Simon Gagne’s postgame thoughts… (on the game…) GAGNE: “In the last two periods, we were more patient with the puck, and that’s what you want. You don’t want to play to the score. That’s what we said after the second (period). We just want to go out there and get better and better. I thought [...]

Kevin Westgarth did not return to the game after his fight with Anaheim’s Brian McGrattan, 1:43 into the second period. Westgarth, in the hallway of the Kings’ locker room after the game, informally said he was fine, but Terry Murray said Westgarth would be evaluated again tomorrow. MURRAY: “He took a punch to the head, [...]

The Kings made their second set of roster cuts before tonight’s game, with more cuts expected to be announced tomorrow. Assigned to Manchester of the American Hockey League were forwards Andy Andreoff, Ray Kaunisto, Brandon Kozun and Linden Vey, defensemen Nicolas Deslauriers, David Kolomatis and Patrick Mullen and goalie Martin Jones. Tyler Toffoli was re-assigned [...]

A reminder that for those in the Kings’ TV coverage area, tonight’s Kings-Ducks game can be seen online by clicking here. Scoring and details will be updated on the blog throughout the game. Before the game, the Kings made their second set of roster cuts, with more cuts expected to be announced tomorrow. Assigned to [...]

A reminder that a live online stream of tonight’s Kings-Ducks game will be available through LAKings.com, but only for those in the FSN coverage area (meaning, if you can typically watch the Kings on TV during the regular season). For those outside the area, this is an FSN issue, not a Kings issue, as they [...]

Yesterday, we discussed the dwindling number of actual training-camp days, and just to drive home the point even further, some deep roster cuts are expected soon, proabably by the end of the weekend. The Manchester coaches and staff with be leaving Los Angeles on Monday, and the Kings’ staff also leaves Monday for the two-game [...]

As Terry Murray indicated yesterday, the Kings will go with an NHL-heavy lineup tomorrow against Anaheim, with all veterans except defensemen Jack Johnson — who played a massive 32 minutes on Wednesday — and Rob Scuderi getting the call. Lines will be mostly the same as in recent practices, with Anze Kopitar centering Dustin Penner [...]

Is it really possible that a week of training camp is already in the books? Week two starts tomorrow. For those who like to attend in El Segundo, a reminder that the goalies will be on the ice at 8:30 a.m. (the early birds get the pucks, I guess), followed by a group of mostly [...]

A previous post today alluded to Willie Mitchell’s recovery from the serious concussion he suffered during the 2009-10 season. If you remember, a year ago there were some concerns and questions about Mitchell, who spent much of the summer of 2010 in recovery mode. Mitchell made it through the season just fine — with the [...]

As noted earlier, before long, training camp will be finished and it will be time for the Kings to fly to Europe. The Kings will leave for Germany immediately after the “Frozen Fury” game in Las Vegas on Oct. 1. Since the league started playing exhibition — and, later, regular-season — games in Europe in [...]

Willie Mitchell, well-spoken and opinionated, has never been shy about expressing his feelings regarding NHL issues. Mitchell speaks with authority, particularly when it comes to the type of blindside hits and hits to the head that the league has been increasingly trying to eliminate in recent years. Mitchell lost nearly half of the 2009-10 season, [...]

By now, I’m sure most everyone has seen and/or heard about the awful incident last night in London, Ontario, where a fan threw a banana on the ice in the direction of Wayne Simmonds, the former Kings forward now playing for the Philadelphia Flyers. To read more about the incident, and the reaction, you can [...]

Believe it or not, time is actually running short in Kings training camp. There will only be three more days of full-team, on-ice practices in El Segundo, those being tomorrow, Monday and Thursday. The Kings play Sunday at Staples Center, Tuesday in Kansas City, Wednesday in Denver, next Friday in Anaheim and next Saturday in [...]

The latter part of this morning’s practice was spent on special teams, with plenty of guys rotating in. Up front, the first power-play unit featured Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards and Dustin Brown, while the second group had Simon Gagne, Dustin Penner and Justin Williams. On the points, Jack Johnson paired with Slava Voynov while Jarret [...]

The Kings have switched things up a bit with their practice groups, going with an NHL feel this morning, with 23 skaters and two goalies. No real surprises, other than the notable pairing of Willie Mitchell and Slava Voynov (in Drew Doughty’s regular spot). Here’s how they’re lined up… Penner-Kopitar-Williams Gagne-Richards-Brown Clifford-Stoll-Parse Richardson-Lewis-Westgarth Moreau-Loktionov-Hunter Mitchell-Voynov [...]

In their two games last night, the Kings went a combined 2-for-13 on the power play. Not exactly an eye-popping number, given the emphasis put on the power play during training camp so far, but on the other hand, the Kings’ personnel was spread over the two games and they also had a power-play goal [...]

The news might have been a bit buried, since it came out just before the start of last night’s game(s), but the Kings made their first training-camp roster cuts last night, trimming the roster by 11 players. Returned to juniors were Michael Schumacher, Jordan Weal, Christopher Gibson, Pierre Durepos, Michael Morrison, Taylor Carnevale and Michael [...]

Reports from Phoenix last night from Kings coaches, management types and staffers brought solid praise for — in no particular order — players such as Trevor Lewis, Dustin Penner and Jonathan Bernier, but the unofficial award for eye-opener of the night went to Tyler Toffoli, who had one goal and one assist but impressed with [...]

As noted earlier, Jake Muzzin missed practice today with what Terry Murray called a stiff neck, the day after Muzzin was crunched into the glass near center ice on a hit from behind my Phoenix’s Mikkel Boedker. No video of the hit on Muzzin has been available, but having watched it live and having seen [...]

The first group of Kings players — basically those who played in Los Angeles last night — have concluded their on-ice work for the day. Jake Muzzin did not practice because of what Terry Murray called a stiff neck. Muzzin received a big hit from Phoenix’s Mikkel Boedker last night, for which Boedker was ejected. [...]