April 2009 Archives

I never managed to graduate from the mini-golf courses, but for those who have, and want to support a good cause, the 21st annual Dave Taylor/Jim Fox Cystic Fibrosis Golf Classic will be held on Monday, June 15, at the Moorpark Country Club.

More information about the tournament can be found here.

Jack Johnson had a big game for Team USA today in the IIHF World Championships, but the Americans fell to Sweden 6-5 in overtime in their final pool-play game. Johnson assisted on two 5-on-3 power-play goals in the second period, and his even-strength goal, 8:20 into the third period, gave Team USA a 5-2 lead. Sweden then rallied with three goals, and made it 5-5 with 3:51 remaining. Sweden won it when Kristian Huselius scored 1:59 into overtime.

Team USA finished first in its group and, if I'm reading the schedule correctly, will play France on Sunday and Switzerland on Monday. (That's a correction...I didn't realize I was already looking at updated standings...)

All of the finalists for the major NHL awards have been announced. For those who haven't seen all of the results, here are the finalists plus, in the interest of disclosure, how I voted as a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association:

Hart Trophy (most valuable)
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
I voted: 1) Ovechkin, 2) Datsyuk, 3) Sidney Crosby

Calder Trophy (outstanding rookie):
Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets
Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks
Kris Versteeg, Chicago Blackhawks
I voted: 1) Mason, 2) Drew Doughty, 3) Ryan

Norris Trophy (outstanding defenseman):
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
Mike Green, Washington Capitals
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
I voted: 1) Green, 2) Chara, 3) Lidstrom

Lady Byng Trophy (skill, sportsmanship):
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
I voted: 1) Datsyuk, 2) Jarome Iginla, 3) St. Louis

Vezina Trophy (outstanding goaltender)
Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild
Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets
Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins
(I did not have a Vezina vote, but would have voted Thomas, Mason, Roberto Luongo)

Frank J. Selke Trophy (top defensive forward):
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks
Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers
I voted: 1) Datsyuk, 2) David Krejci, 3) Patrick Marleau

From last week's Sports Illustrated...

Here's a cool picture of Patrick O'Sullivan, Dustin Brown and Jack Johnson (plus John Michael Liles), back together after the United States scored a goal against Austria on Monday. Also, what's with the advertisements on the helmets? Please don't let Gary Bettman see that....

Photo by Fabrice Coffrini, AFP/Getty Images

Just to set the table, here's what the Kings' financial situation looks like at the moment. If they had to fill a 23-man roster, at the moment, with only the players under contract, it might look something like this. The following 23 players, plus the two buyouts, would result in a salary-cap hit of roughly $43.2 million.

FORWARDS
Kopitar 6.800 million
Handzus 4.000
Stoll 3.600
Williams 3.500
Brown 3.175
Frolov 2.900
Moller 0.875
Lewis 0.855
Simmonds 0.822
Clune 0.625
Ivanans 0.600
Richardson 0.588
Zeiler 0.544
Gauthier 0.525

DEFENSEMEN
Doughty 3.475 million
Greene 2.950
Hickey 1.346
O'Donnell 1.250
Harrold 0.583
Drewiske 0.525
Quincey 0.525

GOALIES
Quick 0.770 million
Ersberg 0.750

BUYOUTS
Cloutier 1.033 million
McCauley 0.667

Plus, there are the following restricted free agents:
RFA
Bagnall
Boyle
Dravecky
Elkins (arbitration eligible)
Johnson
Moulson (arbitration eligible)
Parse
Piskula (arbitration eligible)
Purcell
Taylor
Westgarth

Where were these goals for the Kings? First, Dustin Brown scored two goals in a warmup game for Team USA last week, and now Jack Johnson scored two goals for Team USA, on Saturday, in the Americans' first game, a 4-2 victory over Latvia.

Johnson played 19 minutes, 15 seconds, in that game, second-most on the team. Brown, the captain, had one assist and played 17:41, most among American forwards. Peter Harrold played 7:05.

On Sunday, Canada throttled Hungary 9-0 and Drew Doughty had one assist.

This morning, Brown had one goal and two assists in USA's 6-1 victory over Austria.

Canada opened play in the IIHF World Championships today with a 6-1 victory over Belarus. Drew Doughty assisted on Canada's second goal, scored on the power play by Steven Stamkos for an '08 Draft Connection.

Russia beat Germany today, 5-0, but Alexander Frolov didn't play and I'm not sure why. Slovakia, with Michal Handzus, plays Hungary today. USA, with Dustin Brown, Peter Harrold and Jack Johnson, opens play in the tournament tomorrow morning against Latvia.

What was worse?

a) Being a Kings fan this season, knowing all along that your team probably wouldn't make the playoffs?

or

b) Being a Sharks fan this season, knowing that no matter how many points you accumulated, your team was probably still destined for another playoff choke?

It's a serious question. Would you rather be Sharks Fan and enjoy the six months of success, regardless of how it ends?

There was a question in the comments section about Colten Teubert, and why he was a healthy scratch for the Ontario Reign in last night's Game 7 loss to Stockton. According to the team, Teubert was not a ``healthy'' scratch, but instead had an undisclosed upper-body injury, which he sustained in Game 6 the previous night.

On a related subject, J.P. Hoornstra, who covered the Reign for our newspaper chain this season, talked to Bill Ranford yesterday about Jeff Zatkoff and Linden Rowat. Ranford and the rest of the Kings brass (Lombardi, Murray, Hextall, Robitaille) attended the Reign game.

Ranford on Zatkoff, Rowat

From the various mock drafts and analysis that have been thrown around, it seems increasingly evident that the Big Two -- John Tavares and Victor Hedman -- has become the Big Three with the addition of Matt Duchene, who is now widely expected to go no later than No. 3, to Colorado.

Conventional wisdom has the Atlanta Thrashers, at No. 4, taking either Evander Kane or Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, leaving the other forward available for the Kings at No. 5. My journalistic preference is for Kane, merely to avoid frequent misspellings and a repeat of the Voinov/Voynov confusion, about whether the kid's name is Paajarvi-Svensson or Svensson-Paajarvi.

What's your preference? Or do you think Dean Lombardi will go ``off the board'' -- a la Thomas Hickey two years ago -- and make a surprise pick?

For those who attended the Tip-A-King event in February and were disappointed not to meet Dustin Brown, who was dealing with childbirth issues, Brown and the Kings have rescheduled a ``make-up'' date. On Saturday, May 16, Brown will appear at the Sports Chalet in Marina del Rey from 10 a.m. to noon. The autograph session will be exclusively for Tip-A-King ticket-buyers, who can bring their ticket stubs from February and ``tip'' $1 for an autograph and $2 for a photo.

Sports Chalet
13455 Maxella Ave.
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

JOHN ZEILER
This season: 27 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, 42 penalty minutes, 6:33 average ice time.
The good: Zeiler basically does what is asked of him. Run around, hit people, get in the way and bring some energy on the fourth line. He seems to understand, and accept, his role as a part-time energy player, and didn't complain when he ended up being a healthy scratch in more than half of the Kings' games this season.
The bad: Zeiler generated some goodwill in the 2006-07 season, when he basically came out of nowhere and impressed with his skating and hitting. That led to a four-year contract which, even though it's for a paltry amount -- an average of under $544,000 per season -- seems to be a bit of a head-scratcher in retrospect. Zeiler is a filler player who didn't do much this season to prove that he should be in the lineup on a regular basis.
Going forward: With a player such as Richard Clune earning good reviews in Manchester, it's no stretch to say that Zeiler's time with the Kings might be drawing short. Zeiler hardly makes any money (in a relative sense) and is a serviceable spare part, but the Kings are at the point where they need to get beyond just having ``serviceable'' players on the roster.

JUSTIN WILLIAMS
This season: 12 games, 1 goal, 3 assists, 8 penalty minutes, 17:51 average ice time (with Kings); 32 games, 3 goals, 7 assists, 9 penalty minutes, 15:10 average ice time (with Carolina).
The good: Williams came in under some difficult circumstances, through no fault of his own. He was the player who came back in the controversial trade that sent Patrick O'Sullivan to Edmonton, and Williams had a broken finger at the time of the trade and didn't make his Kings debut for two weeks. After seven games without a point, Williams had a one-goal, two-assist game against Phoenix on April 4 and was playing on the first line by the end of the season.
The bad: Keep in mind the image of Michal Handzus in 2007-08, when Handzus went through that typical year-after-ACL-surgery season. Reports from Carolina indicated that Williams was a step slow this season, and his combined four goals in 44 games fell well short of his past performances, which included two 30-goal seasons.
Going forward: Perhaps no player will be watched closer next season than Williams. In O'Sullivan, the Kings traded away a popular young player with potential. Dean Lombardi is adament that he got the better play in the trade, so it's going to be up to Williams to prove him correct. Given the Kings seem increasingly comfortable with Dustin Brown in a second-line role, Williams is likely to be given first crack to be the first-line right winger.

KEVIN WESTGARTH
This season: 9 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, 9 penalty minutes, 5:02 average ice time.
The good: Westgarth, the Kings' second Princeton-educated enforcer, had developed a solid reputation in Manchester for his willingness to mix it up. Westgarth, mentioned as a probably successor to Raitis Ivanans, got his first chance in mid-January, not so coincidentally, after the incident against Tampa Bay when the Kings didn't respond to a hit on Drew Doughty. Westgarth got another call in March after Ivanans suffered an injury.
The bad: It's hard to make too much of two brief NHL stints, but Westgarth didn't really do anything to force the Kings to keep him on the roster. His size (6-foot-5) and willingness to drop the gloves allow him to fill a prescribed role, but what did he really show beyond that? Westgarth had 10 points in 65 games in Manchester this season.
Going forward: Westgarth is a restricted free agent this summer, and Ivanans remains under contract for one more season and a paltry $600,000. At 25, Westgarth still has time to improve, and there's a decent chance that, a year from now, Westgarth will inherit that spot from Ivanans. At this point, is there enough of a difference between Ivanans and Westgarth to justify making a change in that spot?

Columbus' Steve Mason, the Ducks' Bobby Ryan and Chicago's Kris Versteeg have been named as the three finalists for the Calder Trophy. The Kings' Drew Doughty was not among the top three vote-getters.

I voted Mason first, followed by Doughty. Ryan and Versteeg were also in my top five, but I thought Mason and Doughty were particularly outstanding, compared to fellow rookies at their respective positions. The award will be given out on June 18 in Las Vegas.

Jeff Zatkoff made 29 saves last night as the Ontario Reign beat Stockton 4-3 and forced a seventh game in the first-round ECHL playoff series. That game will be played tonight in Ontario. The Reign led 4-0 before Zatkoff allowed three third-period goals, but held on. Colten Teubert had a plus-2 rating and took two minor penalties.

Team USA played its final warmup game yesterday before the IIHF World Championships, and Dustin Brown scored both USA goals in a 5-2 loss to Switzerland. The first goal was on a 5-on-3 power play and the second goal was with a two-man disadvantage. Team USA plays its opening game in the tournament on Saturday morning (7:15 a.m. Pacific time) against Latvia.

