Are they watching?

The show must go on… First of all, Manchester is playing Worcester in Game 2 of their second-round AHL playoff series (the Monarchs lost Game 1), so I’ll give results after the game. On the NHL side, Montreal and Washington are playing Game 7 of their first-round series right now, after which the second-round series will be set. Given the disappointment that just took place this week, will the Kings be watching the rest of the playoffs? Do they care who wins? Do you care? Terry Murray, Anze Kopitar, Michal Handzus, Jack Johnson, Dustin Brown and Brad Richardson answered…

MURRAY: “I definitely will watch the playoffs very closely. I think it’s a great time for coaches to see what works there, how important the detail part is. So I’m hoping the players also will watch. Do I have a preference? No, I really don’t. It’s more about just watching good hockey, good playoffs. I think we’re going to have a great semifinal and final. There’s good teams, exciting teams. Man, what  a comeback Chicago had against Nashville the other night. So that kind of play is out there, and the league is encouraging that kind of skill to be out there in the forefront. It’s going to be fun to watch.”

KOPITAR: “No, I don’t care (who wins) anymore. I’ll definitely watch some games, yeah. It’s hard not to.”

HANDZUS: “I might later on. I didn’t have the stomach to watch it (Monday), and I’m sure not going to watch it this week or so. Later on, it’s great hockey and it will be fun to watch it.”

JOHNSON: “I’ll be watching. I don’t necessarily care who wins, but I’ll be watching because I enjoy watching hockey.”

BROWN: “I don’t think I’ll watch. I’m not going to make a point of sitting down and watching them. It’s always been hard for me. It’s one of those things where you throw the game on in the background. I’ve got two small kids, so if I’m playing with them and there’s a game on, I’ll probably just have it on in the background, and you’ll watch when there’s a goal scored. That’s kind of the extent of it.”

RICHARDSON: “I really don’t care, if it’s not us, but I have a lot of friends that are playing. Even on Vancouver, I have a couple of good friends, so you always want your friends to do well. So I’m just going to cheer that they do well, but I’m probably not going to be watching a lot until the Cup Final.”