Tweeting the night away with LA Kings Campers

Forbort, Dowd, Kaunisto via @RayK71

Tweet, tweet!

I know, I know - you prefer facebook.

For everybody else out there who likes to follow the action and conversations that take place in no more than 140-character sound bites, good news...

Of the 35 guys scheduled to attend this year's Development Camp, many of them are on twitter. And several of them have already started commenting about the experience.

Here's a partial list of campers on twitter, with I'm sure more to come in the next few days:

@JimmyDowder26
Nic Dowd — F, seventh round 2009, St. Cloud State (NCAA)

@Durepos23
Pierre Durepos — D, free agent, Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)

@derekforbort4
Derek Forbort — D, first round 2010, University of North Dakota (NCAA)

Monarchs' Kaunisto talks Clune, Kozun, Kings Dev Camp

Over the past 18 months GM Dean Lombardi and the Kings have been stuffing their pipeline with left wings, American born guys and/or college hockey players.

Ray Kaunisto meets all three categories.

His name isn't mentioned much when talking about the Kings prospects though, except to maybe only the most die-hard fans. He's largely gone under the radar, having not been drafted and then signed as a free agent in March of last year.

Still, he says he doesn't feel forgotten about - knowing every team needs (what he calls) a 'certain type' of roll player.

Without knowing it, his ties to the Kings began years before he signed with the team.

Prior to college he played with former Kings prospect Teddy Purcell in the USHL.

He also grew up in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan and would cross the river to attend games of the legendary Soo Greyhounds. In fact, during his college days, when he would sneak in a game or two on visits home, the 'Hounds team he was watching featured Jordan Nolan and Jake Muzzin, two of his current teammates in Manchester.

In the conversation below the self-confessed twitter addict talks about being recruited by Los Angeles, players he draws motivation from, the toughest player in Manchester, his thoughts on the most underrated prospect and shares a prank once pulled on him...

MM: You signed with the Kings after playing college hockey at Northern Michigan. How did you end up there?

Soo Greyhounds GM says Kings getting Richard Clune II?

Michael Kantor of Soo Greyhounds

With the Los Angeles Kings annual summer Development Camp about to get underway we've been posting pre-camp comments from the players, their coaches and/or their general managers.

Among the group of 35 players who will take the ice at TSC are 14 invited guests - essentially, undrafted players, mostly from Canadian junior teams.

Two such players are coming from the Soo Greyhounds in the OHL. For those unfamiliar, it's one of the most storied franchises in all of Canada. Their alumni includes former Kings Paul Coffey, Wayne Gretzky, Charlie Simmer, Wayne Simmonds and Rick Tocchet.

Several current prospects have also spent time there - including Dwight King, Jake Muzzin and Jordan Nolan.

And now back to this year's camp...

Two players from the 'Hounds most recent roster were invited, defenseman Colin Miller and right wing Michael Kantor.

Interview with LA Kings 2011 draft pick Michael Mersch

When it comes to prospects currently in the LA Kings pipeline, here's a quick overview of where things stand...

One, they seem to have an abundance of defensemen. Two, for the first time in franchise history they're stacked in net. And three, GM Dean Lombardi was probably close to putting a 'left wings wanted' sign outside the practice facility in El Segundo.

Quite simply, it hasn't been a position of strength the last few years. Hence, them taking four - FOUR - left wingers at this year's NHL Draft. Remember, they only made six selections total. So, point made.

One of those players taken was Michael Mersch from the University of Wisconsin.

In the days following the draft we had Gary Shuchuk on, his college coach and a former Kings forward himself - who compared Mersch's style and skill to Brendan Shanahan. Enough said, right?

Well, there is much more to the kid's story.

Having learned the game from his dad early on - a former Calgary Flames draft pick (1986) and two-time IHL Champion - Mersch didn't get nearly enough time with him. He lost his father to lymphoma when was only seven years old. His dad was just 36.

In part, it's something that fuels the younger Mersch and his mom has done a fine job raising him into somebody Shuchuk called "A very polite young man. Off ice he's the kind of guy who's very well mannered, but on the ice he's a different story. He plays the game hard."

After spending time in the U.S. National Development Program, Mersch just completed his freshman year at Wisconsin. Later this summer, he'll join several other Kings prospects at USA Hockey's evaluation camp for the team that will compete at next winter's World Junior Championship.

Fresh off of being selected by the Kings in the fourth round a few weeks ago, the 6-foot-1 Illinois native will make his first ever trip to California for the team's Development Camp next week.

In the interview below he talks about all of this and quite a bit more...

