Kompon, after day 2
Here's what Kings assistant coach Jamie Kompon had to say tonight after the second day of the Kings' development camp...
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Question: The word that comes up a lot, in terms of these prospects, is competitiveness. What's the level of competitiveness you're seeing from these prospects this week?
Kompon: ``There's always an internal competitiveness in each and every one of them. It shows, first and foremost, in how hard they are on themselves about different things, about different skills and aspects. In the drills, we don't want it to be combative, but they make it combative when their own competitive instincts take over, and at times it has to be toned down. It's more about positioning and about not killing anyone, but to be competitive is to not get beat. They all want to succeed, and they all have that inner desire to be the best they can be and not be embarrassed at any time. I think that's the big thing.''
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Question: So there's probably a fine line you have to tread this week...
Kompon: ``Yes, very fine. You've got to make sure that you keep them under control. These are going to be their future teammates. Hopefully they're future Kings and they're going to be sitting beside each other and they're going to go to war with each other, and they've got to play for each other and play with each other. So there has to be a certain aspect of respect, but also that competitiveness, that says, `I want to show I'm as good, if not better, than this player.'''
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Question: The other thing that comes up is the number of ``winners'' in the camp, guys who have won tournaments. What does it mean, for a coach, to have a kid who already has experience with winning?
Kompon: ``That's important. When they've won at a young age, it means they know how to win. They've been part of a winning atmosphere and part of a winning environment. To bring them in as a young player and see that is great. They know where they have to get to in terms of... maybe not one year down the line, but five or six years down the line, when they start to see the core of everyone come together, then they know, hey, this is what it was like when we won last time. They have that feeling, they have experienced that feeling, and they know what it feels like. They look around and they see that. It might only take two years. There's no time line on it. They know it when they feel it, and that's of great, great importance.''
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Question: Looking at the defensemen, it's projected that a couple of them might get a chance at the NHL roster. What do you want to see from them this week and what do they need to work on going into training camp?
Kompon: ``I think we're going to give them three or four days of basic, individual skill drills, whether it be puck retrievals or whether it's how to work with your partner or whether it's how to play different situations positionally. In the junior game and the college game, sometimes you start running around. (In the NHL) it's about position. At the NHL level, if a good player sees that you're out of position, he's going to exploit it and take advantage of it. It's more about a foundation of what it's going to take to get them to this level and to succeed at this level. That's important, and then their whole appreciation for the skills that are required to play at this level or to get an opportunity to get to the next level. It's important that they can leave here and work for the next two months and get ready for training camp.''
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Question: As you put these guys through the first couple days of drills, does it become evident pretty quick who ``gets it'' right away?
Kompon: ``There are a lot of players you look at right away and you say, `They're raw but they understand.' The great thing is, you start on day one and you see where they're going to get to on day five. When you see that improvement, you know they've got it and they're going to continue to improve. That's what has been really exciting with the past development camps that I've been involved with. That's a great thing for us to look forward to. We look at them and we think, they're going to get there. It's just a matter of how long the process is.''
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Question: Looking at the coaches on the ice -- you, Mike Johnston and Dave Lewis, for instance -- what has this been like, knowing you don't know what the future holds for you guys?
Kompon: ``We're professionals and this is our livelihood. We're career coaches and for us there has to be a professionalism. No matter who is at the helm, we want this organization to succeed. That's our first and foremost priority, to make sure we develop these young kids the right way and get them into Kings uniforms. Whether we get an opportunity to be a part of it when they're in the Kings uniforms, looking back, we'll be able to say we had an impact on that player who made that jump.''
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Question: It doesn't seem like much has changed, in terms of how you handle things here...
Kompon: ``It hasn't changed a whole lot. The whole focus has been on skill development and just the overall feel of where we want to get these kids to, so that when they come back for training camp, they're well developed.''
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J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.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
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Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
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No matter what one might say, its hard to do your job without at least thinking about the fact that it is in jeopardy. You really have to admire the professionalism of these coaches. That attitude right there makes me think that they should stay!
Great interview and coverage rich, it makes me look forward to actually seeing some of these players in action next season and beyond!
My thoughts from Day two as I was there yesterday and today:
Forwards:
Azevedo had a tougher time today. He was still hustling and his puck skills look good but he was getting manhandled by some of the bigger guys on D on day two.
Garret Roe is the fastest of the Purple Group forwards. He can't be any taller than 5'9" but damn this guy looks really good. Turned a couple of D-men inside out on moves during drills. Has an accurate shot that looks deceptively slow but seemed to find the back of the net pretty often.
