Justin Williams was on NHL Live radio this morning. Here are some very quick highlights…
* He thought with all the injuries the last few years he had lost a step. That’s something he worked hard on over the summer – to regain that step, his quickness and his confidence.
* The Kings didn’t score on the five minute power play last night. Who is credited for keeping the team from getting down? Jonathan Quick. He’s playing the best hockey of his career. He’s making stops and seeing everything. He’s in the zone right now. We played a great defensive game.
* What has Willie Mitchell mean to the team? He has given us extra confidence. By choosing us it helps everybody believe in ourselves more. We want to be a top echelon team. Willie is a great shut down guy and a great character guy in the locker room.
* Has there been extra pressure heading into the season because of the success last year? There’s been a buzz in LA. That’s usually reserved for the Lakers, so it’s been nice. And the hot start has really helped. We’re not going to surprise anybody this year though. We’re a young, hungry team.
* Talk about the rookies for a minute… The youthful enthusiasm is addicting. I thought we were going to get a little older this summer and we actually are younger this year. We’ve got some great up and comers. Brayden Schenn is going to be a really, really good player. We don’t know what’s going to happen with him yet though (re: the decision to return him to juniors or keep him in the NHL).
* What’s it like playing with Ryan Smyth? We’re on similar wave lengths, where we’re both trying to get back to where we were at earlier points in our careers (he also alludes to not quite having had the same success Smyth has had in LA…yet). I want to get back to being an impact player every night. Smyth is playing in game 1000 tomorrow and you can’t hit that number without having some skill. He works hard every night. He goes to the net, bang bodies, etc.
* How much fun was it to wear the retro purple and gold jerseys on opening night? It was a lot of fun. The only problem is working in all the new equipment. It’s fun for the fans too to see those things again.
* Do you have a sense of the Kings-Ducks rivalry? Yes. It’s fun. We need to get both teams in the playoffs for it to reach the next level. There is some bad blood there though.
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Listen to the interview by clicking here (via Kings Vision)
