Kings prospect Kevin Gravel emerging from the shadows

Kevin Gravel (photo: B Hemmelgarn)

When you're taken in the fifth round of the NHL Draft, not many hockey fans know you're name. Even the most diehard puckheads have only a cursory knowledge of guys selected outside of the first - maybe second - round. For every Brayden Schenn, there's at least a dozen more like Jeff Shevalier, Peter Hogan and Greg Hogeboom.

Yet, players like Jamie Benn, Rob Scuderi and Ryan Miller have all gone from being fifth round selections to solid pro players. So, chalk it up to being late bloomers or maybe even scouts missing out on what they had to offer, who knows.

Therefore, it's not surprising that Kings prospect Kevin Gravel has long since moved past the Draft of 2010, all while seeing his stock continue to rise. Currently a sophomore at St. Cloud State University, he also has recently returned from a trip to the World Junior Championships.

Last summer, he penned an article here on MayorsManor and he's back today to fill us in on what's been going on over the last month or so.

After surviving the final roster cuts for Team USA in late December - a process that he describes as "pretty nerve racking, just sitting there wondering if your name was going to appear" - Gravel and company kicked things off with a bang, downing Finland 11-3 in their first game.

"Our confidence was really high at that point," Gravel shared. "Obviously, we were expecting to win that game. But, any time you can put up 11 goals on a team, you're going to be feeling pretty good about yourself."

Big week for five of the LA Kings college prospects

As noted several times here on MayorsManor over the last few seasons, there has been a slow migration around the NHL away from relying so heavily on Canadian junior prospects. Conversely, we've seen a substantial increase in American-born players being taken in the first and second rounds of the NHL Draft.

The Kings are right near the top when it comes to U.S. players currently on the team and/or in the pipeline. With the big club, you have Jack Johnson, Matt Greene, Rob Scuderi, Dustin Brown, Trevor Lewis and many others - plus, Jonathan Quick in net.

And the team has a slew of players currently enrolled at major U.S. colleges, including 2010 first round pick Derek Forbort.

Last week, five of the college prospects made some news...

- Forbort was expected to be a major part of Team USA's defensive core at the World Junior Championship. Instead, he was injured along the boards early in the tournament (believed to be his knee) and didn't play in the team's final few games. He returned to the University of North Dakota last week. However, he did not play in either of their games over the weekend. So, we'll need to monitor the situation going forward.

- Kevin Gravel (fifth round 2010) has been coming on strong. He was named to the above mentioned USA squad and scored the game winning goal for them in their final game vs. Switzerland. The win ended an otherwise disappointing tourney for the Americans, who finished seventh overall.

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.

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

Four LA Kings prospects make preliminary WJC rosters

Later this week we'll have a full prospect report posted, including a look at what's going on out east with the Manchester Monarchs.

For now, here's the big news of the day...

Team Finland and the USA have submitted their preliminary rosters for the upcoming World Junior Championships (Canada's was released last week).

This is the top tournament in the world for the 'under-20' aged hockey players and many of the games will be televised in the U.S. on the NHL Network.

Four LA Kings prospects have made the lists...

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

Canada - Tyler Toffoli, Ottawa 67's (OHL), second round selection 2010 NHL Draft

For Team USA, a total roster of 30 players was announced. They will hold a pre-tourney camp from December 17-23 and their final 22-player roster will be known December 22.

Meanwhile, Canada put out a roster of 41 players, who will start their camp this Saturday in Calgary. Toffoli, who was the leading goal scorer in all of junior hockey last year, was a surprise omission from last year's team and he'll be looking to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again.

Exclusive: Nick Shore on Team USA WJC camp experience

Nick Shore - LA Kings prospect
(photo by Cikiri)

Like it has been for some of you, summer has been filled with plenty of camping for many of the Los Angeles Kings top prospects.

First, there was the Kings Development Camp in early July. Then, a few of the elite were selected to attend evaluation camps for various countries preparing to participate in this winter's World Junior Championship.

Last week, Tyler Toffoli checked in from Team Canada's camp. And over the last few days, we heard from Kevin Gravel and Michael Mersch.

