As previously posted, Erik Ersberg was back on this ice this morning after being out of practice for five days with a sore left hand. Ersberg said there were still some issues with flexibility in his hand/wrist, but he made it through the entire practice. Ersberg had been scheduled to play last Wednesday’s preseason opener [...]

Terry Murray put the Kings through a fairly strenuous two-hour practice this morning, after giving them the day off Friday. The Kings are 1-1-1 in the preseason, having defeated Colorado 4-2 and lost to Phoenix 3-1 and 2-1 (in overtime) in split-squad games. Today, with his training-camp roster trimmed to 32 healthy players, all of [...]

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 [...]

– It was more of the more intense practices of camp, with plenty of conditioning skating at the end and more than the usual share of Terry Murray barking at players during drills. – You can essentially remove Ray Kaunisto from the active roster, which puts the number of healthy players in camp down to [...]

Who tested best, among the Kings, in their pre-camp physical testing? Based on about 10 different on- and off-ice tests, here is the top five… 1. Rich Clune 2. Dustin Brown 3. Andrei Loktionov 4. Kyle Clifford 5. Justin Williams

Erik Ersberg (hand) and Scott Parse (foot) are both back on the ice for practice this morning. It’s a crowded ice surface, with the top three lines in purple, all of the fourth-line contenders in yellow and the defensemen in a mix of black and gray. More updates from practice to come….

After today’s roster cuts, this is the list of remaining players in Kings training camp. (A list of the players, with bios, can be found by clicking here) Forwards (19): Dustin Brown, Kyle Clifford, Rich Clune, Michal Handzus, Ray Kaunisto, Anze Kopitar, Trevor Lewis, Andrei Loktionov, Oscar Moller, Scott Parse, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Brad Richardson, Brayden [...]

Quite a housecleaning in El Segundo today, as 23 names were trimmed from the training-camp roster. No huge surprises, other than that they were all done at once. The biggest surprise would probably be Corey Elkins, who had seemed to show improvement, but with the depth at center, including strong play by prospects Andrei Loktionov [...]

Another player who impressed last night was Jack Johnson, and it seems as though Johnson might benefit from Terry Murray’s new emphasis on playmaking, including the thumbs-up for defensemen to be more active in initiating and joining plays. Johnson was known as a strong two-way defenseman at the University of Michigan, but that top-level offensive [...]

Young players should naturally improve, in a physical sense, from year to year early in their careers, but it’s safe to say that no Kings prospect made a bigger jump than Andrei Loktionov. Now 20 years old, Loktionov came to camp two years ago as a teenager with decent height (he’s listed at 5-foot-10) but [...]

Longtime radio reporter Ted Sobel, now of KFWB-AM, caught up with Bob Miller last night to discuss his (strong) health and Bob’s thoughts on the upcoming season… Bob Miller interview

– The Kings lost to the Phoenix Coyotes 3-1 at Staples Center. Brayden Schenn scored 6:55 into the third period to tie the game 1-1, but Brett MacLean scored a third-period power-play goal and Eric Belanger added an empty-net goal. – Dustin Brown and Jack Johnson assisted on Schenn’s goal. – Jonathan Quick played the [...]

– The Kings lost 2-1 in overtime. Alexei Ponikarovsky scored the Kings’ goal (unassisted), 12 seconds into the second period, for a 1-0 lead, and it held up until Kyle Wellwood scored a power-play goal with 1:43 remaining in the third period and Shane Doan scored a power-play goal 3:54 into overtime. – Jonathan Bernier [...]

Here are some thoughts from Anze Kopitar and Terry Murray after tonight’s game at Staples Center… (on the game…) KOPITAR: “It took a couple of minutes to get into it. It was a long summer, and it’s just getting the timing back, and pretty much the whole routine before the game, too. It takes maybe [...]

There will some more detailed quotes/notes later, but first a couple quick things… – Scott Parse did not play tonight in Phoenix. He was scratched from the lineup because he hurt his foot while blocking a shot last night in Colorado. Terry Murray said x-rays on Parse’s foot were negative but that he had a [...]

IN PHOENIX: Phoenix 2, Kings 1, final. (Ponikarovsky, unassisted, 12 seconds into second period) (Wellwood, 18:17 into third period, power play) (Doan, 3:54 into overtime, power play) IN LOS ANGELES: Phoenix 3, Kings 1, final. (Boedker, 6:21 into first period) (Schenn, from Brown and Johnson, 6:55 into third period) (Maclean, 15:28 into third period) (Belanger, [...]

Here’s how the Kings are expected to skate at Staples Center tonight. The game, which starts at 7:30 p.m., can be viewed live on LAKings. com by clicking here. Smyth-Kopitar-Brown Clune-Lewis-Simmonds Clifford-Schenn-Moller King-Loktionov-Kozun Mitchell-Doughty Johnson-Scuderi Muzzin-Fransson Quick And here’s how the Kings are expected to skate against the Coyotes in Arizona tonight. Nick Nickson and [...]

According to Adrian Dater of the Denver Post, the Colorado Avalanche had a rough night against the Kings, beyond their 4-2 loss. David Koci suffered a jaw injury during his fight with Kevin Westgarth, and Peter Mueller suffered a concussion. Westgarth apparently won that fight pretty decisively, and it’s unknown when exactly Mueller suffered his [...]

After today’s morning skate, Terry Murray shared some of his thoughts on last night’s 4-2 victory by the Kings over the Colorado Avalanche. Murray talks about the game in general and a few players… (on the game…) MURRAY: “I thought, in the early going, that we were feeling the game out. We had some players [...]

Here’s the group that the Phoenix Coyotes brought to Los Angeles for tonight’s game. I’m not yet certain as to who the scratches will be. Goalies: Matt Climie, Al Montoya. Defensemen: Jonas Ahnelov, Maxim Goncharov, Brandon Gormley, Shane Hnidy, Ed Jovanovski, Sami Lepisto, Derek Morris, David Schlemko, Garrett Stafford. Forwards: Mathieu Beaudoin, Eric Belanger, Paul [...]