Purcell on his NHL debut
It looks like Teddy Purcell will be up with the Kings at least two more games with the rash of injuries at forward. He played in all three games on the Canada trip, averaging nearly 12 minutes of ice time. While he has yet to get a point, he did come close to scoring with shots that hit the post and the crossbar.
``The chances are coming and sooner or later one’s going to fall in,'' Purcell said. ``Every game I felt more and more comfortable. I think I’m holding my own out there, and hopefully I can keep it going.''
``He played his two best games in the two wins,'' Crawford said. ``He’s a fraction away from contributing offensively. He's a good playmaker, good size, good speed, looks like he’s going to be a very good player. He’s an exciting player. He complemented and gave us a threat in that line with Handzus and when he played with Armstrong he looked really good.''
I asked a couple of vets what they thought of Purcell as well.
``He’s played very well for us,'' Rob Blake said. ``You can see he’s gifted player with good hands. He’ll find the net. He had a couple really good chances in Edmonton early and I thought he played well in Vancouver also. He’s a big guy. You can see how he’s had success at the other levels.''
``There's a reason why he's had such success this year in the AHL,'' Cammalleri said. ``He's a crafty player with good instincts. I like his game.''
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About Rich Hammond
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
yay! i get to see purcell on tuesday night then. thanks for the news matt.
Thanks Matt, keep up the good work, the last 3 blog entries have been great! (FYI though, shots that hit the post/crossbar aren't counted as shots).
i know everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon with Teddy, but i think it's time we all looked in the mirror and admit that Teddy is no Kwame.
Kwame, LOL.
Your right Shakes he isn't, but we don't need a team full of Brownie's. Cup winning teams are built with a wide diversity whom play different roles. I mean, let's look at the Rangers, they have all offense with poor defense (much like the Kings) and now there goalie is struggling, so they too are losing and are stuck with BIG contracts for many years to come.
Besides Dustin, wasn't Dustin until this year, and this is his 4th year in this league. Purcell looks to me to be a player with the potential somewhere between Kopitar and Frolov and will be a very nice addition to this team in the near future.
I will not say that he makes it on this team next year, but he will for sure be on this team full-tim in the 2009-2010 campaign. :-)