ``Cloutier had his moments. He made a couple of big saves. Obviously, in the shootout he made a great save to win the game for us. I didn't like the wrap-around goal for sure. There are a lot of wrap arounds now. It just seems like that's the way the game is going. There are lots of battles around the net and we need to make sure we communicate well. But that was one I didn't like.''
On Bernier: ``I thought he was very good. He had a lot of penalties to kill and he looked very calm and sure of himself. Again, I praise him because he's really made our jobs difficult, which is what you like from a young guy.''
On 10 Sharks power plays: ``We took a few penalties you can't take, the ones where you take an extra shot at a guy. Nobody likes hooking calls. We got to realize if you bring the stick up to waist level, the refs might think there's some impediment there. It's the first exhibition game where we haven't been good in that regard. It made the game such that we had so many penalties to kill, and that's where the shot differential came from.''
Richard Petiot was sent to Manchester and Wayne Simmonds to juniors. So it looks like Thomas Hickey will stay with the team through Vegas.
Dustin Brown scored a sweet goal, faking Patzold to the ice and shooting over him. Then Dan Cloutier came up big against Torrey Mitchell, who had already scored twice in the game. Mitchell tried to fake left and go right but Clouts made a diving, glove save. Notes and quotes from the locker room to come. Very soon since the blog isn't working well and this came back with an error message when I tried to post on my way to the locker room.
Douglas Murray scores for San Jose with just over three minutes to go. Can't blame Cloutier. He made two nice saves in the previous minute but was screened out on the quick goal. And on to OT. Why is there OT in an exhibition game, again?
OK, first there was a fight between Raitis Ivanans and Brad Norton. They measured each other out for so long that it didn't look like anything was going to happen. But then they went at it with a flurry of punches. Looked like Ivanans got the better of it. He wrestled Norton to the ice and threw a couple more punches while he was down. Norton got up bloodied.
Thirteen seconds later, Brady Murray tipped in a beautiful pass from Anze Kopitar. But it only took the Sharks another 19 seconds to get back within one when Graham Mink jammed a rebound between Cloutier's legs. 5-4 Kings 12:33 left.
Just over a minute into the third period, Jack Johnson broke up a play and set up a 2-on-1 that resulted in a Dustin Brown goal between the goaltender's legs. Kings up 4-3.
Kyle Calder got his third goal of the preseason to tie it at 3-3 at the end of two periods. Sharks goalie Dimitri Patzold made the key mistake, letting the puck go off his stick and behind the net, where Brian Willsie got to it and put it in the crease for the oncoming Calder.
Cloutier allowed a goal just minutes into his shift, though there wasn't much he could do. Torrey Mitchell scored his second goal of the game off a perfect setup. The power-play goal puts the Sharks ahead 3-2 with six minutes to go in the second period.
There was a scuffle behind the Kings net after Sharks winger Steve Bernier elbowed Kings defenseman Peter Harrold hard into the boards. Brian Boyle and Brian Willsie came to Harrold's defense. Harrold was down for a couple minutes before leaving the ice.
Steve Bernier got five minutes for roughing and a game misconduct. The Kings took advantage when Willsie scored a one-timer off the right post off a pass from Kyle Calder on the power play to tie the game at 2-2.
Wayne Simmonds is in the game.
San Jose center Torrey Mitchell was allowed to camp in the slot and scored past Bernier on a pass from Devin Setoguchi behind the net. Sharks take 2-1 lead six minutes into the second period.
Facing his fourth power play, Bernier allowed a goal when Devin Setoguchi chipped a shot over his diving reach. Game tied at 1-1 3:07 left in the first period.
The Kings were outshot 10-0 in the first nine and a half minutes but scored the game's first goal when Derek Armstrong took a pass from Kyle Calder and found the left side of the net wide open on a power play exactly 10 minutes in. Bernier is again looking good, stopping those first 10 shots and shutting down two San Jose power plays. He's made two stellar saves, including moving to his left for a glove save against Milan Michalek -- one of his four saves on the second power play.
I'll have notes for you during and after tonight's exhibition game against San Jose. As Rich said, Bernier could really make things interesting with another strong performance tonight. We'll see what happens. This is probably Thomas Hickey's last chance to see some game action before he is sent down.
A couple more quotes from Bernier from this afternoon...
On whether he views this as his challenge, to make the team: ``Yes, for sure. Last year, my goal was to win the President's Cup and the Memorial Cup (with Lewiston of the QMJHL). That didn't happen but we played pretty good. I told myself, `Just be the best goaltender in your league and then see what happens.' I think I did that, and now my goal, for sure, is to be here (in the NHL). Dean and Ron told me, `You have to earn it.'''
On the adjustment to the NHL level of play, both in practice and his first exhibition game: ``It was OK. My timing was off a little bit. It's always harder to et into the game in the second half, but I think it was good for a first game. But I had a lot of practice time with these guys. I think it's harder to stop guys in practice than in a game because there's so pressure for them. They can shoot harder and with no pressure.''
Nobody in the Kings' organization will ever say this, but I have to believe this is pretty close to a nightmare scenario for them. The goaltending situation was already tough enough with Cloutier and LaBarbera, but now they have to weigh three goaltenders and make sure they don't do harm to their best goalie prospect.
It's becoming clear that Jonathan Bernier, age 19, can play in the NHL. The question is, is this the right time for him to be in the NHL? Would he be better off with on-the-job training or better off with another year of confidence-building seasoning in junior hockey? Bernier is pretty certain of the answer.
``I learned a lot last year and I'm ready for this,'' Bernier said. ``I don't want to go back to juniors. My focus is to play here.''
So if Bernier has been the Kings' best goalie at training camp, what's holding him back? That would be the ghost of Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh's No. 1 pick in 2003. Fleury, who had three years of junior experience, started the 2003 season as the Penguins' goalie. (Coincidentally, Fleury split time with J.S. Aubin that season and made his debut in a loss to the Kings.) Fleury had mixed results and ended up being sent back to his junior team in January. Due in part to the lockout, Fleury didn't become a full-time NHL goalie until last season, and the Penguins received some criticism for rushing him.
The Kings don't want to do that with Bernier. Problem is, because he isn't yet 20 years old and hasn't yet played four years of junior hockey, they can't send him to the AHL. So it's either the NHL, where he might not be ready, or the juniors, where he already proved that he's far and above the competition.
The Kings aren't tipping their hand. From the start, Crawford has said he will wait as long as necessary to make a decision about the goaltending.
``He's a good young goaltender and he's going to be a high-end goaltender,'' Crawford said. ``The question is how quickly he's going to take that step.''
A third option would be to keep Bernier in Los Angeles as a test run. He can play up to nine games at the NHL level and still be returned to Lewiston. Crawford wouldn't budge when asked about this possibility.
``I don't want to put something in front of them other than what's in front of them,'' Crawford said. ``They have to focus on what's in front of them, and I wouldn't want to cloud that.''
Too late. Bernier is clearly thinking about making the team. At the same time, he knows a roster spot isn't going to be handed to him.
``I'm just going to try to play well tonight,'' Bernier said. ``After that hopefully I'll get another game. When they give me a chance, it's my ball. I have to run with it and it's up to me to play good.''
Cliche, Lewis, Moulson, Parse, Piskula and Purcell are headed to Manchester.
With the removal of those first two guys, the battle for that fourth-line center spot is down to Brady Murray vs. Jeff Giuliano. John Zeiler has put in some time at center but it would be a stretch to include him there.
The Kings are down to 33 players, and I would expect to see a couple more cuts tonight or tomorrow, most likely after tonight's game.
After tonight's game at Staples Center, it's wheels up for the Kings, for the start of that traditional Denver-Las Vegas-Salzburg-London road trip...
Here's the expected lineup for tonight's game: Calder, Armstrong, Frolov, Cammalleri, Kopitar, Brown, Simmonds, Murray, Tukonen, Ivanans, Giuliano, Zeiler, Modry, Johnson, Boyle, Harrold, Petiot, Dallman, Hickey, Bernier, Cloutier.
Bernier is expected to start and play the first 30 minutes of the game. I talked to Bernier today and later on I'll have some stuff from him. I'll say this much...his situation is the most interesting and complicated training-camp issues I've seen in a while.
The fourth-line shuffle continues. Tonight it's Giuliano paired with Ivanans and Zeiler. In the non-game group, Cliche was skating with Thornton and Willsie. I definitely get the feeling that the fourth line is going to be very fluid, with different guys in there every night depending on what the matchups look like. Even so, Crawford can't keep all these guys around. At least a couple will not be on the roster.
Cuts are expected after tonight's game, to get down to 30 or 31 players. The Kings must be down to 25 players by the time they leave for Austria on Saturday night.
More later...
Perhaps this is a good time to look at where things stand with the Kings, roster wise.
