(Los Angeles) It’s a little Thursday at noon in the Kings and Lakers gift shop at Staples Center. Only four people are there: the lady at the reception, a clerk, a journalist from Press and the cashier, who takes advantage of the tranquility of the moment to unpack boxes.
On the hooks, a lot of numbers 11 (Anze Kopitar), 8 (Drew Doughty) and 32 (Jonathan Quick). We then try our luck with the cashier and ask him if he has any merchandise from Phillip Danault.
” Who ?
– Phillip Danault, number 24.
– I’m sorry, I don’t know Phillip Denim. “
Is it the journalist’s accent? The mask that interferes with correct pronunciation? The cashier’s ignorance of hockey? We are leaning towards this third option when he also invites us to look at Jeff Carter’s 77 jerseys, sold to the Penguins six months ago.
However, by leaving Montreal for Los Angeles, Danault went from one extreme to the other. During the Kings’ morning practice Thursday, no one tweeted the lines in preparation for the night’s game. Literally no one. At a Canadian training, it’s practically a ritual, and every little change is commented on by Internet users.
We understood after training why no one tweeted the trios. In the small locker room recycled into the conference room, there are seven journalists waiting for Todd McLellan: three from Montreal, radio analyst Daryl Evans, two men wearing Kings coats (we take for granted that they work for the team) and the friendly Jesse, who works on the radio. A single camera films the press briefing, that of Jean-François “Mad Dog” Vachon, from Radio-Canada.
“It’s hard to get journalists from here and you arrive three days early!” McLellan jokes, seeing the scribes. Los Angeles may be one of the three mega-cities of the United States, but the coverage of its hockey team does not exactly compare to that of the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs, or that of other big American teams like the Rangers, the Bruins. or the Flyers.
The more the season progresses, the more media you see. And in the playoffs, even if it’s not like in Montreal, there is more coverage. But you don’t spend 30 minutes in the locker room after a match, because that would mean that the same journalist would ask you the same questions several times!
Stéphane Fiset, member of the Kings for five years, now agent of Phillip Danault
“You have to remember that basketball is big, football, baseball and soccer are too. There are several sports. Sports journalists are divided, that’s why we see them more later in the season, ”adds Stéphane Fiset, on the phone.
The happiness of coach
Danault was not made available to meet the media after Thursday morning practice. It will be for this Friday, on the eve of his reunion with the Habs.
But Todd McLellan was quick to talk about his new second line center.
“You look to one side, you see the number 11 [Kopitar] who is exhausted, you turn around and you see number 24 fresh and ready… That’s a pretty good feeling for a coach! McLellan launched. Before, when the 11 was tired, we had very good players, but they didn’t have as much experience as Phillip Danault. ”
It is a luxury that McLellan enjoys, indeed, with these two centers. Kopitar won the Selke Trophy (best defensive forward) in 2016 and 2018. Danault is ranked in the top 7 ballot every year for three years.
On the other hand, collectively, the results are long overdue, because the Kings remain a formation which has not quite finished its phase of reconstruction. Victorious in their first game of the season, they lost their next five games, and tried Thursday night to end their losing streak by hosting the Winnipeg Jets.
Danault had just one point in six games (before Thursday’s game). We can guess that the adaptation is particularly difficult for him, since not only was he used to the Canadian system, but he was continuously paired with the same wingers. In the past three seasons, he’s played over 1,900 five-on-five minutes with Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher, according to Natural Stat Trick. Since arriving in Los Angeles, he has formed a trio with Adrian Kempe and Alex Iafallo.
Things are better for Kopitar, who started the season with six goals and three assists in six games. His wingers, Dustin Brown (two) and Viktor Arvidsson (one), total three goals. The rest of the training? Only five goals …
“They take care of the big confrontations,” said forward Trevor Moore, a third line forward. Phil is a faceoff horse. He wins a lot and can play against anyone. Kopitar too. So we have, within the last two lines, easier duels. It’s up to us to take advantage of it. ”
In short
“We had tears in our eyes”
Like everyone in hockey, Todd McLellan watched Kyle Beach’s interview with TSN colleague Rick Westhead on Wednesday, in which Beach detailed his allegations of sexual assault he allegedly suffered in 2010, when ‘he was part of the Blackhawks reserve team. “I watched it with my wife, we had tears in our eyes. It’s a horrible thing that happened to a young man and it took a lot of courage, ”said the Kings head coach. McLellan then recalled that he had learned a lot about the subject in his former life, having taken over from Graham James in the mid-1990s at the head of the Swift Current Broncos in the Western Junior League. (WHL). However, it was in 1996 that James was accused of sexual assault for the first time, by Sheldon Kennedy. “We have a very good support system. We are trained for that, assured McLellan. I was GM at Swift Current when it broke, and we learned a lot. So we are ready. ”
A heavy loss
It’s not just in Montreal that there is a big hole in the blue line. The Kings learned this week that Drew Doughty (knee) will be out for eight weeks. The team’s number one defenseman for more than a decade, Doughty started the season on a roll with seven points in four games. Coaches often say these absences are opportunities for other players to show off. But McLellan recalled the cold reality behind the cliché. “Look in Montreal, there isn’t really a Shea Weber coming from the draft or from Laval. Several players could become one day. But they are not ripe. It’s the same situation here. So we hope the guys replace him by committee. It’s a cliché, but it doesn’t happen overnight. ”
A second heavy loss
He’s not as well-known as Doughty, but Sean Walker was the Kings’ second-largest defenseman in usage time when he was injured on Monday. His season is completely over. Walker also played from time to time in the second wave, behind that led by Doughty. The Kings therefore find themselves deprived of defenders capable of playing on the power play. That said, McLellan says they are not considering five-attacking units at this time. “We talked about it, but we said to ourselves that we first had to show that we had confidence in our defenders. The season is young and it’s not like Drew and Walker are going to be back in a week. We have to show that we believe in our guys, that they can do the job. Then, if that doesn’t work, we can look at the five attacker option. ”