Next up is Nick Shore, a college player (University of Denver Pioneers) selected by LA in the third round of this year's draft.

Last summer, he was invited by Team USA to their summer camp as well. However, he didn't make the team that went on to the tournament this past January.

He arrived back home in Colorado yesterday and shared the following thoughts on his second go around at evaluation camp...

- Overall impression: "I thought I had a really good camp. Obviously, it was my second year there, so I felt a little more comfortable and more prepared. In the games that I played, I think I played pretty well too. So, now I'm focused on having a big first half to the season and hopefully I'll get invited to the (selection) camp in December."

- Changes to the structure of camp: "Last year, there wasn't necessarily workouts, but it was definitely a much more rigorous warm-up and cool down. We didn't have as much of that this year, so I think it made it a little bit easier."

- On his interactions with the coaches: "The way it worked was coach Dean Blais wasn't around as much during the first part of camp. We had our own coaches and stuff like that (note: the group of 40+ campers was split into two groups for the first few days, team blue and team white). So, we didn't interact much. But, yeah, some of the coaches were pretty funny and they were fun to be around."

- On Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma, who helped out during the early part of camp: "Any time there is an NHL coach there, you have to listen to everything he has to say. The main thing with him was the way he approached the game. He did everything in a very professional manner and I think even though this was a camp in the middle of summer, he was still very professional in all aspects. I think that really transferred over to my game and the rest of guys in camp."

Guest Author: D-man Kevin Gravel's USA camp journal

Kevin Gravel (photo: Cikiri)

Since the inception of MayorsManor, all articles and updates have been written by me. Sure, we've done countless interviews with players, coaches and other hockey people - yet, the content was always prepared by me.

We've also had the Kings' Jim Fox serve as our unofficial playoff reporter the last few seasons, providing his thoughts from the road when the team was away from Staples Center.

And yes, we've had guys like Jake Muzzin and Andrei Loktionov serve as as our Manchester correspondents, feeding us the latest Monarchs news.

Today, however, we enter a new phase at MayorsManor. For the first time ever, we have a guest author.

Kevin Gravel, selected by the Kings at the 2010 NHL Draft, has been on the site several times over the last year. This time is different though. He was kind enough to offer his perspective on what he experienced at this week's Team USA evaluation camp for the upcoming World Junior tournament.

In his own words, here's Gravel...

"Any time you get a chance to put on the USA jersey it is an opportunity you don’t take for granted. I've been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to represent my country in a few prior tournaments and I was looking forward to having a chance to do that again. When I finally got out to Lake Placid for the evaluation camp I was ready to get everything going.

The morning of the first day, we had our only practice - and it was a pretty tough practice. However, it allowed us get our feet wet for the games that were about to follow.

The first game two games of the camp we played inter-squad scrimmages. I was on Team Blue with Nick Shore, which put us up against (fellow Kings prospects) Derek Forbort and Michael Mersch.

Exclusive: Michael Mersch on Team USA camp experience

Michael Mersch at camp (photo by Cikiri)

Playing for your country is something every hockey player takes very seriously. It's a true honor.

To play on an international stage is a process also. And for the top under-20 year old Americans, the first step towards wearing that jersey at the upcoming World Junior Championships is taking place right now.

USA Hockey's week-long summer evaluation camp began last Saturday. After a few scrimmages and then some split-squad games with Finland and Sweden, the roster was trimmed from 44 invitees down to 28.

Still in camp are Los Angeles Kings prospects Derek Forbort (2010 first round draft pick and a member of last year's WJC bronze medal winning U.S. team) and Nick Shore (2011 third round draft pick).

As reported Tuesday, defenseman Kevin Gravel (2010, fifth round) and Michael Mersch (2011, fourth round) were two of the players not asked to stay for the second half of camp.

Mersch, a former member of the U.S. National Development Program, was kind enough though to check in with us when he returned home yesterday. Here are some thoughts on his experience...

- On the overall experience of being in historic Lake Placid, NY: "There were a lot of good players at the camp and it was great to be on the ice skating with them. I felt pretty good about my play out there. Obviously, things didn't work out. But, I gained some confidence, knowing I can play with the best players in the nation. So, it was a good time overall. Going there and playing for the USA, with all that history and tradition there, being able to skate on that ice, it's very exciting. History brings a lot of motivation."

