If you’re looking to take a break from today’s Raffi Torres updates, my weekly LAKings.com feature, Will to Win, is up. It details how Justin Williams has impacted the development of a culture within the Los Angeles Kings locker room and the hockey operations staff’s evaluation of his performance since joining the team in March, [...]
LAKings.com feature: Fine Tuning
Greetings from the Scottrade Center, a building the team has become awfully familiar with. If you have some time today, I hope you’ll give my weekly LAKings.com feature a spin. It details the team’s blue line heading into the playoffs 12 months after the defensive pairings didn’t change over the final 41 regular season and [...]
LAKings.com feature: Battle Tested
Mike Richards had a two-point night in the win over Dallas yesterday, which segues appropriately into my LAKings.com feature that calls to attention his style of play and how it has benefited teams at every level of hockey late in the regular season and in the postseason. Richards has won 20 playoff series between junior [...]
LAKings.com feature: Smooth and Selke
My weekly LAKings.com feature is now up, and I hope you’ll give it a read to learn about players’ impressions of Anze Kopitar after joining the Kings from the Eastern Conference and the characteristics that would make Kopitar an interesting Selke Trophy candidate. Mike Richards: “I’ve played against Sid for a long time, and Malkin, [...]
LAKings.com feature: Up, Up and Away
As the Kings opened their season-long road trip with consecutive wins in Chicago and St. Louis, I began gathering quotes on variables that must come together to generate success away from home. It wasn’t always a linear process; the team wasn’t able to hold a two-goal lead and lost a shootout in Minnesota, dominated possession [...]
LAKings.com Feature: In Their Eyes
My weekly LAKings.com feature is now live on the main site, and I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read about the team’s White House visit from the players’ perspective. Nearly all of the quotes are fresh, though I used several that had been posted yesterday in an effort to tie the piece together. [...]
LAKings.com feature: Committed
My weekly LAKings.com feature is up, and while you’re mourning the loss of purple from the Kings’ jerseys (more on that later), I hope you’ll take the time to read about Jeff Carter’s fitness level and how it has sustained him through a compacted schedule. “With the [one] week training camp, you didn’t have much [...]
LAKings.com feature: Work in Progress
My weekly LAKings.com feature is now live on the team’s site. It details Jake Muzzin’s path to the National Hockey League and his efforts in becoming a consistent, all-around defensemen as his point total has grown impressively during his rookie season. It contains some interesting words from his defensive partner, Drew Doughty, and acute analysis [...]
Scuderi’s actions speak, and a defense listens
My LAKings.com feature that details the examples set by veteran defenseman Rob Scuderi was posted today, and I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read it and share your thoughts on the steady defenseman who is the third-youngest “elder statesman” of a National Hockey League locker room. “I’ve been playing the same ugly but [...]
Brown’s path a model for Doughty
My first LAKings.com feature was posted earlier today, detailing the shared experiences between Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty, a pair of former first round draft picks who grew up on the fly after making their debuts as 18-year-olds. Because players that have graduated past an entry level contract no longer share rooms on the road, [...]