Kevin Westgarth has made the biggest impression of the preseason so far…at least on David Koci. In the exhibition opener, Westgarth fought Colorado’s Koci, and Koci suffered a jaw injury (it’s being reported as a possible broken jaw. Westgarth also fought Phoenix’s Nolan Yonkman in Thursday’s preseason game, but a few days later, it’s the Koci fight that everyone is still talking about.
“It’s just one of those things,” Westgarth said. “You never wish for anybody to get hurt, but it’s part of the job, too. Anything that helps keep our team safe, and kind of scares away anybody who is going to take a run at our guys, it’s definitely helpful. So if they want it, they know they’ve got it.”
Westgarth, who measures 6-foot-4 and 228 pounds, was unofficially credited (by the website hockeyfights.com) with 18 fights last season in the AHL, compared to 17 the previous season and 25 in 2007-08. I asked Westgarth if he had trouble finding fights in the AHL after a while.
“Somewhat, for sure,” Westgarth said. “That definitely allowed me to kind of expand the rest of my game. Last year, I think early on there were a couple of guys, but I had established myself pretty well in the AHL. There were a couple guys who wanted to test me out and try to get something going for themselves, but after the first few games, I think it calmed down. The only time I got tilts was basically if I ran somebody and they wanted to try to take a piece out of me, or definitely if somebody tried to take out one of our guys, they were going to hear about it.”
No doubt, Westgarth will find some challengers this season, as he is expected to make the Kings’ roster as a fourth-line winger. To be a solid contributor, though, Westgarth will need to do more than fight, and will need to do some of the things that his predecessor, Raitis Ivanans, struggled with, namely skating and not taking bad minor penalties.
“Westgarth has worked very hard in the summer time,” coach Terry Murray said. “You can see it in his test results, off-ice and on-ice. The skating test was phenomenal for him. His overall stride has improved. He’s more relaxed. He has worked hard during his time in Manchester. He spent a lot of time in the offseason going through power skating and giving that the focus that it needs. He’s doing the right stuff, and as a result, he’s here with the big team and I’m looking for him to be on the big team. He’s a heavyweight. He showed that in his game that he played in Colorado, and I believe that we need that kind of a player. He has paid his dues down in the minors, so he’s one of the players who will fill that spot as a fourth-line player.”
It’s good to hear he’s looking like a better skater, but its still bad news if he’s playing much more than 40 games.
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Belexes Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
@Moontheloon23,
<— Ice capades is that way my friend.
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cant wait to see all of his fights from 313 on that nice new jumbo tron
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You are out in left field Moontheloon23. Seen him play a couple of games in Manchester and he is dam good for his roll and he want harm the forth line at all. Glad to have him. Welcome to the big time Westy. You deserve it man.
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We’ll see. One has to be able to be a responsible player at this level to stick. He does remind me of McSorely a bit.
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USHA#17 Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
@KC23,
Well, he has that McSorely “wild look” in the photos but McSorely was quote versatile. He also played on wing.
Playing on wing allowed McSorely to run down and punch out a lot of players.
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Danielle Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
@KC23,
Let’s hope he likes a little less curve on his stick…
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SuperSonic420 Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
@Danielle, Good Call! Lets hope he keeps his stick off other players heads as well.
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Yonkman beat westgarth
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westgarth was top 5 on manchester in terms of scoring.
Watch the guy play 10 games before you act like him playing 40 games is a waste of a roster spot, please.
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SuperSonic420 Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
@typicaljs,
Is the AHL like fantasy hockey, where they reward points for pims? Just askin…
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moontheloon23 Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
@typicaljs,
Well, he was actually 11th in scoring — http://www.monarchshockey.com/stats.php
To be fair, that’s still higher than I would have guessed off the top of my head.
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I love Westgarth’s attitude and he knows his Job. The ducks will think twice before taking a run at Kopi or Doughty!!!!
Hey Rich, Nice that you mentioned Hockeyfights.com…. Great Site..
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This guy has everything that Ivanans was lacking: the ability to keep up with the play, a good head on his shoulders and a real passion for his role on the team. He talks tough and can back it all up. I’m still partial to his zinger last year about Wade Belak being out of the line up “he’s got the Westy flu.” Can’t wait to see this battleship patrol the ice for us on the regular this year.
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Mark Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
@uknojata,
only thing is.. Wade belak, jannsen, boogaard, Orr, ivanans, all the big heavyweights are going to pummel him. Best fighter he’s fought is Mitch fritz. He lost, badly.