Forbort, Shore stay - Gravel, Mersch cut at USA WJC camp

The Los Angeles Kings were privileged enough to have four prospects attend this year's Team USA World Junior Championship evaluation camp.

That's quite the step up from the quality and depth they've had in recent years with American-born prospects.

Unfortunately, today was cut down day and only half of the crop will be staying.

Defenseman Kevin Gravel (a fifth round draft pick in 2010 and student-athlete at St. Cloud State State University) and recently selected forward Michael Mersch (2011 fourth round draft pick, who plays at the University of Wisconsin) were not included once the roster was trimmed from the initial 44, down to 29.

Sticking around for the international portion of camp are defenseman Derek Forbort (2010 first rounder, University of North Dakota) and center Nick Shore (2011 third round, Denver University).

The remaining team will now play three games - one against Finland (Thursday) and two against Sweden (tomorrow and Saturday). All of them can be viewed for free via a live stream provided by Fast Hockey on facebook.

The 'final' camp roster can be found here.

For the record, this is not necessarily the final roster that will take the ice when the tournament begins just after Christmas. USA Hockey will host a 'selection camp' in early December and any of the players cut today could be invited back to that camp to go through the process again, pending their play over the early part of next season. So, there's still hope.

Within the next few days, Gravel and Mersch are expected to stop by MayorsManor with full reports of their experience at camp.

In the meantime, here's the original article talking about the Kings history with Team USA and down below there are links to several previous MM articles on all four of the American-born Kings prospects.

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

RELATED ARTICLES:

Post-season interview with Derek Forbort - includes NCAA playoff preview

DevCamp 2011: Pre-camp interview with Kevin Gravel

DevCamp 2011: Pre-camp interview with Michael Mersch

Wisconsin asst coach Gary Shuchuk talks LA Kings 2011 draft pick M. Mersch

LA Kings Draft update: round three - center Nick Shore

More camping for Kings' Forbort, Gravel, Mersch and Shore

How did this happen?

Over the last ten years, the Los Angeles Kings have had only two pure prospects represent Team USA at the World Junior Championships - defenseman Derek Forbort (last January) and forward Trevor Lewis (2007).

Yes, Dustin Brown played for the U.S. in 2002 and 2003. However, he hadn't been drafted by the Kings yet. You may also recall Patrick O'Sullivan skating in the WJC in 2003, 2004 and 2005 - yet, he didn't become a member of the Kings until a June 2006 trade with Minnesota.

About the only other marginal credit you could assign to the Kings would be Jack Johnson. An important note though would be that Johnson played for America in the 2006 WJC while a member of the Carolina Hurricanes. Thus, he was pretty much a given for the 2007 team by the time the Kings traded for him, just a little over three months before the tournament began.

Up in Canada though, the Kings have practically dominated the World Junior summer evaluation camp rosters the last few seasons - with names like Thomas Hickey, Colten Teubert, Tyler Toffoli, Linden Vey, Brandon Kozun, Brayden Schenn, Kyle Clifford, Wayne Simmonds, Jonathan Bernier and many more.

And now the Kings - finally - have a big time presence at the Team USA evaluation camp for next winter's World Junior tournament.

When the roster came out in early June, the Kings were already ahead of the curve - having a pair of defensemen included in Forbort and Kevin Gravel (both 2010 draft picks). Then, a few weeks later, they drafted Nick Shore and Michael Mersch.

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?

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

LA Kings Draft Update: Round Three - center Nick Shore

Finally some love for Team USA.

In recent years, Team Canada camps for the World Junior Championships have been like mini-Kings camps. Los Angeles has had more prospects there than any other NHL franchise - with names like Thomas Hickey, Brayden Schenn, Kyle Clifford, etc.

On the flip side, Derek Forbort - the Kings first round selection at last summer's draft - has been the lone guy over on the Team USA side.

That's about to change.

Dealer Dean was up to his old tricks again, just moments after making the 80th pick in this year's draft, Lombardi packaged his sixth round pick this year (#170 overall) and next year's third rounder to nab Nick Shore at #82.

