Hickey interview, part 2
Here's the second part of Don's interview with Thomas Hickey...
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Question: Things went well in Seattle this season, were there any special moments for you that stood out?
Hickey: Nothing in particular. I just look at the off season right now and we have already had two guys get signed and there are most likely some guys that get drafted, so for me that is fun to see. Obviously we didn't have the total success of winning the league, but I think we benefited as a group because guys are getting rewarded for what they did. For me that is the biggest thing.
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Question: And if you do some time in Seattle you guys will be moving to a new arena.
Hickey: Yeah, we are set up really nice there and we are moving to Kent, Washington and it is going to be nice. We'll get a whole new group of fans and retain the ones that we already have. There is a lot of energy and excitement in the city now.
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Question: I watched some footage of you from the season and I was kind or surprised to see the physical edge to your game.
Hickey: People look at your stature and they think that I'm going to get by without playing the body, but one thing I have learned is that you have to make up for those things. If I'm not big then I better be playing physical, and the game is a lot easier for me because if you are taking the body it is harder on your opponents. It is something I've been doing since I was younger and I've continued to do it.
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Question: You think that physical part of your game sneaks up on your opponents?
Hickey: Definitely for the guys who have not seen me play. Teammates and opponents who have seen that part of my game are not surprised any more.
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Question: Anyone ever try and drop the gloves with you?
Hickey: Occasionally there are guys who try, but lots of guys understand that's not my role and there are guys on teams who are allocated to do that. For me, if it ever happens then I am willing to do it, but I'm not going out of my way looking for it.
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Question: Switching gears a bit, if you watched the Flyers-Canadiens' series I wonder if it concerns you that Philadelphia was able to get under the skin of a young player like Price. I'm wondering if teams might try and exploit your youthfulness at the NHL level.
Hickey: It is a little bit of a concern, but at the same time you have to recognize that Carey Price is a goaltender, and as far as difficulty, that is probably the toughest spot for a young player to break in if you are going to be playing full time, then a defenseman and then forward. Obviously there are mental battles, and for a goalie that is definitely scrutinized more and the Montreal media was all over that. For a young defenseman I think that is part of it, but I don't think it is as bad as a goalie.
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Question: Do you see any part of your game lacking that might hold you back from taking it to the next level?
Hickey: That is hard for me to say, because it wouldn't be fair to say since I'm not at that level just yet. I just know that everything is amped-up, the speed, physical play, the strength, the smarts, intelligence of the players. Everything is just a level up, so hopefully when I go to camp I can adapt to that and give myself a better chance of making the team.
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Question: You're not taking any of my journalist traps are you?
Hickey: (Laughs). No, not any of them.
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Question: How will this year's training camp be different for you from last?
Hickey: I'm definitely going to learn from last year's camp, because I was living it, breathing it and hanging out with the NHL players and seeing how they act. But this year I know how they act and I don't have to be intimidated or anything like that. I'm going in with a different mindset than last year, so I don't think it will be overwhelming or anything like that.
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Question: I realize they are forwards, but when you see the young guys like Crosby and Malkin who have gotten to the next level and been able to stick, what do you think the key is to being able to stay, is it just stats, a consistency in your game or some other intangible?
Hickey: Those are exceptional cases with those guys obviously, but I think a lot of it has to do with consistency and confidence in your game. I don't think you can second guess yourself as a young player. If you are on the team you are there for a reason.
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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.
Rich.....Could you please comment on the Dallas Stars signing of highly touted forward Fabian Brunnstrom today.
http://stars.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=363023
Were the Kings ever in the running for Fabian's services, or is this the case of another player not wanting to play for our franchise?
"The Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs also were in pursuit of the 23-year-old free agent, who went undrafted in the NHL. Agent J.P. Barry would not discuss financial details, but it's believed the deal is worth $875,000 in base salary and could pay Brunnstrom up to $2.5 million a season if he reaches all of his bonuses."
That sounds a heckuva lot more palatable than the 12 million we will be shelling out to Michal Handzus over the next three years.
Lombardi sure talks a great game when it comes to drafting and signing prospects. Where was he on this one, asleep at the wheel?
He's a free agent, meaning he can decide where he wants to go. The deal he got would've been about the same no matter where he went, since he's subject to an entry contract with bonuses, etc. If he's not interested in LA, DL wasn't necessarily "asleep at the wheel".
I'm really sick of everybody thinking that if a desired player doesn't come here then it's because management f'ed up somehow. It'd be great if DL could just go to the player store and get whoever he wanted, because then we could justify getting pissed at who he didn't select. Yes, we like living in LA, but that doesn't mean everyone wants to.
David,
Fabian had his choice of where he wanted to go and by all accounts, the Kings were not on his list. Also he would only play for a team that would guarantee him top 6 minutes and not send him down to the AHL. Dean never had a chance.
Hickey sounds great and although I am still a bit worried about his size, he has the right attitude. His leadership qualities def. show in his answers
I hate to rain on Thomas Hickey's parade, but I have to ask another unrelated question.....
