INSIDERS. Thank you for your patience. We, too, needed some patience during last night’s game, as if often the case at neutral-site exhibitions. It’s very, very easy to be numbed by the logistical immediacy presented by the streamlined efforts of an NHL arena and modern public relations staff; we take for granted how so many disparate parts work in concert so that we may do our jobs. Sometimes, especially in the preseason and in the irregular outposts, such luxuries are temporarily halted, and you roll with the punches. Last night’s game was a great preseason event, and I’m not saying this as any sort of yardbarker. This was a crowd that was very, very happy to have hockey in Salt Lake City on a Monday. Apparently they were still selling walk-up tickets in the second period. It was a partisan Kings crowd that cheered Trevor Lewis and Daniel Brickley and interestingly got great mileage out of the Kiss Cam. We know this, because we sat among the crowd on a perch above the goal the Kings shot at twice. It was a reconfigured seating section and comfortable, though sadly had only one power strip for the media corps. With its cord stretched taut, my power supply was damaged when another reporter leaned back in his chair, and by the time the previous story posted, my computer was out of juice. There’s no real end or payoff to this story; it just kind of fizzles. But it partially explains why the first post of the day comes so late, and for that I thank you for your patience.
After touching down at midnight, the Kings practiced at 11:00 a.m. at Toyota Sports Center yesterday and showed no changes to yesterday’s lines. All healthy skaters took the ice.
Gray: Iafallo-Kopitar-Brown
White: Kempe-Carter-Kovalchuk
Blue: Pearson-Amadio-Toffoli
Yellow: Clifford-Thompson-Lewis
Purple: Wagner-Anderson-Dolan-Etem
My next longform piece: Why is Tyler Toffoli always assigned a blue practice jersey?
Jonathan Quick, Jack Campbell and Cal Petersen shared the creases. I’ll share some bullet points and observations from John Stevens shortly, but several things to pass along from the Kings coach: The team hopes to get Derek Forbort (back) into a game this week. They also have a week-long cushion before their first game on October 5 and won’t get him into a game just for the sake of getting him into a game, as Stevens put it. But there’s hope that he’ll get into at least one game this week. Gabe Vilardi (back) skated in a track suit after practice but wasn’t handling pucks. Stevens liked the entire lineup yesterday and paid notice to the energy supplied by the Clifford-Thompson-Lewis line both last night and today. More on this to come.
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