Youth is being served in LA as the Kings not only have a wealth of prospects in their system but also a large crop on the parent squad.
With such a large group of youngsters in the everyday lineup growing pains are inevitable. These pains were never felt more than during last years playoffs when they were eliminated in the 1st round by the Vancouver Canucks in six games. This failure followed a promising 46 win and 6th seed finish.
Here is a positional preview of the 2010/11 Los Angeles Kings:
Goaltenders:
Jonathan Quick
Jonathan Bernier
The Jonathan tandem is young and talented. Quick pulled the load (72 games) last year and also gained Olympic experience as USA'S 3rd team goalie. Bernier is considered a "Hot" prospect by most and will push Quick for time.
Defenseman:
Doughty-Greene
Scuderi-Johnson
Mitchell-Drewiske
Harrold
The top 3 pairs have a mixture of youth/experience & offensive/defensive.
-Doughty is arguably the top young defenseman in the game today. He also played major minutes for the Gold Medal winning Team Canada.
-Jack Johnson won silver with team USA & is another young jewel in the King's crown.
-Greene, Mitchell, and shot-blocking wizard Scuderi put the "D" in the City of Angels Defense.
Forwards:
Ponikarovsky-Kopitar-Brown
Smyth-Stoll-Williams
Richardson-Handzus-Simmonds
Clifford-Lewis-Westgarth
Schenn
The forward lines bring plenty of skill, grit, and youth to the table.
-Ponikarovsky comes to Tinsletown hoping to recover from what was a disasterous (but short) stay in Pittsburgh.
Smyth (Captain Canada) & Captain Dustin Brown set the tone for the youngsters and will be counted to lead them thru tough times.
Outlook: The Kings are loaded with prospects, young guns and potential. How quickly the potential becomes established will be key to their season.
