Meet Kevin Westgarth
Now's a good time to get to know Kevin Westgarth. He's 24, a graduate of Princeton -- much like former Kings enforcer George Parros -- and Westgarth totaled 191 penalty minutes in 69 games with Manchester this season. That's not completely easy to do. Westgarth projects as a future King, although for the moment Raitis Ivanans fills a similar role.
Here are Westgarth's bios on hockeydb.com and hockeyfights.com.
Don tracked down Westgarth this week and did a really cool feature. He found eight of Westgarth's fights on YouTube and had Westgarth ``analyze'' them. Don, it seems has a future as hockey's Larry Merchant, doing post-fight interviews...
There's also a Q&A with Westgarth coming soon, but for now, definitely give this a look...
----------
Kevin Westgarth's Fight Central
-----
Opponent: Steve MacIntyre/Providence (10-6-07)
Opponent: Steve MacIntyre/Providence (11-27-07)
WESTGARTH COMMENTS: Steve MacIntyre is just a big monster. That opening night fight was a pretty good one. I landed a pretty good punch, and it was my first fight since last season and I was also trying a few new things, which is kind of risky against a big guy, I think he is listed at 6-6, 265. He's a good fighter, very good technically and he uses his size to his advantage. I know in the November fight he definitely popped me good a couple of times. He is a fighter I have a lot of respect for. He plays the game hard and tries to hit and use intimidation to the best of his ability. He is just a very respectful fighter.
-----
Opponent: Jonathan Tremblay/Worcester (2-29-08)
WESTGARTH COMMENTS: I think I ended up fighting Tremblay three times this year. He's a pretty good fighter. He's a lefty too, which is a little different. I never really change the way I approach it, thinking you have to take something to give something and I'm fine with that.
-----
Opponent: Jesse Boulerice/Philadelphia (1-13-08)
WESTGARTH COMMENTS: That was a great fight. I know our announcer Ken Cail definitely liked it. The video is kind of funny because it kind of starts after the fight. I was controlling early on in the fight and he was holding me off pretty decently. I was kind of attacking, basically getting the back of his head. And that is one of the things I am working on, a little patience, and that was a great fight as an example. The other funny thing is the Philadelphia announcer. I watched that fight with the volume up and you would have thought I was dead from the sound of it. I wasn't sure if we were watching the same fight. It was a long fight. When our five minutes were up, and we had both been talking in the penalty box, we were both saying we could have sat for another 10 minutes.
-----
Opponent: Francis Lessard/Hartford (11-4-07)
WESTGARTH COMMENTS: (Note: One of the few clips where Kevin keeps his helmet on) That (why he has his helmet on) relates to Lessard himself. In that fight I had asked him to go and he said no. Then he jumped me, which wasn't unexpected because I kind of dealt with him a little last year. That is just a lack of respect for the game and players (by Lessard). (On Westgarth connecting on 15 straight punches): That was a nice fight because I kept connecting in good places, his ear, or right underneath his visor.
-----
Opponent: Micheal Haley/Bridgeport (12-22-07)
WESTGARTH COMMENTS: He had fought earlier in the game and he came up and asked me, so that was fine. He is a great middle or even light weight fighter. He took on Drew Bagnall and myself in that game and did very well in both. He connected quite a bit and was very slippery. I think he ended up hurting his hand on my head, so I guess that is something I can take a certain amount of pride in.
-----
Opponent: Drew Fata/Bridgeport (4-2-08)
WESTGARTH COMMENTS: That tilt was pretty good. I think I got him decently at the end. It was at the end of the game and we were winning 5-1. I hit him and he asked to go. It was at the end of the shift. We were both kind of waiting for that one big hit and I think I got him pretty good at the end. I got him a little better than he got me.
-----
Opponent: Simon Ferguson/Portland (10-27-07)
WESTGARTH COMMENTS: Yeah, that was kind of funny because he thought that I had hit him. He had passed the puck and someone hit him pretty good. It was by our bench and I skated by right after. There was a bit of a scrum and I went to check what was going on and all of the sudden I feel these hands on the back of my jersey. He kind of jumped me, which is fine, but it didn't work out too well for him. He's another little rat. He plays the game a little more honest than others, but he is definitely an annoying little pest. That kind of felt good in some ways.
15 Comments
Leave a comment
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.
Almost knocked out the linesman in that last video.
Seems strong and commited.
Might want to work on his defense though.
Took a few shots in the face in most of those fights.
I don't know... Big guy. Decent puncher. Looks like he's only been on skates 3 times. If he doesn't improve his balance, he's going to get ragdolled by NHL enforcers.
Man, Westgarth is one big dude. It looks as if he fed Lessard his teeth after hitting him in the gob a dozen times. Thanks for the clips and the commentary. Sounds and looks like Westgarth has a future with the Kings.
He's got balls but he seems to lack patience after he drops the gloves. He eats a lot of big punches in most of those fights. That might work for him in the minors but he'd get destroyed against more seasoned fighters. I'll stick with Ivanans for now. Hopefully he can develop into an NHL enforcer at some point.
I LOVE this comment ... "I think he ended up hurting his hand on my head, so I guess that is something I can take a certain amount of pride in."
"thinking you have to take something to give something and I'm fine with that."
That's all I needed to hear. Reminds me of McSorley.
Don will have to drink a gallon of scotch before he can be Larry Merchant.
Agree he needs patience, balance, defense [kind of like Parros when we was a King]. I like that he's a straight up guy, though- takes off his helmet and acts with class, the "code".
Great stuff! Thank you!!
When throwing bare knuckles you want to make sure you land with the index finger and middle finger knuckle. Why?
Well these knuckles are directly connected to your forearm and this provides the support your hand needs to prevent injury. Landing with your ring finger or pinky knuckle on the helmet/visor or skull can cause a lot of damage to your hand, i.e. boxer brake.
Typically when you hear of a guy hurting his hand it is because of the way the knuckles land.
Cheers.
Tie Downs.
I have to agree with the rag doll comment earlier.
Shows a lot of spirit but Westgarth needs to learn how to manage his opponent first by tying him up, then using his strength to break an arm free and land. That way you protect yourself from being KOed and will reduce the number of heavy shots he takes.
Cheers
This guy reminds me of Dave Hutchison, old time King enforcer (although Hutch was a much better fighter and rarely lost. What I like about Westgarth is his heart. He seems to feed on the pain! This is fun stuff. I like the guy a lot. Thanks for the blog. New format is awesome and blog is so appreciated!
I'd like to see him get some boxing training(Like Marty McSorley did back in his Oiler days)He would make a much needed enforcer out of him self. How he is the rest of his game?
Being a season ticket holder in Manchester , i see about 60 games each season , Westgarth is getting better all the time, but i agree that he should think about taking boxing lessons which by the way both George Parros and Ryan Flinn did while they were in Manchester . Westy has some skills other than fighting.... he definitely is not a liability when he is out on the ice but we all know why he is out there on the ice and where his future lies. He has a ways to go technique wise still before he can even think about beating out Ivanans.
Westy actually took Boxing Lessons at The Kronk Gym in Detroit.