Crawford quotes

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.