Tonight’s second split-squad contest between the Kings and Coyotes christened new ice at STAPLES Center. Another loss, just moments after getting wind of the break-down 350 miles away at Jobing.com Arena. Pour some salt in the wound, will you? I don’t know if I can hold back the overwhelming waves of negativity surrounding me as I try to provide some sort of blurb on this performance. I mean, it was awful. Not only were they slow, but allowed Phoenix more scoring opportunities than their own ON the first two man-advantages. I’m targeting the two sorry excuses for a powerplay in the 1st period. You could tell the roster Phoenix iced tonight came out with a vengeance from the start. They dominated in speed, battles for zone-constant pucks, and overall effort. The Kings played more than 40 minutes facing a one-goal deficit until the 5th overall pick of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Brayden Schenn, netted the equalizer 7 minutes into the 3rd period. Good finishing from Schenn, but you can’t ignore Dustin Brown‘s last-ditch effort helper that was ultimately the primary source for the goal. Jonathan Quick was in net for the entire game, stopping 18 of 20 shots, and helplessly watched an empty-net goal with :52 remaining. The next preseason game, and the final one at STAPLES Center, is on Tuesday at 7:30 against the Anaheim Ducks.
In the first of two split-squad match-ups between the Kings and Coyotes, things went sour last-minute. Not too little too late for the Kings, but just enough for the Coyotes, who were able to tie the game with just 1:43 remaining in the 3rd period and clinch the victory with under two minutes to go in Overtime. Kyle Wellwood extended the game into overtime at the 18:17 mark of the 3rd period, and Shane Doan put an end to the night at the 3:54 mark in OT. Jonathan Bernier got the start in goal, and erased any doubts that stemmed from his performance last night in Colorado. Bernier recorded 18 saves on 18 shots through 40 minutes of play. In as a replacement was Jeff Zatkoff, who surrendered the two late goals to Phoenix, but didn’t look bad stopping 18 of 20 shots faced. The late breakdown simply shows signs of a young goaltender, whereas his overall performance showed solid signs of development. The only goal recorded in Glendale, Arizona for the Kings tonight came off of a Alexei Ponikarovsky wrist shot just 12 seconds into the second period. Not much else to analyze on this game, especially with Radio coverage as the only media source. Wait, I almost missed it. Preseason hockey + Kevin Westgarth means one thing. Yes, Westy dropped the gloves for the second consecutive night in his quest to land a 4th-line spot with the Kings. That’s fine for now, but the centerman from Ontario, Canada needs to start displaying other assets to his game in these final three preseason contests. Many players to dress in tonight’s game for the Kings will not do so for a while, if ever again. Cuts will be made to downsize the roster for the remaining full-squad preseason games.
Gann Matsuda continues his coverage from training camp. Check out the latest on defense. Things are definitely shaping up.
EL SEGUNDO, CA — Following the 2009-10 season, the Los Angeles Kings lost defensemen Sean O’Donnell, Randy Jones and later in the summer, Matt Greene.
While O’Donnell and Jones signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, respectively, Greene underwent shoulder surgery is expected to miss the first month of the 2010-11 season, at least.
That left the Kings undermanned on the blue line, but, even with Greene out of the lineup, the Kings defenseman corps looks to be better than last year’s model.
That improvement began with the loss of Jones—addition by subtraction. It continued with the Kings’ acquisition of veteran defenseman Willie Mitchell, who was signed to a two-year unrestricted free agent contract worth $3.5 million per year on August 25, 2010.
The 32-year-old native of Port McNeill, British Columbia is a tough, physical, stay-at-home defenseman who is an upgrade over the aging O’Donnell.
“Anytime you can add a player of the caliber of a Willie Mitchell, it’s a good thing for your team,” said defenseman Davis Drewiske, who appears to have a spot on the third defensive pair all but secured. “He’s going to be great to have around. He’s a guy I look forward to playing with and learning from.”
