Davis Drewiske and Peter Harrold have both been healthy scratches from the last 13 games, but that’s more of a reflection on the play of rookie defenseman Alec Martinez — and the fortunate health of the other defensemen — than anything else. Martinez joined the Kings on Nov. 23, went right into the lineup and hasn’t come out since. He has only eight points in 33 games but has been solid, with an overall plus-minus rating of even, and hasn’t been whistled for a penalty in his last 17 games. Given that Martinez is essentially filling the role of sixth defenseman — in a pairing with Matt Greene — it’s hard to ask much more than that. Here’s what Terry Murray had to say about the 23-year-old defenseman…
MURRAY: “It’s really nice for the organization, to see a guy who has come through the development process over the years and sticking in there. We really like his game. He brings a lot in the skill department. He does a great job in his 1-on-1. He has very strong legs. He’s able to pin guys and seal guys off, and I see his game taken up to the next level in just about every game that he has played. And he’s breaking through on the emotional part of the game, which has always been the stop sign for him. Now he’s breaking through.”
I really like this guy, and I think his development has been helped playing with Greene. Great pick DL (I wonder if he gets tired of hearing that). Great coaching in Man and great effort by Marty. We have one of the best third pairings in the league.
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Crown Royal Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 9:45 am
@jet,
I like Martinez as well. I think you have it backwards, though. I think Greene has benefited more from Martinez than the other way around.
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jet Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 9:54 am
@Crown Royal, While I agree with you on moving the puck out, I think Marty has a little more confidence taking the trash out of the blue w/ Greene at this side.
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VanKingsFan Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:20 am
@jet, Greene has been CRUSHING dudes lately
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CupRun2011 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:34 am
@VanKingsFan, That’s a good point, they both play off of each other–like a good D-man pairing should! The puck mover (Marty) can skate it out of the zone with confidence, knowing that his partner (Greener) has him covered…similarly, Greener can crush the opposition, knowing that Marty has him covered. Willy and Scuds are so sound defensively it’s allowing Dewey and JJ to be more assertive offensively. Great pairings!
Now if we can only get a LW sniper for Kopi!
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KC23 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
@jet, Great post and spot on. Martinez is outstanding out there. This kid is going to be a top defenseman some day. He reads so well on the attack for his experience level. I’m very impressed and can’t believe it is the same kid who looked so horrible last year when he first broke in.
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His skating ability is what sets him apart. He would be a dangerous weapon fs the coaching staff turned his loose more. He was very effective playing with Drewiske when Greene was out.
He has the talent to be a top four defenseman in the NHL.
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jet Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 9:57 am
@Crown Royal, but do you not agree the pairing with Greene is in a sense allowing him to go forward or turning him loose. There are games when he makes more rushes and deeper rushes than JJ or DD.
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mrbrett7 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:20 am
@Crown Royal, Wow man…your just obssessed.
He’s a rookie…most rookies don’t have the green light for much, ESPECIALLY defensemen.
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Crown Royal Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
@mrbrett7,
That’s true rookies are usually kept on a tight leash. I think TM keeps the entire team on too tight of a leash. More goals from the defense would very helpful to a team stuggling to score goals as the Kings have much of the season.
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Someone is going to be waived in the coming days…
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JWR Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:47 am
@ADub87,
I really doubt anyone will be waived. Lokti will be sent down when Sturm comes back.
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lafan13 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:05 am
@JWR,
sad as it is, prolly very true…. Lokti has some nice needed skill to that 1st line… but i dont see LA using him much in the playoffs, because the physical aspect of the game really takes over then….
I honestly think a healthy sturm will do just fine though, at one time he was one of the faster skaters in the league, and had a great workhorse mentality…
its been pretty damn hard for marco as of late, 1 hes coming off maj injury, and 2 hes on a brand new team…Its gota be pretty fkn hard to prove your worth to a new team, when your hurt and not playing at your 100%.
I think if we let poni walk this year, we should try to retain sturm with a cheap 1-2 year contract.
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deanna Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:21 am
@lafan13, I believe resigning Sturm would be an investment in the future, because he is a great guy in the room. Several of Boston’s players and the coach (now, there is someone who knows how to coach, Claude Julien) expressed their sorrow in Marco being traded. I think if he was given a chance, he would benefit the Kings greatly.
KC23 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
@JWR, Exactly. Any way you slice it it is better to let Loktionov go back down than give someone away for nothing.
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Dominick Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
@ADub87, Nobody is going to be waved if all we have to do is send a player down till the trade deadline passes then call them back up. Why throw away an asset when you don’t have to?
