January 5 practice notes

Good afternoon from Toyota Sports Center, where the Kings opened up a heavy practice week with one of their longest skates of the season. Amongst other drills, the team worked on its power play, five-on-five play and work with the puck down low in the offensive zone. Given that the team had the day off yesterday, it wasn’t a surprise to witness such a lengthy practice – one that ended with a bag skate.

Forward lines were coded by colors. Those lines were:
White: Gaborik – Kopitar – King
Blue: Pearson – Carter – Toffoli
Green: Lewis – Stoll – Brown
Purple: Clifford – Richards – Williams
Yellow: Andreoff – Nolan

Notes and previews:

-Here’s your reminder that the Kings don’t play until Thursday, and it’s always possible that the lines change between now and then.

-Robyn Regehr, who has been skating on his own, took the ice near the practice’s conclusion and skated for roughly 25 minutes to half an hour.

-Dwight King has been used on the right side recently, and in junior hockey and for a period of time in Manchester, he played center. Some of Darryl’s upcoming quotes center around King’s flexibility, and what the winger has done well over recent weeks.

-A television crew from Epix was back at the facility today. We’ll be getting familiar with them in the lead-up to the February 21 Stadium Series game.

-I was asked this:

@lakingsinsider new pads for Quick?

— Dylan (@Mastersloan) January 5, 2015

I was wondering that after having viewed several Getty Images photographs from the Nashville game. My answer, after sifting through the archives, is…no? Quick wasn’t available for a brief chat about this after practice, but compare his pads from early in the season…

…with the pads he has worn recently.

Those appear to be similarly scuffed up pads. I’m not sure that they’re new. The pads he used today in practice (see above, grey on bottom) are definitely different from those used in games this season (white on bottom). I’ll chat with Jonathan soon about how he breaks in pads at practices and uses them in games. Perhaps the pads used in practice today are a preview of his Stadium Series pads?

-There’s lots more to come from practice, including some quotes by Darryl Sutter on Quick and Martin Jones. Stay tuned…