JARRET STOLL
This season: 74 games, 18 goals, 23 assists, 68 penalty minutes, 17:05 average ice time.
The good: The Kings' power play wasn't great this season, but how much worse would it have been without Stoll. With his particularly strong shot from the point, Stoll finished second on the team with 10 power-play goals. His 18 goals and 41 points, overall, were his highest totals in three years, and Stoll's defense and faceoff ability were also strengths.
The bad: Ideally, Stoll is a third-line center, but it's been a bit hard for him to find a fit with the Kings because they already have the ideal third-line center in Michal Handzus. Stoll isn't exactly a playmaker, which makes it difficult to pair him with high-scoring wingers on a first or second line, but he also has too much talent to be forced into a fourth-line role. Then again, that's more a problem for Lombardi and Murray, not Stoll himself.
Going forward: As a reliable two-way player and a good presence in the locker room, Stoll has a stable place on the Kings' roster. His play took a somewhat-mysterious dip in the early part of the season, and it would still be beneficial to the Kings if he could provide more offense, but the Kings knew what they were getting in Stoll, and he has held up his end of the bargain.

WAYNE SIMMONDS
This season: 82 games, 9 goals, 14 assists, 73 penalty minutes, 13:50 average ice time.
The good: Simmonds was all skin, bones and energy when he showed up in the summer of 2007 for his first prospects camp. A year later, his performance in training camp was so dynamic that the Kings, shockingly, chose to keep him around. After that, all Simmonds did was play 82 games, bring a ton of energy, play good defense, bring some toughness, skate hard on every shift and show some offensive potential. On a per-minute basis, no Kings player got more out of his playing time than Wayne Simmonds did this season.
The bad: Everyone knows what Simmonds' weakness is at this point. He needs to find a way to pack on some bulk without losing any of his speed. That shouldn't be hard to do. At a legit 6-foot-1, Simmonds certainly has room to pack on a few pounds, and he talked about his desire to get stronger this summer. Another 10 pounds or so, over the summer, could make a world of difference.
Going forward: Since Simmonds is still so much a work in progress, it's hard to know what his ceiling is. At worst, he's already a dynamic third-line winger. At best, he could develop a scoring touch and be a real two-way threat. Simmonds made tremendous strides in the last 12 months, and if he can take a similar step forward over the next year, the Kings will have a real gem.

BRAD RICHARDSON
This season: 31 games, 0 goals, 5 assists, 11 penalty minutes, 10:48 average ice time.
The good: In a season full of fits and starts -- caused both by coach's decisions and a freak injury -- Richardson did show some potential. He's a strong skater and plays with some grit, and his 14 goals (in 38 games) with Lake Erie of the AHL in 2007-08 indicates that he has some offensive potential.
The bad: Richardson seemed like the awkward Christmas gift that someone gave Terry Murray. Lombardi spent a second-round draft pick to get Richardson, and Murray never seemed quite sure what to do with him. The season's most bizarre injury took place in early December, when Richardson suffered a cut on his lower leg during practice and ended up missing almost two months because the injury kept getting aggravated.
Going forward: Richardson falls into a dangerous category, as do several other forwards on the Kings' roster. He's a third- or fourth-line player on a team that had a ton of them this season. Richardson spent his junior career with the Owen Sound Attack under GM Michael Futa, who is now the Kings' co-director of amateur scouting, so the Kings must see something in Richardson. Will he get an extended opportunity to show it next season?

KYLE QUINCEY
This season: 72 games, 4 goals, 34 assists, 63 penalty minutes, 20:59 average ice time.
The good: The Kings claimed Quincey off waivers from Detroit the morning after Jack Johnson suffered his shoulder injury, but they wanted him anyway. It wasn't immediately clear why, since Quincey had only 13 games of NHL experience (over three seasons) with the Red Wings, but it became clear soon enough. Quincey finished second on the team in assists, even though he was dealing with back-pain issues for most of the season. Quincey was particularly potent on the power play, with a team-high 27 power-play points, and generally was a great surprise for the Kings.
The bad: It's a bit difficult to classify Quincey. Is he a young player? Sort of, but he's 23. Was he a rookie? No, plus he had 13 games of playoff experience with the Red Wings. So it's sort of hard to judge how much a ceiling Quincey has. He could still improve aspects of his overall game, but it's hard to criticize any part of the effort he gave the Kings this season, especially knowing that he played with a bad back.
Going forward: There's little doubt that Quincey has earned a spot with the Kings. His back, surgically repaired near the end of the season, should be fully healed by the time training camp starts, but will his inability to do some conditioning work in the summer negatively impact him in training camp?

JONATHAN QUICK
This season: 44 games, 21-18-2 record, 2.48 goals-against average, .914 save percentage.
The good: What's not to like? Quick, with only three previous games of NHL experience, came up from Manchester after the Kings traded Jason LaBarbera and, as Terry Murray put it, gave the Kings a chance to win every night. Well, almost every night, but it's hard to argue with what Quick gave the Kings. He had four shutouts, ended the season by allowing a total of six goals in his last four games and generally gave hope that he could be the goalie the Kings have been looking for.
The bad: Forty-four games is a good sample size, but there's still a bit of a ``prove it'' aspect to Quick. Yes, he thrived during a midseason call-up when expectations weren't high. What happens if he earns the No. 1 job out of training camp and feels the pressure of being the top dog? Can he handle it? There's a bit of a consistency issue with Quick, but that can be said about any young goalie.
Going forward: By all indications, Quick will enter training camp as the de facto No. 1 goalie. The Kings will make him earn it, and Erik Ersberg and Jonathan Bernier will be given a chance to knock him off, but Ersberg seems better suited to backup duty and the Kings would ideally like to have Bernier spend another season in the AHL. No player on the Kings is more competitive than Quick, so he should be up to the challenge in training camp.

Alexander Frolov has been chosen to represent Russia, and Michal Handzus has been chosen to represent Slovakia in the IIHF World Championships, which begin Friday in Switzerland. The full news release from the Kings follows...

TEDDY PURCELL
This season: 40 games, 4 goals, 12 assists, 4 penalty minutes, 13:31 average ice time.
The good: Purcell had 16 goals in 38 games with Manchester and, at times, showed that offensive touch with the Kings. Purcell made the most noise in early March, when he had at least one point in five consecutive games and totaled two goals and four assists in those five games. Purcell's numbers fell off toward the end of the season, but he earned some first-line time during the season, and ended it as part of an intriguing third line with Brian Boyle and, at times, Brad Richardson.
The bad: Purcell's first stint with the Kings this season, in December and January, ended in relative disappointment. Purcell alternated between the first and fourth line. In Terry Murray's eyes, Purcell didn't bring enough offense to stay on the first line and didn't bring enough grit to stay on the fourth line. That led to a return trip to Manchester.
Going forward: Asumming the Kings re-sign him (he's a restricted free agent), next season will be an important one for Purcell, a player Dean Lombardi once had penciled in as a potential first-line winger. Purcell's style of play indicates that he needs to be in a top-six role in order to thrive in the NHL, but will his talent level make him a fit in one of those roles? Lombardi's activity level in the trade market this summer will go a long way toward determining where Purcell might be able to fit.

TOM PREISSING
This season: 22 games, 3 goals, 4 assists, 6 penalty minutes, 16:45 average ice time.
The good: Well, his blog on lakings.com was pretty entertaining for a while, right? In the best of times, Preissing can be a valuable power-play contributor (five of his seven points this season came with the man advantage) and even during tough times, he didn't complain and remained a popular figure in the locker room before he eventually got sent to Manchester.
The bad: A mysterious bout with dizziness, coupled with ineffective play, led to Preissing playing only 22 games this season. That's $125,000 per game played, which is pretty amazing. Preissing received his big four-year contract with the Kings after a strong season with Ottawa in 2006-07, when the Senators made the Stanley Cup Finals. It seems increasingly clear that Preissing simply was a better fit in Ottawa's system.
Going forward: It's not pretty. The Kings have Preissing under contract for two more seasons, at $2.75 million per season. If there's one contract the Kings would like to get off the books, it's this one, but they're already paying two buyouts next season (Cloutier and McCauley), and Dean Lombardi would have to do quite a sell-job to get another GM to take that salary this summer. More than likely, it's, ``Hello, Manchester.''

SEAN O'DONNELL
This season: 82 games, 0 goals, 12 assists, 71 penalty minutes, 20:29 average ice time.
The good: When the Kings acquired O'Donnell from the Ducks -- essentially for free, since the conditional draft pick ended up staying with the Kings -- they didn't have unrealistic expectations. In O'Donnell, they sought a veteran who would be a good presence in the locker room and be a left-shot defenseman whom they could pair with rookie Drew Doughty and be a steady presence. O'Donnell ended up being all that and more. His average ice time was at its highest level since the 2003-04 season and, at age 37, he played all 82 games for a second consecutive season.
The bad: After a brilliant start to the season, O'Donnell's play did take a bit of a mid-season dip, and Terry Murray sought to cut back his minutes, but O'Donnell still regularly played more than 20 minutes per night.
Going forward: The Kings could easily have traded O'Donnell at the deadline, but chose to keep him and sign him to a one-year extension. There's still very much a place for O'Donnell on this team. Even though Doughty has graduated, so to speak, and probably doesn't need the defensive protection that O'Donnell provides, O'Donnell's steady play and leadership can definitely be utilized by Terry Murray next season. O'Donnell's conditioning is strong, and he should be able to hold up well for at least one more season.

MATT MOULSON
This season: 7 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, 2 penalty minutes, 14:30 average ice time.
The good: Moulson was one of the training camp ``winners,'' as he impressed Terry Murray enough to earn a spot on the team at the start of the season. Moulson played in seven of the Kings' first 10 games and had some first-line time but eventually got sent down to Manchester. With the Monarchs, Moulson had his third consecutive 20-goal season.
The bad: Moulson is just sort of ``there,'' seemingly not going forward and not going backward. At age 25, he's not old, but he's also on the wrong end of the age curve. As the Kings' depth chart gets filled with progressively younger players, it's going to be easier for Moulson to simply fall off the radar. His AHL numbers have been decent, but nothing to suggest that he's due for a NHL breakthrough.
Going forward: It's certainly not out of the question that Moulson could earn a roster spot out of training camp -- if the Kings bring him back (he's a restricted free agent this summer) -- but it's more likely that he would continue to fill the role he has filled for the last two seasons, as the guy who hops on an L.A.-bound plane when someone strains a groin muscle.

OSCAR MOLLER
This season: 40 games, 7 goals, 8 assists, 16 penalty minutes, 13:22 average ice time.
The good: The Kings didn't plan for Moller to make the team this season, but he forced their hand with an outstanding training camp. At times, he certainly displayed an NHL-caliber game, and a surprising amount of his offensive production came on the power play (five of seven goals, four of eight assists). Moller's ability to play center and wing made him versatile, and he has the potential to fit on any of the Kings' four lines.
The bad: He's small. Really small. But he's also young (20), with the potential to pack on some bulk, which he will need to do in order to make a big impact at the NHL level. Moller was doing pretty well until he left, in mid-December, to play for Sweden in the World Juniors. He hurt his shoulder, missed almost two months, and was never really the same after that. Moller often found himself as a healthy scratch in important March games.
Going forward: There's little doubt that Moller is an NHL player, and that he has the potential to bulk up enough to earn a bigger role next season. Moller's work ethic and competitiveness have been two of his biggest stengths since draft day, and wherever the Kings are headed, he's going to be a big part of their future. The question in training camp might be, is Moller ready for a top-six forward role?

