February 15 postgame quotes: Mike Stothers

On the win:
This one was really good. I thought we played the way we needed to play. It might not have been the most exciting hockey game. But we did a good job and there was some alterations to the lineup, changed things a little bit. I don’t think anybody was predicting that Andrew Crescenzi was going to play a full game on defense, and every once in a while take an important faceoff for us in the D-zone, and then kill penalties up front. It was good. I was real happy with the guys, real proud of them.

On veterans like Brett Sutter and Sean Backman leading the way:
It was good. All those guys, they’ve been good, they’ve just been a little bit snake bit around the net. Backs, I think had a goal and an assist … Henner made a real nice play to Brodz and Sutts just does what Sutts does. He works hard every game and he competes. Seto, he got a little bit of ice time there to get himself back on track. It’s been a while for him, been off the ice for a bit, so it was good. Veteran guy like Cres, he’s got to be the hero of the game. Holy smokes, that was a great job.

On whether he had any tips before the game for Crescenzi:
It was crazy because we were talking about Backs and then [Crescenzi] made a comment to [assistant coach Chris Hajt] that he played defense before. So then I went in and I talked to him and he said, ‘I was only kidding about that to Hajter.’ And I was like, ‘too late, you’re going back there.’ We didn’t know how long we were going to go with it but he did a great job. He was going back, making plays, defending well. Who knows, we might have a new permanent defenseman.

On Devin Setoguchi’s first game and Stothers’ expectations for him:
I expect him to fit in like everybody else fits in. Bring a little offense. I’m hoping he’s going to be able to contribute like Teddy has. I think it’s going to take a little bit of time. There’s an adjustment. First of all, to get your head wrapped around it mentally, adjust to the American Hockey League style of play. He’s got 500 NHL games. I expect him to bring something to the table. And he wants to get back to the NHL. So in order to do so, he’s going to have to produce. So, you look at it and maybe for those guys they see Gilbert getting traded and it’s an opportunity for them. If you want to get back to the NHL and it’s not going to be with the Kings, you want it to be with somebody. So, that’s what everybody’s here for. Every young guy wants the opportunity to get their first NHL game and these guys want to go back to playing in the NHL. So, that’s what we’re trying to strive for everybody.

On what he expects from Adrian Kempe if he gets the chance to play with Kings:
Well, I hope he does really well. The message to him was the same as it was to LaDue when they were here and I said, ‘don’t come back.’ I tell them all that. ‘Don’t come back. You’re not welcome to come back. Don’t come back through our doors. Stay in the NHL.’ I heard via the grapevine today, because I’m such a social media guru I saw it on Twitter, that he was actually with Kopitar and Toffoli today. So that’s pretty good. Now it’s his opportunity, but he’s got to make some things happen. He’s got to produce. Hopefully he will.