Quotes from the Vancouver locker room after 4-1 loss to LA

New Years Eve had not been kind to the Los Angeles Kings, who had an all-time record of 5-8-3 on the usually festive night. Curiously, they had only hosted one of those games. Back in 1991 - at their former home, the Forum in Inglewood - the Kings led 3-0 entering the third period and then watched their opponent score five unanswered goals on goalie Daniel Berthiaume. Who did they play that night? The Vancouver Canucks.

So, it may have taken 20 years for the rematch, but it finally happened last night in downtown LA. The results weren't nearly the same. Vancouver scored the first goal of the game, then it was all Kings. They out shot the Canucks 33-28 and scored the next four goals of the game.

Afterwards, here's what head coach Alain Vigneault and team captain Henrik Sedin had to say...

Vigneault on the overall game - "I think you have to give LA a lot of credit. Both teams had basically the same schedule here for the last little while, but they seemed to have more jump and more energy and obviously better execution than we had tonight. They deserved to win. We tried to make a push in the second [period]. We had that four-minute power play that could have been a turning point in the game and we didn’t generate much. After that, they pretty much made it 3-1 and it was real tough coming back."

Quotes from LA locker room after big New Year's Eve win

It may have taken 20 years, but the Kings have finally exercised the demons of their only other home game played on New Year's Eve.

On that fateful night back at the Forum in 1991, then-goalie Daniel Berthiaume gave up five unanswered goals to the Vancouver Canucks in the third period - resulting in a 5-3 loss. This time around, the Kings flipped the script. They gave up the first goal of the game and then followed with markers of their own by Brad Richardson, Matt Greene, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams.

The Kings are now 4-0-2 under coach Darryl Sutter and after things were over, here's what he and a few stars of the night had to say...

Sutter on the overall game - "We’ve been playing pretty good. If you get a chance like the Chicago game or the Winnipeg game there are a lot of steps that we’ve tried to make and tonight there was contribution from different guys which was really good."

Sutter on Kopitar - "He scored a big goal and that makes him feel good again. He’s been struggling with scoring but he’s getting a lot of shots and that’s what we’ve been trying to re-enforce, keep shooting. We had two or three of those plays. Mike Richards had that same type of play. I thought [Jarret] Stoll’s line had a lot of those opportunities, too, and the kid’s, [Andrei] Loktionov’s line. They’re all good."

Greene on the overall game - "We’ve been having success on all four lines. That’s what we did. We got a big goal out of our third line tonight and that’s what it takes sometimes…They score and then we get one right away. That’s a confidence boost knowing that they’re not going to push us back and we’re going to keep going."

Canucks at Kings NYE primer with Doughty, Johnson, Stoll

Vancouver come to town tonight with a 15-3-1 record in their last 19 games. LA's home team has gone 3-0-2 in the Sutter Era and is looking to continue their climb back up the Western Conference standings.

The Canucks are a team that have given the Kings fits at times recently, including bouncing them from the playoffs two years ago. In their only other meeting this season, the Canucks beat the Kings 3-2 at Staples Center - in a game Drew Doughty scored a goal.

The talented defenseman has had his own challenges with the Canucks, posting a minus-9 rating against them since entering the league in 2008 (his worst against any team in the league) and has picked up 34 penalty minutes in those games (more than double his total against every team other than Anaheim...plus, if you take out the 10 minute misconduct assessed to him last March vs. the Canucks, the 24 minutes are still more than he has vs. any other team).

With a look ahead to tonight's action, here are some exclusive pre-game comments from Doughty, Jack Johnson and Jarret Stoll...

Doughty on the Canucks - "It's going to be a fun game. Every time we play Vancouver all the guys are really pumped for the game. As a team, we had a hard battle with them in the playoffs a couple of years ago. We're still disappointed about that loss. So, I think it's going to be a hard fought game with lots of checking and lots of chirping."

Jarret Stoll on his new linemates and their effectiveness

Center Jarret Stoll has been matched with just about every forward on the roster so far this season, except Anze Kopitar. He's seen duty at center, wing, on the second and third lines, and everywhere in between.

Lately though, he's had consistent linemates in Dustin Penner and Justin Williams. Here's what he had to say about things when asked about the line coach Darryl Sutter has kept together since taking over five games ago...

