Rookie camp day one

Doughty impressed the most, especially the two good hip checks I saw. I really love that he can play physical. I'm pretty sure I saw Tuebert lay someone out at the beginning of the scrimmage, but I didn't have a good view.

Rich I got some video if you'd like to see it let me know.

Mike, do you think Teubert could be playing in LA all year? Most are saying "no", that he needs more time, but what did you think about what you saw?

Are these practices open to the public, Rich?

cheers

Also, Mike, if you could give an opinion about some of the older youngsters like Lewis, Cliche, and Purcell. Who's dominating the play during scrimmages? Who, on the defensive side, looks comfortable with the puck and can pick out passes moving forward? Defense is really where the team needs some of the youth to prove themselves...

cheers

The entire camp is open to the public.

Lewis and Cliche looked less impressive than Simmonds, Moller, Meckler, Loktionov and maybe even Cline, who were the most impressive forwards. (Purcell wasn't on the ice with the rookies, although He, Boyle, Zeiler, Moulson, Piskula and Brady Murray were there working out seperately).

Doughty looked GREAT. Teubert, Voinov and to a lesser extent Campbell and Martinez also looked very good, but Voinov is the only one that might be ready (although Id love to see Teubert put the body to some opponents this year).

I'm interested in knowing who the other 7 players are and their numbers if you have them. Thanks Rich!

@ cristobal... These practices are open to the public and free. lots of heads showed up today. I really want to see Tuebert make the team more than anybody, but I haven't seen enough to show that he's ready. He definitely was one of the best out there today but I need to see him up against the real NHLers, we should know better in a few weeks.

I'll tell you this though. I got chills down my back whenever Tuebert and Doughty were paired together.

Cristobal, the practices are open to the public, and they're free. Personally, I'm a huge Doughty fan, but I also thought Teubert looked really good...better puck handling skills than I expected. And Mike, yeah, he totally laid another guy out, but I don't remember who. I just recall thinking it looked like something I'd love to see at a regular season game. I was filming at the time and might have gotten it, but it was a little close to the boards from where I was sitting.

I like the future of this team!!!

cristobal said:

"Also, Mike, if you could give an opinion about some of the older youngsters like Lewis, Cliche, and Purcell. Who's dominating the play during scrimmages?"

I wasn't there, but those three all have pro experience and as far as I know, won't be reporting until next week.

Who are the other seven players?

I'm curious why the Kings don't take part in the Traverse City tournament taking place right now in Michigan? 8 NHL teams have their rookies there this year. It seems to me it would be a better way to judge rookie progression to see them play other teams then to play each other?

I realize it's in Michigan, so Kings fans wouldn't get a chance to see it in person. But this year it's being televised on the NHL network, so if you have that you could watch.

I don't think the tournament is invitation only (though I could be wrong), so I'm just curious to know why the Kings don't participate? And if it is invite only, I'm sure if they asked the Red Wings (the hosts), they'd get an invite. There are teams from Detroit's own division there, so it's not like they're only hosting teams from the Eastern Conference or something.

Hey Rich, any info on who the seven extra players were on the ice today? More invites?

Was there for Saturday practice + scrimmage.

Doughty - for a Day One - looks like he belongs. Nothing rattled him. Good puck handling, cleared the zone (amen!) and smooth up ice. Almost like he didn't break a sweat. 2 bone charring hip checks rattling the glass. Better check the driver license. Kid ain't 18 (19?) by hockey standards. But this was against rookies. Check back next Friday vs Vets.

Teubert looks good. We'll see. Andrew Campbell, tho' skinnier, looks like his brother. They are TALL.

Alec Martinez was solid. What's the phrase? Serviceable? He might turn into my dad's Chevrolet - dependable. Guy didn't rattle. He does his job under the radar.

The Russians - Andrei Loktionov and Viatcheslav Voynov - were a bit quiet. Loktionov had that "I want puck" mode once. Voynov was invisible - for a Saturday.

Richard Clune, a wing, hustled and drove to net and made his presence known.

Wayne Simmonds, was good. Seems quietly confident. What that means so early - who knows?

Bernier was fine, Rowat, Zatkoff too. It was against rookies with a new coach and a few new asst coaches.

Good to see Mark "Harpo" Hardy back!

Since nobody else has addressed it.....who were the seven "unannounced" attendees? If someone can post that information I would be grateful.