MM: You actually attended the draft, so let's start there - what did you take away from the whole experience?

DevCamp 2011: pre-camp comments from Kevin Gravel

For those who follow the Los Angeles Kings prospects, especially the defensemen, you're probably familiar with names like Derek Forbort, Thomas Hickey and Viatcheslav Voynov.

Yet, start to remember the name Kevin Gravel.

The 6-foot-4 blueliner recently wrapped up his freshman season at St. Cloud State University, where he won William Radovich Award for the most improved player.

He's also been invited to Team USA's evaluation camp next month for the upcoming World Junior Championship. Several other Kings prospects will be there with him and being selected for the team that will compete at next winter's tournament would certainly raise his profile.

First things first though. He'll be in LA for Development Camp on Monday and I recently spoke with him...

MM: What have you been up to since the season ended?

KG: Well, we had spring workouts until school ended. Then, I headed home for a little over a month and now I'm back in St. Cloud working out with the guys that are here and getting ready for Development Camp in LA.

MM: Now that you've had some time to process everything, what was the high of the season and the low? Any regrets?

KG: There aren't really any regrets. Obviously, it would have been nice to go further, maybe live up to some of the expectations we had. But, by the end of the year we were a very good hockey team that could beat anyone in the country. My 'high' of the season would have been the little stretch where we had a six game winning streak. We also had a real good stretch towards the end of the season against North Dakota, Denver and Wisconsin too. That really had us feeling good. Unfortunately, we just couldn't keep it going.

MM: Speaking of those schools, the Kings already had Forbort (UND), who we've spoken about previously, and they just drafted Nick Shore (Denver) and Michael Mersch (Wisconsin). Any memories from playing those two guys this year?

Interview w/ LA Kings 2011 draft pick Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher is a man of many teams.

He split time last season between Frolunda HC's under-18 team and under-20 team, the latter of which is part of the SuperElit, Sweden’s top junior league. In his 22 games with the big club he picked up seven points (four goals, three assists), to go along with his 12 goals in 10 games with the u-18 squad.

Then, two weeks ago, he was drafted twice in a matter of days - first by the Kings.

With Los Angeles in desperate need of some left wing depth throughout the organization, they selected him in the seventh round of the recent NHL Draft. Now, the 6-foot-3, 198 pound 17-year old is headed to California for next week's Development Camp.

Prior to departing his native Sweden for the States, I spoke with him by phone to talk about what's been going lately and his plans for the future.

MM: Starting with the NHL draft - how did you find out and did you even know the Kings were interested in you?

MS: Todd Woodcraft (the Kings European scout) called me a few minutes before they picked me and told me to watch the draft on the internet. That's how I found out.  I was first contacted by him around February or March.  So, I knew they were following me a little bit. But, I wasn't sure I was going to get drafted. It was a big surprise for me.

MM: Let's get the obvious question out of the way - how annoying is it to have people always confuse you with the race car driver Michael Schumacher?

Pre-camp comments from Windsor GM Warren Rychel

Windsor Spitfires Posa and Brown

Warren Rychel helped the Los Angeles Kings reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993 and finally won the NHL's top prize as a member of the Colorado Avalanche back in 1996.

These days he runs the Windsor Spitfires, one of the most successful junior hockey franchises - having won back-to-back Memorial Cups in 2009 and 2010.

His organization has helped develop several big name NHL prospects, including defenseman Cam Fowler, goalie Jack Campbell and the Kings Andrei Loktionov.

When development camp opens in LA a few days from now, two Spits will be in attendance, a pair of the 14 total invited guests.

Even though they went undrafted, Rychel says people shouldn't be sleeping on his guys.

When I spoke with him today he wasn't shy about their talents...

Saverio Posa
Key stats: 5-foot-10 defenseman, 2 goals and 11 assists in 59 games last season
Rychel's take: shutdown d-man, maybe the most improved player in the OHL, -undersized - but has great feet, excellent one-on-one defender with a real good stick, rarely gets beat

Jeff Brown
Key stats: 6-foot-1 forward, 15 goals and 18 assists in 56 games last season
Rychel's take: tenacious up and down, two-way winger, in your face type player, not big either - but intense, character player, not easy to play against

More player notes and pre-camp interviews coming soon. In the meantime, check out the links below for some articles that have already been posted.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/MayorNHL
www.facebook.com/MayorsManor

RELATED ARTICLES:

Interview with JF Berube: pre-camp comments

Interview with Tyler Toffoli: pre-camp comments from OHL scoring champ

Interview with Jordan Weal: pre-camp comments

Interview with Spitfires GM Warren Rychel - talking Kings prospects in the OHL

Interview with Greyhounds GM Dave Torrie - talking Kings prospects in the OHL
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DevCamp 2011: Pre-camp comments from Pierre Durepos

Defenseman Pierre Durepos is no stranger to the highs and lows of a hockey life.

