October 12 practice notes

A very good [late] morning to you, Insiders. Line rushes and defensive pairings from today’s practice:

White: Gaborik-Kopitar-Brown
Blue: Lucic-Carter-Toffoli
Green: Pearson-Shore-Lewis
Purple: Clifford-Andreoff-Weal-Nolan

-Defensive pairings: McNabb-Doughty, Muzzin-Ehrhoff, Martinez-Greene, Forbort

-There were no changes from the lines shown on Saturday, so if the practice lines hold, we’ll see some changes in the team’s alignment when the Vancouver Canucks visit Staples Center on Tuesday. Speaking with Jonathan Quick this morning, the importance of winning these divisional games was underscored – the Kings have dropped a pair of them to start the season – and the players aren’t heavily concerning themselves with what is in the rearviewmirror, but rather ways in which they’ll be able to improve and grab two points on Tuesday. Quick didn’t put a ton of stock in his own save percentage. “That’s for people who don’t know the game. Those numbers, they mean nothing. We’re 0-2. That number means something.” Story coming this afternoon.

-There’s no story coming, but there were some interesting conversations with a few players about the ice surfaces around the NHL. As you’re well aware, there has been a string of unseasonably warm weeks in Los Angeles, and there were conversations about how the weather has the potential to impact the playing surface at Staples Center. I was told that the temperature at ice level at the United Center has the potential to rise during the spring, and the infamous choppy ice surface for Game 1 at New Jersey from 2012 was referenced. Of the ice surfaces that drew praise, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary’s rinks were named, as was Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, surprisingly. One player noted that there was good consistency in the temperature in the building and the condition of the ice surface at the Coyotes’ home.

-Darryl Sutter quotes will follow. More to come on a Monday afternoon, Insiders. Stay tuned…