Read the rest on Frozen Royalty
Label tonight a success. Don’t grade it on the win alone, but the performance that earned it. The Kings found themselves facing a 2-0 deficit early in the second period, and answered the uphill battle with four unanswered goals to seal a 4-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche. Where should the analysis start? The four goal second half resurgence? The even strength scoring success? Camp Prospects marking territory? The only thing that would have improved tonight’s act would be Television coverage. Don’t let me get too fussy, tuning into the voices of Daryl Evans and Nick Nickson calling the game on KTLA AM 1150 cured the four-plus months expended without hockey. Obviously it didn’t have the same effect on the official scorers at Pepsi Center, who were forced to make three scoring changes, all related to Kings goals. Below I’ve got thoughts and notes on tonight’s pre-season opener. First, here’s a look at how the Kings skated tonight:
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*NOTE: The other defensemen to dress were Hickey, Campbell, Martinez, and Mullen. The pairings for these four shuffled throughout, with no pairings seemed to be set in stone.
Forwards
Parse-Stoll-Williams
Ponikarovsky-Handzus-Holloway
Richardson-Elkins-Zeiler
Nolan-Azevedo-Westgarth
Defense
Drewiske-Harrold
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Thoughts on the game:
Jonathan Bernier‘s start in goal was tough to gauge tonight. Surrendering 2 goals on 14 shots is…well.. alright. Am I analyzing too much on a preseason game? Bernier faced only 9 shots thereafter, but in a stretch of 30-plus minutes. He wasn’t tested enough after the two goals, and is what I would label as a mediocre start. ‘Mediocre’ can easily be reversed in his next start, and I expect it to be. We all know he has the ability to do it. Bernier will see plenty of preseason pucks. Godspeed Erik Ersberg. The guy had one last shot, and a freakin’ hand injury is his kiss of death. It’s not official, but is sadly inevitable. Adios, Erik. Bernier is the favorite to get the start tomorrow night in Phoenix.
Even Strength Productivity has been stressed by Terry Murray throughout the summer. Power-play success is great, but when it becomes a segway for positive offensive vibes, there’s a problem. Kings went 1-10 on the powerplay tonight, tallying the other 3 goals at even strength. Tonight’s even strength fortune should be valued more than the failures on special teams.
Distant Memories? Former King Kyle Quincey beat Jonathan Bernier with a slapshot for Colorado’s 2nd goal. Never was impressed with him, and expectations were so high just a few years ago. Shows how difficult the step to the NHL really is.
Prospects Produced tonight, which may be the underlying factor in preseason games. Bud Holloway and Corey Elkins lent a hand for the first two Kings goals, each awarded with helpers. Thomas Hickey provided the assist on the game-winning goal in the process of a +2 night. John Zeiler recorded the first goal; Zeiler is running out of clock in the Kings organization and needs to impress. Important goal, can’t interpret the -1 performance. Kevin Wetsgarth, who is fighting (literally) for a spot on the fourth line dropped the gloves tonight. Here’s a set equation for you: Preseason + Kevin Westgarth = Rhymes with Frighting
Justin Williams surprised me tonight. To be honest, I took out most of my offseason stress on #14, convincing myself he was over the hill, and expressing my distaste for his injury-prone history. I’d bring up JW, and got looked at as if I was rocking a Denis Gauthier jersey or something. The people I was with that night were obviously ignorant. 2 points with a goal and an assist will be inked in the notepad. Williams’ health and consistency is a key factor in 1st line success with projected linemates Anze Kopitar and Ryan Smyth.
Gann Matsuda is either on vacation or he’s really dedicated to pumping out the stories from training camp. Here’s his latest on defenseman Davis Drewiske.
EL SEGUNDO, CA — 2009-10 was Davis Drewiske’s first full season in the National Hockey League, and he made the most of his opportunity during the first half of the season, filling the role of a solid, stay-at-home defenseman more than adequately.
But the 25-year-old defenseman’s season was derailed by a seemingly routine body check on January 4, 2010, at San Jose.
The 6-2, 218-pound native of Hudson, Wisconsin had just thrown a clearing pass in the right corner of the Kings’ zone when he took a hit that was nothing like the punishing body checks often seen on the highlight reels.