The way I see it at this point, 12 forwards are pretty much assured of roster spots. That would be Brown, Kopitar, Cammalleri, O'Sullivan, Handzus, Nagy, Calder, Armstrong, Frolov, Thornton, Willsie and Ivanans. You can put them on different lines, but that's probably a solid dozen right there. That still leaves open the fourth-line center spot, which now becomes a battle between Giuliano, Murray, Lewis and quite possibly Zeiler, who has been skating at center. Cliche is still recovering from his offseason injury and probably won't be in the mix.
On defense, you're most likely looking at Blake, Visnovsky, Stuart, Preissing, Johnson and Modry.
Include two goalies, and we're probably talking about two open roster spots at this point. There will be at least one extra defenseman, and the candidates there are Dallman, Harrold, Klemm and Petiot. Then you're either looking at a 14th forward, an eighth defenseman or a third goalie. (This, of course, is post-London, when the eased roster limitations are finished.)
So...what to do? Lombardi has said it before...if a young guy earns a spot, it creates an opportunity to trade a veteran. It seems, then, that the Kings' course of action will depend on how much they're impressed by players such as Murray, Lewis, Zeiler, Harrold and Petiot.
These last three North American exhibition games will hold a lot of internal drama...
I got a chance to catch up with Tom Preissing, who was probably the least-heralded of the Kings' free-agent acquisitions but is fresh off the experience of playing in the Stanley Cup Finals in Ottawa.
Preissing said the process of adjusting to the Kings has been made easier by the fact that he played two years in San Jose. Although, in all honesty, there aren't many players left from those Kings teams that Preissing faced with the Sharks in 2005-06, for instance.
Preissing signed a four-year contract with the Kings.
``The free-agent process, as a whole, is a great experience,'' Preissing said. ``You can get the feeling that teams really want you. You know you're going to go to a team that wants you and values you as a player. I picked the Kings because there's so much young talent here. It's only a matter of time before this organization is a real good organization.''
Preissing had a plus-40 rating in 80 games with Ottawa last season. With the Sharks in 2005-06, he had career highs with 11 goals and 32 assists.
The Kings' top line is likely to feature Cammalleri, Brown and Kopitar. Cammalleri and Brown spent a season on the same line in Manchester during the lockout year and both thrived. Cammalleri had 46 goals and 63 assists while Brown had 29 goals and 45 assists. They were partnered with Brad Smyth, who is now playing professionally in Germany.
If you listen to Marc Crawford, 29 goals shouldn't even be the NHL ceiling for Brown. Crawford said late last season that Brown has 30-goal potential, and it seems as though he's going to have the opportunity to reach that plateau, playing first-line minutes along with time on the power play.
Brown increased his goal total from 14 to 17 last season but will be counted on to make an even bigger jump this season.
``Last year I think I could have had 20 or more,'' Brown said. ``It's just a matter of bearing down and getting opportunities. If I get at least three shots a game, there's no reason I can't score 20 goals or more.''
Awful goaltending leads to awful penalty killing, so the Kings had that going against them last season. In general though, there's been a big push in training camp to improve the penalty kill, which was the worst in the league last season at 77.9 percent. Right now, the Kings are holding a special-teams scrimmage, in which they're taking time to specifically look at how players respond in PK and PP situations.
``We want to see which guys can help us in that regard and which guys have those instincts,'' coach Marc Crawford said. ``It's about how they move and think and handle the puck and make plays in tight quarters.''
Players such as Michal Handzus, Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar have already proven their penalty-killing skills to Crawford, who pointed out players such as Nagy, O'Sullivan, Thornton, Giuliano, Cliche, Lewis, Murray, Klemm and Zeiler as players he wanted to get a look at in today's workout.
Given that Jonathan Bernier is still eligible for juniors, there is a twist to his story. Theoretically, the Kings could choose to keep him as a third goaltender, and he could appear in up to nine games before the Kings would have to decide whether to keep him or send him back to Lewiston. If he appears in 10 games, it would cost the Kings a year of his contract. According to the Kings' Jeff Solomon, the rule for goalies is still 10 games played, not just the Kings' first 10 games, although I'm also told that there might also be a deadline date, in terms of returning players to juniors.
So there's something else to think about.
As I said earlier, the Kings are starting to get into the blood and guts of training camp here. There will be another round of cutdowns after tomorrow night's game, which will take the roster down to either 30 or 31 players.
One thing I've been curious about is the defensive pairings. With so many newcomers, it will be interesting to see how they fit together. Rob Blake and Lubomir Visnovsky seems natural enough. So does Brad Stuart and Tom Preissing, since they have some history together in San Jose. That leaves Jack Johnson, most likely to play with Jaroslav Modry, something he's been doing fairly consistently since the start of camp.
The choice is somewhat limited, since Crawford said Johnson looks more comfortable playing on the right side. That eliminates a potential pairing with Blake and leaves Modry and Stuart as the most likely candidates.
Crawford said: ``It would be wonderful if we had a guy like Ray Bourque, that type of veteran who talks a lot on the ice and would make him feel comfortable. A Larry Robinson-type player, who could be a mentor and a guiding force for him. We have that in Rob Blake, but if we play him on the right side that doesn't allow us to play him with Rob. We've got some good people, like Stuart and Modry, who should be helpful. We'll have to see how that goes.''
Johnson said he played on the right side at Michigan. I asked him if he has felt comfortable playing with anyone in particular.
``I've been playing with Modry for most of training camp,'' Johnson said. ``He's a lot of fun to play with and he knows his stuff. I learn something from him every time I'm on the ice.''
Much was made of the Blake-Johnson mentoring, and it's taking place. Johnson said Blake will come up to him on the ice and offer little pointers, or sometimes just chat.
``He talks to me when we're standing in line (for drills),'' Johnson said. ``Sometimes it's not even about hockey. Sometimes he will just come up and say, `What's going on?'''
Good to be back here in Southern California, and Matt gets a well-deserved day off from writing and blogging. It's hard to believe that there's only one day of camp left in Los Angeles. After Tuesday night's preseason game, we won't see the Kings in Los Angeles again until Oct. 1.
Crawford switched things up today and had the whole group -- 39 players, minus Scott Parse (more on that later) -- on the ice together at the same time for the first time. For the first time, you're starting to see how the team might take shape. In fact, later today I think I'll do a bit of analysis of where the Kings are, in terms of line matchups and available roster positions. There are some interesting scenarios shaping up. I also have interviews with Crawford, Jack Johnson, Dustin Brown and Tom Preissing.
And here's the biggest one. Talk to people who have watched a lot of training camp, and you'll hear that Jonathan Bernier just might be the Kings' best goalie. It's going to be very interesting to see what they do with him. I think the decision is going to be harder than anyone anticipated. The thought process is twofold...one, the Kings have to make sure he's ready to play. Two, they have to make sure they don't stunt his development. It's a tough, tough thing, and the last thing Crawford wants to do this season is mess up the goaltending situation.
Here's how some of the major players practiced:
Brown-Kopitar-Cammallieri
O'Sullivan-Handzus-Nagy
Calder-Armstrong-Frolov
Thornton-Giuliano-Willsie
Visnovsky-Blake
Stuart-Preissing
Modry-Johnson
I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but Scott Parse has a bad back. He hurt himself lifting weights right before camp started and he's been off the ice. He's been cleared to skate, and did so after practice today. No timetable yet on when he might practice.
Lots of special-teams work at practice today, and there will be another session this afternoon dedicated specifically to special teams.
Kyle Calder got stitches on his chin and under his eye after practice Friday.
After playing separate groups in the first two exhibition games, Crawford said he would mix them up for Tuesday against San Jose, though a lot of the players would be ones from the first exhibition game.
Rob Blake, the only player to play in both exhibition games against the Ducks, will be held out until Wednesday in Colorado.
On the cuts ...
``The two goalies, unfortunately there were not enough games to spread around. I think both those goalies are ver good ``A'' prospects for us. Unfortunately, they're going to have to find they're way back up here through the road at Manchester. That's not bad. That's exactly where they should start. It would have been nice to see them but we don't have the games.''
``On defense, the guy sent down I'm most excited about is Patrick Hersley. I think he is going to be a very good player. I thought Bagnell played well last night. Those guys showed the most promise.''
``Up front, I thought Gabe Gauthier has taken a step in the right direction but he's still got a major step to go, and he knows that. I think the other forwards we sent down can be put in the category of expected. Some are still in the infancy of their careers. I really like David Meckler. I think he has a good chance. I like Perry's competitiveness. Dravecky has a good chance. But they need more time.''
More on Hersley: ``I think Patrick's read is top shelf. He has the ability to read and make good decisions, which is a big part of being a good defender. He has some big-time skill, a terrific shot, really good power. There's no question for me that he is going to be a guy who is going to be heard from in our organization.''
Sent to Manchester: D Troy Milam, RW David Meckler, LW Paul Crosty, RW Kevin Westgarth, D Brendan Buckley, LW Gabe Gauthier, LW Dany Roussin, LW Ned Lukacevic, LW Adam Perry, C Patrick Jarrett, D Joe Ryan, D Patrick Hersley, D Drew Bagnall, D Jeff Likens, RW Vladimir Dravecky, G Erik Esberg, G Jonathan Quick.
