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| Simon Gagne / LA Kings (photo: M. Zampelli) |
In this month’s ‘What I’ve learned so far’ series, several LA Kings players have shared which of their teammates are nerds (or geeks, depending on who you speak with…and apparently there is a difference between the two), who the best passer on the team is, who is coming out of his shell on the road and a few other tidbits.
Simon Gagne joined the team in early July and was already familiar with another new King, Mike Richards. However, he’s still getting to know most of the guys in LA.
Through eight games played, he’s fit in nicely on the top line with Anze Kopitar – posting seven points (three goals, four assists) and leads the team with a plus-5 rating.
After spending his entire career in the Eastern Conference, here’s what he’s learned so far this season…
About Dustin Brown – “As a player, Brownie is a guy who’s known for his character and his role as a captain. Now I understand why he’s a leader here. He’s going all in every night. He likes to put himself out there and play physical on the ice, finish his checks and tries to get the momentum for the team. That’s what you want from your captain and you really notice it when you play with the guy.”
About Jack Johnson – “I knew that he was a really good, young defenseman. But, I think he’s playing like a veteran already. He’s playing some big minutes for us and he’s a guy who’s really strong on his skates. He’s really strong physically too. Right now, he might be the go-to-guy for game winners. He has that touch right now.”
About Jonathan Quick – “He’s definitely one of the best goalies in the league. It’s too bad that more people don’t have a chance to see him a lot, because we play in the West – meaning our games are on at 10:30 at night for (a large majority) of people who watch hockey in North America. But, I’m really surprised. I had heard a lot of great things about him last year. But, he’s exceptional and deserves all the credit. He’s one of the toughest goalies I’ve had to practice against too. Sometimes, in practice, goalies just go into the net and feel the puck once and a while. But, he doesn’t like to quit. He makes us work to score goals in practice. That’s fun to see.”
More in this series will be posted later this week.
If you haven’t been keeping up, links to the previous articles can be found below. Depending on the player, some guys chose to talk about what they’ve learned on the ice, while others went with their off-ice findings.
RELATED ARTICLES:
What I’ve learned so far… by Alec Martinez – he calls out Trevor Lewis
What I’ve learned so far… by Simon Gagne – what it means to be a captain
What I’ve learned so far… by Dustin Brown – responds to Westgarth’s allegations
What I’ve learned so far… by Drew Doughty – on the ice and off the ice observations
What I’ve learned so far… by Kevin Westgarth – more good comedy from Westy
Trevor Lewis dishes on his ‘road roommate’ – Mike Richards
Mitchell and Richards admit to budding bromance
Simon Gagne likes what he’s seen so far, even the travel
Gagne – ‘Mike Richards is the type of guy I want on my team’
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