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Training camp at Staples; Deslauriers tryout

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Good afternoon from Toyota Sports Center, where preparations for the new season are underway:

Toyota Sports Center has been undergoing a thorough renovation in areas used by players, coaches and hockey operations. As the renovations are not yet complete, some of this year’s training camp will be moved to Staples Center.

Keep in mind that this situation is fluid and subject to change. But from the notes I’ve received (and I’m referring to training camp, NOT rookie camp), the Kings will open camp at Toyota Sports Center on Friday and Saturday, September 19 and 20, before shifting to Staples Center for the remainder of camp. That means morning skates on Monday, September 22 (split squad games versus Arizona) and Thursday, September 25 (home game versus Anaheim) will be at Staples Center in addition to practices. Traditionally, morning skates and practices at Staples Center have not open to the public.

One player who will attend training camp on a tryout basis will be former Oilers and Ducks goalie Jeff Deslauriers. Deslauriers, a veteran of 62 NHL games, was 20-15-3 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .895 save percentage over 40 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2013-14. The 6-foot-4, 203-pound right-catching goalie most recently played in the NHL with Anaheim in the 2011-12 season and was originally a second round pick by Edmonton in 2002.

If Deslauriers’ name sounds particularly familiar, it’s because you may remember his performance on February 11, 2010 at Staples Center in which he followed up a 41-save effort through 65 minutes by stopping seven of 10 shooters in a 3-2 Edmonton shootout win. He also tangled with John Gibson last year:

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