39 players remain on the training camp roster.
No veterans practiced today so there won't be player interviews. The Kings are expected to make 19 cuts this afternoon. I'll have those for you when they are announced. I'll also have some quotes from Crawford.
for comments to post last night. Didn't realize Rich had it set so that we have to approve them before they go up.
Thomas Hickey, the Kings' 2007 first-round pick, did not get in the game. Crawford said Hickey would remain on the team for Tuesday's game against San Jose and that he hoped to get him some minutes then, though it might not happen.
Michael Cammalleri led the team with seven shots, netting one. Preissing had four shots coming up from defense.
Jonathan Bernier stopped 16 of 17 shots at goalie. Jason LaBarbera stopped 11 of 13.
The Kings were one-for-nine on power plays, also allowing a short-handed goal.
Blake played 23:04 in his second game in three days.
Tom Preissing
On his goal: ``Brady Murray made a great pass that ended up on my stick in the slot. You don't get many chances like that. It's nice to at least get a good shot on it.''
On first game action with Kings: ``Any time you move to a new team, the subtle nuances of how every team plays defense is tough to get used to. Basically the only way to get used to it is playing.''
Rob Blake
On Bernier: ``I thought he did really great for us. He's the type of goalie who doesn't move a lot. Everything seems to hit him. That goal that beat him, I don't think many goalies in our league would have stopped it.''
On defensive newcomers Preissing and Stuart: ``You saw some of the plays Preissing and Stuart make in the neutral zone and I think that's the style our team's kind of going to on defense, where guys are going to get the puck and move it out.''
Jonathan Bernier
On goal he allowed: ``I didn't see it. I think it was a set play. I just couldn't see anything. It was a great shot. It's just too bad in a tie game to give up a goal like that. I didn't feel like I played my ``A'' game. It seemed like everyrthing was fast. It's hard to get into a game like this (coming off the bench midway through). Hopefully if they give me another chance I'll do better.''
``You never like to lose but it is an evaluation period and we are playing a lot of people, trying to see how much development they need to move up the Los Angeles Kings' food chain. So we got a chance to see a lot of young players playing some pretty significant roles tonight, whether on the power play or a guy like Bernier playing in the net at the key time of the game, and how well he looked tonight.''
More on Bernier: ``Jonathan looks very poised. He really is square and I like the way the puck stays with him. He doesn't spit out a lot of rebounds. He looks like he's going to be a great goalie. I think the job of any player is to make it difficult for an organization to make a decision on you and I would be remiss if I didn't say he was making it difficult for us, but it's just one game.''
On the newcomers: ``I thought Nagy, Handzus, Preissing and Stuart were all quite good tonight. For our first chance to see them in action, we were pleased. That was a pretty good outing for them. Those four particularly were amongst our more composed and evident players.''
Ryan Getzlaf took advantage of a screen and scored top shelf over Bernier, who never saw the puck. The Ducks took advantage of only their second power play of the game to take a 3-2 lead with 5:32 remaining.
Kings left wing Dustin Brown checked Andy McDonald sliding across the ice. Sean O'Donnell took exception to the hard hit on the Ducks' number-one center and hit Brown against the boards. Players converged behind the Kings goal but it quickly turned into just O'Donnell and Brown rolling on the ground while the other players clutched. O'Donnell got up with a bloody nose. The Kings got a power play out of it as O'Donnell got a 10-minute misconduct plus two minutes for roughing and two for instigating.
Showed some nice athleticism in making some saves near the end of the second period. Tied at 2-2 after two.
The Kings allowed a short-handed goal when Ducks forward Jason King took a pass from Ryan Carter and scored between LaBarbera's legs. But newcomer Tom Preissing quickly answered to tie it.
The Kings have used two power plays to take six shots in the first 5:30 of the second period. Some good opportunities but none have gone through. The Kings are 0-for-5 on power play opportunities in the game.
Gets his own rebound and goes top shelf to the right corner. Anze Kopitar and Rob Blake assisted.
Just a minute into the game and the Kings are down 1-0. Drew Miller went around the net and was stopped by LaBarbera but then got his own rebound and scored.
I hear Kings fans take over MGM. Anyone playing in Robitaille's poker tournament?
The last two first-round picks -- Thomas Hickey and Jonathan Bernier -- will be ones to watch tonight. Jason LaBarbera was probably the favorite at goalie entering training camp, so we'll see if he can answer the challenge set by Jean-Sebastien Aubin on Thursday.
Jason LaBarbera is scheduled to start Saturday's game with Jonathan Bernier relieving him midway through.
Returned to junior team: G Linden Rowat, C Oscar Moller, C Dwight King, D Josh Kidd, D T.J. Fast, C Bryan Cameron, C Matt Fillier, C Bud Holloway.
Assigned to Manchester: G Daniel Taylor.
The Kings have 56 players remaining on the training camp roster.
On his play Thursday, stopping 17 of 18 shots: ``It was great getting into the game. I killed that 5-on-3 right away and that gave me a lot of confidence. It feels good to have a good start and show them that they didn't make a mistake signing me.''
On being the only player scheduled to play Saturday's exhibition game after also playing Thursday, and how his hip is holding up: ``It was good. I want to play as many as I can this training camp with the hip surgery to get back and get the feel of playing again. Everything felt pretty good last night.''
On being captain: ``It's great. It's always an honor to be able to do that. I had some time with it here years ago and enjoyed that. I learned some more from the guys in Colorado on some great teams I played on there. Hopefully I can bring some of that experience back here to probably a younger team than I've ever played on.''
Center Michal Handzus missed two weeks of training the second half of August after having his tonsils removed. Stuck in bed and unable to eat solid foods, he lost 10 pounds.
``It's not a great situation but it's better than it happening during the season,'' Handzus said. ``I feel like my strength is not there yet, but I have a whole training camp to get ready.''
Here's what Crawford had to say ...
``We're cutting down about 10 today. We'll cut again probably Sunday night. We got to get down in numbers. It's just a function of the way this camp has to be. In a usual year, when you have 8-9 exhibition games, this is a chance to see and reward people maybe for having a great camp. We don't have that luxury this year. We still want to reward people who have made a difference. One of those kids was Bud Holloway. We thought he really deserved a game last night. He's been one of the best scorers in camp. As a 19-year-old kid, we think he's got a little bit of promise. He showed us a lot and that's why we gave him a game last night. Usually, we like to do that with two, three, maybe four guys. We just don't have enough time. We'll let most of the junior kids go back today with the exception of Hickey, Simmonds and Bernier. They are the guys that are probably the closest in our minds to being ready to play in the national hockey level and we're going to keep them a little longer.''
On goaltending in Thursday's exhibition game: ``I thought our goaltending last night was very good at times, particularly on our penalty kill. I thought our penalty kill goaltending was a step up. I think the number of times we faced outnumbering situations, we needed key saves and we got them from both Clouts and particular J-S Aubin in the 5-on-3. If your penalty killing is going to pick up, your goaltending has to be the best part of it. I thought it was a step in the right direction.''
On Patrick O'Sullivan being strictly a winger: ``Yes. Not strictly. Strictly is a pretty strong word. There are not very many never-evers in our sport.''
More notes and player interviews coming over the next few hours ...
-- Blake will be the captain of the 2007-08 Kings. That won't be made official until the end of camp, but it's unofficially official, if you get my drift. I was just confused as to why he was wearing an ``A'' tonight. Even after I got the explanation, I'm still not sure why he was wearing an ``A.'' But I'll let it go... No word on alternate captains yet.
-- Zeiler is fine, after he got rocked in the first period by Matt Beleskey. Zeiler said it was the hardest he had been hit in three or four years and he felt fortunate not to end up with a concussion. He had a slight cut on the inside of his lip but didn't have a headache after the game. ``I'm usually the one giving the hits,'' Zeiler said.
-- Crawford pointed out Jack Johnson, Brian Boyle and Wayne Simmonds as three young players who he found particularly impressive. Crawford said of Boyle, ``Boyle showed that he will be able to play defense in this league. It's going to take some time but I think he's close.'' Boyle, for the most part, expressed relief about getting that first NHL game (albeit preseason) under his belt. ``I just tried to be as calm as I could with the puck,'' Boyle said. ``I tried to think less and just relax. ... If I think too much, it's just going to cause more problems than good.'' I asked him about the 5-on-3, when he went out with Blake and blocked a shot. ``Rob Blake was just kind of telling me where to go,'' Boyle said. ``We hadn't really practiced it. I'm just glad he hit me (with the shot). I don't think he got all of it.''
-- Dan Cloutier was in good spirits after the game and said he performed pretty much the way he expected. ``I thought the thing I would be rusty with would be plays with traffic in front, and that's how they got two of the goals,'' Cloutier said. ``I was seeing the puck well from the outside, or if they had open shots. I could see those. As long as I keep improving every time, it will improve my chances to be better.'' Cloutier pointed to one save, when he slid across the goal crease, as an example of his improved health. ``It's more natural now,'' Cloutier said. ``I don't have my hip locking up on me when I move.''