Shore, a center from the University of Denver, was ranked #56 by NHL Central Scouting, so he was a pretty attractive pick when he was still sitting there. During his just completed freshman season he had 18 points in 28 games. Scouts rave about his hockey smarts and say he is strong defensively - both things coach Terry Murray values highly.  His skating is said to need serious improvement though.

Forbort's North Dakota Fighting Sioux downed Shore's Denver Pioneers 6-1 in this year's NCAA playoffs, advancing to the Frozen Four.

Both players, along with fellow Kings prospect Kevin Gravel (St Could State), have been invited to participate in the upcoming USA Hockey evaluation camp for next year's World Junior tournament.

Also of note, Lombardi has been known as a big WHL guy - however, he's been taking a lot of NCAA players lately.

For a look back at the Kings other draft picks today, start here.

Or skip ahead to their next selections from rounds four through seven click here.

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

RELATED ARTICLES:

Interview with Kings 2010 first round pick Derek Forbort

Brayden Schenn's last major interview as a member of the LA Kings

Kyle Clifford explains his nickname

Interview with Thomas Hickey - Kings former number one draft pick, top prospect

LA Kings Prospect Report - notes on Forbort, Gravel

The Kings top pick from last summer's draft, defenseman Derek Forbort, has been invited to this summer's Team USA evaluation camp.

The sessions, held each August by Canada, the U.S. and other countries are the first step to assembling rosters for next winter's World Junior Championship - which will be played in Western Canada, starting the day after Christmas.

At the 2011 WJC, Brayden Schenn and Canada were denied gold by Team Russia (which featured Kings prospect Maxim Kitsyn). Meanwhile, Forbort and Team USA picked up a bronze medal.

Set to attend this year's camp with Forbort are several names that may also be familiar to MayorsManor readers, including - Kevin Gravel (also a Kings prospect), 2010 NHL first rounders Nick Bjugstad (Florida), Charlie Coyle (San Jose) and Emerson Etem (Anaheim), plus Matt Nieto (Long Beach native, currently at Boston University and 2011 NHL Draft eligible).

Gravel was a freshman this year at St. Cloud state.  He played in 36 games, scoring six points (one goal, five assists).  Forbort, also a freshman, reached the NCAA Frozen Four with North Dakota.  However, they lost in the semi-finals to Michigan (yes, Jack Johnson was happy...Matt Greene was not).  During the regular season Forbort played in 38 games, picking up 15 assists (no goals).

The camp will be held in Lake Placid, N.Y. and overseen by coach Dean Blais, who returns to Team USA after guiding the 2010 squad to WJC gold. Former King, turned Stanley Cup winning coach, Dan Bylsma of the Pittsburgh Penguins will also serve as part of the camp's coaching staff.

Which NHL team will have the most prospects? That's the Chicago Blackhawks, with three. The Kings are tied with three other teams, each having two prospects at the camp.

To read more about last summer's camp, click here - see what Bjugstad and Coyle shared on MayorsManor (including their thoughts on Forbort's performance).

Meanwhile, Forbort and Gravel, both Kings prospects - and two huge defensmen - squared off several times this season...something we chronicled here.

Kyle Clifford and JF Berube filed reports from Team Canada's camp last summer too - those interviews can be found here (KC) and here (JFB).  See what they had to say about fellow Kings prospects like Schenn, Tyler Toffoli, Nic Deslauriers and many more.

Finally, if you missed the previous interview with Nieto, who just may get selected in the first round later this month, check it out here.

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

Jack and USA done, Bernier ready for Ovechkin tomorrow

Johnson and Jagr at IIHF quarterfinals
Photo by Matthew Manor / HHOF-IIHF

Out of the sixteen countries to play in the main pool at last year's IIHF World Championships the United States finished 13th - ahead of only France, Italy and Kazakhstan.

They'll finish five slots higher this year, but there isn't much to celebrate. After advancing to the elite-8, they were bounced in their first game by the defending champions from the Czech Republic.

In today's opening game of the quarterfinals Team USA lost 4-0. Al Montoya (New York Islanders) was announced as injured, so Ty Conklin (St. Louis Blues) was given the start in goal. Jack Johnson played over 20 minutes again, but the offense just couldn't get anything going.

