Trying to balance it out

Leave it to the Princeton graduate, Kevin Westgarth, to quickly figure out the math. After I chatted with him on an unrelated topic, I mentioned to Westgarth that there would be a lot of bulk on his line tonight, with Michal Handzus and Alexei Ponikarovsky. After about four seconds of thought, he said, “That’s 19 feet of hockey player.” Sure enough, it is. Each player stands 6-foot-4, which equals 19 feet. It also equals 673 pounds, since all three guys are between 219 and 228. That’s one way to set these lines apart. The Kings are looking for some balance. One line has leading scorer Anze Kopitar. Another line has Dustin Brown, who is tied for the team lead with 17 goals. Another line has three versatile players and the other is 19 feet of hockey player. Jarret Stoll talked today about the need for some depth and balance…

Question: When you look at this lineup, it’s hard to say exactly which one is the “second” or “third” line. In a way, though, that’s what you’re going for, in terms of depth, right?

STOLL: “You want to have depth. You want to have lines where, when the other team is looking at your lineup, they’re seeing, `Any one of those lines can score and contribute and create offense.’ That’s how you win. You don’t win with one line or two lines. You’ve got to have that depth, because guys can get hurt, guys can be out of the lineup, so it’s nice to have that luxury.”

Question: The designations don’t really matter to you guys though, right? It doesn’t matter if you’re called a second-line center or a third-line center?

STOLL: “No. I think that’s more for you guys [media] to say that kind of stuff, and speculate. As long as you’re playing, and you’re playing well and contributing to the team in some way, positively, I think that’s the only thing that matters. And winning games. When you have a good team, I wouldn’t say it’s one through four. Your fourth line is usually the line that gives you more energy and is a more physical line, and they’re not necessarily on the power play, but it’s just a matter of everybody playing their role and contributing to the team in some way positive.”