Kempe reflects on Calder Cup run, prepares for full season

As European clubs open their seasons a month earlier than NHL teams, Adrian Kempe’s MODO Hockey outfit first took the ice in the SHL preseason on August 14, 2014 and opened their regular season on September 10. Three months later he was participating in the World Junior Championships, where he totaled four goals and eight points in six games, and by the time he reported to Manchester in early April after the conclusion of MODO’s year, he had been playing hockey for roughly eight months.

Kempe, who turns 19 on Sunday and was selected 29th overall in the 2014 NHL Draft, then scored eight times in 17 playoff games and provided an additional offensive spark to the league’s top regular season team in leading the Manchester Monarchs to their only Calder Cup in franchise history. After the two-month playoff campaign, he had been playing for roughly 10 months. He’s back in El Segundo for his first Los Angeles rookie camp – he was already playing with MODO during last year’s camp – less than three full months after skating with the Calder Cup around the Utica Memorial Auditorium ice.

As many Kings have experienced, truncated off-seasons spur players to adjust their off-season training regimen.

“For sure, the first couple weeks it’s all about recovery,” Kempe said. “I took a couple weeks to recover there, and then I started to work slowly but better and better every week, every day. I think it’s important to recover your body after a really long season for me, so I recovered and then I started practice, and I felt in really good shape when I came here, so I’m glad for that.”

He’ll be among those suiting up for next week’s rookie games against the Arizona Coyotes, reprising a somewhat familiar match-up against a squad that will be comprised partly of players who appeared last season with the Portland Pirates, the team Kempe debuted against late in the regular season and faced in the first round. The Pirates were a physical team last season, and Kings hockey operations executives conveyed to LA Kings Insider earlier this summer that they were impressed with how Kempe withstood the Pirates’ physicality and continued to improve as the playoffs progressed.

“Yeah, they were a really physical team, and when I came out there the first couple teams, they were really physical team and you had to keep your head up every shift out there,” Kempe said. “It was different to play against all the other teams – Utica was a little bit more skilled team than Portland, so it was a little bit different. But, yeah, I think I learned from the first series against Portland, too.”

When asked about the other aspects of his game he’d like to continue to refine, he answered, “I think everything.”

“I think I had a pretty good finals, I scored some really good goals in front of the net, so I want to be better at that, too,” he said. “…I get more ice time when I play like that, and I know I had some really important goals in front of the net, too, so I want to be better there, to, because I have size, so that’s a big thing I’ve got to get better at.”

Adrian Kempe, on how the extended season impacted his off-season training:
Yeah, it was a little bit different. I came home at the end of June, so it was a little bit different. The season starts a little bit earlier in Sweden, so I had a good summer, I had a pretty long summer, so it was a good summer for me, and I’m really glad to be here now.

Kempe, on whether he has reflected on his postseason and the Monarchs’ run:
Yeah, it was a great playoffs from the whole team. I got there a couple of games before the playoffs started, so I was really glad to make the team, and they were a really good playoffs for me, too.

Kempe, on how he’d assess his own performance with Manchester:
I remember it was pretty hard at the beginning when I got there. The first couple of games were pretty tough. It was a little bit different than in Sweden. But I got into it in a couple games, and I think I played better and better the whole playoffs, and in the finals I felt really good.

Kempe, on the challenges in adapting to the North American pro game:
It’s a bigger ice in Sweden. We had a little bit more time with the puck when we got it in our own zone, so when I got I here, the first couple games, the puck at the hash marks, I’ve got to keep my head up, and I got hit for a couple games. I didn’t have much time with the puck. It’s a little bit faster hockey. I had a little bit more opportunities with the puck in the offensive zone here, too, so you can take shots more often here like you do in Sweden, and I felt really good. Good opportunity.

Kempe, on how he improved during the playoffs:
I think I just tried to learn at practice and everything. As I said, it was hard the first couple games to get into it, but I just tried to play my game and tried to play the game the way the coach and the team wants to, so after a couple games, I felt better and better every game. [Reporter: What were the coaches telling you after those first couple of games?] There were some more videos and everything. They [asked] me, ‘what’s the difference between the Swedish hockey and North American hockey?’ So that was the biggest thing.

Kempe, on his first rookie camp with the Kings:
It’s a little bit of a new experience for me. I went to the development camp last year, so I kind of knew what it was like to get here in the rookie camp. But it was a hard practice out there. You’ve got to be prepared for every practice and the games next week, too. We’re glad to be here, though.