-- Crawford, on the goaltending: ``They did make some good saves. I didn't like the way (Cloutier) handled the puck behind the net and the carelessness of our defensemen with the puck behind the net. Anaheim is a good forechecking team so you have to prepare yourself for that. But it was a very positive night for our goaltenders.''
Inside the box score: Calder had two goals, Matt Moulson had a goal and an assist and Derek Armstrong and Lubomir Visnovsky each had two assists. Jack Johnson had a plus-two rating and Brian Boyle was minus-two but did have an assist and blocked five shots. Alexander Frolov took a team-high six shots on goal. The Kings outshot the Ducks 33-28 and won 30 of 65 faceoffs. The Kings were 2 for 10 on the power play and the Ducks were 1 for 4.
That's all from Anaheim. I'll be out of town until Monday so I'll leave the blog in Matt's capable hands.
Well, there's a preseason goal if you'll ever see one. Willsie just tossed one at the net and Levasseur looked like he was TRYING to miss the puck. Things happen... Just over four minutes remaining in the game.
Among non-veterans, I'm probably most impressed with Jack Johnson and Moulson tonight.
I think we're starting to see the impact of playing this game so early in training camp. Guys are slowing down quite a bit and the goalies are facing only scattered pressure. The Ducks are going on the power play here with 8:38 left in the third period.
The Kings managed to give away all of that four-minute power play, first with Armstrong's penalty (which led to a 4-on-4 goal) and then on a Calder hooking penalty.
Aubin just made the save of the night, with a pads stop on a Jason King breakaway.
We're five minutes into the third period.
Jason King deflected a slap shot from Beauchemin past Aubin to tie the game, 3:07 into the third period.
Through two periods, Frolov had six shots on goal. It's interesting, because I talked to him this morning about that topic and about how he's been criticized in the past for not shooting more.
Visnovsky is back on the ice,
Bobby Ryan just took a four-minute high-sticking penalty, but the Kings just gave two minutes of it back on Derek Armstrong's tripping penalty. We're two minutes into the third period.
Kings 4, Ducks 3
Calder came within a couple inches of a hat trick, as he nearly knocked home a rebound. Again, there has been continued solid pressure at the front of the Ducks' net. I don't know if that's a point of emphasis for the Kings or just the way it's working out.
Aubin stopped six shots in his 10 minutes of work. As for Cloutier, I would call it an average performance, although certainly better than what he showed most of last season. Traffic might have made it hard for him to see the first shot come off the stick, and the third goal was the result of a great pass from behind the net through traffic. He didn't make any brilliant saves and didn't face much action for most of the first period.
The Ducks had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:51 but didn't score. Brian Boyle was one of the three Kings on the ice at the start of the power play. Talk about baptism by fire. But Boyle blocked a shot on his shift. Aubin showed good movement and got a piece of a couple shots.
Still 4-3 Kings, 3:54 left in the second period.
J.S. Aubin is in for Cloutier, who stopped 7 of 10 shots.
J.P. Levasseur is in for Bryzgalov, who stopped 15 of 19 shots.
There's 9:45 left in the second period.
We can't even go a couple minutes without a goal here! Petteri Wirtanen threaded a nice pass from behind the net, through some traffic, to Dan LaCouture, who beat Cloutier with a high one-timer. The Ducks have now scored three goals on 10 shots. The Kings have four goals on 19 shots.
Just under 10 minutes remaining, and another power play coming up for the Kings.
Second goal of the game for Kyle Calder, from Boyle and Armstrong. Bryzgalov really doesn't look sharp. Then again, this is just the third day of camp for the Ducks, so that might have something to do with it, but he hasn't looked in the game from the start. Kings are doing a good job of getting traffic in front of him too.
We're nine minutes into the second period.
...of penalties, that is. He has taken three in the first 27 minutes of the game. The Kings just had a 5-on-3 power play for 77 seconds but the Ducks did a good job of blocking a couple shots on the perimeter.
Jack Johnson is moving the puck well and has gotten off a couple rocket shots. One led to a juicy rebound, but the Kings are having trouble finishing from close range. The opportunities are there but the pucks are just missing sticks.
We just had our first preseason fight, between Simmonds and Shane Hnidy. It wasn't much, lots of clutching and a couple jabs.
He throws his body around well, but he needs to get a lot stronger for the hits to have some impact. He seems to have good ice awareness though, so the other stuff can come as he gets older.
Cloutier has looked fairly solid, but he hasn't faced much. I agree with Gann that he might have gotten a late look at the shot on the Ducks' first goal.
As for teh jerseys, this is indeed the debut of the new Reebok jerseys.
Mike Hoffman scored an unassisted goal seven seconds into the second period. It's still Cloutier and Bryzgalov in the nets.
Kyle Calder just scored a goal that everyone should have seen. Calder took a quick drop pass from Armstrong and, as he was being undercut by a Ducks defender near the middle of the left faceoff circle, flipped the puck over Bryzgalov's shoulder and into the net. The puck went into the net with Calder parallel to the ice.
The goal came with 37 seconds left in the period, and now we're at intermission. Calder looked good in that period in general, lots of energy. Same for Zeiler. Visnovsky, not surprisingly, looks in midseason form. Boyle looks good at times, but he still looks a little uncertain when he has the puck behind his own net.
The Ducks scored on their first power play, with Dallman in the box for high sticking. Maxim Kondratiev ripped a one-timer from the middle of the right faceoff circle. Cloutier slid across but couldn't get a glove on the high shot. 5:16 left in the period.
Matt Moulson just came down the left side and beat Bryzgalov with a pedestrian shot that Bryzgalov saw the whole way. Visnovsky with the assist. A power-play goal, 12:12 into the period.
The lines are a little goofy tonight, because the Kings have 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Looks like Frolov, Armstrong and Calder together as the top line.
Cloutier hasn't really been tested much but he has four saves.
The Kings are about to start their third power play, and we're just over 11 minutes into the game. The Kings have yet to take a penalty. Zeiler is back on the ice and just had a good look at the net.
Gabe Gauthier knocked in a rebounded after a scrum in front of the net, three seconds after the end of a power play. Dallman and Moulson got the assists.
A couple other things...Rob Blake appears to be wearing an ``A'' on his jersey, which is weird because nobody else on the team seems to be wearing a letter, including Derek Armstrong.
The new jerseys don't look too great. With the all-white tops, it looks like a jersey that hasn't been tucked in.
John Zeiler just got slammed into the boards by someone named Matt Beleskey. Zeiler was down for a while and needed a trainer's help, but eventually got up and skated off the ice quickly.
We're two minutes in, and Cloutier has yet to allow a goal. Just to let you know...
Sitting here at Honda Center, where last season ended, it's hard to believe we actually had a summer. It feels as though Game 5 of the Cup Finals could have been about a month ago, not three months.
Something else I forgot to add this morning... There are a couple familiar faces around El Segundo these days. Pete Demers is working with the training staff during camp, in order to deal with the large numbers of players in camp. Pete is doing well and will be recognized at the Hockey Hall of Fame inductions in November, as part of his recent induction into the Trainers' Hall of Fame. Bill Gurney, the Kings' video guru until last season, is back working with the team full time in the role of video technician.
Here are the rosters for tonight. Both teams are brining out the big names on defense...
KINGS: Aubin, Cloutier, Ersberg, Petiot, Johnson, Blake, Armstrong, Visnovsky, Calder, Willsie, Frolov, Klemm, Westgarth, Dallman, Ivanans, Modry, Holloway, Gauthier, Simmonds, Lewis, Moulson, Boyle, Zeiler.
DUCKS: Bryzgalov, Levasseur, Hnidy, Kunitz, Getzlaf, Parros, Kondratiev, O'Donnell, Marchant, Beauchemin, Pronger, LaCouture, Moen, Keith, Segal, King, Hoffman, Skinner, Carter, Ryan, Salcido, Wirtanen, Mikkelson, Beleskey.
Here's my notebook that ran in the paper today.
This quote from Blake was supposed to run as the last paragraph in the first note but was cut by editors:
``If you look at the Ducks and the way they were built with young players, we’re in that similar mold but maybe a couple years behind that,’’ Blake said. ``We want to get to that level too.’’
Even though training camp is just a couple days old, it's already time for the first game. It's coming even quicker for the Ducks, who didn't start skating until Tuesday. The teams play tonight in Anaheim and Saturday in L.A.
The Kings' roster tonight is more defense-heavy, with guys such as Blake, Visnovsky, Johnson, Boyle, Klemm, Modry, Dallman and Petiot available to play. The top forwards are guys such as Frolov, Armstrong, Calder, Willsie and Zeiler, and kids such as Lewis and Simmonds should get a look too. Dan Cloutier and J.S. Aubin will each play around 30 minutes.
I talked to Alexander Frolov today and I'll try to get some of his quotes up in a little bit.
