Medal time

The bronze medals in men’s hockey will be awarded tonight when Slovakia plays Finland. If Slovakia (with Michal Handzus) wins, it will mean that all five Kings in the tournament will win a medal. That won’t be the most for a single NHL team though. Chicago has six players still going: Tomas Kopecky and Marian Hossa (Slovakia), Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews (Canada) and Patrick Kane (USA).

It’s likely, though, that the Kings are getting something valuable beyond medals. They’re getting experience in intense, playoff-like games. Remember, that as the Kings made their March-April push for the playoffs, precious few players have playoff experience. Among the Olympians, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson and Jonathan Quick have never been in an NHL playoff game or, really, even been in a late-season playoff race. Handzus has been to the playoffs, but not since 2006. Terry Murray talked about the type of feeling the Olympians will be able to bring back to the Kings…

MURRAY: “This is going to be a great experience for every one of the players. It’s been a while since Zeus has been in those critical situations himself. So to go through it right now, at the level of intensity that they’re playing at, and that they’re going to see in the next game, I think it’s tremendous for them, and it’s going to be great for our hockey club. They’re going to bring that energy back to the locker room and be able to talk about the great experience that they went through. That, in itself, is going to give the young players in this locker room a lot of good feeling and good feedback.”

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