On how he found out he had been traded:
“I was in bed and Dale Tallon called me. He just said that I had been traded to the Kings. A lot of things rushed through my head in a split second, but now that I’m here, I’m super excited, and I’m just ready to get things going and start a new chapter in my career. I couldn’t have come to a better organization – winning the Cup last year and planning on repeating this year. Yeah, I’m ecstatic right now.”
On whether he sensed that a trade was in the works:
“Not really. There’s always a ‘what-if’ or an ‘X-factor’ or something like that. No, I was just going about my business. We played in Philly the night before. I didn’t expect anything, but like I said, there’s always that ‘what-if’. I got the call in the morning, and here I am.”
On whether he’s familiar with any of the Kings:
“Yeah, I played some Hockey Canada stuff with Drew and Bernie, so I know them from years back. I played against King and Fraser, also, in junior, so I know them a little bit. But other than that, just playing against guys throughout the league. I haven’t played with really anybody. It’ll be a quick transition. Hopefully I get used to the systems and figure things out quick.’
On having played with Doughty:
“Back in juniors we did Under-18 Canada-Russia stuff…I’ve played with him a lot. Obviously, he’s a great player. Being paired with him right now, it’s definitely a positive coming into it. Having a guy like that to be paired up with is pretty exciting. I couldn’t have asked for a better situation to come in to.”
On being coached by Brent Sutter earlier in his career:
“Brent coached us at the Canada-Russia challenge. We were [in Russia] for two weeks and [in Canada] for two weeks.”
On understanding Darryl Sutter:
“Yeah, I understand Sutter very well, actually. I’m an Alberta boy, so they’re kind of legends around there. You know what you’re going to get from Darryl. You know what he wants from you, which is hard work, high battle level, compete and everything like that. I’m ready to come in and work hard for him.”
On getting through his first day of practice:
“The coaching styles are a little bit different. Practice is different. But it’s hockey, right? You just figure it out as you go and just get used to it and it becomes second nature. It was a good practice, day one.”
On how he sees himself fitting in with Doughty:
“I think we complement each other well. Obviously, he’s a very offensive guy. He’s always up in the play. I’m going to be back there – big body, banging guys around and being the physical presence, hopefully, in our pairing. Hopefully we complement each other well and can be a solid pairing for a long time.”
Rules for Blog Commenting
Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.
Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.