I'll be providing live game updates on the blog tonight, for those who might be out of radio range, and some reports from the locker room after the game.
These type of things don't always translate to the ice, but I can say that Patrick O'Sullivan seems a lot more confident, just in personal dealings with him. At camp last year he was quiet, maybe even a little on the aloof side. This year he just seems a lot more comfortable in his own skin, so I'll be interested to see how that translates on the ice.
During the first couple days, O'Sullivan has been moved around a little bit, but he seems to have gotten into a groove playing alongside Michal Handzus and Ladislav Nagy. I remember that this was a subject during the summer, about how the Kings would be well served if O'Sullivan could earn that spot alongside those two guys. So that's something to keep a close eye on during the rest of training camp.
O'Sullivan, now in his fourth NHL training camp, said he feels more confident and enjoys his new linemates.
``For sure. They're guys who like to move the puck and I think I can fit nicely with them and get myself open for some scoring chances,'' O'Sullivan said. ``Obviously they play well together. I don't understand Slovak but I think I already have a good read on how they like to play. When you play with two good players, it's pretty easy.''
Of course, it's too early to assume O'Sullivan has a spot on the team. It's likely, but he will need to maintain that consistent work ethic, something that put him in Marc Crawford's doghouse for a while last season.
Defenseman Thomas Hickey, the team's 2007 first-round draft pick, on his first NHL camp: ``It's been really neat. I didn't know what to expect coming in, but so far it has been a blast. Seeing these guys, they're professionals. You can learn from them on and off the ice, so I've enjoyed doing that.''
On working with Rob Blake on Tuesday: ``He's a guy I watched growing up all my life, a guy you look up to. To be giving him passes and vice-versa is something special to me, and I'm really trying to soak it all in right now. He's so calm. That's probably why he's made a very good living out of this. He doesn't get flustered on the ice. He keeps a really calm demeanor out there and that's nice for a young guy coming in who might have a couple jitters.''
On the higher level of play in an NHL camp: ``It's a pro camp so you got to expect that the guys are going to play like that, and they do. It's different than any hockey I've played before so I'm just trying to adapt to it and play accordingly.''
On the likelihood that he'll be sent back to juniors: ``I just try to put all that aside, really. I know that, in reality, that's probably going to happen. But if you come in thinking that then you're not really going to gain anything out of it. You might as well go out, give your best and see where you end up. If you get sent back to juniors, well you expected that in the first place. But why not try for something special. At the same time, I won't be let down or anything.''
On Thursday's game: ``Playing Anaheim, it should be a good atmosphere in there. Obviously, they’re very positive about their team right now. Even though it's an exhibition game, I’m sure they’ll have a pretty good following. And it will be exciting for our people. Some of the younger guys playing in their first game, that’s always a pretty monumentous happening. We’ll be looking forward to getting a read and seeing how guys play when playing against an opposition team instead of against a bunch of guys they’ve been around for a week or a week and a half for some.''
On who will play Thursday: ``Weve got a lot of NHL defenders so we’ll have a fairly veteran lineup there. I think we’ll play Boyle tomorrow on defense, Jack Johnson is going to play tomorrow. We’ll have six to seven rookies in the lineup and we’ll probably have a couple of kids from junior that will be in the lineup. We're not going to play Hickey or Bernier. We figured out we’ll give them an extra day to kind of get used to things and we’ll probably play them in the second game at home. We're going to play four goalies through first couple games. Aubin is going to play and Cloutier is going to play, so they’ll each at least play a half of a game.''
``I think we only have one guy who is going to play in both games. ... It's an older player, wears a single digit.''
On cuts: ``We'll probably send a lot of the junior guys back on the weekend, then we'll have our first cut down I would think Sunday or Monday, then continue to slim it down pretty quickly next week. We leave basically after our game on the 18th and don't come back until Oct. 1. We won't carry everyone throughout. To Europe, we're only going to bring 25 players. The numbers are pretty set. We're going to have three goalies, eight defenders and 14 forwards.''
On last center spot: ``We need someone in that position and that’s going to be a hotly contested position for the club this year. Candidates are going to be Brady Murray, Jeff Giuliano, we may try Zeiler there. We want to give consideration to the young guys that have come in and played really well and to me they’ve been Cliche and Lewis. That’s the candidates. I may have forgotten one other guy. I think Gabe Gauthier is going to play a little bit as well. Those are the guys who will get a little more opportunity to show what they got.''
On where the team needs to improve this season: ``I hope you see a big upgrade on our defensive game. You look at the stats where we have to improve. Our goals against has to be down. We can't hope to be in the playoffs if we don’t get our goals against down. There are a number of areas we looked at. We need to improve our penalty killing. That should help our goals against. We need to limit the shots against us, that's common sense that you should have less chances against you. Our goaltending has to improve, and our coverage has to be better. I know our team has an offensive flair to it. We have improved the offensive dynamics of this club. The greatest importance though is going to be at the other end. It has to be. We're 50 goals separated from all the teams that made the playoffs and we know we have to get better.''
First of all, old business. I asked Lubomir Visnovsky about that infamous summer interview, in which he was quoted as saying coach Marc Crawford had a ``Communist style'' and other unflattering things. Lubo told me that he never even spoke to the person who wrote that story. He said he did an interview with a television station and, in so many words, that his comments were twisted and used improperly. When I asked Lubo to clarify what he was saying, he said that Crawford is a coach who yells a lot, and it's a different experience for him as a European player because coaches usually don't have that style over there. Anyway, who knows, but Lubo seemed genuinely perplexed about the whole thing. He said someone had e-mailed the story to him and he was concerned that Crawford had read it and got the wrong impression.
Visnovsky is still kind of a tough interview, but his English is getting a lot better. I wish he was fluent, because he's truly a funny guy with a lot of personality. But it's still a little rough, so I'll be doing some paraphrasing here.
He said that after his broken foot, he didn't skate again until August, but that he spent a lot of time working with his conditioning coach. It looks that way, because Visnovsky appears to be in great shape in training camp. He said he will be 100 percent for the start of the season.
``For the first game in the NHL, you're 100 percent. In the second game it's 99 percent and then it's less and less,'' Visnovsky joked.
He also expressed great satisfaction with the five-year contract extension he signed this summer.
``It's good,'' Visnovsky said. ``Now I can focus just on hockey and I want to help this team win.''
Visnovsky seemed most pleased with the addition of countrymen Michal Handzus and Ladislav Nagy. Visnovsky had been close with Pavol Demitra and was extremely disappointed when the Kings traded Demitra.
``It's better for me, because we speak the same language,'' Visnovsky said. ``It's good to go on the road and speak to someone in my own language. Or sometimes if we lose the game, we can discuss.''
Finally,Visnovsky was asked about the trip to Europe, and how many friends he might have joining him there. Visnovsky said the trip is being greatly anticipated in Slovakia and said that he expected a couple thousand Slovakians to attend the games in London.
``I have lots of friends asking for tickets,'' Visnovsky said. ``That's tough for me. I need tickets for family.''
As a side note, Visnovsky said his brother (two years older) is playing in Slovakia's pro league, on the same team as former Kings forward Ziggy Palffy.
The Kings open their preseason schedule with a game tomorrow night at Anaheim. The team is basically going to be split. Half of the team will play tonight and the other half will play Saturday. Some of the young guys won't see any game action, but between the two games, the Kings should get at least 40 guys into some game action. Rob Blake is the only guy who will play in both games, because the Kings want to see how his hip will hold up.
An entire game roster isn't available, but I know that Cloutier and Aubin will each play half the game. Guys like Blake, Jack Johnson, Brian Boyle and John Zeiler will definitely be in. Thomas Hickey and Jonathan Bernier definitely won't. As for the others, the veterans most likely will be split between Thursday and Saturday.
Speaking of Saturday, that's when individual game tickets will be available for sale. The Staples Center box office will be open at 9 a.m. and Ticketmaster will begin selling tickets at 10 a.m. The Kings are holding an open practice at Staples on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m.
Things are starting to pick up a little bit. Some observations...
-- A potential line of Patrick O'Sullivan, Michal Handzus and Ladislav Nagy seems increasingly likely. O'Sullivan said he enjoys playing with those two, who are both great puck movers. Handzus and O'Sullivan seem to be developing some chemistry and, in general, Handzus has looked strong.
-- Today's guest commentary comes from Handzus, who saw my notebook sitting by the boards, picked up my pen and wrote, ``Derek Armstrong was terrific again.''
-- One interesting development...John Zeiler is going to get a look at center, and might get some shifts there in tomorrow night's game. That fourth-line center spot is going to be an interesting one. You'd have to consider Brady Murray a strong candidate, but if Zeiler can fill that role, it would be a great opportunity for him.
-- Today was the first day I took a good look at Thomas Hickey, and he looked smooth. Strength will be an issue until he bulks up a little, but technically he looks pretty solid and he moves the puck well consistently.
