Zach Bogosian highlights

It occurred to me today that perhaps many people don’t get to see highlights of these draft prospects we talk about so much. So I figured today would be a good opportunity to post some clips of these guys, and let you get a look at Zach Bogosian, Drew Doughty, Tyler Myers, Alex Pietrangelo, Luke Schenn and, yes, Nikita Filatov. We’ll start with Bogosian. Stick with it, for the end-to-end goal in the final minute.

Bogosian stats, info

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Hickey update

Thomas Hickey sat out part of the WHL playoffs because of a concussion, but that wasn’t his biggest problem. Hickey had surgery this week to repair a torn ligament in his ankle and will be off the ice for 6 to 8 weeks. It’s not known when exactly the injury happened, but Hickey definitely played for a while, knowing he was hurt bad. If you’re the Kings, that’s both admirable and terrifying. Hickey should be skating by the time the Kings have their prospects camp in July.

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Simmonds interview

In his most challenging effort to date, Don Fulton finally tracked down Kings prospect Wayne Simmonds, and got a great interview for his effort. As I just finished telling Don, Simmonds is one of the players I’m most looking forward to seeing again, just to see how he has developed since last fall. Here’s the interview…
Continue reading “Simmonds interview” »

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Can’t get no satisfaction

ESPN The Magazine has released its annual fan-satisfaction rankings. You probably won’t be stunned to know that the Kings didn’t fare well. Overall, the Kings ranked 107th out of 122 NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA teams. The Kings ranked 29th out of 30 NHL teams. Here are the categories:

BNG (Bang for the Buck): Wins over the past three years per revenues directly from fans
FRL (Fan Relations): Ease of access to players, coaches & management
OWN (Ownership): Honesty; loyalty to players and city
AFF (Affordability): Price of tickets, parking and concessions
STD (Stadium Experience): Friendliness of environment; quality of game-day promotions
PLA (Players): Effort on the field; likability off it
CCH (Coach/Manager): Strong on-field leadership
TTR (Title Track): Titles already won or expected — soon

And here’s how the Kings fared, out of 122 pro sports teams and out of the 30 NHL teams:

BNG: 112 overall, 27 NHL
FRL: 87 overall, 27 NHL
OWN: 102 overall, 28 NHL
AFF: 113 overall, 26 NHL
STD: 83 overall, 22 NHL
PLA: 108 overall, 28 NHL
CCH: 114 overall, 30 NHL
TTR: 109 overall, 29 NHL

So the Kings fared best in “stadium experience” and worst in “coaching.” So Marc Crawford finished just ahead of the Miami Dolphins’ Tony Sparano, who has yet to coach a game. Interestingly, Andy Murray got major recognition. St. Louis’ coaching rating was seventh in the NHL and 23rd overall, which put him just behind Super Bowl winner Mike Holmgren and just ahead of World Series winner Terry Francona. And right behind him was Wayne Gretzky. Interesting.

ESPN Fan Satisfaction Rankings

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Draft rankings

The NHL Central Scouting Bureau has released its final rankings for the 2008 draft…

1. Guess who? Steven Stamkos, center, Sarnia (OHL)
2. Zach Bogosian, defenseman, Peterborough (OHL)
3. Drew Doughty, defenseman, Guelph (OHL)
4. Tyler Myers, defenseman, Kelowna (WHL)
5. Luke Schenn, defenseman, Kelowna (WHL)
6. Alex Pietrangelo, defenseman, Niagara (OHL)

The list of top North American players can be found here

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The journey of Daniel Taylor

Because the Kings were on the road quite a bit at the end, and Daniel Taylor was on so many flights at the end, I never got a chance to talk to him about what his whole NHL experience was like. Fortunately, the Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard — quite a name — tracked him down and wrote a big article about him. It’s a good read…

All the Kings goalies; Former Frontenac Danny Taylor’s NHL debut a memorable one

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