The 6-foot-1 blueliner posted 30 points (3g, 27a) in 68 regular season games last year in the Quebec junior league.

Originally taken 10th overall by the Saint John Sea Dogs in the 2009 QMJHL draft, he recently saw several of his teammates go on to be drafted by various NHL teams.

Less than two months ago they collectively won the 2011 Memorial Cup, junior hockey's top prize. Now, he's an individual searching for a spot on an NHL club's depth chart.

Next week, he'll take the next step in his hockey career, joining five other free agent defensemen for the Los Angeles Kings 2011 Development Camp.

As he prepares for his first trip out west I had a chance to catch up with him for some perspective on what lies ahead and some opinions on a few of the Kings prospects he's played against.

MM: Obviously winning the Memorial Cup was the highlight of the tournament, however what other memories were you able to take away from the experience?

PD: Just the whole experience, the whole week and a half we were there. It was just surreal. Everything is so magnified. It's such a big, national event that you feel the pressure on you for the whole time. It's something that I've never done before and it was quite the experience.

MM: The final game of the Memorial Cup was your 180th consecutive game. What do you attribute that streak to and how important is it to you?

Los Angeles Kings - the 'All American' team

Final results from yesterday's poll are now in and things basically came down to three players capturing 75% of the voting totals - Dustin Brown, Tony Granato and Jonathan Quick.

While it's not totally surprising to see two current players do so well in the rankings, it's a least a little interesting that a few of the other players didn't get more recognition - especially considering their solid resumes.

In the end though, Brown and Quick tied for the top spot as the 'Best U.S. born player to play for the LA Kings.' Each captured 25%, Granato was a close third with 23%.

So, keeping with the theme, here's a look at the Kings' first team all-star group, comprised of purely American born players.

forward - Dustin Brown, Jimmy Carson and Tony Granato
defense - Jack Johnson and Mathieu Schneider
goalie - Jonathan Quick

Fortunately, on these type of lists you don't need a back-up goaltender - because the Kings, a franchise not exactly known for being rich in goaltenders, are even more thin when you start to mine the lists for American born netminders.

You'd probably have to hand the back-up role to Jeff Zatkoff, who has yet to even play in a single NHL game. The highly regarded prospect spent last season in Manchester, where he posted 20 wins with a 2.68 goals-against-average and .911 save percentage.

Once you get past the current Kings defensive core there aren't many blueliners with American roots either.  However, that could be changing in the years to come also, as GM Dean Lombardi and crew have added a number of talented U.S. defensemen to the organization recently - including Derek Forbort (first round 2010), Kevin Gravel (fifth round 2010), David Kolomatis (fifth round 2009) and Alec Martinez (fourth round 2007) and Patrick Mullen (free agent signing, 2009).

Forbort and Gravel are both scheduled for next week's Development Camp in El Segundo, CA.  They'll be two of the 11 defensemen in camp, a group that also includes six free agents.

Tomorrow I'll post an interview with one of those invitees, defenseman Pierre Durepos of the Memorial Cup champion Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/MayorNHL
www.facebook.com/MayorsManor

RELATED ARTICLES:

Interview with JF Berube: pre-camp comments

Interview with Tyler Toffoli: pre-camp comments from OHL scoring champ

Interview with Jordan Weal:  pre-camp comments

Interview with Tony Granato - talking about his time with the Kings and Rob Blake

Interview with Derek Forbort - looking back on his freshman year and what's ahead

POLL: Who is the best U.S. born Kings player of all-time?

Happy 4th of July to all the MayorsManor readers and a special thank you to all the military personnel and their families. We appreciate all that you do to keep us safe and allow us to spend so much time thinking about hockey, instead of the horrible things people in other parts of the world deal with on a daily basis.

With that said, here's a little Americana themed poll for today - who's the best U.S. born player to ever play for the Kings?

The top 10 candidates are listed below in alphabetical order:

Dustin Brown - first round draft pick (2003), 305 points (141g, 164a) in 513 games played with the Kings

Jimmy Carson - first round draft pick (1986), 561 points in 626 NHL games, including 219 games for the Kings over four seasons (108g, 111a)

Craig Conroy - 542 points in 1,009 regular season NHL games, including 82 points in 130 games with the Kings