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Nyck Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
@Mark, I dissagree. He knocked Scott Parker on his ass, and has been beating the toughest in the AHL for 3 or 4 years now. I thought he did pretty well in the Fritz fight.
He’ll be fine.
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Mark Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
@Nyck,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxt6J5wvQtU
you think he did ok?
USHA#17 Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
@Nyck,
Westgarth took some good rights and got the short end both figuratively and literally.
6’4″ v 6’7″, shorter reach and gave up what appeared to be 20 pounds, at least.
Looked like a boy against a man.
ringo Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 7:02 am
@Mark, look you all are missing the point..an enforcer is there to patrol the ice and make sure the opposing team does not take runs at our players, if that happens he will then take on the other player, now, of course it would be great to win every fight, but the point is that we act on it . win or loose . that cheap shot malkin made on simmonds, no retaliation, nothing! correct me if iam wrong , wasnt ivan on the ice at the time? look at green does not win a lot of fights, but if you take a run, green is all over you. i think westgarth is going to be good. dont know to much about his offensive, be nice if he were in the probert, or mcsorley mold.
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Mark Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 11:00 am
@ringo,
Raitis was not on the ice at the time.
He went over to Malkin after the game and was broken off by the players/refs.
PRMan Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
@ringo, Ivanans wasn’t but Brown was and he should have got up in his face.
USHA#17 Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
@ringo,
No one stood up for Simmonds. That elbow still irks me. The Kings should have started running other players in retaliation…which is why the entire enforcer concept is fairly stupid under the existing rules.
Whats the point if Simmonds is elbowed and five minutes later two enforcers make a “date” to go dance for 30 seconds? Nothing is settled and there is no reason for Malkin to end his cheap shot practices…especially if someone else is paid to fight his fights.
jet Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
@USHA#17, there were only 12 seconds left in the game. That is why he got away with it and that is why he did it. He knew he would have a free ride. Simmonds needs to put his name in a box and take it out again when he is 210 pounds. Every player in the league will understand.
von_swine Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
@Mark, you mentioned a decent class of HW’s there, but those dudes all got their ass beat or k.o.’d at least once last year. Westy will take some lumps in his 1st real season in the show, but he’s a definate upgrade over Raitis, who will prolly barely crack the lineup in Calgary after they see how useless he’s become once they hit the 20 game mark. Watch out for Rick Rypien, for his size that guy can really throw em,…Westgarth FTW! ~ T.Von.
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Mark Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
@von_swine,
They all lose some fights,
but not most. Westgarth toughest opp was fritz and got manhandled
von_swine Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
@Mark, Westy’s toughest bout in recent memory was Mirasty this year down in the AHL. His 2 tilts againt Von Fritz werent lopsided for either player from the videos I watched. And to Fritzy’s credit, the dude is like 8′ tall so he’s got some reach….Westgarth FTW! ~ T.Von.
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jet Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
@von_swine, Westy needs to work on some lat pulls on his left side. The only way to overcome reach when you have the guy’s neckline is to pull down hard as he is about to throw. I think westy goes 30%-30%-40% this season.
I think that we should think of it in terms of minutes of ice time per game. Westy should only average around 5 minutes per game he plays. His presence allows the Kings to have a “nasty” factor they haven’t seen since Jay Wells patrolled the ice in the 80′s. With him, Brown and Simmonds that brings a nice consistent physical presence that other teams will hate. I know McSorley had that presence but the Gretzky era teams were never known as overly physical teams and Marty was just the enforcer to keep things on the up and up.
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ringo Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 7:18 am
@live4dacup, dont forget clune, if he makes the cut and he should.
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jet Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
@live4dacup, well, cement head also had a say.
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For those who are not enamored of Wesgarth fulfilling the enforcer role on the Kings I have a question. If not Westgarth, then whom?
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backchecker Reply:
September 26th, 2010 at 4:07 am
@Forum67,
excellent question
How about Parse if he makes the club
He can use his Purse
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Dont worry Kings fans, Westy has game , he can play hockey , he definitely wont hurt you on the ice as far as taking dumb penalties and can even chip in some goals.. He didnt have a lot of takers in Monarchs , no one really wanted to fight him. At the NHL level , that wont be the case , everyone will be testing him to see if he got game .. he will take his share of lumps here and there, but he will be dishing them out too and will only get better . He has paid his dues in the AHL, this is his time to see if he can become a consistent NHLer or not , my money is on Westy.
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