It happened a bit last night, and Terry Murray confirmed today that he has decided to switch the defensive pairs to Drewiske-Doughty, Johnson-Scuderi, O’Donnell-Greene. Murray said he was motivated mostly by the play of Drewiske, who has a plus-5 rating in the first seven games.
MURRAY: “We like what he is bringing in his game, and we feel he deserves more minutes as a result of that. We had concerns last year, I think, when we looked at the minutes that Sean O’Donnell was playing. There were times when he was up into the 23-, 24-minute mark, or 25-minute mark, and after 20 games or so, his game was slipping a bit because of the amount of ice time.
“We felt, now, that Drewiske is able to handle those minutes and play against the top lines. He’s a younger guy that we want to continue to see grow, and we made that change as a result of the good play and the amount of time that we’re looking for Doughty’s partner to play.”
The other day, Murray also talked, in general, about how he feels Drewiske’s play has evolved.
MURRAY: “At the end of the training camp, we were concerned. I found he was pressing throughout the camp, really wanting to do the right thing, and as a result trying to do too much. Once the season got started, right away he settled in and started move the puck quickly and he’s back to the way he played at the end of the season for us last year. So, as a result of that, his confidence has grown and he’s rewarded with more minutes in critical situations.
“That’s good to see, because I like the big body, I like the heavy play that he brings. He’s able to stop cycles, he’s able to pin and seal guys in your D zone to get plays started on the breakouts. Those are important kind of players to have, so it’s nice to see that he’s back on track.”
It’s great to see an unheralded guy step into a top 4 role so easily. When we traded Quincey I thought our transition game would suffer quite a bit, but exchanging O’Donnell for Drewiske certainly helps in that regard.
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Of all the things that have happened this year thus far, Drewiske’s consistent play has been the greatest plus. Without Quincey, I had fears… Davis has soothed those fears away.
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Bring on the quadruple D! (Drew Doughty Davis Drewiske)
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I like this.
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The Drew pair! I love it, and I was hoping it would come eventually. This is sooner than expected, but I see big things.
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Vindicated! (now don’t screw it up, 2Drews)
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what is the deal with Martinez’s undisclosed injury? His opening night debacle was one thing, but it seems as if he’s been relegated to some place between manchester and hell, but very far from the NHL. I hate to keep bringin’ Martinez up, but he’s why I became a Kings fan..
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I don’t know if anybody else has noticed, but to me Drewiske reminds me a lot of Aaron Miller with a bit more offensive up-side. I thought at the end of last year he was our best defensemen and he’s proved at the beginning of this year that he deserves top 4 minutes. Keep up the great work Davis!
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