LA Kings Prospect Report - Close to The End

The college hockey season is over, junior hockey wraps up this weekend and the AHL isn't far behind.

That's right - the playoffs are almost here.

Most junior teams have a pair of games left this weekend and nearly all of the Kings top prospects in the CHL are poised for great playoff runs, as detailed below.

Also making the rounds recently is The Hockey News 'Future Watch' special edition, which crowns Brayden Schenn as the number one pro prospect.

Other Kings in the top 75 were Andrei Loktionov (#39), Derek Forbort (49), Tyler Toffoli (51) and Viatcheslav Voynov at (54).

Here's a quick run down on those five and a few other notes on the CHL and NCAA playoffs...

Schenn - has posted incredible numbers since being acquired by his hometown team, the Saskatoon Blades, at the trading deadline (20 goals and 29 assists for 49 points in 25 games). Regardless of the outcome in their final games this weekend, the Blades will end the regular season with the best record in the WHL. Thus, they're heavy favorites to win the league championship and move on to the CHL's Memorial Cup.

Blues' Janssen Still Studying Clifford and Westgarth?

Had it not been for several injuries, "I believe the St. Louis Blues could have challenged the Detroit Red Wings for the division title this season." Blues radio play-by-play guy, Chris Kerber, on NHL radio yesterday afternoon.

That's one man's opinion.

However, at this point, the St. Louis Blues don't have much to play for - except pride.

They last made the playoffs under former Kings coach Andy Murray two seasons ago. He was then let go a few months into the following season when it was thought the team was underachieving. Ninth place was where they finished then and they currently sit in 13th place.

So, in many respects they may be further away from postseason play than they were two years ago.  Add to that the fact that some of their best players were traded away over the last month and now their most veteran presence is Andy MacDonald - yes, the former Duck.

Even so, the Kings can't take this game lightly - especially considering the Blues have won all three games between the two teams this season.

Anze Kopitar Undisputed - full, extended video

Throughout this season Kings Vision has been producing behind-the-scenes bio pieces on several of the players - including Wayne Simmonds, Jack Johnson and Dustin Brown.

The newest segment is posted below, featuring Anze Kopitar.

A small portion of this will be shown during the next Kings telecast. Here, you get the full, extended version...

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RECAP: Kings GM Dean Lombardi on NHL Live

Los Angeles Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi was a guest on NHL Live this morning.

Below is a recap of what was discussed (as always, these are near exact quotes, with selected paraphrasing for brevity)...

* [topic: Kings have been good on the road lately] True. However, I think a lot of that is when you're a young team it's easier to keep your players focused. I think there is a lot more structure in their day when they're on the road. I also don't think there are a lot of buildings anymore that are intimidating to play in.

* [What was the hot topic at the GM meetings today?] We spent a lot of time on the shootout, defining when the spin-o-rama crosses the line between being a good play and going backwards. I think the biggest issue is we just have to define it. We just want to know what the rule is and there is a bit of grey area right now. I dread the thought of that Flyers-Rangers game (last regular season game of last season), where a season is determined by that play. They'll get on it though. It came to the forefront and we realize the importance of getting some structure in there.

* [Concussions and the Drew Doughty situation earlier this season] That's the problem, 'Should your decisions be based on the identity of the player?' We all know the reality is if it's a top player, it comes to the forefront more. I thought the league did a tremendous job the first two days here of getting all the facts out there. I'm pretty proud of the fact that people are saying we're ahead of the NFL right now. We were the first ones to have a protocol. The amount of data that went into analyzing where these concussions come from, the science of it, what's causing them, etc. I thought the background information was fabulous. There are two things involved here. It's not only what you do, it's how you do things. I thought procedurally the league was excellent. This does not lend itself to an easy sound-bite answer. I love the fact that we took the time to look at the science and have data to back up our thinking. There's no doubt we're ahead of the NFL here and as a league we can be proud of that.

Video Highlights: Kings 4-2 win over Predators

Anze Kopitar has found his groove, 17 points in 11 games.

PennerMania continues, as Dustin Penner now has points in six straight games.

Jonathan Bernier continues to play well against Nashville, pushing his record to 5-1 lifetime with a 1.80 goals against average.

That's the story, here are the highlights...

The Mayor
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RELATED ARTICLES:

Kings at Preds Pregame Notes - items on Bernier, Kopitar, Brown, Weber, Suter, etc.

Interview with Mark Hardy - new podcast with former Kings coach, talking what's next

Penner comments on PennerMania

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PRIMER: LA Kings at Nashville Predators

Los Angeles has won all three games on the current road trip and is trying to close things out with another two points in Nashville - to mark their first four-game road sweep in franchise history.

Here are seven points to get you primed for the Kings at Predators game coming up in just over an hour...