TREVOR LEWIS
This season: 6 games, 1 goal, 2 assists, 0 penalty minutes, 11:36 average ice time.
The good: Either through reality or mere perception, it seemed as though Lewis' stock was slipping within the organization before this season. He had only 12 goals and 16 assists in 76 games with Manchester in 2007-08. He rebounded nicely this season though, and totaled 20 goals and 31 assists in 75 games in the AHL. His work ethic also impressed Kings management enough to earn him a brief December call-up, and at one point he was playing first-line minutes. Lewis put himself squarely in the forefront in terms of forward prospects.
The bad: Six games at the NHL level isn't much to judge. It was a good cup of coffee for Lewis, but he will have to prove that he can consistently play at the NHL level. One issue might be where Lewis fits. His offensive numbers, even though they were better this season, weren't overwhelming at the AHL level, so it's hard to see him stepping into a top-six forward role right now. For now, is he ready to replace Derek Armstrong as a fourth-line center?
Going forward: It seems likely that Lewis will be given a chance to earn a roster spot in training camp, but his margin for error will be slim. At age 22, he's certainly young enough to spend another season in the AHL without giving the appearance that he's simply treading water, but the potential is there for Lewis to at least claim a fourth-line role.

ANZE KOPITAR
This season: 82 games, 27 goals, 39 assists, 32 penalty minutes, 20:27 average ice time.
The good: Even though Kopitar's offensive production dropped from 2007-08, 27 goals is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, from the first day of training camp, Terry Murray's point of emphasis with Kopitar was to improve his defensive game. Even though the plus-minus numbers didn't show it (do they ever?), Kopitar's defensive game took a step forward. He drew tough assignment and logged big penalty-kill minutes.
The bad: There's a certain difficult with analyzing Kopitar's game, because there's no accurate formula for determining how much the emphasis on defense took away from his offensive game. From a basic, objective view, however, there were simply times when Kopitar didn't look like his former dominating self in the offensive zone. Was it simply a matter of adjusting to a new role? Was he burdened by the symbolic responsibilities of being an alternate captain? Or did he merely go through a stretch of bad play, as players often do?
Going forward: By the later part of the season, Kopitar's game began to look more familiar. It's interesting that Dean Lombardi singled out Kopitar as a player whose physical conditioning could improve. Given that Terry Murray has noted, several times, the importance of offseason conditioning, it's a good bet that Kopitar will be expected to show up at training camp in the best shape of his career. Will that lead to him returning to the point-per-game level?

JACK JOHNSON
This season: 41 games, 6 goals, 5 assists, 46 penalty minutes, 20:17 average ice time.
The good: When Johnson returned from his shoulder surgery, his first 10 or 12 games were dynamic, and they helped contribute to some of the best hockey the Kings played in 2008-09. Johnson was aggressive, played with an edge and gave every indication that he was ready to fulfill his long-presumed potential and be a two-way force.
The bad: Well, after those first 10-12 games, Johnson seemed to regress. A pairing with Drew Doughty, which seemed to have great potential at first, fizzled, and while Doughty ``graduated,'' and earned enough trust to move into a No. 1 pairing with fellow rookie Davis Drewiske, Johnson inherited Sean O'Donnell, seemingly a sign that the Kings needed to protect him a bit by pairing him with the stable veteran O'Donnell.
Going forward: One of the most interesting storylines of the summer will be Johnson's contract negotiations. He doesn't have arbitration rights, so there will have to be an agreement reached. Johnson's new agent doesn't have any other hockey clients, but he's big in motorsports circles. Johnson didn't tip his hand at the end of the season when asked about whether he would seek a long-term or short-term contract. Will these talks be easy (Brown, Kopitar) or difficult (Cammalleri, O'Sullivan)? The answer could determine whether or not Johnson will be a King in the long term.

RAITIS IVANANS
This season: 76 games, 2 games, 0 assists, 145 penalty minutes, 6:22 average ice time.
The good: Well, how much do you expect for six minutes a night? Dean Lombardi said he wouldn't put Ivanans in the ``battleship'' category of enforcers -- those who just skate around and look imposing -- but clearly that's what Ivanans does best. Terry Murray has noted, a couple times, that he believes opposing teams play the Kings differently when Ivanans isn't in the lineup, so clearly Ivanans' primary purpose is to serve as a deterrent. At 6-foot-3 and 263 pounds, he's a pretty effective deterrent.
The bad: If Ivanans isn't a ``battleship,'' he's doing a pretty good job of hiding his other skills. Ivanans has a maddeningly tendency to take bad penalties, particularly in the offensive zone, that negate the positives he brings to the team. Then there's the Tampa Bay incident. When Evgeny Artyukhin took out Drew Doughty with a hit, the Kings famously lacked a response. Where was Ivanans?
Going forward: Ivanans has three things going in his favor: 1) Terry Murray thinks it's valuable to have an ``enforcer'' in the lineup. 2) Ivanans is under contract for next season. 3) Kevin Westgarth didn't light the world on fire during his time with the Kings this season. Those three factors make it likely that Ivanans will be back next season, but it's definitely not out of the question that Westgarth could earn the spot in training camp.

PETER HARROLD
This season: 69 games, 4 goals, 8 assists, 28 penalty minutes, 13:11 average ice time.
The good: Harrold was a sixth or seventh defenseman early in the season when Terry Murray made the surprising decision to move Harrold to right wing. It actually worked. Harrold brought his defensive sensibilities to the forward position and also showed the ability to move the puck up the ice. In a fourth-line role, Harrold brought some grit but also had some hockey skills, as opposed to a stereotypical ``enforcer.'' Harrold's ability to play defense also gives him some versatility. He's solid, one of those players who is doing his job when he's not noticed.
The bad: Harrold seems destined to be the consummate role player, not that that's necessarily a bad thing. Role players can have long NHL careers. Of course, he's a natural defenseman, but given the competition on defense, he might be hard-pressed to earn a spot on the blue line. As a forward, he's unlikely to rise above the fourth-line level, but his ability to do both makes him the hockey version of a baseball utility player.
Going forward: Lombardi and Murray love Harrold's ``compete level,'' as they say in hockey, and that goes a long way, as does his ability to play two positions. The fact that the Kings can essentially fill two roster spots with Harrold makes it quite likely that he will be on the roster next season, as does the fact that he's only 25 and has room to improvement. His selection to Team USA for the World Championships, while somewhat surprising, will boost his confidence.

The Ontario Reign, the Kings' West Coast affiliate in the ECHL, beat the Stockton Thunder 5-1 last night to claim a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Bud Holloway was the first star, as he totaled one goal and two assists, and goalie Jeff Zatkoff stopped 21 of 22 shots. Game 4 will be played Friday night in Stockton.

The Kings' website has posted some quotes from Dustin Brown, Peter Harrold and Jack Johnson about their selections to Team USA for the IIHF World Championships.

HARROLD: ``"I think it is awesome. I didn't really think it was an option for me, but I got the call and was asked, 'Do you want to play for your country?' and it was a no-brainer. It should be a great experience.''

Read the full quotes here.

MICHAL HANDZUS
This season: 82 games, 18 goals, 24 assists, 32 penalty minutes, 18:54 average ice time.
The good: Handzus probably should have changed his name this season, because he was a completely different player than the slow, out-of-place Michal Handzus who trudged through the 2007-08 season and probably shouldn't even have been in the lineup on a lot of nights. That Handzus, still recovering from ACL surgery, was barely a fourth-line center. This Handzus was arguably the Kings' most valuable player, considering that he played great defense, contributed a fair amount of offense, served as a mentor to frequent linemate Wayne Simmonds and, at one point, volunterred to play left wing.
The bad: At $4 million a year, Handzus is very well compensated for a third-line center. When they signed him, the Kings hoped Handzus would be their second-line center, but his play, and other circumstances, have dictated otherwise. Jarret Stoll also seems more suited to be a third-line center, so the Kings have a bit of an issue there, but they can't argue with the type of play they got from Handzus this season.
Going forward: At age 32, Handzus should still be able to give the Kings two more strong seasons. He gives the Kings the anchor for something they have lacked for a long time: a strong, shutdown third line. If the Kings can find the correct winger to pair with Handzus and Simmonds, they will have a line they can count on to be consistently strong every night.

JORDAN SCHROEDER
Ht/Wt:5.08/168 lbs
Position:RW

Schroeder profile from nhl.com
Schroeder profile from mynhldraft.com

BRAYDEN SCHENN
Ht/Wt: 6.00/196 lbs
Position: C

Schenn profile from nhl.com
Schenn profile from mynhldraft.com

MAGNUS PAAJARVI-SVENSSON
Ht/Wt: 6.01/187 lbs
Position: LW

Paajarvi-Svensson profile on nhl.com
Paajarvi-Svensson article on nhl.com
Paajarvi-Svensson profile on mynhldraft.com

EVANDER KANE
Ht/Wt:6.00/170 lbs
Position:C

Kane profile on nhl.com
Kane profile on mynhldraft.com

MATT DUCHENE
Ht/Wt:5.10.5/190 lbs
Position:C

Duchene profile from nhl.com
Duchene profile from mynhldraft.com

In addition to the previous note, Jonathan Quick is also expected to join Team USA. He has a sore groin muscle that is expected to heal in time for the tournament.

Dustin Brown, Peter Harrold and Jack Johnson have been selected to represent the United States at the IIHF World Championships, which start April 24 in Switzerland.

JARED COWEN
Ht/Wt: 6.05/216 lbs
Position: D

Cowen profile from nhl.com
Cowen profile from mynhldraft.com

VICTOR HEDMAN
Ht/Wt: 6.06/220 lbs
Position: D

Hedman profile from nhl.com
Hedman profile from mynhldraft.com

Stepping away from the player evaluations for a day, let's take a look at some of the top prospects for the draft. Since the Kings have the No. 5 pick, and Nos. 3 and 4 seem to be wide open, this could go in any direction. We'll take a look at six potential picks, plus Tavares and Hedman, even though they seem to be locks for the first two picks...

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JOHN TAVARES
Ht/Wt: 6.00/199 lbs
Position: C

Tavares profile from nhl.com
Tavares profile from mynhldraft.com

Just to set the table, here's what the Kings' draft-pick table looks like for this year:

First-Round: one selection
Second-Round: one selection
Third-Round: one selection
Fourth-Round: three selections
Fifth-Round: two selections
Sixth-Round: two selections
Seventh-Round: three selections

In the next day or two, I'll be posting bios and videos of some of the players who might be available for the Kings to pick.

No changes in the order during the lottery...

1. NY Islanders
2. Tampa Bay
3. Colorado
4. Atlanta
5. Kings

That number, 8.1, represents the percentage chance that the Kings have of landing the No. 1 pick in the draft. The lottery will be held today at 5 p.m. The Kings finished with the league's fifth-worst record this season. Two years ago, Chicago made the jump from No. 5 to No. 1. Last season, when the Kings finished with the second-worst record, Tampa Bay retained the No. 1 pick. Here are each of the five teams' chances of landing the No. 1 pick:

NY Islanders -- 48.2 percent
Tampa Bay -- 18.8 percent
Colorado -- 14.2 percent
Atlanta -- 10.7 percent
Kings -- 8.1 percent

There is a 17.2 percent chance that a team below the Kings will ``win'' the lottery and bump the Kings down.