Now that the Avalanche have fired head coach Joel Quenneville, Rick Sadowski, the Av's beat writer is speculating that GM Francois Giguere may bring in Pat Burns as their new head coach.
My question to Dean Lombardi is this..... If Pat Burns is currently available to coach and he's healthy, why wouldn't the Kings be pursuing him as well? Pat's coaching pedigree certainly speaks for itself and he would be an instant upgrade in replacing Marc Crawford.
Well Kings Fans?
Lombardi has compared Hickey to Rafalski. Size wasn't the point of drafting him. His leadership, intelligence and hockey sense is what got him drafted.
I would cream my shorts if Rafalski was a King. Lets hope Hickey form fits to why he was drafted.
David is seeming like the new Anthony.
A player was a free agent and Lombardi didn't sign him? Fire him!
There is an unemployed coach out there and Lombardi didn't hire him? Fire him!
Pat Burns would not be a good coach for the Kings. If the Avalanche want him then great let them sign him. I for one wouldn't want him anywhere near the Kings. He might clean the city out of doughnuts after all!!
Fiveholio,
The point is, did the Kings even meet with Fabian to try and pursuade him to come to LA? Not bloody likely! Fabian had said "he had a hard time selecting Dallas based on some of the other teams he had spoken with." I just wonder if DL was even actively pursuing this guy. Not bloody likely!
Burns would not be a good fit for this "young" Kings team. Burns is more of a "manager" type. Hockey fans, please don't make the mistake of thinking that just because a coach was/is successful on one team, that means that he will be successful on any team. There are different systems, different styles, etc. and not all coaches are right for all situations.
Im really excited to see what Hickey can do in training camp this year. He has great wheels and is very intelligent for a guy his age.
And about Bruunstrom, who cares?! The guy scored 9 goals and 37 points in 54 SEL games. No way he gets an automatic top six forward spot. Waste of time. Next!
Brunnstrom isn't the kind of risk the Kings need to be making. It's similar to a Handzus/McCauley deal in that it's huge risk and potentially high reward. A team like Dallas can afford to do it because they desperately are going to need the help offensively going forward, but the Kings can't justify it since you look at the forwards and there are simply too many bodies there already, many of which he likely wouldn't outproduce, and even more that he wouldn't outproduce by enough to justify the contract.
@David
DL had no interest in Brunnstrom so there was no need to tender an offer. All the offers were exactly the same since he could only get an entry level contract plus benefits and Brunnstrom was demanding the max plus a spot on the top two lines. He doesn't fit into our system at all.
As for Crawford, he has barely been in the organization for two years... He deserves at least one more year before he is tacked up on the cross. He is the thirteenth on all time wins as a coach and sixth among active coach... I would give him some slack our team is just blossoming.
Fabian Brunnstrøm was on his way to vancouver and he would have signed with them if the canucks had not fired their GM. Since they did he opted to go elsewhere and dont blame DL for not talking to the guy. He might have talk to his agent. Good interview with hickey, hope he can take a place on our rooster. Rich and Don - good work on this site. Cant wait until october comes and I fly out of Norway heading to LA to se my beloved Kings play. Its going to be my 6 time attending the seasonopener at Staples.
David-
Had you ever even heard of Brunnstrom before? Not bloody likely. Did you even know that he was slated to sign with Vancouver until Nonis was fired? Not bloody likely. You don't really have a point, unless it is trying to make up some crap to hate on DL. The only thing that is "bloody likely" is that you have no clue what goes on behind the scenes with respect to signing and drafting prospects. Considering DL has in the past signed widely coveted, undrafted free agents (Purcell for example), it'd be "bloody unlikely" that, he'd be asleep at the wheel, as you put it, with Brunnstrom, if he thought he would be a good fit for the Kings.
I like how Hickey was able to avoid Don's "journalist traps". It helps demonstrate the level of his maturity.
SuperSonic420.....Still feel this way about Brunnstrom?
"Brunnstrom has a chance to be one of those players who comes along only about once every 10 years or so, a player who can be a franchise difference-maker.
If Brunnstrom is the player the Stars believe he can be, he’ll quickly join Morrow, Richards and Ribeiro as a top forward, giving them yet another prime scoring option.
'The potential for him to be a great player is there,' Hull agreed.
'You just never know how things will work out when a player steps up to the next level, but he has all the ingredients: size, speed, nice hands.'
That’s why the Stars put on the full-court press, flying Brunnstrom to Dallas, showing him the team plane, the American Airlines Center, squiring him around the city’s hotspots.
'I’d like to think the people we have working for us who make a difference; the whole group of people that met him and showed him around, our coaching staff,' Hull said."
We can only pray and hope that DL and the Kings Brass operate like this when trying to pursuade a potential player to come to L.A.
FAT CHANCE David,
Draft picks and crappy signings are Lombardi's thing.
And that's all.
haha, what. is Dallas going to say something BAD about the player they just signed? what a joke.
FB is the single most overrated prospect to come along in awhile. Check his numbers and ask yourself "why isnt he playing for the world championship team?"
TSN pulled another fast one on you guys.
