KINGS NOTES...
By Gann Matsuda
10-29-00 For those interested, here are the results of the Los Angeles Kings' superskills competition, held on Sunday at Staples Center: Accuracy Shooting: Bob Corkum - hit four targets in five shots Breakaway: Jamie Storr - six saves (Tomas Vlasak - two goals) Fastest Skater: Jason Blake, 14.024 (2nd - Lubomir Visnovsky, 14.185; 3rd - Nelson Emerson, 14.354) Hardest Shot: Rob Blake 97.9 (2nd - Mattias Norstrom 96.9; 3rd - Glen Murray 94.5) Pass and Score: Marcel Cousineau - seven saves (Ziggy Palffy - two goals) Puck Control Relay: Jason Blake, Steve Reinprecht and Ian Laperriere defeated Bryan Smolinski, Ziggy Palffy and Jaroslav Modry10-26-00 On Thursday, the Los Angeles Kings announced that they have recalled goalie Marcel Cousineau and have assigned goalie Steve Passmore to the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL. Cousineau played in seven games at Lowell, earning a 3-4-0 record, a 2.62 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. Passmore appeared in four games with the Kings this year with a 1-2-1 record to go along with a 2.80 GAA and a .892 save percentage. According to the Kings, this move was made to protect Passmore. Because Passmore was not selected in the waiver draft in September, he does not have to clear waivers again until after playing in ten games or after thirty days. Passmore is approaching the latter deadline, so the Kings sent him down as a means of keeping him on their roster until they get a clearer idea of how much longer goalie Stephane Fiset will be out of the lineup. 
10-23-00 On Monday, the Los Angeles Kings activated defenseman Rob Blake and left wing Stu Grimson from injured reserve. To make room on the roster, the Kings assigned defenseman Andreas Lilja and center Eric Belanger to the Lowell Lock Monsters of the IHL. Blake is currently recovering from a hairline fracture in his lumbar vertebrae, which he suffered on October 15 against the Boston Bruins. Grimson was suffering from an injured right hand and is reported to be at 100%. Lilja, who was recalled last week, did not play for the Kings while he was up with the big club. Belanger scored two goals and had four assists for six points while playing at center between Luc Robitaille and Ziggy Palffy. But he has become a victim of the numbers game with Jozef Stumpel back in the lineup. Belanger, who is among the NHL scoring leaders among rookies, was a healthy scratch on Saturday at Dallas. Sending Belanger down to Lowell does make one wonder how he would do on left wing. He apparently got a chance in practice, but how much practice time do they get on the road? Not that much. Craig Johnson might be a better defensive player and may be faster, but Belanger is a better playmaker and is probably a better goal-scorer. Of course, a playmaker needs to be at the center position, so perhaps Belanger will return soon if Steven Reinprecht does not get the job done. 10-18-00 Late Wednesday, the Los Angeles Kings announced that they have signed holdout center Jozef Stumpel to a new three-year deal. As usual, financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. Stumpel, 28, led the Kings in assists last season with 41 and averaged more than a point-per-game last year, scoring 17 goals and adding 41 assists for 58 points in 57 games. "I'm very happy to be joining my teammates and being back in the lineup for the Kings," Stumpel said, before leaving for St. Louis to join the team on their current four-game road trip. "I'm ready to jump right in and I'm looking forward to contributing right away." The Kings were also happy to have Stumpel back in the fold. "We are very pleased to finalize this contract with Jozef and know that he is committed to our organization for the next three years," said Taylor. "We look forward to his addition to our lineup." In other news, the Kings also announced that defenseman Rob Blake, who is out of the lineup with a hairline fracture in his lumbar vertebrae, has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to October 16. 10-16-00 Bad news on the injury front... Los Angeles Kings' defenseman and team captain Rob Blake will be out of the lineup for at least their upcoming four-game road trip, which begins at Nashville on Tuesday. Blake suffered a hairline fracture within the lumbar vertebrae, which was revealed by a CT scan on Monday. Blake suffered the injury in a collision on Friday when the Kings defeated the Boston Bruins at Staples Center. An x-ray examination after that game was negative and he played on Sunday against the Phoenix Coyotes, also at Staples Center. Blake, who currently leads all NHL defensemen in scoring, continued to experience discomfort, which led to the CT scan on Monday. Blake will begin rehabilitation work immediately and a full recovery is expected. He is listed as week-to-week. To take Blake's spot in the lineup, the Kings recalled defenseman Andreas Lilja from the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL. The Kings also placed left wing Stu Grimson on injured reserve, retroactive to October 8 due to an injured right hand. 10-13-00 Just prior to their game against the Boston Bruins on Friday night at Staples Center, Jim Fox reported on the "Break the Ice" pre-game show that Los Angeles Kings' goalie Jamie Storr was late for the morning skate at HealthSouth Training Center and missed the team meeting. As a result, Steve Passmore will get the start in goal against the Bruins. 