"It's been good. I think we have some chemistry going. Very few times we're in our own zone playing d-zone coverage. And that's what you want, you want to play the game in the offensive zone and try to create scoring chances and be buzzing, be hitting, getting loose pucks. I think we've been doing a good job at that. We just have to bare down a little bit more around the net and maybe get more shots. You can cycle all you want or try to control the puck down there all you want. But, if you don't get shots, it's really for not. That's probably what we have to be better at."

As for the match-up with Vancouver tonight - in 14 career games vs the Canucks, Williams has four goals...nine goals in 39 games for Stoll...and six goals in 32 games from Penner.

For more recent player quotes, please check the links below.

The Mayor
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What are coach Sutter and Drew Doughty talking about on the bench?

Doughty and Stoll try explaining the 'love tap' goal celebration - includes video

Coach Sutter clarifies his plans for the Kings assistant coaches in 2012

What are Sutter and Doughty talking about on the bench?

In the period leading up to Darryl Sutter being hired as the new Kings coach many were talking about his aggressive, heavy handed approach.  Yet, GM Dean Lombardi tried telling anybody who would listen at the team's press conference last week, 'He's not a raving lunatic.' In fact, to date, we haven't seen much of the yelling and screaming that was so frequently advertised ahead of time.

One thing that has been noticeable though is his penchant for grabbing players on the bench. He practically yanked Jonathan Bernier right out of his skates following his first game behind the bench. Then, more recently, he's been seen talking up Drew Doughty quite a bit.

So, what was he saying to the young defenseman during the game in Winnipeg?

"Just reinforcing what we're trying to do," said Sutter. "The skill set he has is pretty unique. So, getting him to maximize it. He was playing a lot of minutes. He played more last night than he did the night before. So we want to keep him mentally right there, every shift."

When asked if he liked what he was seeing from Doughty vs. the Jets - compared to the four previous games - Sutter simply remarked, "He played 26 minutes." Implying that if he had a problem with Doughty's game, he wouldn't have given him so much ice time.

Turning to Doughty now, here's what he had to say about Sutter's in-game chats on the bench...

"He's always just trying to help. He's never negative and if it is a negative thing that happened in the game, he's telling you 'If you do it right, you're going to dominate that guy.' So, it's always a negative with a positive from him, which is a great thing. He really knows his game and he just wants you working hard. If you're doing that, he's not going to have any problems with you."

Well, the talks certainly are working. Coming into the last game, Doughty had six points in the previous five - and the five game points streak was the longest of his career.

Later today, Doughty will be back to help us preview tonight's game vs. the Vancouver Canucks.

The Mayor
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Coach Sutter offers early reviews of Lewis and Loktionov

Much of the Kings roster came into the season with defined roles, both on defense and offense. Two players still searching to find their niche are forwards Trevor Lewis and Andrei Loktionov.

Lewis has benched for a large portion of coach Terry Murray's final month with the Kings and in 28 games played this year he's posted zero goals and one assist. Primarily used as a defensive forward last year, the Kings were hoping for more offense from the former first round draft pick this season.

Loktionov is also scoreless in 17 games played since his recall from Manchester in mid-November. On several occasions, it's appeared that the talented Russian was hours from being returned to the AHL, only to some how find another lifeline to stay in the NHL.

After practice yesterday, coach Darryl Sutter offered some impressions on both players after five games behind the bench...

Has there been a player that's caught your eye so far? - "The player I didn't really know much about is Trevor Lewis. I'm trying to show lots of confidence in him. I know he's, obviously, struggling to score - with a goose egg, right? He has a good enough skill set. I'm impressed with his attitude. How come he hasn't scored? I don't know. I think he gives us a speed dimension. I see guys like Vancouver, players like (Jannik) Hansen and kids like that. There's similarities. He just needs to do all those things and then chip some in for us."

Kings coach Darryl Sutter clarifies his plans for asst coaches

At Darryl Sutter's initial press conference with the LA media most of the statements were pretty standard fare. It was about what you'd expect for a new coach being brought in to take over a struggling team.