I can bash DL for a lot of things but not signing
Fabian is not one of them. This guy was passed over
in a couple of NHL drafts which is why he is a free
agent. Andre you had your info right he was probably
going to Vancouver to play with Sedin sisters until
Nonis got the axe. Detroit and Toronto was also in the running for him. Dallas can take a shot with him but Kings don't really have a need for him.I would tend to
agree with voice of reason and believe that TSN has
hyped this guy up way too much.
It fascinates me how guys like David can get so upset and go through so much histrionics over something which they don't even know, at all, whether that is the way it happened. It's like they completely skip over the premise of the arguement and go straight to bashing someone for something they think is wrong. Seriously, it's called anger management.
I'm so sick of this Brunnstrom talk. If this guy was so good, then why didn't he make there World Championship team even after 25 players said "No thanks" to participating?
I've read lot's of comments where teams went and saw him, and came away less than impressed by what they saw.
He talks a good game. I want to see if he can deliver on that.
Roger
This team most desperately needs a big tough defensive defenseman and they can use more than one. That’s the position management needs to concentrate on. This team does not need another forward. As it stands its clear there are glaring weaknesses on this team that needs to be addressed. And I am sure DL knows all to well what does weaknesses are. Lets wait and see what he does at this years draft and free agency market. He can’t afford to make mistakes. Because he is running out of time. He needs to prove to the fans that he is who he says he is. Talking time is over. Now its time for action.
Roger
David said:
SuperSonic420.....Still feel this way about Brunnstrom?
"Brunnstrom has a chance to be one of those players who comes along only about once every 10 years or so, a player who can be a franchise difference-maker.
If Brunnstrom is the player the Stars believe he can be, he’ll quickly join Morrow, Richards and Ribeiro as a top forward, giving them yet another prime scoring option.
'The potential for him to be a great player is there,' Hull agreed
So the co GM of the team who just signed this guy and the newspapers that covers the team said hes going to be a great player? Well why didnt you just say so then, jeez we really are morons!
David, I will go back to my original point for you, since you didnt seem to get the first time. No way, No how he gets an AUTOMATIC top six forward spot. This is not the team to do that, its stupid to hand a guy a roster spot without even a practice with the team, let alone lackluster numbers and obviously a big ego if he wont even sign with a team without a guarentee he wont be sent down to the minors. We need guys to earn their spots on this team, I thought this was all figured out when we handed Clouts the starting goalie job. Would I like to sign another young prospect with great potential, Hell Yea! But not with restrictions, we have our own prospects I would give a shot to before I handed this guy, who has proved absolutely nothing in the NHL, a job as a top line forward.
SonicMan,
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the article I quoted was from the Detroit Free Press, not "the newspapers that covers the team:"
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880510016
I find it amusing that you claim he will get an automatic top six forward spot and a guarantee not to be sent down to the Minors. Were you a party to the contract negotiations?
The following article was written a month ago when it appeared Brunnstrom was headed to Vancouver:
"Hockey Night in Canada's Scott Morrison delivers his insights into the world of hockey, on and off the ice.
Canucks close to inking Sweden's Fabian Brunnstrom
Comments (10)
Saturday, April 12, 2008 | 11:30 PM ET
By Scott Morrison
It appears the Vancouver Canucks are the winners of the Fabian Brunnstrom sweepstakes.
No fewer than 20 NHL teams expressed interest in the 23-year-old Swedish winger, who went undrafted and played the past season in the Swedish Elite League with Farjestad.
As reported on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, Brunnstrom had a short list of five or six and further reduced that to one: the Canucks, whose general manager, Dave Nonis, did a good job of selling the youngster on the team and the city.
Now the Canucks have to finalize contract details with agent J.P. Barry over the next week.
Among the finalists for his services were the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks. The opportunity to be a top-six forward in Vancouver and potentially play with the Sedin twins is believed to have help with his decision.
Brunnstrom is a speedy and skilled winger, who is now 23, and a classic late bloomer."
Where does it say that he will be guaranteed an automatic top six forward spot?
"Opportunity" does not equal "Guarantee" in my book.
What don't I "get?"
First off, I never said he was guaranteed a top six spot, I said he wanted to be guaranteed he wouldnt be sent down to the minors, which is well documented. I also said theres no way we hand him a top six forward spot which is what he wants before he signs a contract. And since your fond of quoting new sources, how bout Spector's blog at Foxsports.com.
http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Spector/2008/05/09/Stars_Sign_Fabian_Brunnstrom
Brunnstrom has also set the bar high for his NHL debut by seeking top six forward minutes, which was the sticking point that apparently cooled some teams’ ardor in this services, which must’ve been the main selling point for him signing with Dallas.
I’ve previously written about Brunnstrom wondering if he’s worth the hype. Many of the teams interested in him obviously did their homework on this guy, but one has to wonder if a player who had only 9 goals last season in Sweden, who never earned an invitation to play for their national team in the World Hockey Championships (currently being held in Halifax and Quebec City), is good enough to have earned the attention he’s received in recent weeks.
So what you dont seem to get, is the point.