Two years, big difference

It’s still very early in the season, of course, but it’s still worth noting that the Kings and Tampa Bay enter tonight’s game tied for the most points in the NHL (Washington also has 16 points). It was just 31 months ago, at the end of the 2007-08 season, that the Kings and Lightning tied for the fewest points in the NHL. Tampa Bay drafted first and took Steven Stamkos. The Kings drafted second and took Drew Doughty. That draft started the teams on their current courses. The Kings have built around defense and goaltending while the Lightning have built around offense, and so far they’re both getting it done. I asked Terry Murray today what he made of the two teams’ turnarounds…

MURRAY: “It’s more about the turnarounds that are possible in the National Hockey League today. The parity is there, obviously. It could happen to any team in the league, and it has happened many times. You take a look at the young teams that have gone on to win, Chicago last year, Pittsburgh had a tremendous turnaround over the past few years, the Flyers, I was there when it was the team that finished 30th in the league and went deep into the playoffs the next year. So anything is possible. To me, it says a lot about the ownership of your hockey club. For your owner to say, `Stay with the program, bring your young players along,’ that’s a very encouraging statement whenever your owner says that, and it buys you the time to develop the right way and change your culture, bring your young players along and give them an opportunity to become NHL players.”

There are a couple other subplots tonight. First, it’s the Leiweke Bowl, as Tim’s Kings face Tod’s Lightning. Tim Leiweke is the Kings’ governor while his brother Tod recently took over as CEO of the Lightning, after a stint in charge of the Seattle Seahawks. Also, former Kings Randy Jones and Teddy Purcell return. Jones has three assists and a minus-1 rating while Purcell has one goal and six assists in 11 games and is expected to play a fourth-line right-wing role.