Kings happy to be home for a while; no team has been away more this season

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Elliott Teaford

No team in the NHL has racked up as many frequent-flier miles as the Kings so far this season. But that changes dramatically starting Saturday afternoon, with the Kings playing host to the Colorado Avalanche and beginning a stretch of 13 of their next 16 games at Staples Center.

The Kings played only four of their first 15 games on home ice, which might or might not account for their pedestrian 7-6-2 record to begin their Stanley Cup championship defense. The Kings are 2-1-1 at Staples Center to start the season.

“It’s really good to be home,” Doughty said. “I know everyone’s excited to get this little homestand going. We’ve got a lot of big games at home. Being on the road for so long to start the season is tough. To finally get this stretch in front of the home fans … is a huge advantage for us.”

Defenseman Drew Doughty talks about the Kings’ improved play of late

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Elliott Teaford

The Kings rebounded from a poor start to their recently-completed three-game trip to win two in a row heading into Saturday’s home date with the Colorado Avalanche. So, what changed after the Kings’ fell behind the Chicago Blackhawks by three goals en route to a 3-2 loss last Sunday? Nothing and everything, according to Drew Doughty.

Continue reading →

A look at Doughty; Westgarth extension; probable lineups revealed.

Posted on September 19, 2011 by J.P. Hoornstra

This video, courtesy of Canadian broadcaster CTV via YouTube, pretty much speaks for itself. For many, it will be the first look Kings fans have gotten at Drew Doughty since last season’s playoffs:

Continue reading →

Shea Weber is worth $7.5M. What’s Drew Doughty worth?

Posted on August 3, 2011 by J.P. Hoornstra

Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber was awarded $7.5 million today in arbitration. That’s the highest arbitration award in NHL history, surpassing the $7 million award to John LeClair in 2000.

Weber also becomes the game’s highest-paid defenseman, surpassing Brian Campbell’s $7,142,875 average annual salary through 2015-16.

The arbitration award probably comes as bad news for Nashville, certainly comes as great news to Weber, and can’t be bad for Drew Doughty. With Doughty and the Kings still working on a new contract, Weber’s salary will certainly become a bargaining chip on Doughty’s table.

But how much is that chip worth?

Kings GM Dean Lombardi was asked essentially that very question last week, following Mike Richards’ introductory press conference.

“I think (Weber’s contract) gives you some evidence, but even he’s different because he’s a year from (unrestricted) free agency,” Lombardi said. “That’s one of the hard parts you’ve got here – there’s not a lot of defensemen, other than Dion Phaneuf, Duncan Keith, there hasn’t been a lot-a lot of these top young kids who have gotten top dollar, most of them are forwards. You’ve got a big hole in the market of what defensemen are (worth). You could even say (Keith) Yandle, there’s a similarity in numbers but he’s older than Drew. So he’s not totally analagous. You could say Weber – but he’s older, he’s one year away.

“So is it relevant? Yes, but it’s a question of how much weight you really give it. You’ve got a lot of these things that are out there, throw in the fact that the CBA is going to be up …you’ve got all of these little issues, piece in how much weight you give each one, then put it all together.”

Doughty earned $3.475 million including bonuses last season in the final year of his entry-level contract, according to capgeek.com. Like Weber, he’s already finished second in the Norris Trophy race. Doughty can argue that his 43 assists and 59 points in 2009-10 were both better than Weber’s single-season career bests, but Weber boasts four seasons with at least 16 goals. Doughty dipped to 11 goals and 29 assists last season; Weber had 16 and 32, respectively.

Most important to remember, an independent arbitrator will not have the final say of how much Doughty makes. The Kings will certainly try to convince Doughty’s camp to be flexible with the structure of his next contract by asking him to consider the bigger team picture.

“Our biggest concern is fitting it into a salary structure that allows us to -that’s our biggest concern. However you come to the number, the bottom line is making that number fit in where you are and where you want to go,” Lombardi said last week.