The obvious highlight was Sutter ending his speaking portion at the podium by flashing double peace signs (pictured here). And there was one other little tidbit that caught the attention of several in the crowd. When asked about his plan for the assistant coaches, Sutter said John Stevens had done an awesome job helping the team through the transition and he knew goaltending coach Bill Ranford from the past. He also said Jamie Kompon did a lot of work in the locker room.

Then, came this - "We just want to focus on - especially being so close to the holidays - I just want to focus on this group. That’s the best way to put it. I’m satisfied. I’m good. Those guys are familiar with the team and that really helps."

Being so close to the holidays?

Hall of Fame writer Helene Elliott of the LA Times was even tweeting about that quote as recently as last night, following the game in Winnipeg.

Doughty and Stoll comment on the love tap celebration

If you were watching closely during Wednesday's game in Chicago, Drew Doughty was very excited when Jarret Stoll scored to put the Kings up 2-0 early in the third period.

For those who missed the celebration, here's a short clip, followed by some reaction from both when asked about it after practice today.

Stoll - "I haven't seen the video yet, to be honest with you. Obviously, I didn't even realize it at the time. It must not have been that good (laughter ensues for all around). I need to take a look at it, I think. He told me about it and I said, 'Really? I didn't even realize it.' I was just too happy that we finally scored a goal."

Doughty - "It wasn't pre-planned. It was just spur-of-the-moment. I don't know what I was thinking. It just kind of happened, I guess. There's nothing behind the scenes. I was just excited that we got the second goal. I don't know why I did it, probably won't do it again though."

So what happens if Stoll gets a hat trick some time soon?

Doughty - "Well then I guess I, ah..."

Several of his teammates began chiming in with lots of laughter and stuff that doesn't need to be printed.

Let's just say, your parents were right - boys will be boys.

The Mayor
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Johnson and Sutter talk LA power play and goaltending

LA Kings - Jack Johnson (photo by Dimur)

The Kings lost 1-0 to the Jets in overtime last night, on a goal by Evander Kane. Earlier in the game, Winnipeg's young forward had tried starting a fight with LA defenseman Jack Johnson after taking umbrage with a hit put on teammate Blake Wheeler. Not much happened though and both guys ended up in the penalty box, with Kane getting an extra two minutes.

In 23:34 of total ice time - second only to Drew Doughty among all players in the game - Johnson finished the night with one shot on goal, two hits and two blocked shots.

After things were over, he shared these thoughts...

On the overall game - "Our goalie played a phenomenal game. But, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how well he plays - if we can't score a goal, we're in trouble. I thought it was a pretty hard fought game. When teams play the way they do today, it's a bounce here or there that can win or lose you a hockey game."

On both teams killing off a 5-on-3 power play - "It cost us the game, you can say that. We had plenty of chances throughout the game to score. But, that was huge for both teams. They had one fairly late in the game, which could have won it for them. There were plenty of chances for both teams though."

On any regrets from the loss - "We regret not scoring. We don't hang our heads though, it was a hard fought game. Looking back, we took three out of four points on the road. So, it was pretty good. If we can take three out of four on the road every time, that's a pretty good season."

Quotes from Winnipeg locker room after def LA 1-0 in OT

Kings at Jets (photo courtesy of LA Kings)

In their first trip back to the 'Peg in 15 years, the Kings topped the Jets 31-27 in shots on goal. However, the home team had the edge in hits (28-26), blocked shots (24-12) and the all important scoreboard. It may have taken overtime to do it, but they finally downed the Kings 1-0 on a goal by Evander Kane.

After all the high-fives on the ice, here's what the Jets were saying back in the dressing room...

Kane on his scrap with Jack Johnson - "Guys are going to stick up for each other and I'm no different...I know (Blake Wheeler) was trying to hit him in front. He was kind of coming this way and I thought the contact was made before the puck even got to him. I didn't like the hit. Obviously, it was a big hit. So, I wanted to get in there and stand up for him."

Goalie Chris Mason on the overall game - "It definitely felt like one goal would be the difference tonight, with the way we were playing and the way they played as well. We kind of figured it would be a low scoring game. With them coming in (having played last night), they didn't play as tired as I thought they would."

