Matthew Kredell: February 2008 Archives

He tells it like it is ...

``If you look at the game it wasn't a matter of them making great plays it was a matter of us making poor plays. They were able to capitalize on a lot of the mistakes we made in the second period. When you make that many mistakes it's tough to win games.''

It seemed like they were always chasing in this game after falling behind 47 seconds in. They did take a brief 2-1 lead after Patrick O'Sullivan's goal early in the second but then fell down 3-2, tied it, fell down 5-3, got within one and ran out of time. Two goals for Brown and one for Kopitar, giving each 28 on the season. Rob Blake did play and got more than 20 minutes on the ice. I couldn't tell you how he looked since I don't have Center Ice, but one of you who does give your impression. He was even but did lead the team with three giveaways.

Looks like he could be available tonight ...

With the trade deadline past, the Kings can concentrate on the final 18 games of the season. You'd think this might mean we're going to get a look at a lot of the younger players in the organization, but that's not the way the Kings have handled things so far. Teddy Purcell was sent down this week and 38-year-old Jon Klemm brought up. So if the point right now isn't to win games or to see the future, I'm not really sure why they are playing. But the Kings are going to be on the ice tonight in Edmonton anyway to start a four-game road trip. Unfortunately, it's not going to be televised on regular cable. So most of you won't be able to catch a glimpse of what prospects like Scott Thornton and Klemm look like for the future. One thing to watch, or listen for, is what goes on with the defensive pairings now that Stuart and Modry are gone. Crawford doesn't even seem to know what he's going to do. Assuming Blake is out, you can put the names of Johnson, Visnovsky, Preissing, Harrold, Dallman and Klemm in a hat, mix them up, pull them out two at a time and make as good a guess as I could. In fact, that might be the way Crawford decides it.

Edmonton is in a similar place as the Kings, in last place in the Northwest and without a real chance at the playoffs. The Oilers have won five in a row at home. The Kings are 2-0-1 against Edmonton this season and are trying to take the season series for the first time since 1998-99. Dan Cloutier is expected to get the start in goal for the Kings.

``I still have pain when I put my neck back. It’s improving but not really what I’m expecting. If it’s not going to get better in the next 2-3 weeks, then I’m going to have to think about surgery. I don’t want to have surgery. It’s the last option. But, if it’s not going to get better, then maybe I have to do it. If I have surgery, then it’s done (his season).''

He gives injury updates, talks about how the players handled the trade deadline, that defensive pairings will probably be fluid other than Blake-Johnson (once Blake returns) and the reasoning behind pairing Harrold with Visnovsky.

Short one ...

On the possibility of sticking with the Kings the rest of the season now that Stuart was traded: ``You hope so. This is where I want to be. Stuart’s a great guy and was very nice when I was here. It’s sad to see him go. But, at the same time, I have an opportunity here to prove myself so I’m going to take advantage of it.''

On Blake staying and the possibility of learning from him (he hasn't really been able to play with or watch Blake play much because of Blake's injury): ``Obviously he’s going to be a Hall of Famer. You try to learn as much as you can from him since he’s a wealth of knowledge. You try to watch him and do as he does. It’s really cool for a young kid to come in and get to learn from a guy like him.''

--Klemm was called up from Manchester.

--Nagy could be done for the season. He had a third shot and there was only little improvement. He's going to see another doctor to get a second opinion. He says if it's not better in 2-3 weeks, he will have surgery.

--Nagy, Armstrong and LaBarbera will not make the trip. Armstrong tried to skate today and there was still too much pain. It is officially a knee sprain for Armstrong.

--There no longer is a roster limit. However, the Kings still only have 21 active (22 once Blake comes off), and that includes LaBarbera.

--I'll have Crawford's interview as well as interviews with Harrold and Nagy coming up after I get home and transcribe them.

Lombardi certainly didn't do anything special at the trade deadline, but I liked the deals he did make. A second and a fourth for Stuart was as good as you can expect. That he got anything at all for Aubin was a minor miracle. You also have to include the recent Modry deal, which did well to net the Kings another third rounder. The deadline might be remembered more for the deals that weren't made but, when it comes to Blake and Thornton, Lombardi was handcuffed. Granted, he may have put the handcuffs on himself by giving them no-trade clauses in their contracts. However, as he said in his interview, no-trade clauses have been running all the rage in the NHL the past few years. You have to figure he could have gotten for Blake the deal Colorado gave for Adam Foote -- a conditional first-round pick. It's less than he wanted, but perhaps he should have taken it. Basically, to justify not making that deal, he has to re-sign Blake to a reasonable contract in the offseason. Lombardi also was handcuffed by injuries when it came to guys like Nagy and Armstrong. I think the Kings should move Cammalleri in a deal for a promising, young defenseman. But perhaps this wasn't the right time. There's no reason that trade can't wait until the offseason. For making solid deals for the future, though not nailing the big trade, I'd give Lombardi and the Kings a C+.

I'm interested in your take with these two polls ...

