Stamkos interview
Hope everyone had a good Easter Sunday. Tomorrow, I'll be posting the transcript of an exclusive interview Don did with Steven Stamkos. It's a great read, in which Stamkos talks about his season, his development, the Kings and whether he thinks he's NHL-ready (short answer: yes). So, thanks to Don for that great effort in tracking down Stamkos. It's no stretch to say that Don is our Erik Ersberg!
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About the bloggers
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.
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.
Hey Rich, tell Don we appreciate his hard work, as we do yours. Can't wait to hear what Stamkos said.
Giddy up, I can't wait to read.
Thanks for all the contributors to this site. It has made this season better.
Looking forward to it.
If you know anything about this kid, its impossible not to be excited about him possiblty coming to the Kings.
Earlier in the year, Bob McKenzie from TSN asked scouts to rank the picks for the 08 draft IF J. Tavares, annointed by some to be the "next one", were eligible (he's slightly younger than stamkos and just misses the draft age cutoff by 5 days). Stamkos was still the consensus number one. One scout put it this way, "His (tavares) skating is just okay. But he's still a special player. The thing is, Stamkos is dynamic. His upside is huge. He has a lot of Steve Yzerman and Bryan Trottier qualities.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=217783&hubname=nhl
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Since Yzerman and trottier both wore 19 and stamkos wears 91, those comparisons are probably not a coincidence. He sounds like the kind of potent offensive star with the kind of character and leadership that lomardi seems to cherish that you don't pass up on. Though some on here have questioned if Lombardi would even take him given the chance, its hard to fathom how he could pass.
Don is the man!!
Great jobb DONNY and Richy lol
This is great stuff, guys. Big props to Don for this.
I'm lovin Don as well. Thanks for all your hard work Don!!!
Great! It'll be fun to read about Tampa Bay's #1 pick!
ETA on this interview?? haha Thanks Rich and Don!
As always, great job, Rich!
This is an interesting tact you're taking. Any chance you interview Drew Doughty? I hate to say it but I think Doughty has a greater chance of being a King. There's not nearly as much information out there on him.
Dude this is so awesome. This is such incredible insight and reporting for our beloved squad. I don't think people get it when they say that their are no hockey fans in LA...