Getting to know them

Need to get to know the Kings’ new guys a little better? Their LAKings.com bios are up, and you can see them by clicking here, for Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin.

In a previous post, Dean Lombardi mentioned that Modin has been suffering from a virus. It’s not immediately known whether Modin will be able to play against Nashville tomorrow night. Here’s what Terry Murray said regarding his plans for breaking the new guys into the lineup…

MURRAY: “They’re going to be brought in the right way. When I say the right way, it’s one thing if your team is going through a stretch of games where you haven’t won for a dozen games and, OK, you need that instant boost of emotion, of adrenaline, of good play, and you put these guys on top lines. That’s not our scenario. We’re playing well. We’ve got good lines. We’re doing the right things on those top three lines right now, so if everything goes according to my Quick planning, I would get Modin in on a fourth-line situation with Halpern and just kind of get him into the lineup to get to know our team, our system, our special teams. Both guys are good special-teams players, and we’ll bring them along that way.”

Question: Halpern is known to be a good penalty killer. Is Modin a penalty killer as well?

MURRAY: “A very good penalty killer. That’s where he broke his toes, last year and this year, blocking shots. He’s a very good penalty killer. He can kill 5-on-3s. He’s like Zeus in that area. He’s very intense. He’s very much a come-to-work kind of person. Everything is, `Let’s do it the right way, the system way,’ a team player. So he’s got a strong attitude, and that’s why I think it’s going to be an easy fit into the locker room, with what they’re going to bring.”

Finally, if you just haven’t had enough of Dean Lombardi today, here’s an interview he did with Heidi Androl at the Kings’ offices today. The first part is about Halpern, the second part about Modin…