But for all intents and purposes, it may as well have been a bone-crunching hit—Drewiske suffered a dislocated shoulder on the play.
“My arm was up at a bad angle and I got hit the right way,” said Drewiske. “That popped the shoulder out.”
Drewiske was activated from injured reserve on February 8, and ended up missing 15 games due to the injury. But he was unable to work his way back into the lineup on a consistent basis. He ended up missing 39 regular season games and sat out the Kings’ first round playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks.
Head coach Terry Murray said that Drewiske’s problems were both physical and mental.
“He had a very unfortunate injury last year and I think it really had a big effect on him emotionally because of other injuries he’s been through,” Murray said during an interview with Frozen Royalty on September 3.
“The hardest thing for me last year was taking him out of the lineup because he cares so much and tries so hard,” Murray added on September 18, the first day of training camp.
Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.
Gann Matsuda has been a busy guy at training camp with interviews and commentary. Here’s his latest on almost every fan’s favorite prospect Jonathan Bernier.
EL SEGUNDO, CA — As the Los Angeles Kings opened their 2010 training camp on September 18 at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California, one of the biggest question marks really isn’t a question at all.
Indeed, despite what the Kings are saying about who their backup goaltender will be on opening night, barring injury or other unforeseen circumstances, Jonathan Bernier will be their number two goaltender, leaving Erik Ersberg, who served as the Kings’ full-time backup the last two seasons, as the odd man out.
Bernier, 22, who was selected by the Kings in the first round (11th overall) of the 2006 National Hockey League Entry Draft, was the American Hockey League’s best goaltender last season, leading the Manchester Monarchs (Kings’ primary minor league affiliate), to the AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals.
Last season, Bernier was impressive, to say the least. In 58 regular season games for the Monarchs (3,424 minutes), he earned a 30-21-6 record, a 2.03 goals-against average (GAA), a .936 save percentage and nine shutouts.
In 16 playoff games (996 minutes) last season, Bernier was 10-6, with a 1.81 GAA and a .939 save percentage.
To be sure, the 5-11, 184-pound native of Laval, Quebec has excelled at every level and appears to possess elite-level skills. But until last season, Bernier had a lot of growing up to do, perhaps feeling a sense of entitlement after being a first round draft pick.
Indeed, just a couple of years ago, I asked the brash, cocky netminder how he would feel if the Kings decided to send him to the minors even if he performed well at their 2008 training camp.
“I’ll be mad, really mad,” he said.
Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.
If you caught Dean Lombardi‘s message regarding the CBA at Hockey Fest this past weekend, I can’t imagine your level of respect for the guy didn’t rise a few notches. If you’ve yet to hear his quick, yet powerful take on the NHL‘s Collective Bargaining Agreement, you can do so on the latest episode of Overtime, where Chris and Keith waste none of your time in editing Lombardi’s response to the issue. The entire “State of the Kings” segment can be watched on Kings Vision, where you also can find Lombardi’s take on the NHL‘s CBA. Below is a transcript of Dean Lombardi‘s speech “powerful proclamation”. You can quote Keith for that perfect classification.
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“You give anybody too much to chew, that person is not going to be the same in continuing to drive in being the best that he can be. And you put this system in place like they did with the NBA, and then you wonder why the best talents somehow get their way with it. Somehow they’re not focused anymore. Well who’s fault is that? How many of you would be focused in your line of work if all of a sudden at 22 years old you’ve got it all? And again, I had no problem with Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy getting their 10 million dollars; Those guys had 10 years in the league, they had proven they were winners, they had proven they were leaders, and god bless ‘em. But for some reason, we went out and said let’s make free agency 25, and then you have a team like Phoenix that’s one of the oldest teams in the league and has one of the lesser payrolls — it’s completely inverted. So, maybe I’m talking a little for selfish reasons too, though. But I think the product when you have players who have stayed together, come up the right way, they perform better, you get a better team, you can get a better product. The other thing for our game, that I think is critical and not only because it is what we believe in in building a team, and keeping young athletes together so they not only become the best they can be, but they become teammates and they like each other and stay together for years.”
