Here’s the next set. Still a little more to go!

The next set of questions and answers…

I’m going to try to get through a lot of the Open Forum questions and answers, so here’s the next set…

The sitting and watching is now done for the Kings. After six days, in which the rest of the West had a chance to catch up, the Kings sit in fifth place in the conference (tied with Nashville, ahead on goal differential). The Kings are four points behind first-place San Jose but just five points [...]

Between Monday, Tuesday and today, the Kings got in approximately five hours of practice time. They incorporated four injured players back into the fold and spent significant time working on special teams and did a ton of conditioning skating. Did they get, out of those three days, what Terry Murray had hoped? MURRAY: “Pretty close. [...]

I talked to Jarret Stoll briefly after practice today, and he said that his sore groin had felt “much better” over the past two days, but agreed that it would be a stretch for him to return Saturday, mostly since the Kings will not skate again until Saturday morning. Here’s what Terry Murray said today [...]

There’s been plenty of discussion in the past few days about Scott Parse, and the fact that he wasn’t recalled from Manchester when players such as Elkins and Moller were. Today, I asked Terry Murray about Parse’s play while he was with the Kings, and whether he felt there were “peaks and valleys” in Parse’s [...]

Lots of skating today. And skating. And skating. The Kings again split their practice into two “halves” and didn’t finish until after noon. Lots of work on the penalty kill today as well. After practice, Terry Murray said he expects Johnson, Segal, Simmonds and Smyth to be ready to go Saturday, but not Jones and [...]

Going back to the Open Forum, here’s the fifth set of questions and answers…

A few things, as I head out to the week’s final practice. First, if you missed any of yesterday’s news and notes, my LAKings.com notebook can be found below: Kings notebook (Dec. 22) I finished up my Kings all-decade team with the, uh, best goalie of the decade. Who did I pick and, perhaps more [...]

An interesting development yesterday, as the Kings actually moved back into fourth place in the Western Conference without playing a game. It’s been that kind of week… San Jose 3, Chicago 2: LOSS. The Sharks pulled four points clear of the Kings, and now each team has played 37 games. Anaheim 4, Colorado 2: LOSS. [...]

There seems to be a certain excitement with the return to the lineup of Ryan Smyth and Wayne Simmonds, and the news that Jack Johnson doesn’t have a long-term injury. Too much excitement, perhaps? The question of the day came courtesy of longtime online writer (and friend of the blog) Gann Matsuda, who asked Terry [...]

The line of Brad Richardson, Michal Handzus and Dustin Brown, basically thrown together on a moment’s notice after Jarret Stoll hurt his groin in Vancouver last week, looks as though it might live on. After playing with Alexander Frolov yesterday, Handzus and Brown were back with Richardson today. Terry Murray indicated that the line would [...]

Johnson, Segal, Simmonds and Smyth seem to be progressing fine. Simmonds said he’s not skating with any type of brace on his knee. He said he wore some type of protective sleeve on his knee at the start of practice yesterday, but removed it because it was causing him discomfort. As for the other two… [...]

It’s been quite a week for some of the Kings’ prospects. Consider Corey Elkins, who started last week in Manchester. After being called up, he flew to Edmonton, then went with the Kings to Calgary and back to Los Angeles. Then, he flew back to Manchester, played one game with the Monarchs, flew to his [...]

After practice, Jack Johnson said he was “optimistic” that he would play Saturday. Johnson has been practicing with a protective shield on his skate but has made it through all practices, and all indications are that he will be ready to go Saturday.

The fourth line made more sense when Corey Elkins showed up, although with Jarret Stoll’s status still in question, it’s still too early to predict what the lines will be. There’s no indication that any other call-ups are on the horizon. Elkins landed in L.A. at about 10:30 and came straight to the rink to [...]

Corey Elkins is now on the ice for the second half of practice. Seems as though he might have just flown in to L.A. The Kings practiced for about 45 minutes, took a break and then came back out for drills that have been focused on special teams. They’re still going now…

Oscar Moller is back on the ice with the Kings this morning. No sight of Stoll or Jones. Terry Murray switched up the lines a bit, although I’m not totally sure if he’s going for “lines” today, since the fourth line of Ivanans, Purcell and Segal has no center. Otherwise, it’s: Smyth-Kopitar-Williams Richardson-Handzus-Brown Frolov-Moller-Simmonds

Back to the Open Forum questions and answers… Here’s the fourth set.