Oscar Moller is world class skilled. He was having no trouble controlling the puck and getting shots/passes off with guys draped all over him.
Geordie Wudrick was really impressive today. He's very tall and lanky and has possibly the heaviest shot of anyone in the purple group. Very smooth skater.
Defensemen:
Hickey was in street clothes again today, still recovering from his injured ankle. He was on the roller surface in street shoes doing some shooting and passing today.
Doughty looked nervous on day one. He looked a lot more comfortable today. He is more skilled on the defensive end than I think people realize. He won't hit you like a battering ram but he kept stripping the puck from guys all day. Seemed to be laughing and Smiling and having fun today, whereas he looked like a deer in the headlights on day one.
Colten Teubert was again by FAR the most impressive player on the ice today. He looked like a man among boys. He hardly cracked a smile all day, has this menacing stare. During drills literally NOBODY got past him. He was hitting guys out there like it counted. If he plays like this in camp in September, he's making the f'n team. He will force management to play him if he continues to look like this.
Goaltenders:
I cannot get over how good Bernier is. He looks so lackadaisical out there that you almost could get the impression he isn't trying, but he stops everything and his focus is incredible. He got beat twice in a row on one drill during the goaltenders practice session, signaled for (Kings goalie coach) Billy Ranford to come over, asked him what he noticed him doing wrong. They had about a minute long discussion and the net behind Bernier was safer than Fort Knox after that. His balance and body control is really remarkable, on second shots he rarely has to dive or sprawl. Not just a future star, a future icon.
The scary thing to me is, for as good as Bernier looks, Zatkoff looks pretty damn impressive too. He is huge and quick for his size. The main thing that I thought separated Bernier and Zatkoff is rebound control and use of his stick. Bernier was aware of where shooters were during the drills and made sure when he made saves that he directed the puck out of harms way. Zatkoff looks to still be working on this, there were a few that went right to the second shooter who buried it. With some seasoning in time, I could see Zatkoff turning into another big, quick butterfly goalie like Kolzig.
Linden Rowat looked pretty solid. He's a bit undersized compared to the other two guys but he makes himself look very big in the butterfly. He was a half step behind the other two goalies skillwise but he's got a year left in junior to continue improving.
Something else I noticed about the goalies - Bernier and Zatkoff seem to be buddies. They talked and joked a lot amongst each other and will Billy Ranford and some of the other assistant coaches. Rowat looked kind of out of the loop and there were definitely some times he looked a little discouraged. At the end of this afternoon's skate, Bernier kept playfighting with Doughty. The two were laughing and enjoying themselves. I wished I'd videotaped it. Obviously they know each other from the World Juniors.
Dustin Brown showed up for awhile at the end of the morning practices and skated around and shot pucks for about 30 minutes. He was a spectator all day yesterday, but it was cool to see him out there just messing around.
Bolt Thrower -
I hope you are planning on attending every day of prospects camp. Thanks for the much appreciated rundown!
Thanks for your insight, boltthrower. Much appreciated.
Thanks BoltThrower for the update. Wish I could be there to see this myself. I can't wait to ear what Hickey is going to be be like wen he gets better. Still it's great to hear about Doughty, Teubert, and Bernier. I can't wait for these two D to put on a King's uniform.
Here I am getting all excited for the next which doesn't start for another couple of months, damn...
I went yesterday during the fwd practice and i was most impressed with Geordie Wudrick. The guy has a really hard shot, he gets is off quickly, and seems to be able to place his shot where ever he wants. They were doing drills where the coach was leaning on them as they drove to the net, and he was roofing his shot from about 3 feet out everytime.
Moller looked very good too, he makes everything look easy.
Rich, any chance you can get video of the guys in action ?
Bolt Thrower and JD, thanks for the reviews on the development camp.
Great update Bolt thrower....
Very nice to hear that about Bernier. It will be goaltending that will determine how far the team can go.
what about Quick? not part of this group? they've said he is also pretty buddy buddy with the other 2 and I wanted to see how he compares to them, and also with Rowat.
Bolt Thrower,
Thanks for documenting the session for all of your fellow fans. Very insightful. It's really nice of you to take the time and do this.
Anytime guys! I'm based in San Diego and back at home but would like to make it up to see the Gold group practice once or twice next week as well.
Bolt thrower, thank`s so much for all your insite!Your definetly the man.
Brianguy, Quick is scheduled to be part of next week's Gold Group.