MATT GREENE
This season: 82 games, 2 goals, 12 assists, 111 penalty minutes, 19:44 average ice time.
The good: In a moment that was an odd high point of the season, Greene went down to the ice to block a shot and ended up taking a puck off the side of his face at the end of a March 9 victory over Vancouver. It's probably not something Greene wants to duplicate very often, but it represents the type of play he brings to the Kings. Greene's body is practically a roadmap of scars, bruises and cuts, and in many ways he brings the same ``warrior'' mentality that Mattias Norstrom used to bring. On top of all that, he's a steady defenseman.
The bad: Greene's biggest negative is his tendency to take penalties, although coaches don't always mind those penalties if they're taken in the correct situations. Greene's offensive potential is limited, and he's not a great puck-mover, but that's not exactly what the Kings were looking for when they acquired him.
Going forward: Greene's toughness, leadership ability and age (he turns 26 next month), coupled with the contract extension he signed last year, should make him a valued member of the team for years to come. Other defensemen have more pure skill, but Greene has a certain intangible quality, one that Terry Murray recognized when he made Greene an alternate captain before the season.

DENIS GAUTHIER
This season: 65 games, 2 goals, 2 assists, 90 penalty minutes, 14:32 average ice time.
The good: While Gauthier's skill set is limited, he brings size, grit and the willingness to hit people. At age 32, with a decade of NHL experience, Gauthier helped balance out the youth on the Kings' blue line.
The bad: Expecting Gauthier to be anything more than a sixth or seventh defenseman is folly. Gauthier can be prone to turnovers and bad penalties, because he's just not very good with the puck. He received two suspensions this season because of hits, although one of them turned into a positive because it allowed for the emergence of Davis Drewiske.
Going forward: Gauthier is an unrestricted free agent his summer, and while it seems that most fans would rather not seem him return, it wouldn't be a complete shock to see Gauthier back next season. After Sean O'Donnell, the Kings' second-oldest defenseman is 25-year-old Matt Greene. Even though the Kings' defense is filled with strong young players, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them bring in a hard-nosed veteran for that sixth or seventh spot. It might not be Gauthier, but it would be someone with a similar skill set.

ALEXANDER FROLOV
This season: 77 games, 32 goals, 27 assists, 30 penalty minutes, 19:55 average ice time.
The good: Frolov got back to doing what he does best: putting pucks in nets. He scored 35 goals in 2006-07, then dipped to 23 last season, but rebounded with a team-high 32 goals (including a team-high 12 power-play goals), even though he took only 16 more shots than he did last season. Frolov was able to be productive wherever Terry Murray put him. He played a chunk of the season on the third line, alongside Michal Handzus, and played a responsible defensive game. When Frolov is determined, there's nobody on the Kings who is stronger on the puck.
The bad: From Dave Taylor to Andy Murray to Dean Lombardi to Marc Crawford to Terry Murray, Frolov has been unable to completely shake the idea that he's not committed enough to winning and getting the most out of his talent. Part of that is a compliment. Coaches and GMs see Frolov's massive talent and want him to be an elite player, and get a bit frustrated when they feel they're not getting 100 percent out of him. Unfair? Maybe
Going forward: Welcome to ``Frolov Watch '09.'' With Frolov due to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010 and get a big contract, and with the Kings having expressed some frustration about his play, get ready for the fact that every trade rumor involving the Kings will have Frolov's name attached to it. Starting July 1, the Kings can negotiate with Frolov's agent about a new contract. Dean Lombardi said last week that even if an extension isn't reached this summer, he might keep Frolov for the entire season.

ERIK ERSBERG
This season: 28 games, (25 starts), 8-11-5, 2.64 goals-against average, .900 save percentage, 0 shutouts.
The good: During a stretch of 16 starts in November and December, Ersberg went 8-4-2 and allowed two or fewer goals in 10 of those starts. Ersberg's rebound control remains his primary strength and his play in stretches this season, coupled with a strong finish to the 2007-08 season, was enough to earn him a midseason two-year contract extension.
The bad: Ersberg followed up that strong 16-game stretch with a groin injury, then returned and hurt his knee. Ersberg won only one game after Dec. 13 and, allowed four goals in four of his last six starts of the season. Injuries continue to be a problem for Ersberg, which is likely a product of his size. Is Ersberg, who is listed way-too-generously at 182 pounds, durable enough to hold up over long stretches?
Going forward: Ersberg is in a pretty good spot going into next season. He might not be able to beat out Jonathan Quick for the No. 1 spot, but the other goalies in camp, namely Jonathan Bernier and Jeff Zatkoff, have something going against them. Dean Lombardi prefers his goalies to spend two years in the minors before they get a crack at the NHL, although he violated his own rule with Quick this season. Ersberg, by virtue of his experience, is a very strong bet to at least be the Kings' backup goalie next season.

DAVIS DREWISKE
This season: 17 games, 0 goals, 3 assists, 18 penalty minutes, 17:19 average ice time.
The good: When Drewiske came up from Manchester in early February, after Denis Gauthier's suspension, expectations weren't high. But Drewiske played five solid games and when the Kings needed a defenseman in late March, after Kyle Quincey's back surgery, Drewiske got the call again, and looked strong again. By the end of the season, he was playing more than 20 minutes per game and getting paired with Drew Doughty, and he finished the season with a two-assist game against San Jose.
The bad: Drewiske isn't what you would call a ``dynamic'' defenseman, and from his college and minor-league numbers, it's unlikely that he's ever going to establish himself as much of an offensive player. Then again, that's not really what the Kings asked of him this year.
Going forward: This will be an interesting one. Drewiske is under contract for just over $500,000 next season, but he's also part of the logjam on defense. He's caught in the middle, between established NHL defensemen such as Doughty, O'Donnell, Greene, Johnson and Quincey, and prospects such as Hickey, Voinov, Teubert and Martinez. Drewiske's strong play at the end of the season at least guarantees him a good look during training camp. If the Kings find a need for a stay-at-home defenseman, Drewiske will have a solid chance.

DREW DOUGHTY
This season: 81 games, 6 goals, 21 assists, 56 penalty minutes, 23:50 average ice time.
The good: Where to begin? It wasn't a surprise when Doughty made the team out of training camp, because he was considered ``NHL-ready'' when the Kings picked him last June, but did anyone really anticipate that Doughty would be this good? All Doughty did was play 81 games, lead the Kings in ice time and log big minutes on the power-play and penalty-kill units. Was Doughty in the class of a Nicklas Lidstrom? No, of course not, but it's hard to imagine a 19-year-old defenseman being much better than Doughty was this season.
The bad: There are some edges to be smoothed out, to be certain, but to criticize Doughty's game would be to trivialize how difficult it is for a teenager to play defense in the NHL.
Going forward: The only question here is, ``How good can Doughty be?'' The only knock on Doughty before the draft -- if you can call it that -- is that he was closer to being a ``finished product'' than some of the other prospects. That might be true, but how many of those other defensemen will ever be as good as Doughty was as a rookie? The fact is that there is still some room for improvement, and Doughty's challenge will be to avoid a sophomore slump.

KYLE CALDER
This season: 74 games, 8 goals, 19 assists, 41 penalty minutes, 13:10 average ice time.
The good: When the Kings put Calder where he belonged, he did a capable job. If you consider plus-minus to be a stat worth looking at, Calder was only minus-1 on a team that struggled mightily in 5-on-5.
The bad: It's not Calder's fault that Dean Lombardi gave him $2.7 million a year, and it's not Calder's fault that Terry Murray played him on the first line at times. Clearly though, Calder didn't deserve that much money and shouldn't have been in that spot. The Kings signed him with the hope that he could revive his previous form and resemble the player who scored 26 goals in 2005-06, but that player isn't coming back. He is, at best, a third-line grinder who can play a gritty game and contribute some points here and there.
Going forward: It would be a pretty big surprise to see Calder back next season. The Kings have a plethora of players who can fill a third- or fourth-line role, and there's probably at least one team out there that will throw a two-year contract at Calder, at a greatly reduced salary.

From the Kings...

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty will represent Canada at the 2009 IIHF World Championship tournament, the Kings today announced in conjunction with Hockey Canada. The World Championship tournament is scheduled for April 24 - May 10 in Switzerland.

Doughty, 19, will be making his first appearance at the World Championships. The 6-1, 203-pound native of London, Ontario, last skated with Team Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championships, bringing home a gold medal while also earning Top Defenseman of the tournament honors while recording four assists in seven games. He was just the fifth Canadian defenseman to win the award and the first to win the award before being drafted into the NHL. Doughty also skated with Team Canada at the 2007 World Under-18 Championships and the 2006 World Under-17 Championships.

For the Kings this past season, Doughty played in 81 games and led the Kings in time-on-ice with an average of 23:49 per game. He logged at least 20 minutes of ice time in 76 of his 81 games and his time-on-ice average led all rookies in the NHL. Doughty also tied for first among rookie NHL blue-liners in assists (21) and points (27) while also tying for second in goals (six) and blocked shots (114). In addition, Doughty's six goals tied for the team lead among Kings' defensemen and his 21 assists and 27 points both ranked second among team blue-liners.

For his efforts, Doughty was named Both the Kings' Outstanding Defenseman and Best Newcomer (Mark Bavis Memorial Award) this past Saturday. Doughty, who participated in the YoungStars event as part of the 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend in Montreal last January, was originally selected by the Kings in the first-round (2nd overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

DUSTIN BROWN
This season: 80 games, 24 goals, 29 assists, 64 penalty minutes, 19:24 average ice time.
The good: Brown took some heat in his role as captain this season, but the Kings' locker room was more cohesive than it has been in recent years. The captain doesn't deserve all of the credit for that, but it's his job to maintain locker-room peace, and both Dean Lombardi and Terry Murray have noted that the players truly seem to enjoy each other's company. When you're building a team, that factor can't be underestimated. And while Brown also took some heat for his play, he led the team in shots on goal (by a wide margin) and hits.
The bad: When Brown scored 33 goals last season, expectations soared, but Brown fell back to 24 goals this season. Part of that can be attributed to Terry Murray's team-wide emphasis on defense, but clearly there were stretches of the season in which Brown didn't look like himself. There were other issues, involving the premature birth of his son and his late-season disclosure of a back injury, but clearly Brown will be counted on for more offense next season.
Going forward: The Kings need to figure out what Brown is. Is he an elite scorer capable of playing on the first line, or is he better off on the second line, or even the third line with Michal Handzus? Regardless, Kings fans don't need to worry much about Brown. He's going to hit, he's going to shoot and, as he grows more comfortable and learns to be more vocal, he's going to be a capable captain. A few more goals next season would ease everyone's minds.

BRIAN BOYLE
This season: 28 games, 4 goals, 1 assist, 36 penalty minutes, 10:08 average ice time.
The good: Once again, Boyle showed just enough potential to make some team followers cringe at the thought of him signing elsewhere and having a successful NHL career. He had a two-goal game against Phoenix on April 4 and played well enough, in the eyes of Terry Murray, to earn second-line center minutes late in the season.
The bad: Once again, Boyle couldn't stick in the NHL because he couldn't convince Terry Murray and Dean Lombardi that he would play enough of a physical game to satisfy their desires. Whether you think Boyle is soft, or whether you think he's being asked to play a role that doesn't suit his game, it doesn't really matter. Murray and Lombardi have made clear what they want from Boyle, and so far he hasn't been able to provide it on a consistent basis. Boyle's numbers in Manchester (10 goals, 11 assists in 42 games) were not overwhelming either.
Going forward: Boyle is a restricted free agent this summer, so if the Kings offer him a contract, he will be back. The fact that Boyle is still young (24) and has potential, coupled with the fact that the Kings' system isn't exactly flush with forwards, probably makes it more likely than not that Boyle will still be in the Kings' system next season. He would, however, have to show a lot in training camp in order to earn a NHL roster spot.

