The Los Angeles Kings were privileged enough to have four prospects attend this year’s Team USA World Junior Championship evaluation camp.
That’s quite the step up from the quality and depth they’ve had in recent years with American-born prospects.
Unfortunately, today was cut down day and only half of the crop will be staying.
Defenseman Kevin Gravel (a [...]
Forbort, Shore stay – Gravel, Mersch cut at USA WJC camp
August 9, 2011 By
More camping for Kings’ Forbort, Gravel, Mersch and Shore
August 7, 2011 By
How did this happen?
Over the last ten years, the Los Angeles Kings have had only two pure prospects represent Team USA at the World Junior Championships – defenseman Derek Forbort (last January) and forward Trevor Lewis (2007).
Yes, Dustin Brown played for the U.S. in 2002 and 2003. However, he hadn’t been drafted by the [...]
Interview with LA Kings 2011 draft pick Michael Mersch
July 8, 2011 By
When it comes to prospects currently in the LA Kings pipeline, here’s a quick overview of where things stand…
One, they seem to have an abundance of defensemen. Two, for the first time in franchise history they’re stacked in net. And three, GM Dean Lombardi was probably close to putting a ‘left wings wanted’ [...]
DevCamp 2011: pre-camp comments from Kevin Gravel
July 7, 2011 By
For those who follow the Los Angeles Kings prospects, especially the defensemen, you’re probably familiar with names like Derek Forbort, Thomas Hickey and Viatcheslav Voynov.
Yet, start to remember the name Kevin Gravel.
The 6-foot-4 blueliner recently wrapped up his freshman season at St. Cloud State University, where he won William Radovich Award for the most [...]
POLL: Who is the best U.S. born Kings player of all-time?
July 4, 2011 By
Happy 4th of July to all the MayorsManor readers and a special thank you to all the military personnel and their families. We appreciate all that you do to keep us safe and allow us to spend so much time thinking about hockey, instead of the horrible things people in other parts of the [...]
LA Kings Prospect Report – notes on Forbort, Gravel
June 9, 2011 By
The Kings top pick from last summer’s draft, defenseman Derek Forbort, has been invited to this summer’s Team USA evaluation camp.
The sessions, held each August by Canada, the U.S. and other countries are the first step to assembling rosters for next winter’s World Junior Championship – which will be played in Western Canada, starting the [...]
Jack and USA done, Bernier ready for Ovechkin tomorrow
May 11, 2011 By
Johnson and Jagr at IIHF quarterfinalsPhoto by Matthew Manor / HHOF-IIHF
Out of the sixteen countries to play in the main pool at last year’s IIHF World Championships the United States finished 13th – ahead of only France, Italy and Kazakhstan.
They’ll finish five slots higher this year, but there isn’t much to celebrate. After advancing to the elite-8, they [...]
Forget Quick… It’s the return of Bernier vs Ersberg!
May 8, 2011 By
You read that right.
It’s just not for a spot on the Kings. Instead, they’ll square off at the IIHF World Championships in Slovakia.
With Canada looking to lock down the top spot in their pool on Monday, coach Ken Hitchcock has announced he’ll start Jonathan Bernier in goal for their final game of the qualification round.
Bernier [...]
Exclusive: Michael Mersch on Team USA camp experience
Michael Mersch at camp (photo by Cikiri)
Playing for your country is something every hockey player takes very seriously. It’s a true honor.
To play on an international stage is a process also. And for the top under-20 year old Americans, the first step towards wearing that jersey at the upcoming World Junior Championships is [...]