Cliff notes: He's satisfied he did everything he could do. The Adam Foote deal with Colorado probably impacted what the Avalanche would offer for Blake. For Stuart, he did the same deal as what Brent Sopel brought last year. There was some contract talk with Stuart and the Kings decided based on that to move him. Thornton, who also had a no-trade clause, gave him a list of four teams to which he would accept a trade. They almost had a deal with one but it fell through because of a bigger deal the team pulled.

Lombardi said that Thornton, who also had a no-trade clause, gave him a list of four teams he would like to go to that he thought could win the Stanley Cup. The Kings almost had a deal with one of these teams but then that team went and did a large deal that ended up keeping that one from happening.

The Lombardi interview is coming up next ...

At first he said he wasn't going to do an interview today, that he was going to leave everything to Dean. But we stressed that there were game-related issues like how losing Stuart would affect the team that Dean wouldn't know about, so he obliged in the end. He talks about losing Stuart, how the defensive pairings will look, possible call-ups from Manchester, LaBarbera's health, today's practice and looking forward to the final five weeks of the season.

He refuses to get into specifics. His agent, Pat Brisson, said that Blake came to the Kings two years ago with the intention of retiring with the team. He said he would accept a trade to Colorado if they could get a good return since he had played there before and liked it there, but that he would prefer to remain a King.

Talked to Blake, Crawford and Thornton. Will have those interviews coming. Lombardi was not at the practice facility after practice. The beat writers are going to have a conference call with him at some point today. Blake said he probably will be ready to play by the weekend, but not Thursday. So expect the Kings to bring up a defenseman in the next 24 hours or so.

It looks like this is a move to help the Monarchs.

Brad Stuart to Detroit for 2008 second- and fourth-round picks. J-S Aubin to the Ducks for a seventh rounder. From what I hear, this is it for the Kings. Shocker -- Blake and Thornton are staying.

So it's past noon and the Kings haven't announced a move, as I'm sure you guys know. I don't expect a late flurry here, but I do hear there is something in the works that has yet to be finalized. I'm at the practice facility and will have more when I get it.

So the trading deadline is at noon Pacific. The Kings practice at 1 p.m. I'm going to bring my computer to Toyota Sports Center. Hopefully the temperamental wireless will be working and I'll be able to post some updates from there. There will be a period around 11 a.m. in which I will be in transit. At some point, I'll have interviews with Dean Lombardi, any key players traded and any key players obtained.

It's a little surprising that there hasn't been a move yet today. Here's my list of players in the organization most likely and least likely to be traded by tomorrow's noon deadline.

He talks about his first NHL goal and being an offensive-minded defenseman.

He talks about scoring his first goal since Dec. 21, confidence issues coming back from the injury and the trade deadline.

He talks about practice, Blake looking ready to play, Ellis' first game, the December struggles, the goalie problems and Tip-a-King.

--There was quite a large turnout for the optional practice. I guess a lot of players want to remain Kings after all. Actually, everyone showed up to at least work out. The players who didn't skate were Brown, Calder, Nagy, Preissing, Stuart, Visnovsky, Dallman, LaBarbera, Armstrong and Frolov.

--Blake said he still hadn't been asked to waive his no-trade clause. I asked if he had any sense on if he would be traded or not and he said he really didn't know, to ask him tomorrow. I asked if there were a limited number of teams he would say yes to. He said he ``hadn't really thought about it and couldn't really answer because it's all hypothetical.'' That seems like a bit of a copout but, putting yourself in his situation, I suppose there really is nothing good that can come out of publicly announcing what teams you would and wouldn't except a trade to.

--I hear the ``Ice Bike'' auctioned off at Tip-a-King last night went for $35,000.

I'll have some interviews coming up with Crawford, Harrold on his first NHL goal and Cammalleri on his slump-buster plus what he has to say on the trade rumors.

at Universal Studios. All Kings players will be there giving autographs and photos for tips, which will go to the Kings Care Foundation. I believe tickets to get in can be bought at the event. You can read more about it at the Kings site. There, you can see pictures of the personalized Kings motorcycle autographed by the players that will be auctioned off. It's pretty cool looking. It reminds me of the purple PT Cruiser with Kings decals that is often in the Toyota Sports Center parking lot. Does one of you own that car?

No practice today. The 10:30 practice Monday is optional.

Johnson was humble in calling his big play luck. Kopitar said he and Cammalleri had given up when they saw Johnson make the diving stop, and that sparked them back into it. Ersberg talks about his NHL debut. And I threw in a quote from Cloutier.

He of course liked the competitiveness of the team to come back. He thought losing Brown for fighting was a big part of the second-period breakdown. He didn't even realize that it was Kopitar who knocked in the tying goal. He must have been fixated on the play by Jack Johnson to make the diving block of the shot on the empty net and control it to lead the final charge -- as we all were. And he talks about the NHL debut of Ersberg.

I think Dan Cloutier actually said it best in the locker room after the game -- this team is either great or terrible, and there's no in-between. The Kings were absolutely horrible during a four-minute stretch in the second period where they allowed four goals and then amazing in the final 11 minutes of the third period to come back from 5-1 down and force OT. There's no other team in the league that can be so bad and so good in the same game.