Since there's nothing to really talk about today, it's a good time to start doing the ``player evaluations,'' like we did last year. It's a chance to take a look at each player, what they did (or didn't) bring to the Kings this season and what the future might hold. I'll try to get through a few of them each day. Please feel free to add your comments on each player...

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DEREK ARMSTRONG
This season: 56 games, 5 goals, 4 assists, 63 penalty minutes, 8:29 average ice time.
The good: Remember the days when injuries, and Andy Murray's whims, had Armstrong as the Kings' No. 2 (or even No. 1) center? That was never his role, and he shouldn't be expected to thrive in any role that asks him to regularly play more than eight minutes a game or so. Armstrong's value is clear. He's a fourth-line center who has some grit to his game and who is a great presence in the locker room. His Ping-Pong exploits were humorous, but they were also a great way to bring the team together and bridge the gap between the veterans and the young players.
The bad: On a team that has a lot of players who fall into that third- or fourth-line role, and on a team that has a surplus of centers, it's getting difficult to justify maintaining a roster spot for Armstrong. His skill set is limited and a player like Trevor Lewis is waiting for an opportunity.
Going forward: Armstrong is an unrestricted free agent who will turn 36 in a couple weeks, and the Kings won't get more out of him than they did this season. At this point, he's a part-time player and a solid mentor. It's highly unlikely that he would sign elsewhere, so it will be up to the Kings to determine if they want him back and, if so, whether they see him in the NHL or as next season's version of Marty Murray.

As a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, I'm called upon to vote for some of the trophies The trophies listed below are the ones that I will vote for. Anyone care to offer their thoughts/votes? As part of my voting, I have to select a top five for each trophy.

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HART TROPHY ("to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team")

NORRIS TROPHY ("to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position")

CALDER TROPHY ("to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition")
(Note: An eligible player cannot have played more than 25 NHL games in any single preceding season nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons. A player must not have attained his 26th birthday by Sept. 15 of the season in which he is eligible.)

LADY BYNG TROPHY ("to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability")

SELKE TROPHY ("to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game")

Any thoughts?

WESTERN CONFERENCE

#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks
(season series: Sharks 4-2)
#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
(season series: Red Wings 3-2-1)
#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues
(season series: 2-2)
#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames
(season series: Blackhawks 4-0)

EASTERN CONFERENCE

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
(season series: Bruins 5-0-1)
#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
(season series: Capitals 3-0-1...thanks to David for the correction...)
#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
(season series: Hurricanes 3-1)
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
(season series: 3-3)

With Toronto's victory and Phoenix's shootout victory, the Kings finished 26th in the NHL this season. With the fifth-worst record, they still have a chance -- albeit a small one -- at landing the No. 1 pick in the draft, through the lottery.

26. Kings
27. Atlanta
28. Colorado
29. Tampa Bay
30. N.Y. Islanders

Here you go...this Dean Lombardi interview covers so much ground and I can't really begin to sum it up. Hopefully you have a lot of time and a comfortable chair. Lombardi addresses the need for a left winger, how the Kings can improve, why making the playoffs next season isn't a drop-dead necessity, the criticism he got for the O'Sullivan trade and much more. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the read...

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Question: I talked to Brown and Kopitar and asked them, `If Dean asked you how to improve the team next season, what would you say?' They both said, `Scoring left winger' without much hesitation. Obvious?

LOMBARDI: ``I'd say another thing is obvious too.''

Question: What's that?

LOMBARDI: ``All of these young players have to get better. No doubt about it. Actually, that part is even more important, because if they don't make the commitment this summer, it doesn't matter. When you put a bunch of young players together, learning to be pros and learning to make the commitment to be the best they can be, learning to be teammates, is as critical as their physical condition, their play on the ice. That starts immediately after (today's) game.

``So regardless of what's not in the lineup, what is in the lineup, if it doesn't continue to move toward maximizing its potential, it's not going to matter whether we bring back Gordie Howe. We'll still be spinning our wheels. So the most important thing is to take care of what you've got. If we don't nurture these guys we have, we'll just be spinning our wheels. That, to me, is more important than making an addition.

``So, unfortunately, the answer you got from two of my best young players was not what I'm looking for. The critique should be, `I've got to get better. And if I get better and Doughty gets better and Brown gets better and Purcell gets better and Drewiske gets better and Quincey gets better, and if we all do our job, and if Dean can get us a left wing, that would be really good.' That's the answer.''

Because some people are still having trouble registering to comment, and because our tech guy is on vacation, I'm going to open up the comments for the next few days, so everyone can speak their mind about the end of the season and some of these interviews. You will have to provide a valid e-mail address to comment. I think those who have already registered can tell you that nothing malicious will happen. As always, please keep it civilized. Thanks.

Terry Murray has been patient and polite for an entire season, but at the end of it, I finally found a question that he wouldn't answer. Not that I blame him, because I really wasn't expecting a candid answer, but Murray deferred when asked about Brown's and Kopitar's desire for a scoring left winger, and whether that was his desire as well. Murray did talk extensively about his hopes for the summer and where he thinks the Kings can go next season...

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Question: I just got done asking your captain and one of your alternate captains, if they could ask Dean for a Christmas present this summer, what would they ask for, and they both said `a scoring left wing' without much hesitation...

MURRAY: (laughs)

Question: As you go into the summer, is that at the top of your wish list too? As a coach, do you have a wish list?

MURRAY: ``What's at the top of my wish list is that we have a regimented schedule, and a follow-through by every player in the organization, to push themselves as hard as they can in this offseason to develop their bodies and their minds to where they need to be in order to allow themselves to be the best they can be at the start of the camp next year.''

Here is today's postgame stuff.

Stay tuned...before the end of the night, I'll be posting extensive quotes from Terry Murray and Dean Lombardi, and I believe you'll find some of the Lombardi stuff to be quite interesting. You can mull it over at Easter brunch tomorrow. I'll still transcribing, so stay tuned...

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KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:
(Re game recap): ``It's hard to believe the season is over. It seems like just yesterday we were starting. We started with San Jose the first two games of the year and this game was meaningful to them. They had motivation to come out and play a good game. They're looking to get home-ice-advantage throughout the playoffs, so for us to come out and win the game, it's a good feeling.''

(Re the play of Jonathan Quick and Drew Doughty throughout the season): ``This was the kind of year (Doughty) needed to have and he just needs to follow it up. Everyone knows the sophomore year can be a little bit harder. This offseason for him will be huge. Doughty is an impact player for our hockey club and he's going to be an impact player in this league. Quick has played tremendous for us. I didn't know him very well coming out of training camp but with Quick coming up from the minors, he has been huge, he's been large, and every game he has given us the opportunity to win a game ''

KINGS DEFENSEMAN MATT GREENE:

(Re game recap): ``If you're not going to make the playoffs, you want to go out with a win. You try to end the season on a positive note as much as you can. I think we did that tonight. We went out and got a big win and played well tonight. I think that's a good sign playing (the Sharks) when they needed the points too.''

(Re: next year) ``We just need to play consistently. I think that was our biggest fault this year, was that we would do things one game and get away from it the next. We just do things that prompt success and then the next time it wouldn't be there, so I think we just need that consistency and that comes with age and experience. That's what a summer will bring. I also think there will be some additions and we will have to see where the team is going (to be) in camp.''

KINGS FORWARD DUSTIN BROWN:

(Re game recap): ``Trying to look at the bright side, I think we made strides in the right direction. Again, it comes back to the fact that we're trying to build from the inside-out, instead of from the outside-in.''

(Re: team future): ``If you look at our lineup the last 15 or 20 games, one thing that stands out personnel-wise is the left wing. I'm playing left wing and I'm a natural right wing. We had Handzus playing left wing for a few games when he's a natural center. We either need to find a replacement within the system or find someone that can adjust to playing on the left. I think a big part of this team success is going to be on the shoulders of the players next year.''

-- The Kings avoided a sweep at the hands of San Jose with the 4-3 victory and finished the season series 1-3-2 against the Sharks. San Jose had already clinched the best record in the NHL when Buffalo beat Boston this morning.

-- The Kings finished the season with a 34-37-11 record, for 79 points. They scored 207 goals and allowed 234 goals, went 18-15-8 at home and 16-22-3 on the road.

-- For comparison, last season the Kings went 32-43-7, for 71 points. They scored 231 goals and allowed 266 goals, went 17-21-3 at home and 15-22-4 on the road.

-- For those looking at the draft, the Kings now have the seventh-worst record, although they could drop to fifth-worst if Phoenix gets two points against the Ducks tonight and if Toronto gets a least one point tonight against Ottawa.

-- Michal Handzus had a goal to complete a strong comeback season. Handzus played all 82 games for a second consecutive season, and this time he totaled 18 goals and 24 assists. Last season, Handzus had seven goals and 14 assists.

-- Wayne Simmonds had one goal and one assist to complete a strong rookie season. Simmonds played all 82 games and had nine goals and 14 assists. He finished strong, with three goals and two assists in his last four games.

-- Davis Drewiske had two assists for his first career multi-point game.

-- Jonathan Quick made 27 of 30 saves to get the win and finish the season with a 21-18-2 record.

-- Alexander Frolov had a goal, to finish the season as the Kings' team leader with 32 goals. Frolov is now a two-time 30-goal scorer (he scored 35 in 2006-07) but his point total has fallen from 71 in 2006-07 to 67 last season to 59 this season.

-- Peter Harrold had a goal. The goal, his fourth of the season, ended a 30-game stretch without a point and a 33-game stretch without a goal. Harrold's previous goal was scored on Jan. 12 against Tampa Bay.

-- Anze Kopitar did not have a point, but finished the season as the team leader in assists (39) and points (66). That's the fewest points for a Kings team leader since Luc Robitaille had a team-high 51 points in 2003-04.

-- The Kings were outshot 30-24 and failed to crack the 30-shot plateau in seven of their last eight games.

-- The Kings went 1-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-6 on the penalty kill. The Kings had failed to score a power-play goal in eight of their previous nine games but had gone 20-for-21 on the penalty kill in their previous five games.

-- Justin Williams, who had an assist, and Davis Drewiske each had a team-high four shots on goal. Matt Greene and Dustin Brown each had a team-high six hits.

-- Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time (as he did for the season) at 23:03. Alexander Frolov led all Kings forwards at 21:47.

-- Five Kings played in all 82 games: Matt Greene, Sean O'Donnell, Anze Kopitar, Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds.

Here are the 2008-09 team awards, as announced by the Kings:

-----

AS VOTED BY THE MEDIA

Most Valuable Player: Dustin Brown
"Bill Libby Memorial Award"

Best Newcomer: Drew Doughty
"Mark Bavis Memorial Award"

Outstanding Defenseman: Drew Doughty

Defensive Player: Michal Handzus

AS VOTED BY THE KINGS PLAYERS

Most Inspirational Player: Sean O'Donnell
"Ace Bailey Memorial Award"

Unsung Hero: Michal Handzus

AS SELECTED BY THE KINGS CARE FOUNDATION

Community Service: Dustin Brown

AS SELECTED BY THE KINGS BOOSTER CLUB

Most Popular Player: Dustin Brown

If there's a surprise player of the year, it's definitely Wayne Simmonds. Twelve months ago, I wouldn't have bet a nickel on the chance of Simmonds making the Kings and playing 82 games this season, but he did, and he did it quite capably. By all accounts, Simmonds was a model player, eager to soak up information on and off the ice, and he still has the ability to improve quite a bit more. Here's what Simmonds said about his rookie season...