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He didn’t impress me or anyone else when he started with the team last season and then just diappeared. His significant improvement since that time is really great to see and we are lucky to have him. He seems to bring alot of energy and he adds speed to our offense which we have needed. I have noticed that TM is using AM, DD and JMFJ to bring the puck down the middle more often rather than the dump and chase, so that says something for AM’s puck handling skills. He also has a really deceptive shot from the point (seems to float or flutter, but always on net).
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Bubba Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:18 am
@DesertKing, Lends creedance to Lombardi’s philiosophy of letting the young guys spend as much time in the “A” before coming up. His game is a thousand times better than last year. He has benefitted greatly with a year in the AHL.
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mrbrett7 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:21 am
@Bubba, I wish more people understood this philosphy.
For the most part most of these guys aren’t ready for the NHL until they are around 22-23 years old. Rushing players into the NHL does NOTHING for them, and normally destroy’s their confidence.
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DougS Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:36 am
@mrbrett7,
Yes, and I also wish that people would stop reaching definitive judgements on young players when they’re still in their early 20′s. Martinez didn’t much look like an NHL defenseman last year, but the Kings stuck with him, and now they’ve got a legit homegrown player in the making here.
Patience with the kids pays off.
Goring 19 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:57 am
@DesertKing, I really love AMs game. The guy can fly out there and it seems every time he shoots the puck, it’s on net, unlike some of the guys (no names mentioned) The only issue I have with AM is that he gets caught up ice once in a while resulting in an outnumbered attack for the opponent or resulting in a goal for the opponent but overall it’s still a learning process for the guy and he plays with a lot of confidence out there. He’s very good player and is only going to get better. It’s amazing how we have all these extremely good guys in the minors. In the not too distant past I couldn’t have said that about the Kings prospects. Good work DL.
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Totally off topic, but is the game against the Flyers sunday televised on NBC or something? Hopefully? It shows nothing on the website.
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KFII Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:35 am
@Jason4Kings, Yeah, just shows radio coverage from the Kings website. It is on the DTV Center Ice schedule in my area. Ch. 778-1 We know all the games are televised so it must be on a national station. More exposure for the Kings, yes.
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stats1 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:50 am
@Jason4Kings, Sunday’s game is now on FSN. It was originally an NBC regional game, but with the change in start time from 4PM Pacific to 12 Noon, FSN picked it up.
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tornado12 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:51 am
@Jason4Kings, according to LA times it on fox sports
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Jason4Kings Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
@tornado12,
Thanks guys. Yeah, Jim Fox said early in the season that every game will be televised locally this year. The King’s site under upcoming games had no TV listing. I seem to remember that from previous seasons….if the telecast wasn’t on FSN they weren’t listing it, which seems odd to me.
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I really like Martinez, and believe he will be a top 4 defenseman with some more seasoning. You can put add him to Doughty and Johnson as three guys who should be manning the Kings’ blue line for the next decade.
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Bill M. Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:38 am
@rick, If the kings keep all three, with Martinez getting more experience under his belt, I almost wonder if we don’t see something a little unusual in the next few years – the Kings rolling 3 defensive pairing with nearly even minutes. DD, JJ, AM, each paired with a shutdown man, are equally capable of both defending and attacking.
Having 3 defensive pairs which are so good that you can comfortably put any of the three pairs on the ice in any situation is a HUGE advantange, especially on back-to-back games, 3rd periods/OT, and ESPECIALLY the all important Playoff Overtime.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
@Bill M.,
And isn’t it just so nice to be able to say that and you’re talking about the Kings!
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Rich, can you let us know what the deal is with the Kings-Flyers? Are they on NBC or not? I thought earlier in the season I read the game was going to be telecast on NBC. I must have missed something somewhere.
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Goring 19 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:58 am
@Goring 19, nevermind Rich, just read the other posts.
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The one thing that impresses me with Martinez is he seems to have a knack for keeping the puck in when the other team tries to clear it while we are on the powerplay or just in their zone. It has lead to quite a few scoring chances and goals.
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AM is showing the benefits of having a player come through the systems undisturbed, as is Lokti. Unfortunately, Lokti will also suffer when Sturm returns, but the added time in Man will only make him stronger. Lokti needs to add some more bulk so he can stay more in the boards and fight for the loose pucks and give Kopi a chnace to move around.
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The thing that I thought was most interesting was the “emotional part of the game”. Curious as to what that meant. as it being his hang-up.
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Stuart Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
@jayhay, same here. I understood it that he gets too down/up, or maybe he gets rattled when he gets banged by a forechecker? A little explaination would be great. I thought this was an emotional game, to an extent.
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Gislaw Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
@Stuart,
You answered your own question…nailed it, in fact.
Go Kings!
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MarKINGez!
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