-- Along those lines, Brian Boyle's development is coming along well, but he needs to be careful with those passes out of his zone. For the most part, he's doing well at it, but even one lapse can lead to a goal in the NHL.
-- Team Murphy won the Rogie Cup. That was the team with Blake, Visnovsky, LaBarbera, Frolov, etc. The guys actually got into it. If Team Murphy and Team Berry had tied today, Team Goring would have won the competition through a tiebreaker, so a lot of the Team Goring guys were hanging out, watching the game. The goaltending looked solid again, with Cloutier starting on one end and LaBarbera on the other. Each gave up one goal, both on penalty shots.
Lots of player interviews coming throughout the afternoon, from both Matt and myself. Zeiler, O'Sullivan, Visnovsky, Stuart, Hickey... we'll give you the highlights throughout the afternoon here.
Dean Lombardi and Brian Burke had a conference call today, in advance of the London series. I don't know that any local reporters were on the call, since we were all at one of the teams' training camps today, but I thought I'd post the transcript, as provided by the NHL. On Lombardi's end, it covers some familiar ground...goaltending, free agency, etc.
Continue reading Lombardi/Burke transcript.
Goalie Jonathan Bernier practiced with the Kings for the first time Tuesday. He and defenseman Thomas Hickey played for Canada in the Canada-Russia Super Series over the past two weeks. They played a game in Vancouver on Sunday, woke up at 4 a.m. Monday, boarded a plane to Los Angeles and arrived in time to take physicals.
Bernier, who allowed one goal in two starts for Canada, said he felt like he was already in peak form entering training camp, and it showed with him getting glowing reviews from coach Marc Crawford for his first day.
``I know I didn't play many games but I had a lot of practice over there,'' Bernier said. ``We had a week in Moscow where we practiced two times a day. So I guess I'm in pretty good form right now. For sure I would have liked to participate in the prospect camp but I got some great experience.''
It was a big summer for Anze Kopitar, who spent some time in his native Slovenia after a highly successful rookie season. Kopitar helped his country qualify for the 2008 World Championships and basically received a hero's welcome everywhere he went in his country.
``It was a pretty big thing when I arrived,'' Kopitar said. ``I kind of expected it because everybody was telling me what a big deal it was. Sometimes it bothered me a little but it was fun. People I didn't even know would come up to me and start asking me questions and talk to me like they'd know me for years. I didn't want to be rude but I didn't want to be too nice either.''
Kopitar said he added muscle this summer but lost weight overall, and spent much of his offseason conditioning on strengthening his core. A balky back sidelined Kopitar late last season but he said it's no longer an issue.
And after a rookie season in which he often dazzled, and finished with 61 points in 72 games, Kopitar said he's raising his personal expectations.
``My personal goals are higher,'' Kopitar said. ``I don't want to expect too much from the season but I'm going in with a lot more confidence. I understand the game a little more. I lost a little bit of the feel during the four months off but I'll get it back real soon. I just have to raise my game to another level.''
Finally...Kopitar was asked about his impressions of Michael Cammalleri.
``He's hungry for the puck, especially in the offensive zone,'' Kopitar said. ``His attitude is great for the locker room. He likes to talk and he shows it on the ice, that he's a passionate guy.''
The intensity of practice was mentioned in a comment, and that -- more than the play of any individual player -- is the one thing that has really stood out to me in the first two days. It's much more noticable than in the last couple years. I attribute that to a couple things...1) The bitter taste of last season's failure...2) A sense of urgency, since camp is really compressed this year...3) The fact that these guys are in great shape. The rookies were pushed hard in their mini-camp last week, and a large percentage of the veterans took time to skate on their own.
Anze Kopitar's parents moved to Los Angeles from his homeland of Slovenia to see more of their son play in his second season. Matjaz Kopitar, Anze's father, took leave from coaching the Slovenian hockey team Jesenice. The rest of Anze's family will see him play later this month when the Kings travel to Austria for their final preseason warm-up.
``My grandparents and everyone, they'll be there,'' Kopitar said. ``Mostly they haven't seen an NHL team play live so there will be a lot of questions for tickets. I think it's just a two-to-three hour drive. It's really close and I think there will be a lot of fans in the stands.''
``We separated players today. Yesterday, we kind of gave a look at what we think will be our line combination and defensive pairs, though they're not written in stone. Today, what we wanted to see was our young prospects play with established veterans. So you saw Hickey play with Rob Blake. You saw Teddy Purcell on the line with Anze Kopitar and on and on. Simmonds played with Armstrong today and looked extremely good. We tried to give the guys who we think will be Kings in the future a chance to see how close they are and how they match up with those good veteran players. Boyle played the whole morning with Visnovsky. I sure liked how that looked. Visnovsky I thought was the best player on the ice in all the events today. It's great to see some of our young guys and see they are close and that they not only will push for jobs this year but that the future of the Kings is very bright.''
On Hickey: ``I thought he really held his own extremely well today. Playing with Rob Blake he looked very comfortable. It didn't look like he tried to do an awful lot offensively but that's probably what you want from a young player, to be respectful of the offensive ability of a Rob Blake. He looked like he was quite content to play behind him, and he made some very good decisions.''
``I thought Bernier was special today. I really did. We got to see him only a little bit in the game. But in the practice, he looks very calm, very quick to get on angle. He looks very good in all technical aspects of goaltending, how he sets up, how he moves from side to side, how he reacts to rebounds. He is quick. What stands out is his ability to skate. He can move from post out to high slot with very good efficiency, and that efficiency is going to pay some huge dividends for him.''
On how the minutes will be distributed in the exhibition games, the first of which is Thursday night in Anaheim: ``We've got a limited number of games this year so, unlike a lot of other years, there won't be as many young players or minor-league players getting opportunities. We know there's a priority this year for us to be ready. This training camp forces us to get ready for the exhibition schedule quickly. In the long run, we have to get ready for the regular season quicker than any team in the National Hockey League other than the Ducks. We'll still give some opportunities to young players. They understand, though, that it's not going to be like a normal training camp where you have eight-to-nine exhibition games and they're spread out over three weeks and maybe you have more time to make a decision. We don't have that luxury this year. We know that and we're going to adjust to do what we need to prepare for those two games in London.''
No video today, but I jumped in when a couple of the other reporters talked to Mike Cammalleri today. Since I had previously been the only local reporter to talk to him, I was curious to see what he would say when the arbitration question inevitably came up.
``It was what it was,'' Cammalleri said. ``I knew what I was getting into, going into it. It's not going to change the way I play the game at all.''
I have to say, Mike came off much better talking about it this time. I don't say that to either defend or criticize him, but I think he did a much better job of giving a short statement and moving on. He handled it well.
I asked him about training camp, and how easy it would be for everyone to come together in such a short time.
``That gelling effect doesn't really happen until the exhibition games anyway,'' Cammalleri said. ``When we get in the hotels and on the plane, we'll have that bonding experience. I talk a lot so with 12 hours on the plane I'm sure I'll get to know guys.''
Finally, I asked Cammalleri about the possibility of wearing an ``A'' on his jersey this season, something that seems increasingly likely if you listen to the buzz around training camp.
``It would mean a lot,'' Cammalleri said. ``It's a responsibility that I would like to have, whether it's now or later. I would like to be able to contribute in that leadership role. It's something I've been able to do on other teams and in other leagues.''
We're in the process of grabbing players for interviews as the final group is on ice finishing practice.
Lots of scoring early in the scrimmage today. Erik Ersberg got beat a few times early but on the other end, Dan Cloutier fared well for a second consecutive day. Some pretty intense action in the scrimmage, and one thing that grabbed my attention was Anze Kopitar making a particularly strong play on the forecheck. If he can add that aspect to his game, he will take a big step forward.
Jonathan Bernier and Thomas Hickey are on the ice today. They arrived from Russia during practice yesterday.
No video today...I have to head out to cover the Dodgers this afternoon but I will have some stuff and so will Matt, most likely. So stay tuned...
This is different from the one Matt posted, but naturally covers some of the same ground...
Here's today's interview with Dustin Brown: winger, new husband and father-to-be...
No King was happier to get training camp started than Dan Cloutier, who missed the final three and a half months of last season after having hip surgery.
``It was a long and frustrating rehab process,’’ Cloutier said. ``Whenever you have to rehab that long, you’re just looking forward to the next training camp.’’
Cloutier said he knew in the first week of the season that he had done severe damage to the hip. Every time he went into his stance, he would feel bone dig into bone.
``If you’re a goalie and you’re a second or two late, you can’t really compete at that level,’’ Cloutier said. ``That’s what I found. I wasn’t playing very good. I was getting beat every night on saves that I should make.’’
He admitted to being stubborn for not having the surgery earlier, saying his desire to play after missing most of the previous season because of a knee injury played a part.
Entering training camp, he said he is feeling close to 100-percent physically but will need time to get back the reaction time and instincts that made him so good in Vancouver.
``Health-wise, I’m there,’’ Cloutier said. ``It’s everything else. It’s getting out there and playing, the speed of the game with traffic. Those are the things you lose. You don’t necessarily lose guys coming down the wing and shooting. You lose all the little things, tips and battling around the crease.’’