I'll have interviews coming up with Crawford, Kopitar, Johnson and Ersberg. Since I'm not on deadline -- and thank goodness with this game -- I should be able to get them up quickly.

which, obviously, can't be a good thing for the Kings. Cloutier is pulled with the Kings trailing 5-1 after allowing four goals in the first nine minutes of the second period. The Kings are allowing rush after rush right out of the faceoffs. Time to see what the kid can do.

To start the second period of a 1-1 game, Cammalleri was with Kopitar and Brown while Matt Ellis was given a chance with O'Sullivan and Frolov.

Thornton is back on the Kopitar-Brown line. Willsie is a healthy scratch. Here are the early lines ...

Thornton-Kopitar-Brown
Cammalleri-O’Sullivan-Frolov
Calder-Handzus-Purcell
Ellis-Giuliano-Ivanans

Johnson-Preissing
Stuart-Dallman
Visnovksy-Harrold

This could be your last time seeing a few of these guys in a Kings uniform ...

Despite having the worst record in the NHL, the Kings can tie last season's win total of 27 with a victory. Chicago is last in the Central Division but does have a winning record at 28-26-6. There's still a shot at the playoffs for the Blackhawks, but they are eight points back and need to get hot right away. There's no doubt the Blackhawks remember their last meeting with the Kings, a 9-2 romp on New Year's Day in one of those few occassions this season where everything went right for the Kings. With Jason LaBarbera injured, Dan Cloutier will make his fourth start of the season. Cloutier has won five starts in a row against Chicago, though the last was in 2005. Crawford said he will keep the line of Michael Cammalleri, Patrick O'Sullivan and Alexander Frolov together, so it will be interesting to see if they can keep the magic going from last game -- when they combined for 11 points. Who plays on the top line alongside Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown will be something to watch. Scott Thornton got time there Thursday after O'Sullivan moved down when Derek Armstrong got injured. Armstrong will be out again today with a knee injury. Also look for the Kings debut of Matt Ellis, acquired off waivers from Detroit on Thursday.

A big reminder, 1 p.m. game today!

Daily News media columnist Tom Hoffarth's list of L.A.'s best and worst game analysts appeared in today's paper and Jim Fox got the top spot. Here's the full list, at the bottom. I have to say, out of all the teams I've covered, I've never seen a television announcer there in the trenches at practice doing research for the broadcast as much as Foxy.

When he arrived yesterday, he didn't have his equipment so he had to borrow LaBarbera's. He felt a lot more comfortable today with his own stuff. He talks about how being with the Kings can benefit him, even if he doesn't play, what kind of goalie he is and the situation battling for starts in Manchester.

With his three goals Thursday, Alexander Frolov has 54 points in 52 games. He could become the first King since Ziggy Palffy in 2002-03 to average more than a point a game in a minimum of 60 games played (Pavol Demitra had 62 points in 58 games two years ago). Frolov had a career-high 71 points in 82 games last season.

``If you’re a scorer, you always have to try to score as much as you can,’’ Frolov said. ``You try to improve every year. You try to be better than you were before.’’

Frolov missed 11 games in November and December with a groin injury. He says it still bothers him and will the rest of the season, but it's difficult to tell from his play. He has 15 points in the past nine games.

``You can kind of tell in certain situations that he’s hurting,’’ said Patrick O’Sullivan, who centered Frolov’s line on Thursday and assisted on all three of his goals. ``But it doesn’t seem to matter, does it? He’s an elite player in this league. He’s really smart and always in the right place. I think all three of his goals yesterday he was standing still, so that shows how smart he is.’’

He's excited to be with the Kings (even last place is better than the minors). He talks about his time in Detroit, what to expect from his game and his already-established relationship with several Kings. He played with Calder last year in Detroit and grew up a friend and teammate with Dallman.

He talks about Blake, the Cammalleri-O'Sullivan-Frolov line, Armstrong, Frolov (who now has 54 points in 52 games), December's struggles, tomorrow's game against Chicago (remember, it's a 1 p.m. start), Ellis, Ersberg and (once again) Harrold.

Basically, he skated on his own Wednesday then went out and tried to practice today. It went well and he lasted the whole way. He has a big pad in the skate. The foot wasn't that sore but the pad was uncomfortable and he hopes to get it smaller. He plans to practice a few more times and, barring any setbacks, he'll be ready to play by the middle of next week.

In a surprise, Rob Blake practiced fully. He will not play tomorrow but he said he thinks he'll be ready for Edmonton on Thursday, or where ever he is playing at that point. I'll post an interview with Blake soon.

Other happenings:

--They think Armstrong has a left knee sprain, though there hasn't been an official prognosis. He is out tomorrow and day-to-day after that.

--Matt Ellis arrived and practiced. He played on a line with Jeff Giuliano and Raitis Ivanans. He is likely to be on the ice tomorrow. I'll have an interview with him to come.

