With the Kings in Toronto to take on the Leafs tomorrow night, Bob Miller and Daryl Evans stopped by Gretzky's restaurant this afternoon for an appearance on the NHL Power Play, available on both radio and TV throughout North America at 1pm PST.While it was great to have them talking Kings hockey for over 30 minutes - instead of listening to their normal stories about the Bruins, Flyers, Blackhawks, Penguins and Capitals - there wasn't a lot of new ground broken for fans that follow the team in LA.
Here are some highlights for the curious though:
Bob said this is the 4th year of rebuilding and the expectations are the playoffs this year. His big question coming into the season was how good would Quick be - and up to this point, he's been great.
Daryl eluded to Dave Taylor deserving part of the credit for any success the team has this year, as he drafted guys like Brown and Kopitar.
Bob said Doughty has been outstanding. Dean is very cautious about kids coming in to the NHL too soon, but that hasn't been a problem with Doughty. He probably could have been rookie of the year. The poise he has is so impressive. He's going to be a Norris candidate for many years to come. Both he and Johnson are great players. For Doughty, it's like the bigger the game, the bigger he plays.
Re: Lombardi's comments about Jack and Michigan - Daryl says Jack had to adjust his game when he came to the NHL. He is a strong skater, shoots the puck a ton, can finish guys in the corner, etc. The style you play in college is more run and gun. There is more structure in the NHL. And the minus 18 is not indicative of his play. For example, he hasn't been on the ice a lot with the Kopitar line, so he isn't getting the pluses. Also, he's been on the ice a lot against the other team's top line.
Bob chimes in that he hates the plus/minus stat. He also says Dean meant it as a comment about how much Jack has developed since coming into the NHL. Jack has a great shot, can move up into the play when he needs to, etc.
Bob thinks Quick struggled a little bit at the start of the year, then he turned it around. Last week against Buffalo, Miller was outstanding, but so was Quick. He doesn't think Quick will be out of his league at all when he is with Team USA.
Daryl is not concerned about Quick's fatigue down the stretch. Says Quick is very athletic and the more he plays the more he gets into it.
RE: Frolov's play this year - Daryl says he's not finishing the same way as in the past. His puck protection on a consistent basis hasn't been there, like it was in the past. It's mind boggling given that it's a contract year. Bob added that he's always been a streaky player. However, there is no doubt the Kings want more goal scoring from Frolov.
On the subject of LA needing a superstar to draw, Bob would like to think its about winning. But, he realizes that what has kept the Lakers at the top of the sports pages all these years is that they keep replacing superstar with superstar year after year. He's just not sure who would be available for the Kings to go out and get, Gretzky was a once in a lifetime type deal. Daryl says they can develop the superstar in house, with guys like Doughty. The Kings are an exciting team to watch right now and that helps attract new fans too.
They wrapped things up talking about the Miracle on Manchester and the Triple Crown.
You can watch the full 3o+ minute video stream via Kings Vision by clicking here.
One19
www.twitter.com/Mayor119
This is awesome!
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