9-25 Preview – Projected Game Group + early camp notes on Roy, Clarke and Thomas
# 9-25 Preview – Projected Game Group + early camp notes on Roy, Clarke and Thomas
# Contributors
# Players
# Staff
# Summary
The LA Kings begin their 2022 preseason schedule later this afternoon in San Jose at SAP Center with a matchup against the Sharks. Today’s contest is the first of seven total exhibition games, with three coming on the road, two at neutral sites and two at Crypto.com Arena.
# Notes and Quotes
# Matt Roy
Pace, physicality, positioning, I mean, sometimes in games, you just trust the guy to be on the right position, but in summer it’s as a kind of looping all over the place. There’s more structure now and in that sense, it makes the game a little bit easier, but at the same time, the pace, is the physicality of the stakes.
Yeah, I think naturally, the guy like Brownie leaving kind of leaves a hole on the team and it doesn’t have to be one person stepping up. I think, us as a group, everyone can step up and contribute in different ways and fill the void that way.
# Todd McLellan on Brandt Clarke
Everything about him so far has been real positive. The game that got Brandt here is the game that we’re seeing right now. He’s a cerebral player, he sees things, he anticipates well, he’s a great passer, he does play with some risk in his game, which isn’t a bad thing, and he’s very competitive.
He’s going to learn a lot of the tricks of the trade, but he’s also going to teach some of those too because he has some things in him that some others don’t. His strength, fitness and conditioning are at a very elite level for junior and it has to get better for the pro level but that’s called being an underage player.
# Akil Thomas
These scrimmages are game-like, but they’re not a full game in a full barn and stuff like that. If I’m playing, I’m excited to get back into action and show what I can do.
The biggest thing for me is that I feel prepared. That just gives me a little bit more confidence and that’s probably something I didn’t have last year because I wasn’t prepared, I didn’t skate once. It was tough coming back off of injury and especially coming back and then injuring my foot. It definitely took a while to get my legs back, but I feel really confident and I’m getting some good habits early on and trying to build off it.
I don’t have a stern approach because in the past, maybe I’d be thinking I’ve got to do this or that and be a little bit nervous. For me it’s just about showing up to the game. I’ve done my work in the offseason to be prepared so I’m just going to pay attention to the video beforehand and make sure I’m playing well defensively and the rest will kind of happen.