Kings Vice Presidnet and Assistant General Manager Ron Hextall joined NHL Live hosts EJ Hradek and Deb Placey for about 15 minutes this morning. Given all the jokes about the Kings becoming the Flyers West (see yesterday's article), it was a little comical when they introduced him as an executive of the Flyers. Oops!
Below are the other highlights:
* Dave Tippett told EJ that Hex liked to talk during the games, sometimes even announcing the game while in goal. Ron said he tried to talk to his forwards and defenseman as much as possible. They always use to say 'make ears eyes'. Any advantage you can get you want to use it.
* At the recent GM meetings there was a lot of talk about goaltenders playing the puck and the area they can move around in. Ron said: "I don't prefer the trapezoid. However, it's a happy medium to not letting goalies play the puck at all. The idea is to create the forecheck. Yet, it exposes your defenseman against hard hits. So, there are two things I dont like about it - no interference, plus the trapezoid where the goalie cant go out and move it in the corners. I'm also not sold that it creates the forecheck. Smart dump ins by players are underrated. I'm not sure coaches stress them enough. Cross corner dumps or soft dumps, I'm not sure players do it right. I would take it out if given a vote, but it wouldn't be one of the first issues I would go after."
* Re: Jonathan Quick - He's very athletic, a good kid. We fast tracked him last year and he did a good job for us. This year he has been inconsistent. He's played a lot of games this year and will continue to do so. He's our guy. He has a chance to be a top 10 goalie, we're very excited about him.
* Re: Frolov - We want to see more urgency in his game, he needs to step it up. On a lot of nights we want to see more from him. He's a very good hockey player, could be great if he'd improve his consistency. We've made no secret about wanting more from him.
* You scored a goal against the Bruins and you used to play for the Flyers. Any thoughts on the Winter Classic? Well, not a lot has changed; both are big strong physical teams. The guts of the organization haven't changed and the identity of the teams haven't changed. Quite frankly, that's the kind of team I prefer. I think that's how you win and go far in the playoffs, with teams like that. It's going to be a great game.
* How about the Kings in a Winter Classic? That would be great. They was an outdoor game in Vegas many years ago with the Kings. (note: I wonder if he knew the NHL Network is replaying that game several times next weekend, nice plug Ron)
* Talk about the battle for positioning in the Western Conference: It's going to a battle all the way to the end for sure. You see teams like Vancouver, Nashville - even St Louis, Edmonton - you expect them to pick it up beyond even where they've been so far. It's going to be a battle all the way to the end. Even Anaheim will get it going at some point and they'll be in the mix. That whole theory of the playoffs starting the first day of the season, I'm not so sure it's not true anymore.
One19
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