Mason on the Kings' toughness - "I thought we did well. We know their game is puck possession. They get the puck down low and protect it. Their big guys have skill too. So, we knew it would be similar to the big line against Anaheim. They're tough to defend. But, I thought for the most part, we did a great job."

Remembering Winnipeg and Wayne Gretzky's last game with the LA Kings

For several years in the mid 90's it seemed like the Kings were on a 'Closing Down the Arena' tour, as they made their final visits to old Chicago Stadium, Boston Garden, Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, the Capital Centre just outside Washington DC and several others.

However, it was their second-to-last skate around the ice at Winnipeg Arena in February 1996 that ended up meaning much more than what was originally intended. Coming at the end of a four game jaunt that went from Edmonton to Colorado then St. Louis, the Kings finally arrived in Manitoba on February 25th - having gone 0-2-1 on the trip. To say it was the worst of times wouldn't be much of a stretch, as the Kings had only won one game in 12 tries during the month of February.

Before we get to the events that unfolded in the next 48 hours though, let's take a quick look back at the beginning of the trip. I was on hand for the games in Canada and attended the Kings practices as well.

While the score in Edmonton was 7-2, these weren't the Oilers of old. Ryan Smyth was in his rookie season and goalie Bill Ranford had just been traded to the Boston Bruins the month prior.

The Oilers' seven goals that night came from seven different players - Zdeno Ciger, Mariusz Czerkawski, Greg de Vries, Donald Dufresne, Ralph Intranuovo, Todd Marchant and some guy named Doug Weight (one of the best American born players of his generation). On the receiving end of every one was Kings goalie Kelly Hrudey.

Down at the other end, Oilers netminder Curtis Joseph gave up goals to Vitali Yachmenev and, of course, Wayne Gretzky.

WJC 2012: Kings prospects face-off on TV today at noon

The 2012 World Junior Championship is underway in Alberta, Canada. The top tournament for under-20 year old hockey players kicked off Monday with wins by Team USA and Canada.

Today, both teams are back in action again - with the U.S. facing Finland and Canada squaring off with the Czech Republic.

Of note, the US/Finland game will feature three LA Kings prospects. In the red, white and blue will be the Kings two tallest defensive prospects - Derek Forbort (6-foot-5, from the University of North Dakota, first round selection at the 2010 NHL Draft) and Kevin Gravel (6-foot-4, from St. Cloud State University, fifth round 2010 NHL Draft).

They could be shooting pucks at Christopher Gibson (2011 draft pick out of the QMJHL), as Team Finland hasn't announced their starter yet. He was in goal on Monday for all eight of Canada's goals. It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was so bad the announcers were using expressions like 'post traumatic stress disorder' and 'under siege' when talking about Gibson's day.

Why Andrei Loktionov needs to be sent to Manchester

Before all the Loktionov lovers lose their mind, relax.

If you've heard any of my recent radio/podcast interviews, the kid has talent. He's still young, he'll be fine. The Kings thought the cake might be done, they pulled it out of the oven, had a bite and it's not fully cooked yet. Put it back in the oven for a little longer (in Manchester) and everything will be just fine.

At the end of last season and over the summer, Loktionov talked of only wanting to play center, he felt more comfortable there. Then, when he was called up this year, he was put on the left wing - because that was the need at the time. Everybody tried to put a smile on and power through it. Fact is, it didn't work. The same issues from last season were still there.

A few weeks later he found himself at center when Mike Richards went down and that should have been his chance to shine. It didn't happen. Fifteen games into his call-up he has no goals and two assists to show for it. Don't buy into the 'he's not being used properly' line of thinking. Good players make things happen when given the ice time. He hasn't done that by any stretch of the imagination.

The only reason he's still with the Kings right now is because of the NHL's holiday trade freeze. When Richards came off of IR last week, the team should have needed to make a corresponding roster move to make room for him. Yet, the freeze allowed them to carry an extra player through today.

But, as timing would have it, with the injury to Simon Gagne last night, the Kings might not need to make a roster move today - other than putting #12 on IR.

Quotes from the Coyotes locker room after 4-3 loss to LA

The Phoenix Coyotes brought a collection of former Kings with them to Staples Center last night - including coach Dave Tippett, goalie Jason LaBarbera and forward Patrick O'Sullivan. However, LA outshot them 35-29, out-hit them 28-25, won more faceoffs, killed every Coyotes penalty, chased LaBarbera early in the third period and won the game 4-3.