Rich, any chance you will get video footage of this and the regular training camp similar to what you did last year ? Thanks for the coverage.

The ones who were there who weren't on the original list posted in Hammond's blog:

#56 - Richard Clune
#58 - David Meckler
#60 - Vladmir Dravecky
#61 - Trevor Lewis
#63 - Scott Parse
#67 - Marc-Andre Cliche
#65 - Martin Jones (Goalie)

I was there, but forgot to grab a roster provided by tsc on the way in, so i didn't know who any of the above listed were till i grabbed the roster on the way out after it was over...Someone numbered in the 50's who was not on Hammond's original list kep driving hard to the net. At one point bowled over Goalie Martin Jones...I think it was Meckler, but not sure.

The Russinas actually impressed me, especially Loktionov (#48 - Center). He seemed to be very quick, and although small, he seemed to always be involved in the plays and creating a lot out there. One play in particular from him. He got the puck in the high slot and gave every indication he'd shoot, only to do some wicked drop pass to set up a teamate. The whole crowd responded to that one. Kind of reminded me of everyone's reaction to Simmonds during his first camp...

Of course Doughty impressed me, especially with the 2 huge hip checks listed above. He is all skill and smarts...Teubert, though was by far my favorite. The guy is a solid d-man (at least from what we saw this one day against peers) and layed some poor soul out rightin the beginning. Of course i only saw the part of the play when the guy was getting back up because i happened to check my roster to see who someone was, only to have Teubert crush this guy right in front of me. The sound of the hit was so loud. That got the crowd buzzing big time. I'm gonna love this kid when he is on the king's roster! :)

I noticed many shifts with Teubert and Doughty playing on the same line. I think it was Bryan Cameron who was trying to get around them and (bless his heart for not giving up) got knocked down 2 or 3 times by the both of them. It was good to see so much physicality...Teubert is not being touted as an offensive guy, but one area for him to work on would definitely be his sooting. He gets the shot off and they were on net, they just didn't seem to have any real power behind it. I was really impressed with his skating ability and how much he chatted out there on d with his partners. Big guy too! :)

I didn't think today's practice showcased the goalies at all. There were a lot of stoppages of play where coach Murry stopped play to get them to not rush the drills and to stress that tape to tape passing...It seemed like your typically first day of practice. i am sure that by the end of camp, they will have the drills down a lot better. Bernier did have this one awesome save where he was basically in the splits and i thought it would be a goal.

I don't think i've seen thomas hickey play before. i was impressed with his skating ability and his smarts. He made good plays and broke up a 1 on 1 with Simmonds. Simmonds did wel and go a nice goal top shelf short side during the scrimmage.

Oh, and Doughty made some nice plays in the back end and then attempted to take it end to end. He got around a couple guys and looked as if he might go all the way, but the 3rd guy to beat played body and knocked him to the ice. He got up smiling and went off for a line change. I did catch a lot of the guys smiling and interacting with each other well. Including Moller. Good to see the commradere (sp?) Moller has skill! He's got a bunch of 1 on 1 moves and doesn't hesitate to take the shot. I have to agree witht he poster above's evaluation of Alec Martinez. Serviceable. He was solid but not at all flashy.

Justin Azevedo was the only one in a gold jersey. i didn't realize it was him at first and thought maybe it was a junior king or something (sometimes they will bring in junior kings to practice). But was talkign to someone i met there and we figured out it was Azevedo. The guy i was talking to suggested maybe he was injured cuz he didn't play in the scrimmage...Any one else know anything about the injury?

Rich - Can you find out if Azevedo was injured?

That's all i can rememebr from yesterday. it's nice to see so much size coming up in our system...

Josh

As part of his NHL Season Preview, Yahoo Sports' Ross Mckeon wrote his assessment of the Kings and their chances in the 2008-2009 campaign.

There's nothing here we don't already know especially with excellence of Rich and this blog which has managed to keep us informed all off-season but, it's not a bad summary and is a great reminder of the excitement of youth, the challenges the team faces, and the precarious nature of Dean Lombardi's future.

The link is HERE

Drew Doughty is already a better d-man than Jack Johnson will ever be. There. I said it, again. Kings fans are lucky to have him.

Cheers from Hockeyville.

Canadian Hockey Fan, Doughty has played exactly ZERO NHL games and you made that prediction. Playing against other prospects is one thing, playing against Crosby, Ovechkin and the like is a totally different animal.