--Crawford said he plans to keep the line of Cammalleri, O'Sullivan and Frolov together. The first line could have some flux as to who plays left wing.

--If anyone ever wondered if Jack Johnson could play some forward, he said that in college he played right wing in the third period whenever the team was down by a goal.

Got quotes from O'Sullivan, Frolov and Cloutier. O'Sullivan had a career high with five points. Frolov had his third career hat trick and now has 15 points in the last nine games. Cloutier stopped 32 of 33 shots, narrowly missing his first NHL shutout in nearly four years.

He talks about the line change of moving O'Sullivan down to play with Frolov and Cammalleri, Armstrong's injury, LaBarbera's injury and the acquisition of Ellis.

I'm back from the locker room and will have quotes after I finish my article and transcribe them. No official word on the Armstrong injury but Crawford doesn't think it's serious. The injury ended up working out well for the Kings because it got the line of O'Sullivan, Cammalleri and Frolov together, and they dominated. Hat trick for Frolov, goal and four assists for O'Sullivan and three assists for Cammalleri. Ellis is expected to be at practice tomorrow, and he could end up playing right away depending on Armstrong's injury.

Derek Armstrong injured his knee in the first period and will not return.

Calder is a scratch. Haven't gotten word yet if it's healthy, but it could be in order to get Thornton into the lineup. Cloutier is in net. Ellis and LaBarbera also are scratches.

The lines so far are looking like ...
Brown-Kopitar-O'Sullivan
Cammalleri-Armstrong-Frolov
Thornton-Handzus-Purcell
Ivanans-Giuliano-Willsie

Johnson-Preissing
Stuart-Dallman
Visnovsky-Harrold

Erik Ersberg was brought up from Manchester in an emergency recall because Jason LaBarbera is out with a groin injury. Apparently, the injury had been bothering LaBarbera for a couple weeks -- though he hadn't previously mentioned it to us -- and Crawford said it took a turn for the worse recently. Cloutier will get the start in net tonight.

Then the Kings claimed Matt Ellis off waivers from Detroit. Ellis, 27, had two goals and four assists in 35 game for the Red Wings this season. He is 6-foot and 207 pounds and has 51 career games in the NHL. He's been an energy-line guy. It looks like the Red Wings were trying to send him down to the minors, but he had to clear waivers first and the Kings swooped in. He will wear No. 8 on his Kings jersey. An addition: Ellis isn't expected to arrive for tonight's game.

Unfortunately, this means Lauri Tukonen is back down before getting to show what he can do. The Kings' 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft played 9:48 in one game.

Andy Murray returns to Staples Center again tonight as coach of the Blues. The former Kings coach has been taking vengeance for his firing with five consecutive victories over the Kings, including 5-3 and 4-2 wins this season. St. Louis is hot of late, going 4-0-1 in their last five games and coming off back-to-back 5-1 victories over Columbus and Chicago. But the Blues are still three points behind for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, what Crawford likes to call a desperate team. Blues goaltender Manny Legace has long had the Kings' number. He is 10-1 career against Los Angeles.

For the Kings, it will be a challenge to focus on playing with the trade deadline looming and a lot of rumors floating around.

Peter Harrold has been up and down from Manchester in short stints the past month. He could be around for the long run this time, though that will probably depend on what the team does in the next week. If Blake or another defenseman is traded, Harrold should stick.

``I hope so,'' Harrold said. ``That's what everybody wants is an opportunity to play and right now it looks like I have that at least until Blake comes back and maybe longer.''

On what he's worked on in Manchester after his stints with the Kings: ``Every time you go down there you have to make the best of it and work on the things you have to work on to get back here as soon as possible. I was working mostly on making direct plays with the puck in my own zone and playing good, solid defense in the zone. That’s the biggest thing you have to do at this level to earn the coach’s trust.''

And here what Lubomir Visnovsky, Harrold's defensive partner, has to say about him:
``I already played a couple games with him on the road trip. He’s got a big future for the Kings. He’s a very offensive defenseman. He’s good at moving the puck. He wants to attack.''

Normally, I'd think you guys wouldn't be that interested. However, since his return could help his tradeability ...

``I’ve got an injury that sort of flares up. Once a year I have a case of it. I’ve had five or six of these the last six or seven years. I knew exactly what it was. It’s best to let it rest and get healthy again.''

On Wednesday's practice: ``I thought I was a little bit tired but I was looking around and I think everyone was a bit tired. It was a tough pratice today. I felt pretty healthy. I'll make sure tomorrow morning that I feel good and hopefully I can play tomorrow night.''

He has some interesting stuff to say about people's perception of Modry and coaching the team through this tumultuous time with the trade deadline looming. He also talked about Thornton, Harrold and Tukonen.

Jack Johnson was especially sorry to see Modry go. The rookie had been paired with Modry or Rob Blake all season. Now Modry is gone and Blake could also go in the next week, before he returns from injury.

