Frozen Royalty: LA Kings Looking For Davis Drewiske To Rebound In A Big Way

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.