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…
Q: It seems like it’s going to be a really compressed camp, with a game just three days into it…
A: I think maybe we make a little too much of it, as coaches. We like to have them here and implement our system, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. They come in camp in great shape now. It’s not a problem for them to be ready to play, but we know we’ve got a short time to prepare for the season. The other part is that we only have five exhibition games in North America, and then we’re going to be pretty much down to our team.
Consequently, there’s not going to be a lot of games for our prospects. So we’re going to have to be select with those. We’ll play probably two teams in the first two games and you’ll see probably close to 40 players in those games. It will be a good chance for us to see what guys are like. We have to use the training camp as a real evaluation tool and there won’t be a lot of exhibition games to evaluate them. We’re going to let them know that.
We’ve got the (training-camp) tournament, the Rogie Cup, and it will take on — I hope, for their sakes — a lot more meaning. That’s just the way it is for the Kings this year. With us going over to Europe early, we’ve got to make decisions maybe a little quicker than we normally would.
Q: One of those decisions will obviously be in goal. Exhibition is usually a time to get a good look at those guys…
A: The one thing we have though is, we don’t have to make a decision on our goaltending until, really, October. That’s the one position where they’re allowing us to carry an extra guy, because we’re going to Europe. So we’re going to use that to our benefit. We’re going to carry three (goalies) throughout, so we don’t need to make a decision. I’m going to learn from my mistake last year. I’m not going to make a decision this year.
I think it’s great. All three of the main guys — Aubin, Cloutier and LaBarbera — will get a really good opportunity. As players, that’s all you can ask for, and then it’s up to you. As far as our younger guys… Bernier, we’ll have to see how he is and if he jumps into that mix and forces us to really take a long hard look at whether he’s ready. Certainly, the two guys in (rookie camp), Quick and Ersberg, are quality pros and look like they’re ready to really contribute. I would think that they’ll start the year in Manchester, although we won’t close the door on that one either.
Again, we want to learn from maybe the mistake that I made last year, when I just made the decision way before I had to. I know why I made it. I came from a market where I spent eight years, and the No. 1 goalie was a big subject and you wanted to get that out of the way. We won’t make that mistake this year.
Q: Will you feel comfortable if, on Sept. 29, you’re still not sure?
A: Absolutely. We don’t need to make a decision right now. From the players’ standpoint, their job is to go out and get ready. If they’re even the least bit uncomfortable, that’s neither here nor there. We have to get better in that better. We all know it. We think we’re going to be better. Jason is going to get a great opportunity this year. Danny is healthier. We brought in Aubin and we’ve got those two other guys, plus we’ve got one of the best 19-year-old goaltenders that there is in all of hockey. So we’re way ahead of where we were last year and we know that the only way to go is up.
Q: You and Dean both have experience taking teams overseas to play. What’s going to be the key there?
A: Well, I think the best thing for us is that it is going to allow us to come together, hopefully, a lot quicker as a group. We’ll be down to a regular team way before anyone else is. Basically, from the 20th of September we’ll be down to a team and most teams will just be starting their exhibition schedule. That’s the positive, and I think it’s a privilege for us to be playing the first regular-season games in Europe.
It’ll be neat to be in that building. I think that building, by all accounts, is just a beautiful facility and we get a chance to open the season against the Stanley Cup champions. It’s a great rivalry here in Southern California and they’re going to be sold-out games. It’s going to be a terrific atmosphere and we’re certainly looking at it as a terrific challenge, something that we’re proud to be a part of.