Mike Richards still doesn’t know why he was traded. Doughty, Fraser updates.

Posted on July 27, 2011 by J.P. Hoornstra

Lost among the quotable “Dry Island” denial soundbites thrown out Wednesday, when Mike Richards met the local media for the first time since his trade from Philadelphia, maybe the most revealing nugget of Richards’ press conference is that he still doesn’t know why he was traded.

At the very least, even if he does know why he was traded, Richards isn’t ready to divulge that reason publicly. In the meantime, speculation will continue.

Kings general manager Dean Lombardi has his own take: It was a good hockey trade.

“It’s one of those deals that should work out for everybody and satisfy each of our needs,” he said. “We gave up two good players. Philly did just fine.”

That’s my starting point for tomorrow’s story. A couple other points of note from Lombardi:
Continue reading →

With Richardson signed, who’s next?

Posted on July 14, 2011 by J.P. Hoornstra

Brad Richardson became the latest restricted free agent to come to terms with the Kings on Wednesday, avoiding arbitration with a two-year deal that pays $1 million in 2011-12 and $1.35 million in 2012-13.

His annual salary-cap hit of $1.175 million is reasonable for a player who has a 14-goal season to his credit, kills penalties, adds speed to a relatively slow group of forwards, and can play all three forward positions. Richardson won 50.8 percent of his faceoffs last season, third on the team. He jelled with Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds — who has since been traded to Philadelphia –during the playoffs, and his five points (two goals, three assists) in six games matched Clifford for the team lead.

According to capgeek.com, the Kings still have $10.7 million of cap room to play with.

Which leads to the question of who will be the next to sign.

It probably won’t be Drew Doughty.
Continue reading →

Brown (finally) wins NHL Foundation Award.

Posted on June 22, 2011 by J.P. Hoornstra

After his nomination fell short each of the last two seasons, Kings captain Dustin Brown captured the NHL Foundation Award, which “recognizes an NHL player who applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community.”

The Dustin and Nicole Brown Charitable Fund – which serves disadvantaged youth in Los Angeles and his hometown of Ithaca, N.Y. – will receive $25,000 from the NHL Foundation. Brown donated a total of $15,000 to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles this season and served through a number of other community outreach efforts.

From the NHL’s official release:

Two seasons ago, as part of the program he and his wife Nicole launched with KaBOOM!, a non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America, Brown’s per-hit donation plan raised $70,000 to build a new playground in Carson, CA, that now hosts more than 100 kids per day.

In mid-December, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Brown hosted an unforgettable day behind the scenes at STAPLES Center and then the following night at the Kings Wild game for Will McCloud, a six year old boy who was battling leukemia. Brown also again served as the team spokesman for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, an organization dedicated to providing support for clinical research in pediatric cancer, while improving the medical environment for all children. And he volunteered to be the spokesman for the Club’s Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Night. In addition to adopting a local family over the holiday season as part of the Kings’ Adopt-a-Family program, Brown and his wife independently adopted a large family with a child currently being treated at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. He led extensive team participation in Kings Community Corner, a ticket-donation program that has enabled more than 15,000 Los Angeles youth and military members to experience Kings hockey live at STAPLES
Center.

And through his budding engagement with social media, Brown (@DustinBrown23) has raised awareness for Make My Day Monday, which promotes committing random acts of kindness each Monday, and raised funds for Japanese earthquake relief, donating $1 for each of the 9,425 new followers he attracted on Twitter during a one-week period in March.

A few more Kings collected votes Wednesday:
Continue reading →

Kings 4, Sharks 0.

Posted on April 16, 2011 by J.P. Hoornstra

The Kings did not so much as steal a win Saturday, as they did dominate in such a fashion that makes you wonder why they can’t win every night.

After converting their first two power plays of the game –amazing what that can do for a team –the Kings were able to do what they do best: Play conservative, defensive hockey and give Jonathan Quick a fairly easy path to a 34-save shutout.