``Obviously, it was kind of disappointing that Mo' had to go,'' Johnson said. ``He was a great partner for me. I really learned a lot from him. I really admired his patience with the puck. He was always calm and never panicked. I think that was able to rub off a little bit on me when I played with him. Hopefully I can carry some of Modry with me the rest of my career.

``Hopefully he can make the playoffs now and win, and I’ll be cheering for him.''

--With Jaroslav Modry gone and Rob Blake injured, Jack Johnson will pair with Tom Preissing. Lubomir Visnovsky will pair with Peter Harrold.

--Scott Thornton practiced in full and is likely to play tomorrow against St. Louis.

--There's a rumor going around that Brad Stuart had been offered a contract extension. Stuart said this is false. Maybe he's a good actor (or liar), but it genuinely seemed like the notion was completely out of thin air to him.

More detailed notes and interviews to come ...

He talks about the trade and how the GM meetings are going in Florida. He says trading Modry doesn't make it less likely that the team will move another defenseman. I also asked him about sending Boyle down. He seemed to be saying that he wanted Boyle to get playoff-run experience in Manchester rather than spending more time with the Kings in a lost season.

to replace Modry. Harrold has been up and down the last month. He has one assist and an even rating in five games with the Kings this season.

Jaroslav Modry was traded to Philadelphia for a 2008 third-round draft pick. The Kings now have three selections in the third round to go with two in each of the first two rounds. Modry is going to turn 37 later this month, so he didn't really fit into the team's building for the future. He had one goal and five assists in 61 games this season. I'm trying to get Dean on the phone to discuss the deal.

Practice was called off for tomorrow. This was actually the first time the Kings have lost back-to-back games since Jan. 8, when they lost to Nashville after falling to Calgary. Wayne Gretzky got his 100th career coaching victory, against his former team.

Crawford talked about the team looking tired. He said it was an observation, not an excuse. They were playing their third game in four nights, coming off the long road trip and with the flu bug going around. Kopitar said he still had some flu in him. Crawford was really hard on Dallman for the third goal.

At least the Kings showed some fire in the third and Ivanans got to vent his frustration, unlike previous blowout defeats earlier in the season.

The quotes aren't that long (no one wants to talk much after a loss like this), so I'll attach both Crawford's and the players' to this post. I did ask Crawford for his thoughts on why Boyle was sent down, so check out his answer ...

The Kings are now 0-6 against Phoenix and 8-8-1 against Dallas, San Jose and the Ducks. I'm back from the locker room and will have quotes up in about an hour for the very loyal Kings fans who would stay up to hear more about this game.

So the Kings are 3-0 against Vancouver this season, 3-2 against San Jose, 3-3 against Dallas. They even have a win versus Detroit. But they're 0-5 against Phoenix.

Here are Michael Cammalleri's thoughts on the team's struggles with the Coyotes ...

Dustin Brown spoke to me a little about being a new father at the age of 23. Though they had previously planned on a C-section, he and his wife Nicole decided on inducing natural child birth on Feb. 6. He talks about being a father, the difficulty of going back to playing hockey after the birth and how they came upon the name Jake ...

He talks about the flu bug going around the team, last night's game, the troubles with Phoenix and Teddy Purcell. We didn't yet know about Boyle being sent down, so that's why it is not discussed.

Rob Blake talked about his Wednesday meeting with general manager Dean Lombardi. Blake said he told Lombardi he hopes to remain with the Kings. Lombardi told him that there are teams inquiring about him, but there was no talk of waiving his no-trade clause. Click at the bottom to read Blake's quotes ...

Rob Blake doesn't expect to be back on the ice before the Feb. 26 trade deadline, which could obviously affect his tradeability. He attempted to skate today and it didn't go well. He is going to have an MRI to check on the ankle's progress tomorrow and said he won't try to skate again until next week. I'll have more to come on his meeting with Dean Lombardi.

Brian Boyle has been sent down to Manchester and Lauri Tukonen is coming up. I guess four goals in eight games wasn't good enough for Boyle to stay.

The flu bug is going around the room. It's the reason Cloutier left after the second period. He had thrown up during the break, was feeling faint and LaBarbera said he was white as a ghost. Anze Kopitar missed practice today because of illness, as did Cloutier. Kyle Calder was feeling it last night but felt better this morning and did practice. Crawford is hoping Kopitar is ready tomorrow. This seems to be a quick, 24-hour illness. Michael Cammalleri missed Friday's game with it but was back Saturday.

Jack Johnson is bruised and sore after being hit by a shot in the third period last night but did practice and should be OK for Monday.

More detailed notes to come.

The Kings fought back from two goals down entering the third period to tie the game but couldn't complete the comeback in a 4-3 loss, falling to 0-5 against the Coyotes this season. Dustin Brown scored in the first minute of the third period to get the Kings within one, then Frolov knocked in a rebound midway through to get the Kings even. Dan Cloutier started the game but was pulled after two periods with the Kings trailing 3-1. With Jason LaBarbera at goal, the Kings killed a minute with a two-man disadvantage but it didn't matter when Radim Vrbata scored in the final seconds of the power play with seven minutes left in the game. Jack Johnson left the ice late in the third period after taking a shot in his midsection.