-----

Question: Does it feel like you've played an entire year in the NHL?

SIMMONDS: (laughs) ``Yeah, it does.''

Question: Physically, it probably does...

SIMMONDS: ``Yeah, physically it does, but I enjoyed myself this year. I learned a lot and I had a lot of fun. I look forward to next year and being able to do a lot more.''

Question: I get a lot of feedback from fans, and they have really enjoyed your play this year. Did you even exceed your own expectations for how this season might go for you?

SIMMONDS: ``Yeah, definitely. I didn't know what my role would be on this team coming into the season, so I think that I have exceeded my expectations. I'm happy with it, and it's exciting to know that I could come in and play a major role on this team. I look forward to next year, and building off of that and having more success.''

Question: I guess those expectations will be even higher next season...

SIMMONDS: ``Exactly. I know expectations are going to be higher now, and I have to fulfill that. I will have high expectations for myself, so we'll see what happens next year. Hopefully it will be real good.''

Question: Anything in particular that you'll focus on over the summer?

SIMMONDS: ``Bulking up, for sure. That's definitely my main focus. I've got to get a lot bigger, so I'll be in the gym a lot this summer.''

Question: There's a right way to do that though, right?

SIMMONDS: ``Yeah, exactly. You've got to eat healthy food and make sure it's muscle, rather than fat. You've just got to be smart about it. If you get a little bit of muscle, as opposed to a lot of fat, that's better than the fat.''

Question: You don't want to take away your speed either...

SIMMONDS: ``Exactly. You just want to get stronger.''

Question: Any good summer plans? Going home for a while?

SIMMONDS: ``Yeah, I plan to go home and see my family for a while. I'll take a short break and then get back at it.''

I asked Anze Kopitar the same question I asked Dustin Brown, about what the Kings could do this summer to improve, and he also spoke a bit about his play this season...

-----

Question: I put this question to Dustin Brown, so I'll put it to you too. If Dean comes to you and says, `What do we need here?' what do you tell him?

KOPITAR: (laughs) ``I'd tell him to get a scoring winger. That's what I'd say to him. A left winger.''

Question: That's what Brown said too...

KOPITAR: ``Yeah.''

Question: What would that mean to the team? Not just in the sense of scoring points, but would it be a lift in a mental way?

KOPITAR: ``Yeah. Always, when you get someone who can produce a little more, it's nice, because then sometimes me, Brownie, Fro can go a night and not score and that `X' guy is going to maybe come in and put up a couple numbers. Obviously secondary scoring is very important here, and if he gives you that confidence every night, that's great. He would be expected to be scoring and making plays.''

Question: Whether or not that `Mr. X' arrives, will the expectations change for this team next season? Are the expectations that you will make the playoffs?

KOPITAR: ``We have to think that right now, even if that `X' guy doesn't come. You're hoping that he's going to come, or that we're going to make some moves in the offseason, but if not, we've shown that we can play against the good teams and play really good hockey around here. We just have to stay consistent, but that's the hardest thing, I guess, especially with young guys like us. We're a young team right now, but it shouldn't be an excuse, and next year we should be ready to make it.''

Question: Could you do a little bit of a self-analysis of your season? Obviously, Terry asked a lot of different things of you this season, and I wonder how you think you came through that.

KOPITAR: ``Obviously, the numbers are not there, like they were last year. Coming in and talking to Terry right away, he wanted me to be a two-way player. He said I had potential on it. I think my defensive game has improved this year and I think my faceoffs are better this year too, which is pretty important, especially with power-play faceoffs and in the offensive zone. I've taken some key faceoffs, too, in the defensive zone late in games. But I think that in my overall game, I've played a little stronger and I think I've become a better player.''

Since today's game won't have any lasting impact on either team (although San Jose can clinch the President's Trophy today), and because I still have a lot to post, I'll continue with the stuff from yesterday and hopefully get it all out there today.

Here's the stuff from Jack Johnson, talking about going into the summer as a restricted free agent. Johnson, by the way, is still taking classes at the University of Michigan, and will do so again this summer. He's a junior right now...

-----

Question: There are some anxious fans out there, because technically you're not under contract for next season. How are you approaching that? Would you like to get it done as soon as possible?

JOHNSON: ``Well obviously it's something that has to be talked about. We've done a lot of talking so far, and it's something that I think is more up to the Kings than it is to me. I like playing here and I want to be here, but it's more up to the guys upstairs than it is to me. I'm sure everything will work out for the best.''

Question: Kopitar and Brown signed long-term deals, and other guys prefer shorter deals. Do you have any preferences about that aspect of it?

JOHNSON: ``Really, I haven't thought a lot about it, to be honest with you. I'll have to see what their thoughts are and see what their thoughts are. I'm sure once the season is over, we'll start speaking a lot and I'm sure things will work out for the best.''

Here's what Dustin Brown had to say today about the Kings' needs and his thoughts about where they're headed. It's been an interesting year for Brown. From a media perspective, he has become a lot more forceful and outgoing, in a positive way, and I'm sure that has a lot to do with the ``C'' on his jersey. That letter carries weight and responsibility, and from a media standpoint, Brown has fulfilled those responsibilities. He's always visible and available to talk, which I can't say about all recent Kings captains.

Brown also said that his plans for the World Championships were uncertain, because he needs to get his back checked out. He estimated that he's been playing with some back pain for roughly three months. Frolov, as I should have noted earlier, said he will play for Russia. Anyway, here are Brown's thoughts from today...

-----

Question: If Dean Lombardi comes to you and asks you what this team needs in order to improve, what do you tell him?

BROWN: ``From a personnel standpoint right now, what sticks out in my mind is left wing. I'm playing left wing, and I have no problem playing left wing, but I think Terry prefers me on right wing. I've played the last 15 games or so on the left, and it has definitely taken some time to get adjusted to. We also had Zeus (Michal Handzus) playing left wing, and he's a natural center. He's been one of our better centers this year and he's great on faceoffs. He was playing left wing for five or six games. We got rid of Cammy (Michael Cammalleri) last year, and with Sully (Patrick O'Sullivan) getting dealt at the deadline this year, it feels like, from a personnel standpoint or a positional standpoint, it's left wing.''

Question: That question is not meant as disrespect to anyone in the room, of course...

BROWN: ``No, not at all. But when you look at our lineup, Fro (Alexander Frolov) plays left wing, but I would prefer the right side and I think Zeus would prefer to play center obviously. We were putting one of our best faceoff men on the wing, so that obviously shows a need.''

Question: Do you get the sense that if a big scorer arrived, the team would feel a bit like, ``OK, now we've got what we need''?

BROWN: ``I think it's a mixture of that and, at the same time, having our team come together. What we did this year was a step in the right direction, but you look at our team and I think we can still get a lot more from everyone in the room. We had Dewey (Drew Doughty) and Simmer (Wayne Simmonds) and Oscar (Moller) come in and they played well, but I think everyone else's point production was down. Not that it's all about points, but it was a transition period with new systems and obviously we made a real good push on defense and the PK. The closer we get together, the more we'll push and the more we'll get from everyone, myself included, plus Kopi and Fro, those top guys. I still think we have room to grow.''

Question: Expectations, at least from outside the organization, weren't high this season. Not many people expected you to make the playoffs. I get the impression that next season will be different, that the Kings will be looked at as a team ready, if not expected, to take that next step. Is that your expectation as well?

BROWN: ``That was our feeling this year. You look at the core group here, and we're all growing together. We've all been here for at least a couple years, and we added Stolly (Jarret Stoll) and Greener (Matt Greene) to that mix, and Zeus, and now we have OD (Sean O'Donnell) locked up for another year. We have a pretty good group of guys, and I think this summer will be important. We're trying to grow together, and we're going to try to get some guys in here on a consistent basis to work out and be together. That's the most important thing, for the team aspect. This year was an exciting year for everybody, but at the same time, disappointing. Terry came in, in his first year, and he's getting to know everyone and we're getting to know him, and there were new faces that are going to be a part of this team for years to come. So it's just a matter of becoming a close-knit group.''

I'll try to run through these interviews as I did them today. By the way, I did get to talk with Dean Lombardi for a while today, and that will be up eventually. There's no quick way to sum up the answers, but there are some good answers to some of the relevant topics.

For now, here's Alexander Frolov, talking about his year, the desire to win and the potential for a new contract...

-----

Question: What do you take away from this season? Do you consider it a step in the right direction, or a disappointment because you didn't make the playoffs?

FROLOV: ``It is disappointing that we didn't make it, because we had a really good chance. For almost the whole season, we were in the playoff hunt, then we kind of let it slip away, but I think there has been a lot of progress this year in the team game. I think it's really been a positive thing and I think we're in the right direction right now. We want to get better and finally get to the playoffs and become a really good team.''

Question: How would you sum up your season? You spent some time on the defensive line with Handzus, played quite a bit on the first line and even had a couple games on the fourth line. How would you say things went for you?

FROLOV: ``Well, it always could be better. There are always a lot of things you can improve on. I know there is some stuff I need to work on and, as I said, we didn't make the playoffs and that's the most disappointing thing.''

Question: For the first time in a while, you can start thinking about a contract. You can start talking about an extension on July 1. Do you plan to have those talks, or do you want to see how things go next season?

FROLOV: ``Well, I don't think. I'm not really thinking about a contract yet. It's something the GM has to do.''

Question: But would you like to stay here?

FROLOV: ``Oh yeah, absolutely. I love L.A. and I love the team and the organization. I've been here for a long time and I really want to make the playoffs with this team.''

Question: So if they come to you and say they'd like to talk about an extension, you'd at least talk to them?

FROLOV: ``Oh yeah, absolutely.''

Nothing much to note on-ice today. It was a light, optional skate but most guys were on the ice. Afterward, I talked to a handful of guys about some relevant topics. Some highlights:

-- Both Brown and Kopitar, when asked what they would tell Dean Lombardi what the team needs, said "a scoring left winger" without much hesitation.

-- Brown has been playing through back pain but isn't expected to need surgery.

-- Both Jack Johnson and Alexander Frolov said they would like to stay with the Kings, but neither wanted to go into details about what they would be looking for.

-- Wayne Simmonds talked about his desire to put on more muscle this summer.

Much more on all this stuff later. Right now I'm sitting in the Kings office, waiting to hopefully chat with Lombardi for a few minutes. He's doing what would seem to be exit interviews with a couple players. I'm looking at an old Kings "Serious Hockey" sticker on a filing cabinet.

It's the last practice of the season, so I'll be out there to try to talk to as many guys as possible and get their thoughts about the offseason, etc. They're scheduled for a noon start, but it's possible that not all (or perhaps even not any) of the players will be on the ice. Stay tuned for updates.

-- The Kings were shutout for the 12th (edit) time this season, extending their dubious franchise record.

-- The Kings finished 16-22-3 on the road.

-- Jonathan Quick stopped 27 of 28 shots.

-- The Kings were held to 20 shots and were outshot for the sixth time in their last seven games. In their last three losses, the Kings have been held to 21, 24 and 20 shots on goal.