He wants to be the starter in the regular-season opener, though he admits it could be a while before he returns to his top form.
``I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I guarantee I’ll work as hard as I can to get there.''
Here's the transcript of the group interview done this afternoon by Derek Armstrong...
Continue reading Armstrong interview.
Hey Kings fans, as Rich said I am transitioning on to the Kings beat. I covered the USC basketball beat last year and ran a Trojans hoops blog. Rich really loves this blog and its readers. He will continue to provide you with his unique content. He's helping me to learn the team. I'll be out at training camp all week and will give you updates as well. Eventually, Rich is going to focus on running the Lakers online content for the Daily News and I will do more here. But I know Rich isn't going to forget about the Kings blog. He really does love you guys. Thanks for reading. I look forward to adding to this blog and providing your Kings coverage in the Daily News.
Matt Kredell, who is going to be taking over the newspaper-based coverage of the Kings for the Daily News, got some quotes that he will be posting here in a bit. I've got some more videos to edit, and I'm working on those...
Here's a quick video I tossed together from the first day of camp. There's a few clips of action from the morning, accompanied by some audio from Marc Crawford during his post-practice group session with the media.
I'm uploading a video of some clips right now (cross your fingers, we're talking about MY video-editing skills at work) but for now, here's the transcript of an interview Rob Blake did with a group of reporters.
You'll probably note that in it, Blake makes the hip injury sound a bit more dire than he did last week...
Continue reading Blake interview.
The first day of camp has wrapped up without any huge developments. Both Rob Blake and Dan Cloutier were on the ice participating in full drills and practice proceeded at a high level, not surprising since the rookies held their camp last week and many of the veterans were on the ice as well.
It's a bit early to look at this sort of thing, but worth noting that Anze Kopitar centered a line with Michael Cammalleri and Dustin Brown, while Derek Armstrong centered a line with Alexander Frolov and Kyle Calder and Michal Handzus centered a line with Scott Thornton and Ladislav Nagy. Defensive pairings included Jack Johnson and Jaroslav Modry, Lubomir Visnovsky and Rob Blake. Brad Stuart and Tom Preissing seemed to be split up with a couple different young players.
The only notable absences were Jonathan Bernier and Thomas Hickey, both of whom landed at LAX while practice was going on. They will be on the ice tomorrow.
Cloutier looked solid, considering he hasn't had as much on-ice time this summer as a lot of his teammates. He wasn't here for the veterans' practice last week.
I have a ton of interviews, so check back throughout the day. Some will be video and some will be transcripts, but a lot of players spoke to the assembled media so I'll throw stuff up throughout the afternoon/night.
Below, I'll attach some quotes from a brief interview with Kings coach Marc Crawford regarding the start of training camp. Of particular interest will probably be his comments about the goaltending situation, both in terms of why he made the choice he did last year and what measures he will take to avoid making a mistake this year.
I'm excited for the start of camp tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be able to provide updates throughout the day. That will be determined by my ability to get on the Internet from El Segundo, but regardless, there will be full coverage -- written word and video -- from camp at some point, so stay tuned.
Here's the interview with Crawford...
Continue reading Crawford, on training camp.
During the first three days of training camp, the Kings will be split up into three groups. There will be practice from 9:30-10:15 a.m., then a ``game'' from 10:30-11:30 a.m. and another practice, for the non-playing group, from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. The groups rotate every day. Here's how the groups break down:
Group A: Quick, Cloutier, Rowat, Petiot, Stuart, Preissing, Harrold, Hersley, Fast, Likens, Handzus, Giuliano, Ryan, Cameron, O'Sullivan, Thornton, Kanko, Perry, Willsie, Westgarth, Nagy, Meckler, Parse
Group B: Aubin, Ersberg, Johnson, Dallman, Piskula, Modry, Ryan, Kidd, Bagnall, Kopitar, Moller, Gauthier, Cliche, Fillier, Cammalleri, Lukacevic, Dravecky, Moulson, Tukonen, Brown, Pursell, Crosty
Group C: LaBarbera, Bernier, Taylor, Blake, Visnovsky, Buckley, Klemm, Hickey, Boyle, Milam, Armstrong, Lewis, Murray, Jarrett, Calder, Frolov, Ivanans, Holloway, Roussin, Simmonds, Zeiler, King
Here (finally) is the video interview with Brian Boyle from the other day, in which he talks about his transition from forward to defense and the progress he has made this summer.
Here's the transcript of the interview with Rob Blake:
Continue reading Blake transcript.
I'm going to try to push through all the stuff I haven't provided in the last couple days. The Boyle interview is uploading and I'll start transcribing the other interviews. So here's Wayne Simmonds...
Continue reading Simmonds transcript.
Here are Marc Crawford's thoughts about tonight's rookie game...
Q: Who impressed you out there?
A: Trevor Lewis was, head and shoulders, the best center, and that's nice to see, that he really separated himself from a lot of people tonight. I think that line had a great night. That's probably Bud Holloway's best night in a Kings uniform. Dany Roussin did well with them and I thought Trevor Lewis was by far the best centerman on the ice tonight. On defense, I thought our defense was pretty good tonight. We had a number of people that really caught my eye in a lot of different ways. Of course you like some of the things that Johnson did. I thought Hersley and the young kid, Kidd, were pretty good. I liked Bagnall. I thought Petiot was obviously good, but we expect Petiot, at his age, to be that type of guy. I thought Boyle looked really comfortable. He was trying to activate and I appreciate what he was trying to do there. His team got the crap kicked out of them but I'm not overly concerned about that. I liked Piskula.
So there were a lot of defensemen that I thought really stood out tonight and looked like real prospects. The White team had a lot more going for it tonight but those guys, their whole right side was really dangerous all night. I thought Brady Murray and Matt Moulson were good. They probably had a few more guys, especially once they got the lead, who were into it. Again, you look for people to distinguish themselves. When I'm watching a game like that, I'm looking for a player and saying, `Can he do it at the next level? Is what he's doing going to translate?' I definitely think that for a number of the players -- Purcell, Lewis, those types of guys -- it looks like it's going to translate nicely.
Q: Where is Bagnall's game right now?
A: He's a big strong kid that hangs onto the puck a little too long. If we cure him of that, which is easily cured... He's going to cure himself, because you keep getting pasted. You say, `Hey, I've got to get rid of that puck quicker.' So I think he'll get that. All the other parts of his game, he's an aggressive, abrasive player, and we need some aggressiveness and abrasiveness in our organization. He seems like a kid that has got some zest and some juice. He just has presence.
And as I said, that carries over to the game. I like what I've seen here and he's definitely a guy you could see in our uniform before too long. He does hang onto the puck, and he got it taken away from him a few times tonight. He'll learn at this level, as the players get a little better, that you have to make those decisions quicker.
Q: How did the three goalies look?
A: I thought the three goalies tonight...you know, Ersberg was pretty good tonight but he didn't get as much work as Quick. Quick made some sensational saves and you really couldn't fault him on any goal except the one shot that beat him, the slap shot. That's a goal you can't give up. But I liked his game.
And the young guy, Rowat, was fine. He didn't get a lot of work in the third period but he had a lot of work in the first. Again, the goals he let in, for an 18-year-old he's holding his own pretty good here. He should get nothing but better. He's going to be one of those guys who you're hoping next year is going to be better, and the following year you're hoping he's ready to challenge for a spot at the minor-league level. He's got good size, he's got good movement, he's pretty square to the shooter, he has post-save recovery and all the things that you look for from a goaltender. He's obviously been well-schooled.
It wasn't much of a game in El Segundo tonight. The White team won 7-1, behind two goals each from Bud Holloway and Dany Roussin and one goal each from Trevor Lewis, Brady Murray and Richard Petiot (on a penalty shot). Joe Piskula scored the only goal for the Black team. The goalies split time. Erik Ersberg fared well for the Black team but didn't seem to face much pressure. Jon Quick, for the White team, made a couple fantastic saves in the third period. Linden Rowat played one period for each team and gave up the three first-period goals to the White team.
One moment that got everyone's attention was a fight late in the first period between Jack Johnson and Matt Fillier. It seems like every year at one of these camps, a prospect gets remembered for something like this, and this year it was Matt Fillier. The gloves came off quick, but it didn't look as though either player landed a punch.
After the game, Marc Crawford talked at length about some of the prospects, so I'll get those quotes up as soon as possible. Otherwise, it's just about 48 hours until the start of training camp. Where did the summer go?
Sorry folks...had to go down and cover the Niedermayer press conference this morning -- short answer, he still doesn't know, and doesn't know when he's going to know -- and now it's off to cover USC football practice.
So no rookie camp today, but I will be able to attend the rookie game and hopefully get some video of that. I still have the Boyle interview to put up and the transcripts of the other interviews. Wow... Need some more hours in the day.