Wow. Talk about a guy who’s got his head in the right place for a general manager. And better yet, he brought up the NBA and how the superstars are dismantling that league as I type this. The NHL may be the only honest professional sports league these days, and Dean Lombardi‘s words back up that claim. Did his response have something to do with Kovalchuk? You bet your bottom dollar it did. Not only did Lomardi show his intelligence and class with his speech, but solidified the trust I have in him as our general manager. I could go on, but if you haven’t watched his speech, just do it. I honestly doubt you’ve made it this far without doing so. Let Dean Lombardi speak for himself.
The Phoenix Coyotes won the final installment of the Rookie Exhibition series this afternoon, earning a two game split with the Kings. After skating toe to toe with Phoenix last night in a shootout victory, the Kings’ Rookies got swamped tonight. 7-1 was the final score, with Jordan Weal putting Los Angeles on the board off of a Jordan Nolan feed at the 8:03 mark of the 3rd period.
The Kings provided ice time for tryout invites tonight, scratching Corey Elkins, David Kolomatis, Patrick Mullen, and goaltender Martin Jones. With the exception of Jones, those players have more proven talent and were given the night off to test other prospects Riley Brace, Samuel Groulx, and Michael Pelech.
Jean-Francois Berube got the call to start in net, and allowed three goals in 30 minutes. Garrett Zemlak got some time tonight in replacement of Berube, surrendering four goals in his 30 minutes of action. I have no statistical analysis as far as shots/saves go, apparently there have been no official scorekeepers at Jobing.com Arena for the series.
It may have only been a Rookie Exhibition contest, but the youngsters donning Los Angeles Kings uniforms pulled out a 5-4 shootout victory tonight against the Rookies in the Phoenex Coyotes organization. Martin Jones started in net and played throughout regulation and the shootout, but I have little to provide statistically as far as saves go. There is no indication of a scoresheet being published to the public. Garrett Zemlak was the only goaltender who didn’t dress, as Jean-Fracois Berube watched from the bench. That has all signs pointing to seeing Berube between the pipes tomorrow afternoon. I never got access to the lineup as I had hoped to last night, but here’s how the Kings prospects skated tonight:
Forwards:
Clifford-Loktionov-Kozun
Kaunisto-Weal-Vey
Dwight King-Elkins-Toffoli
Nolan-Czarnik-Harnden
Defensemen:
Hickey-Mullen
Deslauriers-Fransson
Muzzin-Kolomatis
As far as goals for the Kings, all five tallies came from different players. In order, goals were recorded by Thomas Hickey, Kyle Clifford, Jordan Weal, Robbie Czarnik, and Brandon Kozun. Assists were recorded by Linden Vey and Jordan Nolan. The Rookies will face off again tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Keep posted here at Kingscast for a complete recap on the Rookie series tomorrow.
Surprisingly, information regarding Training Camp, which starts this weekend, was released before the list of players dressing for the upcoming Rookie Roster games against the Phoenix Coyotes. The puck is scheduled to drop for the two contests tomorrow night at 6:00pm and Wednesday afternoon at 2:00pm. Both games will take place at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Dave Tippett, second year head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes emphasizes on the importance of these low key games, saying the following:“There are some guys that play themselves into a main camp invite, and there are probably some guys who play themselves out. That’s the good thing about a situation like this. You get to see the young players, especially the tryout players. If somebody comes in and grabs your eye, and you can add an asset to your group, as a free agent guy, that’s good for the organization.” The Coyotes, who reportedly accommodated fans with live streaming coverage of the Rookie Roster games last year, will not be doing the same this season. I have yet to confirm any available live access, whether it be radio or video stream. Please share any information you may have regarding coverage. Rosters for the two exhibition games are expected by the end of the night, and will be updated here as soon as information is provided. You’d think Rich would have ‘em by now, eh? And what many may consider the bigger news of the day; The official Rosters and Dates for Training Camp have been posted by Rich Hammond of the LA Kings Insider. You can find links to both above. Just a quick post tonight folks, I’ll have a Training Camp Preview as well as a recap on the Rookie Roster Exhibition contests for you on Kingscast.net in the next couple of days.