Hi gang, the only thing I wanted to say, well not just the only thing..... The second of the two hits that everyone is talking about with Doughty..... evidently him an Meckler had something going yesterday as Drew nailed him along the boards, but on the rush back Meckler clocked Doughty right in open ice and Doughty went right off, but he did come back for his next shift. I seen that only one person had anything to say about Hickey and that surprised me very much since everyone is worried about the back end. Boys(that happens to be hockey talk) this kid reminded me so much of Brian Leetch with his skating ability, handling of the puck and just plain hockey sense, he got beat one time in the scrimmage and instead of trying to catch the winger, he just stepped to the inside and cut him off at the pass and the guy had no where to go and wound up losing the puck, all the nay sayers of this kid are going to be in for a huge surprise and you're going to love it. Simmonds goal was an NHL goal and BTW the only one scored in the scrimmage, Moller came close, he rang one off the post. Zatkoff and Bernier both looked great. But as it has been mentioned, myself and the guys I was with also said it, they're all prospects and starting this friday we'll see where the cream and the milk gets separated. Man oh man I can hardly wait. It's gonna be fun this year guys, win or lose.

Justin Azevedo has a broken wrist (I believe that it is his right wrist, but not 100% sure). Spoke to him after the scrimmage and said the cast should be off in about 2-3 weeks and will go from there. Hope this information helps.

For those who say Voynov was invisible, he's the kind of Dman that if he's invisible he's doing his job. Sort of like an Aaron Miller.

here's a little video from day 1. it's not great and isn't much cuz my cell phone's batter died, but it's better than nothing.

http://share.ovi.com/channel/mikealive.kingscamp08

Hey I've got a random question on Wayne Simmonds if Rich or anyone else would venture a guess. Is the kid really coming in at 174 pounds as listed on the roster? He is listed at 6'2 so at 174 he must be a toothpick. I know after last year's camp there was some talk about him needing to get stronger and bigger. Has that happened in the eyes of those of you that watched him this weekend?

Size isn't all that matters but I just can't believe he's still that thin. If he can strengthen up sounds like he could be another Theo Fluery/Sean Avery hopefully w/o the other issues.

The big hope among King Fans is that
Simmonds=DeadmarshII

"28 KINGS said:

Canadian Hockey Fan, Doughty has played exactly ZERO NHL games and you made that prediction. Playing against other prospects is one thing, playing against Crosby, Ovechkin and the like is a totally different animal."

No sh*t, Sherlock.

You'd have a point if Doughty hadn't played and dominated in the CHL, which is the #1 developmental league in the world and is also responsible for developing more than 50% of all future NHL players on an annual basis. He also won the Directorate Award for Best Defenceman at the 2008 World Junior Hockey Tournament. The fact of the matter is that he dominates against his peer group on both a national and international basis, which means he is more than capable of moving on to the next level.

FYI, the CHL is where players like Crosby and the majority of NHL stars come from, so it is not out of the question whatsoever to extrapolate his CHL success into NHL success.

Doughty has the superior prospect pedigree to Jack Johnson because he has trained and performed against better competition at the prospect level, that CHL teams employ 100% professional systems whereas college teams do not, and as a result is already the better player despite the fact that he is also the younger player, NHL games played or not.

Cheers.

Canadian Hockey Fan said: You'd have a point if Doughty hadn't played and dominated in the CHL, which is the #1 developmental league in the world and is also responsible for developing more than 50% of all future NHL players on an annual basis.

Listen up Canucklehead, I,went through the kinda crap you're handing out long before you were even thought of. "JMFJ" will be off the leash this season and "IF" Doughty is good enough to make the club we'll see who's who and where the bear craps in the woods. Once again, Doughty was playing against "Prospects" not NHLers. So buttoned it up. You worry about those sorrya$$ Maple Leafs and we'll take care of ours.

"Al said:
Listen up Canucklehead, I,went through the kinda crap you're handing out long before you were even thought of. "JMFJ" will be off the leash this season and "IF" Doughty is good enough to make the club we'll see who's who and where the bear craps in the woods. Once again, Doughty was playing against "Prospects" not NHLers. So buttoned it up. You worry about those sorrya$$ Maple Leafs and we'll take care of ours."