10-11-00 My apologies...this "article" isn't Kings' news at all, but it does pertain to the editorial content of my work, so I thought you all should know about a change in the coverage of the Los Angeles Kings that I provide on the LA Kings E-Mail List and on the LA Kings Online Kingdom (http://www.kingshockey.com). As virtually all of you know, for the past 2 1/2 seasons, the Kings have provided me with a media credential so I could better cover the team, bringing you the latest news on the team straight from the dressing room after games and, when I had the time, from the practice facility dressing room as well. Being able to interview players, coaches and general manager (others, too) was a real boon to us. It allowed us, on both the e-mail list and the web site, to provide our subscribers/visitors a unique level of coverage on the Kings, something that no one else could offer in terms of detail or depth. Unfortunately, the Kings are no longer able to do that. Starting about mid-way through last season, the Kings were forced to stop providing credentials to anyone other than "accredited" media, which meant that those of us "working" for fan-operated web sites could no longer be credentialed. (BTW: Don't blame the Kings for this...it's not their fault. NHL rules have a lot to do with it. Also, one of the other fan-operated web sites [there are a few of them now] made a lot of noise about getting their writer[s] credentialed and caused this controversy and, in the end, ruined things for us). Fortunately for us, the Kings were looking for a writer to cover the team last season for their official web site and they recruited me for that position. That meant that I was credentialed for every game once I started writing for the Kings' web site in December, 1999. But times change. This past summer, the Kings hired a full-time webmaster/writer (something they did not have until then) and s/he will be the person doing all the writing for the web site. The good news here is that the Kings' web site may improve somewhat this season and should definitely improve once they overhaul the design after this season. So...this means that I'm back to being a "regular" fan again. I'll be watching most games on TV and catch a few games at Staples Center, money permitting. I remain hopeful that I can find some publication, web site or other "accredited" medium who needs a writer to cover the team so I can once again be credentialed and cover the Kings the way they should be covered...by a writer who has access to the players, coaches and other team officials to get the stories first-hand. But until and unless that happens, my game reports and articles won't be of the quality you've all become accustomed to over the past 2+ seasons. But hey...it's not the end of the world, right? 10-10-00 Matt McHale reported in Tuesday's DAILY NEWS that Los Angeles Kings' goalie Stephane Fiset will be out of action for at least the first month of the season. Fiset has been undergoing rehabilitation work, but is not yet skating. "It could be anywhere from two weeks to six weeks," Kings' trainer Pete Demers said. "He has been working out and making progress. We said when he got to 80 percent strength, he could start skating again. He is at 76 percent." "At first week, we were told a week, maybe two," Kings' head coach Andy Murray said. "Now we aren't sure when he's coming back." Kings' left wing Stu Grimson, who fought Colorado's Scott Parker in an exhibition game, is suffering from an infected cut from that fight. He is expected to be available on Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues. McHale has more information in his article and in another article in the paper. Be sure to check it out...pick up a copy of the paper or point your web browser to: http://www.dailynewslosangeles.com/archives/today/spo04.asp http://www.dailynewslosangeles.com/archives/today/spo05.asp (Those links will work on 10/10/2000 only!) 10-6-00 On Friday, the Los Angeles Kings announced that they have activated right wing Ziggy Palffy from injured reserve and have assigned forward Brad Chartrand to the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL. Palffy suffered a fractured finger on September 23, during a pre-season game against the San Jose Sharks. He will be in the lineup tonight for the Kings' 2000-2001 season opener at Washington. Chartrand apparently cleared waivers, allowing the Kings to assign him to Lowell. 10-4-00 On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Kings announced that they have loaned defenseman Philippe Boucher to the Manitoba Moose of the IHL. Boucher was designated for assignment on September 28. 10-3-00 On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Kings announced that they have placed right wing Ziggy Palffy and goalie Stephane Fiset on injured reserve and that they have assigned rookie defenseman Andreas Lilja to the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL. Palffy suffered a fractured right finger during an exhibition game against the San Jose Sharks at Bakersfield on September 23. Fiset suffered a sprained left knee during a pre-season game at Anaheim on September 22. Both Palffy and Fiset will be eligible to come off the injured reserve list in time to be available for the Kings' 2000-2001 season opener at Washington on October 6. Lilja, 25, who was selected by the Kings in the second round of the 2000 NHL draft (54th overall), played well in the pre-season but it would appear that the Kings have given the nod to rookie defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, who is more of an offensive defenseman. The Kings also announced that they will hold two practices, one of which has already past (11 AM PST). They will also practice at 7:00 PM PST at Staples Center with season ticket holders invited.