Here is the real test of whether the Kings have turned their play around -- back-to-back games with Phoenix. Wayne Gretzky and the Coyotes have owned the Kings like no other team, outscoring them 13-5 while beating them all four games this season. And, while Phoenix has played substantially better since picking up Ilya Bryzgalov and are just three points out of the eighth playoff spot, it is a .500 team without those four wins over the Kings. With the Kings playing back-to-back nights and Jason LaBarbera having to work for 39 saves in Friday's win over Calgary, it wouldn't be surprising to see Dan Cloutier get his second start of the season in goal. The game is a 6 p.m. start on FSN West, then the teams will play at Staples Center on Monday.

Say what you will about Gretzky as a coach, but you've got to love this quote: ``Listen, we've been horsebleep for three or four years. Everything is positive right now, and everything is heading in the right direction. And the people who have hung in there with us, hopefully we can reward them at the end of the day. This team is going to be an exceptional team -- not just a good team, but an exceptional team. There's a process now. There's a lot of parts to the puzzle that are in place.''

There were two Kings-related articles on the front page of Friday's Daily News. Underneath Rich's column on Rob Blake, there was this feature on ``Kings Vision'' anchor Heidi Androl from media columnist Tom Hoffarth.

Make sure to check out the Teddy Purcell interview. He's got some great stuff on his first NHL goal and how he found out he was getting called up. Nagy talks about his injury. It looks like it's going to be at least another week before he can even begin skating, and that might be optimistic. Frolov talks about his brother coming in from Moscow to watch his first NHL game. Sergei Frolov was in the locker room after the game getting Kings players to autograph a No. 24 jersey. Just for fun, I threw in a quote from Rob Blake's favorite player -- Jarome Iginla.

I thought his most interesting quote was that Boyle and Purcell were pushing some of the other guys, specifically singling out Calder. He also has some interesting stuff on the two rookies, including the thought-process behind the organization trying Boyle at defenseman in Manchester. He also talks about Boyle making Frolov and Armstrong better. I'll have player quotes coming up in a separate post shortly.

I'm back from the locker room and will have some stuff from Purcell on his first NHL goal, Frolov, Armstrong, an injury update from Nagy and Crawford's post-game interview as soon as I transcribe the quotes and finish my final story for the paper.

Cammalleri is out with flu-like symptoms, joining Nagy (neck) and Thornton (upper body) on the pine. LaBarbera is in goal.

as an emergency recall. I suppose we could see something like this coming with Nagy and Thornton still not ready. Purcell had one assist and six shots on goal in his previous five-game stint with the Kings.

He talks about the Calgary game Friday, the road trip, adjusting to being back home, Cloutier, Boyle, Harrold and Moulson, missing Blake on the power play, the injuries to Blake, Nagy and Thornton and why Harrold and Moulson were sent down when the injured players aren't ready to return.

He made it clear that the impression he got when asked to play defense in Manchester was that it was a permanent move, and not just to help him with his center play. He also talks about his time with the Kings so far and how playing defense changed the way he plays center.

Some interesting stuff. He says that, when he was sent down, the Kings brass told him he was going to play every game. Then he ended up playing once every two weeks and was extremely frustrated. He didn't think he was ever going to be called back up. It also sounds like he could have come back earlier from the injury he had in Manchester but was told to rest.

The first thing to note is traffic from the Valley is much better for morning practices than 2:45 starts. Ugh.

So Rob Blake wasn't anywhere in the building during practice today. But, before you get too excited, Crawford said Blake was there working out in the morning. Crawford said Blake would be re-evaluated either tomorrow or over the weekend. ``He's not going to play this weekend, at least not the first part of it,'' Crawford said. So it sounds like Blake is definitely out for Friday and likely out for Saturday. ``He feels pretty good and I don't imagine it's going to be much longer,'' Crawford said.

Nagy didn't practice. Crawford said his improvement has been slower. Crawford said he has had two procedures on the neck, though he couldn't elaborate, and that he wears a neck brace while driving.

Scott Thornton also is banged up and left practice early. He isn't expected to be available tomorrow.

With none of those injured players returning, it makes one wonder why Moulson and Harrold were sent down.

``We want to make sure those guys are playing,'' Crawford said. ``So I think that’s probably the reason they went down. We thought we had a few guys closer to being able to play. Willsie is able to play. Thornton, who had been injured, looked like he was ready to play but tried today and wasn’t ready.''

Some veteran players were given the option to take practice off. Frolov and Cammalleri took Crawford up on the offer. So, if you're wondering which players have multiple girls ... I kid, I kid.

I'll have interviews coming up with Cloutier and Boyle, along with Crawford's full interview.

2:45 p.m. start today. Never seen a practice this late. I guess the players are getting the opportunity to do brunch and dinner for Valentine's Day in case they have multiple girls. Just kidding! It will probably be past 5 p.m. before the notes start coming in, but make sure to check before taking that special someone out to dinner because there is a lot to catch up on. Happy Valentine's Day to all the lady Kings fans.