* Jonathan Bernier will be in goal. Four of his career 20 games started against Western Conference opponents have been against Nashville. In those games he's 3-1-0 with a 1.75 goals against average.

* The suddenly hot Anze Kopitar (7 goals and 15 points in his last 10 games) will be looking to set a new Kings record for consecutive games played. Assuming he's in the line-up, it will be his 325th straight game, passing Marcel Dionne's 324-game mark set from January 1978 through January 1982. If he plans on aiming for the NHL record, he has a ways to go. That's held by Doug Jarvis at 964 consecutive games played.

* Dustin Penner is riding a modest five-game point (2 goals and 3 assists). In 18 career games vs. Nashville he has 10 points (4 goals and 6 assists).

MayorsManor Podcast - featuring Mark Hardy

When it comes to the Kings blueline, there's Rob Blake at 805 games played, followed by Mattias Norstrom at 780.

Next on that list is Mark Hardy with 616.

He also has the second most assists, third most points and fifth most penalty minutes by a defenseman in franchise history.

His career saw him go from being drafted by the Kings, shipped to New York after eight seasons in LA, then back to the Kings for their run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993 and eventually behind the bench in a coaching role that lasted more than 10 seasons.

Along the way he was twice named the Kings best defenseman (1984-85 and 1986-87) and his coaching led to the second best penalty killing percentage in team history (86.6 success rate in 2001-02, third in the NHL that season).

For the last year though he's been on the sidelines, having resigned his position after being arrested in Washington, D.C. and subsequently entering an alcohol treatment program.

He first appeared on MayorsManor over the weekend, talking about the Kings power play struggles this season and the play of Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty.

He returns today for an extended conversation about life since the arrest, who has reached out to him, his earliest memories as a King, playing for the Rangers, the toughest guys in the NHL, the development of Kyle Clifford, the day Rob Blake resigned the captaincy, how that situation was handled, we break down the 1993 playoffs by round, plus he shares one of the best pranks he was ever part of and much more.

Oh yeah, and we play word association using names like Barry Melrose, Bob Berry, Andy Murray, Terry Murray and Dave Taylor.

[Audio player after the jump]

Kings Earn More 'Biggest Points of The Season'

Coaches and players love to tell you these are the biggest points of the season - even though two points in March count the same as two points in October.

Regardless, as Matt Greene said before the Kings current four-game road trip started, "We need points. There's no real formula for what we're doing right now. I think every team needs them. We just have to go out and get wins."

And that they're doing. Sunday's 3-2 win in Dallas was the team's third in a row on this trip and they're now 10-1-3 in their last 14 games away from Staples Center.

Five points to the game:

Quick Aiming to Become Kings First 30-30 Man

Jonathan Quick will be back in net today for the Los Angeles Kings.

With a win, he'll become the first Kings goaltender to post back-to-back 30 win seasons.

Although the Kings have found much success in Dallas the last few years, they've split the two previous games there this season - winning 5-2 in October and losing 2-1 in January.  Jonathan Bernier was in goal for the loss.

As for Quick, he's rolled to a 10-3-1 record in his last 14 games, with two of those losses coming on the Kings most recent homestand. Even including the blowout loss to Detroit two weeks ago though, he's posted a 2.21 goals against average and .922 save percentage during that stretch.

He holds an 8-3-0 record against the Stars lifetime, including 4-1-0 in Dallas (with a 1.72 GAA).

Can Quick make some history and pick up the crucial two points today?

It's almost game time...

The Mayor
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Mark Hardy on Kings Defense and Power Play

In some ways, perhaps the thing Mark Hardy knows best is the Kings defense.

He was drafted by LA in 1979, patrolled the team's blue line for 616 games (third most in franchise history) and spent ten years coaching Kings players following his retirement.

For the last year though he's been on the sidelines, having resigned his position after being arrested in Washington, D.C. and subsequently entering an alcohol treatment program.

Last night he skated in a charity game along side fellow Kings' alum Luc Robitaille and Marty McSorley - his teammates during their run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993.

Afterwards, I spoke with him about what he's been up to and what's next for him. The conversation wouldn't best be presented in written form. You'll want to hear it from him, rather than read it. So, he's agreed to come on the MayorsManor podcast later this week (available here).

However, I wanted to pass along his thoughts on this year's team, namely the defense and power play...

MM:  How tough has it been to watch the games this year?

MH:  You know what, I like to cheer on the guys that I've coached. I was in Chicago for two years. I still like to watch them and on cheer on the guys who I know. Obviously, working with the 'D' on the Kings last year, I miss doing that. I think when it's in you, you never know how much you're going to miss the game until you're out of it. Right now, it's been very, very tough. I knew I needed to heal and now I'm just looking forward to whatever is going to happen next in my life. I take a positive attitude, I make sure I'm sober and I believe that things are going to be good for me.