Tomorrow night’s game will be meaningful for Kings defenseman Willie Mitchell on a few levels. It will be his first game with the Kings, his first game against his former team, a game near his hometown of Port McNeill, B.C., and, most importantly, his first regular-season game since he suffered the third concussion of his NHL career, on Jan. 16. Here’s what Mitchell said today about his emotions leading up to the season opener…
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Question: I imagine you’re on the hook for a few tickets…
MITCHELL: “Roberto (Luongo) has a suite. He uses it for charity, and sometimes when he doesn’t use it for that, he will personally use it. So I called him ahead of time, right after I signed, and got the suite there. And I’m still on the hook for a few tickets.”
Question: Certainly this game would be meaningful to you anyway, since it’s your return to the NHL, but does it mean something more given that it’s Vancouver?
MITCHELL: “Actually, I feel lucky. Some guys might have different emotions, but I feel lucky to go back there and play my first game. Obviously I played preseason games, and that was a big emotional kind of hurdle, going out and getting hit for the first time. That’s big when you’re coming off an injury like this. But to go back there and play my first game since my last game, Jan. 16 against Pittsburgh, and being around all my family and friends and my peers and good friends on that team, it’s nice. The training staff there was part of that long road with me, so I’m sure they will be excited to see me on the ice as well. Doc [Mike] Wilkinson and everyone. So it will be nice that everyone is there. It’s different, because I wasn’t there when these teams met up in the playoffs. For this club, they want to see how they stack up against Vancouver in a rematch. What I saw then was a good young team, starting to find their groove, and that’s why I decided to come here. It will be nice to be on this side of the ledger and try to help out against a good team over there.”
Question: What were you doing during that first-round series? Did you watch?
To be honest, I didn’t. I did for a little while. When you have a physical injury, a concussion, there’s also an emotional side. When there’s stress, what does it do? It gives you a headache. If your brain is damaged — and that’s what a concussion is — and you have stress in your life, it’s not going to get better. So as much as it hurt me to do it, I just kind of disconnected until I started feeling better. The L.A. series, I watched a little bit, casually, and then I started to get some phone calls from friends on the team who were penalty killers. [laughs] And assistant coach Rick Bowness, who does the penalty kill. They said, `Willie, what’s going on?’ Sometimes when you’re outside of the box, sometimes you see different things, so they were just calling me for some advice. So when that happened, I kind of got engaged again, trying to help out in that way. I couldn’t help out on the ice, but maybe my experience, and what I do on the penalty kill, could help the team. That was in Games 5 and 6. So I didn’t really see a lot of the series, to be honest. It was my choice, like I said, because I didn’t want that stress of not being involved. It was going to really hurt me, as far as my healthy process. It will be really nice to get back there, and it will be a lot of fun.”
Great outlook ,How can you not love this guys attitude.He will be on the kings penalty kill now ,I can’t till he settles in on D.
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I’m glad he’s going to be part of the Kings penalty killing unit, since we were 20th in the league in that department.
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Listening to Willie Mitchell speak, 2 things are clear to me..#1 He completely understood his medicall situation, and he purposely shut every stressfull distraction out of his lfe so his brain could heal faster..incredible discipline on his part! And #2..IMHO I think this guy is future coaching, and management material..Good luck this season Willie, and do what you do best..kill penalties, and frustrate, and shut down the opposition !
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I originally thought that Mitchell was a push as a replacement for OD. If he is able to stay healthy and not have any lingering effects from the concussion, I now think that he’s an upgrade over OD.
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Jesse Reply:
October 8th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
@vplaza, You are correct that he is a replacement for OD, but OD of 1994-2000, not the OD of 2008-2010.
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Thanks for taking the charity seats away !!! lol
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Every interview with this guy makes me like him even more. I hope he stays healthy, not just as a Kings fan but because he seems like such a great guy.
He definitely sounds like a guy that could go into coaching if he so chooses, so I agree with you puck73.
Looking forward to the game tomorrow.
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Hey Rich. Any update on how Bob is doing? Sorry if I missed something before, but thought it had been a bit since I have seen anything about that.
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Jonathan Reply:
October 8th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
@Jeff Hoffman,
Bob has a few leftover aches but stated the other day he’s ready for tomorrow night!
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Harry Reply:
October 8th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
@Jeff Hoffman, Bob Miller ready for Kings’ opener – Helene Elliott
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/10/kings-nhl-hockey-bob-miller.html
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HeyChief Reply:
October 8th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
@Jeff Hoffman, I notice that anytime something is written about Bob Miller’s surgery, it’s never disclosed what type of surgery he had. Granted, I understand it’s a personal issue and none of my business but I am a little curious to know what happened.
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MK Ultra Reply:
October 8th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
@HeyChief,
Same here.
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a lil off subject but did any one else see this from last night?….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCiGTzhWTsA
poor bam bam never took a beating like that in LA
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Sparman Reply:
October 8th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
@jpizzle313,
Ouch. Down goes Raitis.
I hope he didn’t re-fracture his jaw.
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Luuc Reply:
October 8th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
@jpizzle313,
Yikes! Gotta lose a little of the intimidation factor after something like that happens.
Wish him well though.
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NMKingsFan Reply:
October 8th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
@jpizzle313,
Gonna have to take him off my Fantasy League team, looks like he might be out for a while with post-concussion.
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It’s awesome to see a view from the other side and understand how much our power play got into their heads and had them freaked.
Reading this transported me back to the playoffs: “OH, PENALTY!!! Sweet – we’ll get a PPG here and go up those guys.” It was almost a sure thing.
Man am I excited for tomorrow night!!!
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he will be a good fit for doughty to move around more get into the plays because he will be back there to cover for him good fit i see
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Speaking of PK, I assume Zues, Kopi & Stoll will center 3 PK units. Anyone know who the wingers will be? I’m guessing stick with the respective RWs so Simmer, Brown & J Will?
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Didn’t the Kings score like 8 PP goals in the first 2 or 3 games in that series? I’m sure they were calling everyone they knew to try and figure something out.
But yeah, I’m glad Mitchell is on our side now. Hopefully he’s donating some money to some charity to give back for the suite.
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