-- The Kings went 0-for-3 on the power play and have failed to score a power-play goal in eight of their last nine games. The Kings went 4-for-5 on the penalty kill, breaking a four-game streak in which they did not allow a power-play goal.

-- No player had more than three shots on goal or three hits for the Kings.

-- Alexander Frolov led the Kings in ice time at 22:57. Sean O'Donnell led all Kings defensemen at 22:42.

Here's what Alexander Frolov and Dustin Brown had to say, this morning in Vancouver, about playing the last couple games of the season, and what they mean to the Kings.

More quotes and notes can be found on the Kings' official site.

FROLOV: ``I think this season was better than the last couple for sure and we were in the playoff hunt for most of the season and it's really sad we didn't make it but I think we had good progress this year and we played really good and we're going to make it next year.''

BROWN: ``These are key games, whether we're in the playoffs or not these are playoff like atmosphere games, Vancouver is fighting for the division and we play San Jose who is fighting for the President's Trophy, so they're both kind of fine-tuning their game for the playoffs so it's a good test for us to see how we react and how we perform in that atmosphere.''

It's the final road game of the regular season tonight in Vancouver, and there's expected to be only one minor lineup change, with Kyle Calder going back in, in place of Brad Richardson...

Frolov-Kopitar-Williams
Calder-Boyle-Purcell
Simmonds-Handzus-Brown
Ivanans-Harrold-Zeiler

Drewiske-Doughty
O'Donnell-Johnson
Greene-Gauthier

Quick

Scratches: Armstrong, Elkins, Moller, Richardson

Since it wasn't televised, check out the hip check Drew Doughty put on Edmonton's Sam Gagner last night.

Manchester's playoff hopes in the AHL aren't looking good. In fact, the Monarchs might be eliminated from contention today if games break a certain way. Manchester hosts Hartford tonight, plays at Worcester on Friday (in a game televised by the NHL Network at 4 p.m. Pacific time) and hosts Portland on Saturday in the regular-season finale.

Entering today, the Monarchs are three points out of the final playoff spot with three games remaining.

In the ECHL, Ontario is the top seed in the Pacific Division and plays fourth seed Stockton in a best-of-seven first-round series that starts Friday night in Ontario.

In his first 32 NHL games, Brian Boyle did not receive a fighting major. He now has two fighting majors in his last two games. Coincidence? Or is Boyle trying to make an impression in the final couple of games before he becomes a restricted free agent? And do you think it's working?

Here's what Terry Murray said, after the Kings beat Phoenix, about Boyle:

MURRAY: ``It was real important for him to have a good game here and we have been pushing him pretty hard in our meetings. He has good hands and everyone knows that and when he gets in those situations he can do some damage down low.''

-- Peter Harrold, Brad Richardson and John Zeiler got back in the lineup tonight, in place of Derek Armstrong, Kyle Calder and Oscar Moller. For the most part, the Kings skated as follows:

Frolov-Kopitar-Williams
Brown-Handzus-Simmonds
Richardson-Boyle-Purcell
Ivanans-Harrold-Zeiler

Drewiske-Doughty
O'Donnell-Johnson
Greene-Gauthier

-- Wayne Simmonds had one goal and one assist. Simmonds, who had gone eight games without a point and 10 games without a goal, now has two goals and one assist in his last two games.

-- Alexander Frolov scored a goal and now has three goals in his last three games.

-- Davis Drewiske assited on Frolov's goal for his first NHL point in his 15th game.

-- Michal Handzus had one assist.

-- Jonathan Quick stopped 38 of 39 shots.

-- Patrick O'Sullivan did not record a point in his 18:30 of ice time (he had a minus-2 rating and a team-high seven shots on goal) but Denis Grebeshkov did have an assist.

-- The Kings did not have a power play -- the Oilers were not whistled for one minor penalty -- and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

-- The Kings were outshot 39-29. The Kings had the 14-6 advantage in the first period but then were outshot 19-7 in the second period and 14-8 in the third period.

-- That's two fights in two nights for Brian Boyle, who got into it with Theo Peckham late in the first period. Less than two minutes later, it was Jack Johnson and Dustin Penner dropping gloves. Raitis Ivanans and Zach Stortini took a turn in the second period.

OK, here's the sixth and final installment of the questions and answers. Thanks to everyone for participating. Even though commenting has been restricted, the questions were just as numerous and strong as ever. I think I got to all of them...

Again, if you haven't voted in the poll below, please take a couple seconds and make the clicks. It won't hurt, I promise.

Here's what Patrick O'Sullivan said, in the Associated Press game preview, about facing the Kings tonight...

``It's a weird feeling,'' O'Sullivan said. ``Once (Tuesday) comes and I start thinking about the game, I probably won't feel too worried about it. But it will be weird. I was there for almost three years and have a lot of friends on the other team. It's a situation I haven't been through before. So it'll be new. At the end of the day, it's a game and there's no friends on the ice and we need a win. So that's what it comes down to.''

The NHL draft lottery -- or ``draft drawing,'' as they call it -- will be held one week from today. At the moment, the Kings are in 26th place in the NHL. They can climb as high as 22nd but only far as fall as 27th. Here are the odds of landing the No. 1 pick, based on where a team finishes:

30th place team - 25.0%
29th place team - 18.8%
28th place team - 14.2%
27th place team - 10.7%
26th place team - 8.1%
25th place team - 6.2%
24th place team - 4.7%
23rd place team - 3.6%
22nd place team - 2.7%

Twice in the last three years, the last-place team has kept the No. 1 pick.

The fifth set of questions and answers follows...

I'm calling in a favor today... If everyone who reads this could please vote in the poll, I'd appreciate it. At this point, it's just a scientific experiment, but let's be honest, there's a good chance that at some point, it could be more than a theoretical question...if I don't want to end up sleeping on a bench at the beach.

The question is pretty simple. If you were provided, by me, with the following features, would you pay $1.99 a month, or $20 a year, for a ``membership'' to a Kings blog/site?

-- Coverage of home games (a game story, game notes and quotes)
-- Road coverage (through phone interviews with coaches and players)
-- Reports from home practices
-- Full coverage of breaking news, plus events such as draft day, trade dealine and free-agent signing period
-- Exclusive interviews, with reader-supplied questions, with management, coaches, players and broadcasters
-- Audio and/or video (depending on popularity) of interviews
-- Potential ``live chats'' with management, coaches, players and broadcasters

Once again, just to reiterate, this is NOT something that is even in the early planning stages of happening. It's merely a ``finger in the wind,'' on my behalf, to measure the mood. The polls on this blog always get a good response, but I also know that the majority of people who view the blog don't vote in them. So I'm asking you to please vote below. And I'm not fishing for ``yes'' votes, because it doesn't matter. An honest ``no'' vote is just as valuable to me, in terms of learning, as a ``yes'' vote. Thanks for your help.

After last night's dismal loss, the Kings held a 20-minute players-only closed-door meeting...

``I think they were the hungrier team all night," Dustin Brown told the Kings' website, referring to the Flames. ``This was a huge game obviously for the Flames. We need to be a lot more excited and hungry as a team. It was disappointing tonight.''

Picking up from yesterday, here's the fourth round of the open forum questions and answers...

-- Calgary completed a four-game sweep of the Kings this season and outscored them 15-7.

-- The Kings were outshot 38-24, including 20-6 in the second period.

-- Erik Ersberg made his first start since March 16 and stopped 34 of 38 shots in the loss. Ersberg's last victory

came on Dec. 13 against Minnesota. Since then, he has an 0-6-3 record in his last 11 games. In four of those losses,

Ersberg allowed two or fewer goals.

-- Wayne Simmonds scored the Kings' only goal and broke an eight-game streak without a point. Simmonds' goal tied the

game 1-1 midway through the second period.

-- Michal Handzus assisted on Simmonds' goal. Handzus had one point, an assist, in his previous seven games.

-- Drew Doughty played a team-high 22 minutes, 28 seconds. Justin Williams led all Kings forwards at 21:01.

-- Oscar Moller led the Kings with five shots on goal.

-- The game featured two fights, Simmonds vs. Peters in the first period and Boyle vs. Pelech in the third period.

-- The Kings went 0-for-3 on the power play and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

-- Former Kings forward Michael Cammalleri had two assists for the Flames to break a six-game streak without a point.

Here's the third set of answers from today's open forum...

Tonight against Calgary, Erik Ersberg will make his first start since March 16. With the Kings facing back-to-back games, Jonathan Quick is scheduled to start tomorrow in Edmonton.

"He hasn't played a lot in the last while, but whenever he's been put in, he's played very well," Terry Murray told the Kings' website. "I look for the same from him. He's a competitive guy. He feels good, he's fresh, he's on top of his game and I expect a solid performance."

You can follow the above link for a few quotes, but otherwise, there aren't expected to be any lineup changes, with the lines as follows:

Frolov-Kopitar-Williams
Simmonds-Handzus-Brown
Calder-Boyle-Purcell
Ivanans-Armstrong-Moller

The second set of today's questions and answers...

As always, I enjoy the questions and I do my best to answer them. Please feel free to keep asking any questions you might have, and here is the first set of answers...

As we enter the last week of the regular season, I thought it might be a decent time for an ``open forum'' question-and-answer session. If there's anything you think I might be able to answer, post away, and I'll start answering later today...

Thanks to everyone for the input last week on the team awards. It was very interesting and, in a lot of ways, validated some of the thoughts I already had. In some cases, your votes and comments made me re-think some things. I thought it was only fair to share my votes, plus my thought process for each selection. Feel free to disagree!

TOP DEFENSIVE PLAYER:
MICHAL HANDZUS
This was a pretty easy one. Last year, the Kings couldn't do anything with Handzus. He turned into a fourth-line center at times, and even that was a stretch. This season, he completely remade himself, and I think I could make a pretty strong Handzus-for-MVP argument. He can defend against the opponent's top line. He can win faceoffs. He volunteered to play wing. He was a great mentor to Wayne Simmonds. He scored points (fifth on the team). But of all those things, the defense probably stood out most this season. It seems as though it's been forever since the Kings had a strong defensive third line, and with Handzus and Simmonds, they're two-thirds of the way there.
Honorable mention: 1) Drew Doughty, because he's on all of these lists. 2) Anze Kopitar. The defensive side came a long way, and the points didn't fall off that much. 2) Alexander Frolov. He almost put it all together, but couldn't quite.

TOP DEFENSEMAN:
DREW DOUGHTY
When the Kings drafted Doughty, that felt pretty good about his ability to make the team this season. When they saw him in training camp, and early in the season, it was clear that their expectations were low. Not only was Doughty, at age 18, an NHL defenseman, he was a guy they could roll out there for more than 20 minutes per night, in all situations, in a No. 1 pairing. That's pretty fantastic stuff. And other than a couple minor dips, Doughty's play has been consistently strong. The only question now is, how high is his ceiling?
Honorable mention: 1) Sean O'Donnell. I'll admit, this isn't based on skill alone. If you want to know why Doughty had such a successful rookie year, both on and off the ice, look to O'Donnell. 2) Kyle Quincey. Detroit knew what it had when it let Quincey go. How good will he be when he's not dealing with back pain almost every night? 3) Matt Greene. Any guy who blocks a puck with his face deserves the word ``honorable'' attached to his name.