The Kings defenseman also laid out Patrik Elias (New Jersey Devils) behind the net in the third period. Probably should have been a penalty, but there was no call.

Johnson finished the tournament with 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in seven games, picked up eight penalty minutes and was a minus-4. He also led all U.S. defenseman with 20 shots on goal.

Jaromir Jagr looked every bit the part of a player ready to return to the NHL, posting three goals on his first four shots in today's game. He's now tied for the lead on his team with five goals and eight points (matching the totals of Montreal's Tomas Plekanec).

The Czech's beat Russia for the gold last May and this year's brackets have things lining up for a possible rematch.  Russia has also played in the finals for three straight years, having won the gold medal in 2008 and 2009.

Germany and Sweden will play later today. The winner of that game will play the Czech Republic in one of Friday's semi-final games.

On the other side, the winner of tomorrow's two games - Canada/Russia and Finland/Norway - will meet up in the other semi-final game.

Both the gold and bronze medal games will be played on Sunday, airing live on VERSUS in the U.S.

But, back to that Canada-Russia game. Coach Ken Hitchcock has already announced he's sticking with Jonathan Bernier in goal, who is 2-0 in the tournament. One of the many story lines to watch in that game is if Bernier and the Canadian defense can shut down Alexander Ovechkin. In two games played, he's yet to register a point.



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

Forget Quick... It's the return of Bernier vs Ersberg!

You read that right.

It's just not for a spot on the Kings. Instead, they'll square off at the IIHF World Championships in Slovakia.

With Canada looking to lock down the top spot in their pool on Monday, coach Ken Hitchcock has announced he'll start Jonathan Bernier in goal for their final game of the qualification round.

Bernier picked up a 3-2 win yesterday vs. Norway, stopping 25 of 27 shots. It was his first game played in the tournament.

At the other end of the ice for his second game will be Erik Ersberg of Team Sweden. The former Kings goalie was in net when the Swedes lost their opening game of the tournament to Norway, 5-4 (via a shootout).

Sweden hasn't lost a game since and Ersberg hasn't seen any game action since. However, having already won their pool play, he's being given another shot before the quarterfinals start mid-week.

In other news...

* Slovenia lost in the relegation round to Belarus by a final score of 7-1. They've now been dropped out of the main pool for 2012. Just like Kings fans wonder how the team would have done vs. San Jose had Anze Kopitar been in the line-up, hockey fans in his home country now wonder the same thing about the national team. (read more about Gasper Kopitar's dreams for Slovenia here)

* Even though the U.S. had Sunday off, they still qualified for the quarterfinals due to Switzerland's loss to Sweden. Team USA plays their final 'qualification round' game tomorrow vs. the Swiss - that game airs live on VERSUS at 7am PST. Jack Johnson continues to lead the team in ice time in most games...and is an even-player through five games (he was minus-21 for the Kings this season). He also leads the team with 18 shots on goal..

* Alexander Ovechkin made it to Europe in time for the game, but Russia lost to the Czech Republic 3-2 on Sunday. Jaromir Jagr had the second goal of the game for his country. Ovi was held pointless.

* Michal Handzus and Team Slovakia haven't played well at all. Let's just leave it at that. They'll play Denmark Monday.  It will likely be the final game of Pavol Demitra's international career.

Quarterfinal match-ups will be announced tomorrow night and played Wednesday/Thursday. Regardless of the outcome of Monday's games, seven of the eight slots have already been secured by Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden and the USA. Norway is the most likely eighth team. However, Switzerland has a slim chance at it.

[Monday morning update: Norway beat France earlier today to secure the 8th seed.  Switzerland will not advance to the quarterfinals, regardless of the outcome vs. Team USA.]



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

Bernier and Canada nearly give it all away vs. Norway

Photo by Jukka Rautio/HHOF-IIHF

If results are the only thing that matters, Team Canada is doing just fine.

However, coach Ken Hitchcock has to at least be a little concerned with the overall play of his team right now at the IIHF World Championship.

Yesterday they trailed 2-1 after two periods to the U.S. Sure, they came back and won 4-3. Yet, that was in a shootout. And Ty Conklin was in goal for the U.S.

