Murray, on preseason games
Here's what Terry Murray had to say about the start of the preseason schedule. Murray will be at Staples Center tonight to coach half of the team, and Mark Hardy and Jamie Kompon are in Kansas City with the other group.
----------
Question: Are you ready for preseason games, or does it feel too soon?
MURRAY: `` I think we're ready to get going with some games. You get three days on the ice with the players and they get excited about the games coming up and they want to start to play. The practices can sometimes be getting a little long for some of the veteran players, so the sooner we get out and play some games, the better.''
Question: Is this a good situation for you, since this is your first look at the young players?
MURRAY: ``And the first look at all the players, as a part of this hockey club. I know a couple of the guys who were a part of the Flyers organization in the past. Even a player like Matt Greene, coming from Edmonton, I really don't know him very well, so I am coming into this with open eyes, and if you want to call it a new look, a fresh look. It's a fresh opportunity for all the players to go out and try to impress a new coaching staff and show us what they are capable of doing, to grab some open positions.
``There are positions on this hockey club that are available, and that's where the games will mean a lot. We're really looking forward to, once we get through the two games (today), to get into a routine of playing one game, and then have a couple days of practice. You can really get a lot more accomplished that way and the players are able to show what they do bring to the table.''

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
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 

Rich,
I'm curious, which game is Murray attending? I assume it's the Staples game.