December 17 morning skate quotes: Darryl Sutter

On the team’s recent play:
You know what? We’ve struggled to score and are good defensively and find ways to win. Goaltending’s been good.

On whether any goalie could play behind the Kings’ system, or whether the Kings give up enough chances where goalies have to make saves:
Yep, I think both. I think style of play is critical in this league for second and third opportunities. Your goaltenders have to be good on rebound control and handling the puck, managing the puck. A lot of goaltenders now have to be mobile in terms of setting pucks in the right areas. Obviously penalty killing, goaltending’s important.

On whether he saw potential in Martin Jones in training camp:
I think he’s been here…he’s been in the organization. What is it, his fourth year? And it’s not like he’s a guy that just showed up. I had seen him play in Saskatoon at World Juniors. He’s a pretty good player. And I had seen him play lots in Calgary. He’s a pretty good player. He’s just a guy that didn’t come into it until he was 19 or 20, so he didn’t get the recognition as a high pick or as a recognizable goalie. You know what? He’s done his time, and you see a lot of goalies who are doing that now. They’re playing their games and doing their time, and that was basically what I told Marty. Hey, he’s been with us in two playoff runs. He’s been here. It’s not like he doesn’t know our team. He’s been with us two extended [runs]…Training camps don’t mean nothing. That’s way more important, when you think about it. I mean, he was on the ice every day with our team for how many playoff games we’ve played in the last two years. That’s probably, I bet, a bigger part of his development than anything.

On whether Drew Doughty’s current stretch of play is the best he has seen:
Drew’s never bad. There’s average nights, and then there’s really good nights. That’s Drew. [Reporter: Is it comforting for a coach?] You know, I’ve said it a hundred times when everybody asks it every time Drew has a good game, or they ask ‘how’s this guy playing or that guy playing?’ You know what? Drew’s a special player. He’s still learning lots about it, but he wants to learn lots about it, and he wants more, and he wants more responsibility and he wants more leadership, and that’s that. He’s killing penalties a little bit more than he has in the past. He’s playing a little bit more situational stuff for us. That’s what he is.

On the Norris Trophy often being determined by points, and how it relates to Doughty:
Drew will get more points when he gets more shots. You know what? He’ll have games where he has 10-to-15 attempts, and that’s significant when you look at it. And if you look at last game, and they’re coming off a game where our defensemen in total had one, so that’s basically what it is.

On teams needing a “stud defenseman” to win:
Absolutely. The best team in the league by a significant margin has four defensemen that all could be everybody’s one or two. Clear. It’s not even close. And it’s not just one dimensional. It’s not a guy who goes coast-to-coast. It’s a guy who plays minutes, plays against top lines, plays the first minute, plays the last minute, doesn’t have to necessarily be a top power play guy. If he’s not, then he’s got to be a top penalty killer. All those things have to factor into it. They have to be durable. They have to have good size. They have to know the game. They have to have some leadership qualities. That’s what the top defensemen are, when you look at it. [Reporter: Can you play in this league, then, with smaller forwards?] I don’t know. You know, size is not the issue as much as playing really competitive. I think it has to blend in. Quite honest, everybody says that the Los Angeles Kings are this big, physical team. Quite honest, you go through it now, most teams are bigger than us. If you do it just by every game, everybody’s 6’1. We’re like 205. So everybody’s 6-to-6’1. And our best players, our top forwards, based on numbers, are Kopi and Brownie and Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. So who’s considered physical? Brownie? Kopi, Jeff and Mike are guys that come to play every night. They’re not like guys that are going to run guys over or smack guys. That’s what they are. You know what? You need the whole thing. It’s more and more that the game is 200-foot guys. It’s not about guys that are just ‘Oh, he’s got great numbers.’ That’s how good teams are now. It’s more right through their lineup.

On the Oilers being a skilled, smaller team, and whether the Kings play them differently:
Well, certainly we’re going to talk lots about when we play Edmonton, we’ll be trying to neutralize top players. And you look at how, I think, Taylor and Ryan both play big games, that’s for sure. And Jordan’s not going to take shortcuts to hurt the team. So that’s not what it’s about. Those guys – they play big. That’s certainly how we see it.