Drew Doughty was the offensive catalyst, scoring two goals and assisting on the other two, and tying a franchise record for most points in a playoff game by a defenseman. Paul Coffey was the first Kings defenseman with four points in a playoff game.

“It was a very big win coming into this building in game 2,” Kings head coach Terry Murray said. “We were a little short with key players out of the line-up. That requires a really competitive attitude by everyone that’s playing. Guys have to really dig in and play hard for each other and I think that’s the competitive spirit that our team has shown many, many times over the last few years.”

With Jarret Stoll serving a one-game suspension for his Game 1 hit on Ian White (who was replaced in the Sharks’ lineup by Niclas Wallin), Oscar Moller and Trevor Lewis were the primary beneficiaries of the minutes at center. Moller played 10:37, finishing plus-1, while Lewis played 17 minutes.

Kyle Clifford and Jack Johnson each had a goal and an assist for the KIngs, who were outshot 34-23.

San Jose 3, Kings 2, OT.

Posted on April 14, 2011 by J.P. Hoornstra

Joe Pavelski’s goal at 14:44 of overtime ended an impressive upset bid by the Kings in Game 1 in San Jose. There will be more chances to steal wins from the Sharks -but will this be the best?

Down 1-0 on the scoreboard and outshot 18-3, the Kings bounced back after a sluggish start to neutralize the speedy, physical Sharks. Dany Heatley scored on a goal-front tap-in 28 seconds into the game, but Dustin Brown got the next goal off a breakaway pass from Justin Williams at 7:25 of the second period.

Logan Couture snuck a shot through the pads of Jonathan Quick (42 saves) less than three minutes later, at the 10:23 mark, but Williams wasn’t done. One day after declaring his separated right shoulder healthy enough for action, the veteran right wing beat Antti Niemi (33 saves) from behind the net to tie the game at 2 at 16:20 of the second period.

The Kings killed off a tripping penalty to Drew Doughty with 2:11 left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

The Kings had their chances in the extra period, putting nine shots on goal to the Sharks’ 14. The 14th was the dagger.

Ryane Clowe started the sequence in the defensive zone, picking the puck off Wayne Simmonds’s stick to start a 2-on-2 rush going the other way. Pavelski joined the play as Kings defenseman Alec Martinez fell down in the defensive zone and couldn’t get back in time to prevent Pavelski from getting off a clean one-timer from the right circle that sailed over Quick’s glove.

A few more notes:
Continue reading →

Kings 2, Red Wings 1.

Posted on March 9, 2011 by J.P. Hoornstra

In fairness to Jonathan Quick, he hasn’t had many bad starts this season. Bad goals? Yes, but he usually recovers.

It just so happened Wednesday that his last bad start– one of the worst of his career — was against Wednesday’s opponent, the Detroit Red Wings. There was some pressure on Quick to re-establish his lock on the No. 1 goalie position after a couple good starts by Jonathan Bernier, and he delivered with an outstanding 28-save effort.

Because of Quick, goals by Anze Kopitar and (officially) Dustin Brown were enough. Brown’s goal, a deflection of an Alec Martinez point shot during a second-period power play, held up as the game-winner.

Kopitar snuck in on the backdoor to tie the game at 1 at 7:50 of the first period, batting in the rebound of a Dustin Penner shot.

Darren Helm got the Red Wings on the board with one of those bad goals in the first period; Quick got a piece of Helm’s hard slapshot, but the puck trickled slowly behind him and over the goal line.

Credit the Kings’ penalty kill for allowing only one shot to reach Quick in 2:43 of man-advantage time for Detroit, which had scored at least one power-play goal in seven straight games.

By the time the day’s games were complete, the Kings needed a win to remain in the top eight of the Western Conference standings. They can’t be knocked out of the top eight tomorrow, either; only a Phoenix win against Calgary could push them into eighth.