Afterwards, coach Tippett had this to say about the overall game...

"I thought we hung in there. We wanted to make sure we competed hard and give ourselves the best chance of winning. We were hanging around the whole game right to the end. There were a couple of goals that LaBarbera would like to have back, but those are tough to overcome."

On back-up goalie Curtis McElhinney’s relief effort, Tippet said - "I thought he played very well. He made a couple good saves and then he got lucky on a couple posts so we just took a chance to see if we could change the momentum there. We competed hard tonight and you always want results without a doubt. They had some guys really play well tonight. We have to keep that attitude and try to win a big game at home."

If there was one positive for Phoenix, it had to be the play of Raffi Torres. On his two goal performance, Tipped said - "He made a couple good plays on breakaways to score. With our lineup the way it is we need people to contribute throughout and he gave us a couple good goals tonight."

Captain Dustin Brown on LA's effort - 'That’s what it’s going to take'

We already posted postgame comments from LA coach Darryl Sutter and defenseman Rob Scuderi following the Kings 4-3 win over the visiting Phoenix Coyotes.

Now, we turn to team captain Dustin Brown, who recorded his fifth game-winning goal of the season in tonight's victory. He now has five points in the last six games (four goals, one assist). Also, his four shots on goal, four hits and plus-3 rating tied him for the team lead in all three categories tonight. Here's what he had to say after the game...

On the overall play - "For our team to be successful it’s about work. We didn’t have our best second [period]. We came out and rebounded with a really good third [period], the work ethic was there and we found the back of the net twice. At the end of the day, that team was two points ahead of us and it was a huge two points for us to get at home."

On the Kings offensive outburst tonight - "That’s what it’s going to take. We are going to have to have scoring from the back end. Tonight we had a lot of shots. We had some grade-A scoring chances that didn’t go in the net. I know we probably hit three or four posts. We’ve been getting more shots on goal and keep saying 'keep shooting the puck, it will eventually go in' and tonight they started going in. I think if we can continue that mentality, you are going to see us score more goals. Last week we had three 40 shot games and two goals—I don’t think that is going to happen if we can consistently put up 30-35 shots."

More up in the morning.

The Mayor
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Postgame comments from coach Darryl Sutter and defenseman Rob Scuderi

LA 4, Phx 3: Quotes from coach Sutter's postgame presser

Here are the first batch of quotes from coach Darryl Sutter's postgame presser, following the Kings 4-3 win over the Coyotes...

On the overall game - "It’s nice to see a ‘W’ up there…I want to over-emphasize the importance of producing more offense to win hockey games…We had a good first period. We’ve been trying to talk about that, good first periods. Then I think they [Phoenix] made the push in the second, and we didn’t match it, and then we got it back in the third."

On the Kings defense providing much of the offense - "[They were] holding their line. [They had] patience at the blue line instead of being over aggressive and forcing offense. Good play down low. I thought the first period we did a really good job of that down low and going low to high."

Defenseman Rob Scuderi, who scored the team's first goal of the night, added the following comments...

Three LA Kings prospects featured in two TV games today

The World Junior Championship kicks off today in Alberta, Canada. For those unfamiliar, it's the top tournament on the planet featuring under-20 year old hockey players. Last year, Russia came back from a several goal deficit in the third period to top Canada for the gold medal. And Team USA defeated Sweden 4-2 for the bronze medal.

While many of the Kings current roster has participated in past tournaments - including Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson and Mike Richards - it was some of their top prospects who won gold, silver and bronze medals at the WJC.

Brayden Schenn of Team Canada was traded to Philadelphia over the summer for Richards. Maxim Kitsyn is back home playing in Russia. Yet, Derek Forbort of Team USA has returned for a second year.

Here's a quick overview of the three LA Kings prospects in this year's tournament...

USA - Derek Forbort, defenseman, University of North Dakota, first round selection 2010 NHL Draft

USA - Kevin Gravel, defenseman, St. Cloud St. University, fifth round selection 2010 NHL Draft

Finland - Christopher Gibson, Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL), second round selection 2011 NHL Draft