On how closely he followed the Kings while in Manchester:
“You follow them so much, because you never know. One guy gets hurt, and you don’t know who’s going to go up or anything. I’ve been watching games. There’s so much time at Manch. You skate in the morning, and then you don’t do anything the rest of the day. You’ve got to find something to do, so all the boys are always talking about it at the rink, and just keeping an eye on what’s going on.”
On how he found out he was getting called up:
“I was at the rink. We had a game, obviously. I was changed, about to start taping my sticks for the game, and [Monarchs coach] Mark Morris came into the room and told me that I was going up to L.A., so I was pretty excited.”
On who surprised him with congratulations on the call-up:
“You know what? A lot of my friends from back home. I haven’t really talked to them a whole lot because I’m not in Ottawa anymore. I’m just hearing from them again. They’ve been busy with work and stuff. Keeping in touch with them again is pretty cool.”
On if the team has given him an indication on his use:
“No. I just got in last night, so I came to the rink this morning, just came out and practiced. I don’t know how long I’ll be here or if I’m going to get into the lineup, so I’m just going to stay and do what I can to stay as long as I can.”
On whether he had an extra jump at the morning skate:
“It’s definitely a little different. I mean, I’m used to playing on game days so it’s a different feeling. Getting a little extra skate in was good, and I’m excited to be here. The Kings are doing great right now, and hopefully I can be a part of it.”
On what he was told to work on when he left training camp:
“They just said to keep doing what I’m doing. I’ve been playing pretty well in Manch. It’s pretty exciting right now. We’re doing well right now. I’m just excited to be here and be part of the Kings.”
On his experience as a “Black Ace” last season:
“It was good. I’ve been here for camps a few times. Obviously, I know all the guys now. It’s a great group of guys. It’s going to be a lot of fun. When they were going through the run last year, obviously it was an exciting time for them. Hopefully I can be a part of that one day here.”
On what was going through his head on the flight to L.A.:
“I was pretty tired, so I was trying to sleep, but I was so excited I couldn’t really sleep. I just watched the movie that was playing, Silver Linings Playbook. I’ve seen it already. It’s a pretty good movie. It was good. I wasn’t really thinking about a whole lot, just excited to get the opportunity to come here, and I’m going to do the best I can.”
On if excited fans were holding signs at the airport, welcoming him to L.A.:
“Ha, no. I took a taxi to the hotel last night and went right to bed.”
On whether he has an Xbox at the hotel:
“I didn’t bring mine, and I don’t know if [Jake Muzzin] has his.”
On Jake Muzzin having an Xbox:
“I’ll probably be spending a lot of time in his room. Maybe I’ll go buy one myself.”
On his favorite Xbox game:
“Call of Duty. All the boys in Manch, we always play together. I haven’t played with Muzz in a while. He’s pretty good. Way better than I am…I’m not the biggest gamer. The only thing I play is Call of Duty. I can’t really compare it to anything. I like to have fun. It’s something I do. Like I said, there’s not a whole lot to do in Manch. We just kill some time, so all the guys play Call of Duty.”
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.