TOP NEWCOMER:
JONATHAN QUICK
Should this award go to Drew Doughty? Probably, but I think Quick deserves some recognition for the job he did. He came up from the AHL at age 22, with only two previous NHL starts, with no veteran goalie on the Kings' roster and with the Kings still very much in the playoff hunt. He provided, arguably, the best stretch of goaltending since Felix Potvin's huge end-of-season run a few years back. Be careful though. This time last season, a lot of people were ready to anoint Erik Ersberg as The One. Quick still has some bumps to smooth out. Consistency is an issue. When he's good, he's very good (1.76 GAA, .937 save percentage in 17 wins) but when he's bad, he's pretty bad (3.02 GAA, .888 save percentage in 19 losses).
Honorable mention: 1) Drew Doughty. Pretty obvious. 2) Wayne Simmonds. Don't underestimate what this kid did. He wasn't even supposed to be in the NHL this season, and he ended up playing roughly 14 minutes a game in an important role. How many times did you say, ``Simmonds made an awful play there''? Not very often. 3) Kyle Quincey. See above.

MVP:
DREW DOUGHTY
First, I want to talk about who I didn't pick. Jonathan Quick won the ``popular vote'' here, and a couple people made a good argument, which was that the Kings would have been a playoff team if Quick was on the roster for the entire season. That could very well be true, but where would they have been without Doughty on the roster? I came very close to picking Anze Kopitar, not only because he leads the team in scoring but because he went through a lot this season to make himself a better all-around player. Dustin Brown has taken a lot of heat this season, but he leads the team in shots on goal and hits, and I'd have to check the stats to see how many players lead their teams in both categories. Handzus, for the reasons above, deserves a nod, as does Alexander Frolov, who reached the 30-goal plateau and played an important defensive role for a big part of the season. Ultimately though, it comes back to Doughty. The way I define MVP is to ask, if you took one player off the team, which player's loss would hurt the most? After giving it a lot of thought, ultimately I can't make a better argument for anyone else.

Michal Handzus has been selected, by members of the Los Angeles chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, as the Kings' nominee for the Masterton Award. For those not familiar, here's the official description:

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The winner is selected in a poll of all chapters of the PHWA at the end of the regular season.

A grant from the PHWA is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minn., in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner.

The trophy was presented by the NHL Writers' Association in 1968 to commemorate the late William Masterton, a player for the Minnesota North Stars, who exhibited, to a high degree, the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Masterton died on Jan. 15, 1968, after an injury sustained during a hockey game.

One month after the trade, how are Justin Williams, Patrick O'Sullivan and Erik Cole faring with their new teams?

Williams: 8 games, 1 goal, 2 assists, even rating, 6 penalty minutes, 1 power-play goal, 15 shots on goal.
Kings' pre-trade record: 26-28-9. Post-trade record: 6-7-2.

O'Sullivan: 16 games, 1 goal, 4 assists, -6 rating, 12 penalty minutes, 0 power-play goals, 40 shots on goal.
Edmonton's pre-trade record: 31-26-6. Post-trade record: 6-6-3.

Cole: 14 games, 2 goals, 9 assists, even rating, 10 penalty minutes, 0 power-play goals, 26 shots on goal.
Carolina's pre-trade record: 33-27-5. Post-trade record: 11-1-2.

Thomas HIckey scored his first professional goal last night, but Manchester lost to Worcester 3-2 to remain in fifth place in the division. Matt Moulson had a chance to tie the game late with a penalty shot but couldn't convert. Viatcheslav Voinov had the Monarchs' other goal.

KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:
(Re game recap): "We had good pressure and we came out with good intensity. We finally got our legs going here. We have been on this road trip for a pretty long time, this last six-game road trip, we're home for a day and go back out again but we looked like we were fresh and we got some good rest. We showed the kind of team that we we've been for most of the way with the level of compete and doing good things in the game. That was an important start for us here tonight."

(Re the play of Justin Williams and Brian Boyle): "I thought I saw some chemistry starting to happen with Williams, Kopitar and Frolov. Williams is a pretty nifty guy, he has composure with the puck, he has the confidence to make plays in tight spaces, and I think we saw a glimpse of that tonight. I was very happy for him to have a good game and get his first goal as a King and the line had a pretty good night. It was a good effort on his side and it was the same thing with Boyle to start the game off. It was real important for him to have a good game here tonight and we have been pushing him pretty hard in our meetings. He has good hands and everyone knows that and when he gets in those situations he can do some damage down low."

KINGS FORWARD JUSTIN WILLIAMS:

(Re game recap): "I have been putting a lot of pressure on myself to contribute. I should be an impact player out there, but the first six or seven games were tough for me. I am happy to contribute offensively and get a power-play goal and help our team."

(Re: goal) "My linemates, Kopitar and Frolov, had goals already so Kopitar said he wasn't going to shoot anymore, he would just keep feeding me. The third time was a charm and eventually I got one in."

(Re: game recap) "When we are playing as a five-man unit, when everybody is on their game, we are tenacious on the puck. There aren't many teams that can handle the way we fore check. Even when one guy is off on our whole team it affects us because we are such a get-up-and-go team. We had everyone on board tonight, everyone skating, everybody rolling."

KINGS FORWARD BRIAN BOYLE:

(Re game recap): "It was good to be able to get in and get a hit. Their guys lost it both times because we were coming with pressure. I think Kyle [Calder] made a great pass. I had a clear lane to the net and it was a good opportunity for me."

(Re: his future): "I'm just thinking about the next game right now. I am trying to stay here for the rest of the year and hopefully string a few good games together because this is where I want to stay. The guys are great and hopefully I can impress enough to stay."

Also, here's a quote from Wayne Gretzky about all the third-period penalties...

"Listen, both teams are young and very spirited. Im glad to see that both teams are out there still battling away and still want to win a hockey game and care about winning. Its good to see to both teams battling until the end."

Justin Williams (1-2=3) had his first goal as a King tonight. His career high for point in one game is four (last time was Oct. 16, 2006).

· Williams played in his 499th career NHL game tonight.

· Anze Kopitar (1-2=3) had his sixth three-point game of the season (19th of career).

· Alexander Frolov (2g) has scored 30 goals for the second time in his career. He needs four more to pass Ziggy Palffy for fourth all-time among Kings right-wingers.

· Brian Boyle (2g) had his first career two-goal game and second career multi-point game (his first came in his NHL debut Feb. 2, 2008 at New Jersey).

· The six goals tied a season high for the Kings (fifth time this season they've scored six goals).

· The Kings have killed off 21 straight penalties against Phoenix, including four tonight.

· Teams combined for 38 penalties in the third period tonight.

Alexander Frolov is back in the lineup tonight, in place of John Zeiler. No other lineup changes tonight...

I felt bad about not having time to get this story done, so I was glad to see that Helene Elliott was able to. Lou McClary, the longtime Kings security chief, is retiring and will be honored at a pregame ceremony tonight. McClary has been with the Kings since the beginning and a who's who list of folks from the Kings and the figure-skating world will be in attendance tonight to honor Mr. McClary.

Skaters dish out respect for 'Big Lou' McClary

Hard to believe, but tonight is the second-to-last home game of the season for the Kings. After tonight it's: at Calgary on Monday, at Edmonton on Tuesday, at Vancouver on Thursday and at home against San Jose a week from today, and then it's a wrap.

The Manchester Monarchs enter the night in fifth place in the Atlantic Division but just one point out of a two-way tie for third place.

Tonight the Monarchs host Springfield, which is seventh (last) in the division. Portland and Worcester, which are tied for third, also play. Portland plays at Lowell, which is sixth in the division and four points out of fourth place, while Worcester travels to Albany, which is in sixth place in the East Division.

Manchester hosts Worcester tomorrow and plays at Providence on Sunday.

Perhaps someone can look this up, but I don't remember the Kings having more than the 43 hits they were credited with last night against Phoenix. That's 43 hits, 21 shots. Hit numbers are always very subjective, but they're usually skewed toward the home team. The Coyotes were credited with only 16 hits.

It's also worth noting that Brian Boyle was credited with a game-high seven hits.

The Kings today signed forward Patrick Mullen, who recently completed his senior season at Denver, to a two-year, entry-level contract. Mullen is the son of NHL Hall of Famer Joe Mullen and he had four goals and 21 assists in 38 games this season. He also played some defense in his college career. Here's the release from the Kings:

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LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Kings have signed free agent forward Patrick Mullen to a two-year entry-level contract, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced Friday.

Mullen, 22, recently concluded his senior season at Denver University and recorded 25 points (4-21=25) and 39 penalty minutes in 38 games. His 21 assists were tied for fourth on the team while his 22 points set a collegiate career high. The 5-11, 190-pounder from Pittsburgh helped the Pioneers to a 23-12-5 record and a berth in the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament (DU was eliminated from tournament play last weekend).

In four seasons with the Pioneers, Mullen recorded 81 points (20-61=81) and 148 penalty minutes in 152 games, splitting time as a forward and defenseman. In 2007-08, he led DU defensemen with 22 points (4-18=22), which was tied for sixth among WCHA blue-liners. His 18 assists were tops overall on the Pioneers. In 2006-07, Mullen was named to the All-WCHA Academic Team.

Mullen skated with the Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) during the 2004-05 season, posting 37 points (14-23=37), eight penalty minutes and a plus-11 rating in 60 games.

Mullen's father, Joe, ("Slippery Rock Joe Mullen") played in the NHL for 16 seasons with four different teams. The first American-born hockey player to score 500 goals and register 1,000 points, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000.

Joe Mullen has been an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers since June 6, 2007.

With tonight's loss, the Kings were officially eliminated from playoff contention. They fell into last place in the Pacific Division, 14th in the West and, at 31-35-11, a season worst four games under .500.

Oscar Moller and John Zeiler are expected to be in the Kings' lineup tonight, in place of Brad Richardson and Peter Harrold.

Handzus-Kopitar-Williams
Purcell-Boyle-Brown
Calder-Moller-Simmonds
Ivanans-Armstrong-Zeiler

Drew Doughty picks up Denis Gauthier as a partner, instead of Davis Drewiske...

O'Donnell-Johnson
Gauthier-Doughty
Greene-Drewiske

Thomas Hickey played his first game with Manchester last night, and it went well. Hickey assisted on both of the Monarchs' goals (one on the power play) and Manchester beat Lowell 3-2 in a shootout. Hickey, wearing No. 37 and partnered with Tom Preissing, had one shot on goal and did not take any penalties.

Jonathan Bernier stopped 27 of 29 shots in the victory. Bernier was named as the game's first star and Hickey was the second star.

Here's the fourth and final poll, for the Kings' best defensive player. The difference here is, this is not just limited to defensemen. It can be any player who has played in at least 25 games for the Kings this season...

Jonathan Bernier has been selected as the American Hockey League's goalie of the month for March. Bernier appeared in 12 of the Manchester Monarchs' 13 games during the month, with a 6-5-1 record, a 1.97 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage and two shutouts.

For the season, Bernier is 20-22-4 with a 2.45 goals-against-average and a .911 save percentage.

Vote for the Kings' most outstanding defenseman this season. A defenseman must have played at least 10 games for the Kings this season.

Here's your chance to vote for the Kings' best newcomer, which can either be a rookie or any player in his first season with the Kings.

The Kings have sent out their ballots for the media to vote for 2008-09 team awards. As always, I want to solicit your opinions as I make my decisions. The first one up is the big one, team MVP. Cast your vote below, and feel free to make your argument in a comment. Candidates for team team MVP, the ``Bill Libby Memorial Award,'' must have played at least 25 games with the Kings this season.