LA Kings prospects on TV tonight, plus other notes

It's Friday, so it's time for some college hockey. Three Kings' prospects will be featured on TV tonight...

- First up, Derek Forbort and the University of North Dakota will be at Minnesota-Duluth (ranked third in the nation). That game can be seen on CBS College Sports at 5 pm PST (DirecTV 614). Forbort, who was injured while playing for Team USA at the recent World Junior tournament, returned to action two weeks ago. On the season, he has one goal and four assists in 20 games played - although the former first round pick is primarily a stay-at-home defenseman.

- Two hours later, NBC Sports Network (DirecTV 603) will air Nick Shore and the University of Denver hosting number-one ranked Minnesota. Selected by the Kings in the third round of last June's NHL Draft, Shore was shut out last weekend after picking up three goals and seven assists in his previous 10 games. Overall, he has 24 points (7 goals, 17 assists) in 28 games played. Note: game two of the weekend series can be seen tomorrow night on a few of the FOX Sports regional channels.

- Wisconsin has the weekend off. They'll be at Denver next weekend, which will be the third weekend in a row Badgers sophomore Michael Mersch faces off with a fellow Kings prospect.  Taken by the Kings in the fourth round last June, Mersch has 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 28 games.

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.

LA Kings prospects featured in three TV games tonight

Until the AHL or the Canadian junior leagues can find a way to get more air time on the NHL Network, college hockey broadcasts are your best best to regularly check out some of the Kings prospects on television.  Tonight, viewers are treated to a triple header...

Joel Lowry - The Kings 2011 fourth round draft pick made his debut last weekend for Cornell University and picked up an assist. Tonight, he and his teammates will play longtime rival Yale, who went 17-1-1 at home last season and they come in tonight as the the 9th ranked team in the country. Earlier today, Lowry was interviewed for Cornell's 'Freshman Friday' series (link). That game starts at 4:30 pm PST on CBS Sports Network (DirecTV channel 613).

Derek Forbort - North Dakota's 6-foot-4 defenseman was the Kings first round selection in 2010, back when the draft was held in Los Angeles. The Fighting Sioux, Matt Greene's alma mater, are usually one of the top team's in the country. However, they're off to a rough start, including a split at home last weekend vs. St. Cloud State (and fellow Kings prospect Kevin Gravel). Tonight they're in Minnesota at 5:30pm PST to play Minnesota. The Gophers feature one of the best young American born hockey players in the game today, center Nick Bjugstad (who was drafted 19th in 2010, the slot the Kings traded out of to move up four spots and nab Forbort). Fifth-ranked Minnesota vs #15 North Dakota will be on Fox Sports North, DirecTV channel 668.

Nick Shore - LA's third round selection this past June is a freshman at the University of Denver (currently ranked 8th), who will be home tonight to host 14th ranked Minnesota-Duluth. Shore, like Forbort and Bjugstad above, is expected to be part of Team USA's World Junior Championship team later this winter. Tonight's game from Colorado can be seen on ROOT Sports, DirecTV channel 683 at 6:30 pm PST.

MayorsManor interviews with Shore and Forbort are linked below.

The Mayor
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LA Kings 2011 Draft Notes - rounds four, five, six and seven

I'll have full notes on the players listed below up later. For now, here's a quick recap on some more of the Los Angeles Kings draft picks today...

Fourth Round - LW Michael Mersch from the University of Wisconsin (pictured). Yes, another college player. During his just completed freshman year as a Badger, he posted 19 points in 41 games. He's 6-foot-2, 198 pounds and is a product of the US National Program. Mersch - along with other Kings prospects Derek Forbort, Kevin Gravel and Nick Shore - has been invited to this summer's evaluation camp for Team USA's squad being assembled for the 2012 World Junior tournament.

Fifth Round - LW Joel Lowry from Victoria (BCHL). The 6-foot-1 and 180 pounder had 24 goals and 43 assists in 42 games this past season. His brother Adam was taken earlier today by the Winnipeg Jets and his dad is an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames. Joel is scheduled to attend Cornell University in the fall - the same school that turned out former Kings prospect Matt Moulson.

Sixth Round - pick was traded, along with 2012 third rounder, to move up to #82 and select Nick Shore from Denver (NCAA) - detailed in a previous post this morning

Seventh Round - LW Michael Schumacher. A formula one driver? No, a forward for Frolunda HC. Last year, Kings GM Dean Lombardi selected a Russian with his final pick (Maxim Kitsyn). This year, he went to Sweden. And yes, he was trying to fill the gaping hole at LW throughout the entire organization. Schumacher is 6-foot-3, 198 pounds.

Overall, the team took one goalie, two centers and three left wingers. By country, they selected three Americans, one Canadian, one Finn and a Swede.

Only one Canadian? My how the game has changed.

More later.

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