I'm sorry, I must have missed the part where you actually addressed anything I've stated. It must be my advanced age of 45 creeping up on me. I guess by extension that would make you, what 70?

So, Gramps, we basically agree then, that since Doughty dominates in the CHL against players his own age (many that will also soon be NHL players) that he indeed has the goods it will take to flat out be a star within a year or 2.

Regarding this supposed leash applied to JJ, it is standard practice for NHL teams to restrict rookie d-men from wandering either offensively or defensively from their lanes, especially those lacking a background in having played under professional systems. The exception to the rule are players like Phaneuf, Shea Weber, etc, you know, star CHL grads. Add Doughty to that list. Just because JJ has been restricted via this supposed leash doesn't mean that he'll suddenly turn into a player that he really isn't. Sorry to burst your bubble, Grampa.

You guys might as well just trade JJ because the true star is in the wings... Doughty.

Toronto Maple Leafs? Not a fan, but at least they turn a profit.

Canadian Hockey Fan said: Gramps, Grandpa, well to keep the record straight, it's GREAT Granddad and CHF, you're pretty good at age guessing, actually 72. I was being kind and remembering that we're not to let our chats get nasty. If you look at each of the players in question,
Prospect Grade: 9.0 C, C - May reach potential, could drop 2 ratings - has shown some flashes, but may ultimately not have what it takes to reach his potential. The potential rating is multiplied by 80 percent for depth chart purposes to show the uncertainty of a player reaching his potential. Jack Johnson Prospect Grade: 9.0 B: B - Should reach potential, could drop 1 rating - likely to reach potential, but may have a hole or two in his game that will keep him from reaching his full potential. The potential rating is multiplied by 90 percent for depth chart purposes, which indicates slightly less certainty about a player’s future performance. This analysis came from Hockey's Future Player Projection. Also CHF, what really ticked me more then anything was your attitude that if you aren't Canadian then you can't be a good or even a great hockey player. That would be like me saying if you aren't American you will never be a good baseball player. And you and I both know that's not true. Have a happy training camp, BTW ALL the Original 6 turn a profit.

"Al said:

Canadian Hockey Fan said: Gramps, Grandpa, well to keep the record straight, it's GREAT Granddad and CHF, you're pretty good at age guessing, actually 72. I was being kind and remembering that we're not to let our chats get nasty. If you look at each of the players in question,
Prospect Grade: 9.0 C, C - May reach potential, could drop 2 ratings - has shown some flashes, but may ultimately not have what it takes to reach his potential. The potential rating is multiplied by 80 percent for depth chart purposes to show the uncertainty of a player reaching his potential. Jack Johnson Prospect Grade: 9.0 B: B - Should reach potential, could drop 1 rating - likely to reach potential, but may have a hole or two in his game that will keep him from reaching his full potential. The potential rating is multiplied by 90 percent for depth chart purposes, which indicates slightly less certainty about a player’s future performance. This analysis came from Hockey's Future Player Projection. Also CHF, what really ticked me more then anything was your attitude that if you aren't Canadian then you can't be a good or even a great hockey player. That would be like me saying if you aren't American you will never be a good baseball player. And you and I both know that's not true. Have a happy training camp, BTW ALL the Original 6 turn a profit."

See, the difference between you and I is that you are using hockey's future as a guide for prospect info, whereas I have playing, coaching, and scouting experience in an area where hockey is all that matters, basically, you know, in Canada. I could honestly care less if Canadians excel at any sports other than hockey actually, but will say proudly that we indeed do well in hockey. In fact, if memory serves, 16 of the top 25 point scorers in the NHL last regular season were Canadians. For those of you keeping score, that leaves the balance of the world with 9. The previous season saw very similar numbers.

Hockey's Future amateur/volunteer writers throw some fairly naive prospect ratings out there sometimes, IMO. I don't fault them for trying but to rely upon their analysis is questionable at best. All they seem to do is read and regurgitate scouting reports and add some creative writing to fill space.

I actually do feel that the dude writing this blog does an excellent job though, really. That is why I come back.

I never said there weren't any good American hockey players either, for Ballard and Erik Johnson are both pretty good. I do remember a time when Americans could actually score goals as well though. It has been a few years since one graced the top scoring list.

So have I made you feel better about your country's hockey prowess yet? That's great. The IIHF currently have the USA ranked 6th overall globally. Want to guess who is first?