This seems to indicate that Blake and Nagy are ready to return. I'll find out for sure tomorrow when the team resumes practicing in Los Angeles. Harrold and Moulson will probably be back up before the month is over, after the trades sort themselves out. This also seems to say that the Kings want to see more of Brian Boyle right now over Moulson.

The game was tied 2-2 entering the third but the Kings were dominated for much of the final period. Dustin Brown scored his 25th and Alexander Frolov his 15th. Brad Stuart was back on the ice after a game off. Kevin Dallman still played. Peter Harrold is the defenseman who got the game off. LaBarbera was back in goal. The Kings return home to practice Thursday after a pretty successful 4-3-1 East Coast swing.

The last time the Kings were in a shootout, Jan. 12 against Dallas, coach Marc Crawford admitted he probably should have put Patrick O'Sullivan among the first three shooters. O'Sullivan ended up coming in fourth and saving the day. Crawford made the same mistake today but O'Sullivan once again batted cleanup and beat Pascal Leclaire to give the Kings the victory. Dustin Brown scored in the shootout and Dan Cloutier, making his first start in goal for the Kings this season, stopped the last two Columbus attempts after allowing Rick Nash to put one in. Anze Kopitar scored the Kings' two regulation goals to give him 24 on the season. Cloutier made 31 saves, including a key stop in the final minute of the third period after Nikolai Zherdev hit one off the skate of Jack Johnson. The Kings are 4-2-1 with one game remaining on this road trip and have gone 9-4-1 over their last 14.

for today's game in Columbus after a conditioning assignment in Manchester.

The Penguins scored three second-period goals and led 4-0 before the Kings got third-period goals from Derek Armstrong and Brian Boyle. It was Boyle's third goal in four games with the Kings. It was the Kings first game in Pittsburgh since the beginning of the 2003-04 season. LaBarbera started in goal, so it appears Dan Cloutier will make his season debut tomorrow in Columbus.

The Kings should have an open spot on the roster now. Aubin was 5-6-1 with a .886 save percentage on the season. The Kings announced time changes to the March 1 game at Colorado, now a 5 p.m. Pacific start, and March 2 at Minnesota, now a 4 p.m. start.

The Kings scored four third-period goals to upend Detroit 5-3. The Red Wings entered the game with 86 points when no other team in the NHL even had 70. Shockingly, they finished with the same amount. Patrick O'Sullivan scored in the first minute of the third period, then Alexander Frolov tied the game six minutes in. Brad Stuart connected on a slap shot to give the Kings their first lead of the game with just under seven minutes remaining, then Anze Kopitar went around Nicklas Lidstrom and beat Chris Osgood on a backhand to put the game away a minute and a half later. Kyle Calder also scored for the Kings. It's the first win by the Kings in Detroit since 2000 and ended the Red Wings' eight-game winning streak. Detroit falls to 41-11-4. The Kings are 23-30-3 with a 3-1-1 record so far in this eight-game road trip. The Kings can move into a tie with Tampa Bay for 29th in the league if the Lightning loses tonight in Nashville. That game is tied 1-1 in the third period.

Well, Tampa Bay won so the Kings remain in the basement despite the good play of late.

``Cloutier went through all that rehab and started slow in Manchester but played well lately. It didn’t quite go as we might have hoped because he got hurt again and was on the shelf for six weeks. Obviously that set him back so I don’t know if I can say it went perfectly according to plan. It probably made sense to bring him up and give him another look. It just makes sense at this stage to see where his game is at. I don't think there's any question that this doesn't affect Jason's status as being viewed as the No. 1.''

Lombardi also said Crawford was talking about playing Cloutier in one of the back-to-back games this weekend with Pittsburgh on Saturday and Columbus on Sunday. He said Aubin would be with the team in Pittsburgh and then go to Manchester.

So Cloutier is up with the Kings. Now that the transaction is complete, I'm trying to get someone from the Kings on the phone to discuss. So look for that. Instead of sending Aubin down immediately, the Kings placed Rob Blake on the IR.

The Kings are attempting to switch goalies between Dan Cloutier and Jean-Sebastien Aubin. If both go unclaimed, Cloutier will come up to the Kings and Aubin will go down to Manchester. If a team claims Cloutier, it would have to pay half of his pro-rated $3.1 million salary for this season (about $510k) but would also be on the hook for $1.55 million next season. If a team wants Aubin, they would pay the remainder of his $525k for this season (about $173k). Teams have until 9 a.m. tomorrow to make a claim.

Here's a reminder of what Manchester coach Mark Morris said of Cloutier yesterday: ``Clouts just recently has gotten to point he is healthy. We won 5-4 last night and he was fabulous. We gave up so many odd-man rushes and opportunities that he had to stand on his head to stop them. We had a giveway on the power play that he stopped on a 2-on-1 that was just unbelievable. As far as him being here, I hadn’t seen him like that since I was in Vancouver. I think that he’s very confident right now. He waited for his time to get in the net.

