I love LA.
But, I sure do appreciate the attention I get in Texas. A few years ago the Dallas Morning News had a write up on me, with quotes from a few players. A Dallas area sports radio station came knocking soon after. Then, earlier today...Richard Durrett, who covers the NHL and the Stars for ESPNDallas.com, posted the following article:
The Mayor, from his Los Angeles Kings blog Mayor's Manor, answered a few Dallas Stars questions for us in preparation for Saturday's game.
Q: Give Stars fans a scouting report on the Kings this season.
GM Dean Lombardi took over the team a few years ago with a plan. He's stuck to that plan, regardless of what critics have had to say. This year it looks like things are finally starting to come together. The Kings have a ton of young, mainly home grown talent up front (Kopitar, Brown, Frolov), on defense (Doughty and Johnson) and in net (Quick). This summer they added two key high character, proven winners -- veterans Ryan Smyth and Rob Scuderi. This complemented deals made prior to last season to get Matt Greene and Jarret Stoll.
The Kings had 12 points after the first 10 games, added another 12 points in the next 10 and posted 13 in the next 10. As a team, they've been very consistent. Individually, they've been very streaky. From day one of training camp Ryan Smyth and Anze Kopitar have had a budding bro-mance. Along with their linemate, Justin Williams, they were on fire the first month of the season. More recently, its been Jarret Stoll and Wayne Simmonds carrying the load. Jonathan Quick has been a workhorse in net, playing all buy three games for the team.
Defensively, the team has been solid. Drew Doughty is finally starting to garner some of the attention he should have received last year when he put up a Calder worthy rookie campaign. Although most hockey people say the Kings overpaid to get Rob Scuderi (a free agent coming off a Cup run in Pittsburgh), he's been well worth the money. On D the Kings are well-balanced with a mix of stay-at-home guys (Scuderi, O'Donnell, Greene) and offensive-minded players (Doughty, Johnson).
Interestingly, the Kings are loaded with US college players, including on defense (Greene, North Dakota; Scuderi, Boston College; Johnson, Michigan; and Drewiske, Wisconsin). Up front the have Scott Parse (Nebraska) and Ted Purcell (Maine). In goal, J. Quick (UMass).
Q: Anze Kopitar sure has collected a bunch of points (tied for fifth going into Friday's game). What makes him so productive?
Q: Which line should the Stars look out for tonight?
Q: Talk about the Kings' special teams. It looks like the penalty kill has struggled so far this season.
Q: Injury update?
Q: Who will start in goal for the Kings? Tell us about him.
Q: Who are some players Stars fans should keep an eye on?
Q: Anything else we should know about the Kings?
My answers to the other questions can be viewed by clicking here to read the remainder of the article on ESPN.com.
The Mayor
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