Should that really have been a problem for an offense being led by Rick Nash, James Neal, Jason Spezza, Jordan Eberle, Matt Duchene, John Tavares, Jeff Skinner, etc.?

Maybe the group says 'Hey, we put 50+ shots on goal. What more do you want from us?'

Could be.  Moving on...

After riding goalie James Reimer (Toronto Maple Leafs) for the first four games in the tournament, Hitchcock went to Kings' goalie Jonathan Bernier today versus Norway.

Things looked good when Canada was up 3-0 with 10 minutes left to play in the third. Then, Bernier gave up two (somewhat) soft goals in a less-than-two-minute span and we had a game.

When the clock got down to 90 seconds left Norway pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. However, they couldn't put another one past Bernier - so Canada won and secured their spot in the quarterfinals.

Bernier finished with 25 of 27 saves and he may not be done in the tournament. Prior to the game Hitchcock said he was giving Bernier a chance because he was told Bernier would be good on the big ice surface. Then, after the win, he was noncommittal about his starter for Canada's next game on Monday vs. Sweden - saying he'll sleep on it.

He also said "I was impressed with Bernier. I was impressed with the composure."

Finally, a few other notes...

After yesterday's game vs. Canada, Jack Johnson wasn't looking at things any differently just because of who they were playing - saying "A loss is a loss no matter who you lose to." He played a team-high 28 minutes and scored on a breakaway (coming out of the penalty box) in the second period that put Team USA up 2-1 lead. He was also the first shooter in the shootout, but missed.

Team USA is playing France this morning, in a game that will air on tape delay later tonight on VERSUS.

In case you haven't heard, Alexander Ovechkin is now in Slovakia for the tournament. He is practicing today with Team Russia and will play his first game tomorrow vs. the Czech Republic.

That should be interesting. One of my lasting memories from last year's Olympics in Vancouver was Ovi laying out Jaromir Jagr at center ice during a game between the two countries.



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

USA vs. Canada - Here We Go Again

USA versus Canada.

It's become one of hockey's greatest rivalries.

And while it won't have the same meaning of last year's Winter Olympics, the two countries will square off once again today in the Qualification Round at the IIHF World Championships.

Jack Johnson is part of the defensive group for the U.S., who went 2-1 in the preliminary round, beating Austria and Norway - and losing to Sweden. In those three games, he had two assists and tied for second-best on the team with 11 shots on goal.

Meanwhile, Canada went 2-0-1, with wins over Belarus and France. They needed overtime to beat Switzerland in their last contest. Kings goalie' Jonathan Bernier is on the Canadian roster. However, he has yet to see any game action.

After today's game, Canada will finish out the Qualification Round with games against Norway tomorrow and Sweden on Monday. Team USA will play France tomorrow and Switzerland on Monday.

In other news from the tournament, Slovakia - featuring the Kings Michal Handzus - also advanced to the Qualification Round and their next game will be against Jaromir Jagr and the Czech Republic.

For a look back at some USA-Canada hockey news, check out these articles:

WJC 2011: Team Canada Report with Drew Doughty

WJC 2011: Team USA Report with Jack Johnson

WJC Memories with Captain Canada Ryan Smyth

Jeremy Roenick previews Canada-USA

Looking Back with Jonathan Bernier



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

...And Now You're Caught Up - March 21, 2011

It's been another busy week in the sports world, so you may have missed a few odds and ends out there.

Don't worry - we've got you covered.

Here are the ten Kings related (or at least hockey related) items you should definitely know about heading into the week ahead...

* Call it the junior hockey version of Kings Undisputed, here's a short video produced by the Saskatoon Blades with Brayden Schenn talking pre-game routines, new cars and a few other things.

* For the second straight year, a Kings prospect (Linden Vey) won the WHL scoring title. And as an added bonus, another prospect (Tyler Toffoli) won the OHL scoring title. Full story here.

* Former Kings defenseman Rob Blake was just announced as the Assistant General Manager for Team Canada at the upcoming World Championships (talking place in Europe during the NHL playoffs). Consider it an open audition to head up Canada at the 2014 Olympics in Russia.