Stothers chats with LAKI prior to rookie games in Arizona

Manchester Monarchs head coach Mike Stothers was welcomed into the Los Angeles organization earlier in the summer and led a collection of college, junior and young professional prospects through the team’s annual development camp in July. Now, on the evening before he leads Kings rookies into a two-game set against Arizona Coyotes rookies at Gila River Arena, he spoke with LA Kings Insider about his impressions of rookie camp and the team’s development process.

On what he’s watching for in first year training camp invitees:
It’s an opportunity to see them here again in the fall when we saw them at various times of their previous seasons, and a little bit throughout the summer. But you want to see how they’ve progressed, how they’re handling the style and systems that Los Angeles likes to play. A lot of it has been at the start here trying to get them fast tracked on the way the Kings play, the Kings’ mentality, the Kings’ philosophy, and each and every day we’ve got a model that we want to get a little bit better, and each and every time we get on the ice, get a little bit better. Basically, you’re just trying to see some progression from day one of camp to whenever that camp expires for them if they’re going back to junior, if they’re going to Manchester or if in fact they’re challenging to make the big club.

On the frequent discussions he has with Kings executives and hockey operations:
Every day there are discussions about the players and how we think they’re doing, and maybe some of their strengths, and then obviously you want to see some improvement on some of the things they’re not quite as strong at. So I think with the opening dialogue that we have, it helps everybody to identify and zero in on what needs to be improved, and basically, that goes for all of us. This organization’s won two Stanley Cups, and they want to find ways to get better. They don’t rest on their laurels. So it’s a challenge every day to find a way to make yourself better, and by doing that, there are a lot of good hockey minds around here that collectively get better as a group and talk out individuals and what direction we see them going.

On what makes the Kings’ development team successful:
Number one, they love the game. I think their passion rubs off on the kids that they’re working with. They have enjoyed certain levels of success in the National Hockey League. They know how exciting that is, and they want to see as many of these kids turn and play NHL hockey. Ideally, it would be great if they all played for the Los Angeles Kings someday. Logistically, that’s not going to happen, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play in the NHL for another organization, and there’s a lot of great satisfaction with that. They’re teachers, they’re passionate, they’re very patient, and you know what? There are no egos. Everybody just wants to do it for the player and have him fulfill his dream.