Olympics for Doughty?

The most popular group of men in Edmonton are Oilers. The second-most popular group is ex-Oilers. Matt Greene had a huge group of reporters around his locker after practice. Jarret Stoll avoided the mob because he was on the ice late, with the extra group, and Ryan Smyth didn’t make the trip because of his injury. Other Kings got attention as well. Anze Kopitar, as the league’s leading scorer, drew a big crowd.

As Kopitar was talking, Drew Doughty walked into the locker room and expressed disbelief with the scene. I told him, “Be careful, you’re next,” and sure enough, within five minutes Doughty was talking to a radio reporter. That’s because many reporters in Canada these days cover two teams: their own and Team Canada, as so many people are waiting for the Dec. 31 announcement of which players will be on the Olympic team. Doughty is considered a “bubble” player right now, and a reporter today asked Terry Murray if he thought Doughty was ready to “take the next step” and play for Team Canada…

MURRAY: “I just want him to take the next step here with the L.A. Kings. If he plays well here, he will get some consideration for the Olympic team. He’s a good young prospect. He has played very well for us in the time he has been with the L.A. Kings. His point production is going in the right direction. He plays big minutes. Just take care of business here, do the right stuff with the Kings, and all the other stuff will fall in place.”

As a side note, my weekly feature this week is about the Kings’ players’ prospects for making Olympic teams. I’ll be posting a link to that shortly…