Here's the Brady Murray interview from today. I have to hit the road, so the Brian Boyle clip will be up tonight:
Things will be a little light from me today and tomorrow, because I also have to go cover football practice in a couple hours. But I managed to grab interviews with Brady Murray and Brian Boyle, and I'll do my best to get those videos online before I hit the road. And I haven't forgotten about the transcripts of yesterday's interviews...those will get done at some point also.
Also, Anze Kopitar joined the veterans today for their skate. I don't believe he had been there for the first two days. If he was, I missed him!
Here's the interview with Trevor Lewis, another player who should get a long look during training camp. Keep an eye out for the video crasher who accidentally walks through the shot...oops. Lewis is another real nice guy. He said he got to spend a good portion of his summer at home in Utah. A Utah native in the NHL? Why not?
-
Here's my chat with Rob Blake. It contains the answer to the question about Rob's health, plus some comments about his leadership role and the team's future...
It's always fun to meet new players, especially young players who are eager to get to the NHL. Wayne is a great kid who plays a fun game. Even though he's probably a year or two from getting a serious look at the Kings' roster, he's one of the guys Marc Crawford pointed out this morning as having a strong future with the organization. It's notable that Simmonds is working out with T.R. Goodman, who serves as a trainer for several high-profile players who live on the West Coast, including Rob Blake, Glen Murray and Mathieu Schneider.
Here's the interview with Wayne:
Here's the last of the transcripts from yesterday, this one from Erik Ersberg:
Continue reading Ersberg transcript.
Here's the transcript of the interview with Jack Johnson from yesterday:
Continue reading Johnson transcript.
Here's the transcript of yesterday's interview with Cammalleri:
Continue reading Cammalleri transcript.
For those who asked, here's a basic numerical training camp roster...
Continue reading Training camp roster.
From the Sept. 3 rookie-camp interview:
Q: You're obviously a guy people are going to be interested in seeing at the start of training camp. Can you tell us how the summer has been and how you're preparing for the season?
A: It's been a busy summer and it's gone by pretty fast. In Manchester we were done at the end of May, so the summer went by fast but it's been a good summer. It's been productive. Obviously I've been working hard, getting ready for the season. I know it's a big year for me and I know I've got a good opportunity here, so I'm trying to do the best I can to get ready for it.
Q: What did you learn from spending last year in Manchester? That couldn't have been easy but you seemed to handle it well. What did you learn, and what was that experience like?
A: The big thing is that it was a good experience. It wasn't easy. Obviously it was frustrating at times. Your ultimate goal is to play in the NHL, but with the circumstances... I'm a pretty realistic guy and I kind of understood what was going on, so I knew when I got sent down that that was going to happen. You learn patience and you just learn to deal with situations like that. Like I said, you kind of get frustrated at times, but I was able to play with a great group of guys on a good team that went a long way. I felt like on that team last year, I was more of a leader. As you get older you kind of develop that skill a little bit, so I guess that's probably been the biggest thing.
Q: What have they told you coming into training camp, if anything, at this point? There's obviously a couple other goalies here. What do you expect coming into camp, and what have they told you?
A: It's open. The No. 1 spot is open for the taking. I know I have a good opportunity to take it. Obviously whoever plays the best is going to get it. Obviously nothing is handed to you, so you have to work for it. It's going to be competitive, I guess. Both of those guys, J.S. and Dan, obviously have more experience than I do, but at the same time I feel like I'm ready for the opportunity. I mean, I've been waiting for the opportunity my whole life, so hopefully you can just take the ball and run with it, because that's what everybody wants and that's what I want to do.
Q: Do you feel more prepared now than ever?
A: I think so. When I was here two years ago, I was 25, and now I'm 27. So I mean, two years is a big difference. My game has improved a lot. Working with Bill Ranford and Kim Dillabaugh the last year has helped me a lot, and confidence is a big thing, especially at this level. You have to be confident in yourself. So I think that with the way last year went, it was just a good experience for myself and I improved my game a lot. So I'm looking to take what I learned last year and take it into this year.
Today's interviews are with Rob Blake, Wayne Simmonds and Trevor Lewis, but first I'll transcribe yesterday's interviews, since that's something I said I would do yesterday.
The NHLers were back to work on the Olympic rink. In addition to the guys I listed yesterday, I also saw Thornton and Modry and a couple others.
Status quo with the rookie camp, although the switched up the order so that the forwards went last today. I had an informal chat with Marc Crawford while he was watching the practice and I was struck with how genuinely excited he seemed about the prospects. It wasn't just a coach trying to pump up his players. He pointed out a number of guys and talked about their strong qualities. And not just the top-level guys. It even went down to guys like Dravecky and King, guys who really aren't expected to show much at this stage in their development.
Crawford went so far as to list Dravecky among the players he thinks can contend for a spot on the Kings. Based on what I've seen and heard, Murray and Dravecky might be two guys to watch closely at the start of camp.
Jeremy Roenick is a San Jose Shark. Cue the disco music.
By the way, this announcement was made by press release, not text message.
Here's the camp schedule, as released by the Kings. What's amazing to me is that there's only nine days in El Segundo. After that, it's off to Vegas, then Denver, then Austria.
As expected, Oleg Tverdovsky is not on the training-camp roster, so that era is over...
Continue reading Training camp schedule.
Here's the last of today's interviews, this one from Jack Johnson. In case there was any question, Johnson is participating in the rookie camp, not skating with the veterans. I know that might seem obvious since he's, well, a rookie, but I just thought I'd throw that out there to clarify.
Here's a chat with Erik Ersberg, following his first on-ice session with the Kings during the rookie camp:
Here's the interview with Michael Cammalleri. One of the negatives of electronic media, versus print media? You don't get a second chance at a flubbed question, as you'll see when I get my facts backward about his international experience!
The question of arbitration came up, and...well, you can draw your own conclusions based on the answers and the body language.
OK, here goes nothing. My thanks to Jason LaBarbera for being my official test subject as far as video interviews go. Remember, when you watch this...I'm not a professional videographer!
There will be a transcipt of the interview up soon, but right now I'm just concerned with getting the videos up and running. Check back on this post for the transcript sometime tonight.
Here's Jason:
Nothing like a little Labor Day hockey when it's 90 degrees outside, right?
The camp started this morning, and the sessions are broken up by position. First forwards, then defensemen, then goalies. The goalies had some thunder stolen, because during their session, a large number of Kings veterans were skating on the Olympic rink. I didn't make a list, but off the top of my head I remember seeing Cammalleri, LaBarbera, Frolov, Blake, Stuart, Klemm, Armstrong, Visnovsky, Brown and Petiot.
The morning sessions for the rookies aren't practices, per se, just drills. The practice session is in the afternoon, with the full group.
I got interviews with Cammalleri, Johnson, LaBarbera and Erik Ersberg, and yes, they're on video. The real test will be if I can get them from the camera to the computer to the website. Let's all cross our fingers.
A couple other things:
-- The season-opening game in London will be televised by FSN Prime Ticket, with Bob Miller and Jim Fox. The second game, as previously announced, will be on Versus. The broadcasters will make the trip, but there won't be any TV or radio coverage of the exhibition games in Austria.
-- Nothing has been made official -- although I'm not sure why -- but I'm told that Oleg Tverdovsky won't be showing up at training camp. I'm still uncertain as to why this isn't official. Probably just some general goofiness of the part of the Russia league.
-- I got to meet Dave Lewis, who seems like a real good guy. He took note of the fans watching the drills and talked about how in Detroit, fans would be charged $10 per session to watch training camp. Somewhere, Tim Leiweke's ears just perked up...
-- The main topic of conversation for the day: were there always headlights on the Zamboni?
I'll get to work on the interviews. For those who would rather read transcripts, I'll try to do that as well.
About the bloggers
J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.
Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
@dailynews.com.
Copyright Notice |
Privacy Policy |
Information |
Subscriber Services |
Site Map |
RSS 
MNG Corporate Site Map | Newspaper Media Kit
MNG Corporate Site Map | Newspaper Media Kit
| For more local Southern California News: | Copyright ©2011 |
| Los Angeles Newspaper Group |
Recent Comments
guild wars 2 gold on Dustin Brown honored for charity work: relevance people like brownie have in the community and the world... ...
guild wars 2 gold on Want to buy a NHL team?: best interest to accept balsillie's substantial (ridiculous) offer fro ...
guild wars 2 gold on That was quick: They have yet to allow a power-play goal this season. ...
guild wars 2 gold on That was quick: good time ...
gw 2 gold on Murray, on fitness: I put great value in it. In order to play today's game, with the skati ...
guild wars 2 gold on LaBarbera, on defense: the rest of the guys get it and play better team d around him or ersbe ...
gw 2 gold on Spacek, Boucher signed: Keep it up and Gainey will replace DL as the worst GM ever. ...
Amanda on Remembering Ace and Mark: Dear Bavis Family, I know you probably don't remember me from the Sit ...
Naturallawyer on Question for Kings fans ...: I just can't resist... in your face Mr. Hoffarth! :-) ...