``Clouts also is the proud father of a new baby girl. A lot in his life is changing and I think he’s really anxious to get back up.''

Great game from Jason LaBarbera with 39 saves. Marc Crawford moved into a tie for 15th all time with 460 career coaching victories. Alexander Frolov took Dustin Brown's place on the top line for most of the game and had a goal and an assist. Anze Kopitar set his new career high with his 21st goal and also had an assist for his 50th point of the season. Brian Boyle now has two goals in two games. Michael Cammelleri played 14:38 in his first game back from the ribs injury.

Here's the third and final installment of my interview with Manchester Monarchs coach Mark Morris. He talks about players adjusting to the AHL level, the Manchester goalies, who on the team is most improved this season and his future goals in coaching.

Here is the second installment with Manchester Monarchs coach Mark Morris. It covers Teddy Purcell, Brian Boyle, Richard Petiot and the challenges of coaching at the AHL level. Stay tuned for Part III ...

Mark Morris was nice enough to spend nearly 40 minutes on the phone with me. So I'm going to break this up into segments. The process could be slowed by my cable being out. I'm currently on dial-up, and it is painful. In the first installment, Morris talks about leadership, players who might surprise and the struggles of Trevor Lewis. Stay tuned for Part II.

I asked Mark Morris if anyone was called up with Brown gone and he said he hadn't gotten any word. This must be the reason why. Michael Cammalleri is ready to return after a 17-game absense with his rib injury.

to be with his pregnant wife, Nicole. It sounds like she's not going to wait until the 12th for the C-section appointment.

Check later for the transcripts from the Monarchs coach.

Kind of ugly. New Jersey scored six goals on 25 shots. But it's all about seeing the future now, really, and this was a good night for that. Brian Boyle scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game. He also assisted on a goal from Jack Johnson. A goal and an assist in 12:48 on the ice. Not a bad debut. Peter Harrold played 18 minutes subbing for Blake. He had two shots, one blocked shot on defense and was a minus-1 -- not bad for this game. Kopitar and O'Sullivan were minus-3.

Crawford and the Kings spokesman both stressed that Blake will return for the next home game Feb. 15. This was a little odd. Usually, when a player is injured, they say the player ``will be out two weeks and then we'll re-evaluate.'' They don't usually give an exact date of the return. It seemed to me like something they would do to stress to Blake's suitors that he will be healthy and ready to go before the trade deadline. I do think that Blake really is injured and that they are shutting him down to get him healthy before the deadline.

As for Dallman and why he isn't taking Blake's place instead of Harrold. What I'm hearing is they want to keep Dallman in Manchester to get three games in from yesterday to Monday instead of just one game with the Kings. They sent him down to get games, so that makes sense. But we'll see if he comes back up after those three.

First, some news. Brian Boyle has been called up as well because of a neck injury to Scott Thornton.

Here is Crawford on Blake: ``It's probably very similar to Brad Stuart. Stuart was kind of the same way though his wasn't broken, it was a deep bruise. We kept doing the same thing with Brad in getting it re-X-rayed. We got Rob re-X-rayed a couple times and nothing showed up. It's not uncommon that a couple weeks later something shows up. He told me after the Islanders game that it wasn't getting better, so we got him another MRI and then it showed up. On the positive side, these things are very treatable and usually take two weeks. He should be back when we come up to L.A. hopefully.''

On Thornton injury: ``Thornton is out tonight with a bad neck. He didn't think it was that serious but today he's really sore. He'll probably miss just tonight's game. Give him three days off and he'll probably be ready for the Rangers game. The injuries are starting to mount up but everyone's dealing with these type of situations. The positive side is it gives us a chance to look at a couple people.''

On Boyle: ``Coming in the fourth line for Thorty for a game will be good. It's nice to see him. He's scored over 20 goals in the minor leagues this year. He had an experiment on defense, and I think that helped him on overall awareness. It's good for him to see what the defense has to deal with. As a big centerman, you have to play well in those low positions down in the zone. When you're a good player, you've got to show NHL coaches and even AHL coaches that you're not going to hurt them before you show them how much you can help them. You've got to show us your defense before you get the chance to show us your offense. It was good for him. Now he'll get the opportunity to show us.''

Boyle led the Monarchs with 21 goals. He was the Kings' first-round pick, No. 26 overall, in 2003. He's the second-to-last player from that first round to make it to the NHL.

``Well, hopefully he'll be here the longest,'' Crawford said.

The Kings are announcing that Rob Blake is out two weeks with a non-displaced fracture in his left ankle. A Kings spokesman says Blake suffered the injury when he blocked a shot against Edmonton and continued to play in discomfort the past six games. He returns home to get treatment while Peter Harrold comes back up from Manchester to take his place on the roster. I'll see if I can get anyone else on the phone about this.

for Tuesday of next week. Let him get his three games in four days out of the way first. As a side note, Brian Boyle was named AHL rookie of the month for January and Daniel Taylor AHL goaltender of the month in Manchester.