Since Dean Lombardi took over as General Manager of the Kings in the spring of 2006, several of his first round draft picks have received a lot of hype and attention. The current recipient of copious amounts of press is probably goaltender Jonathan Bernier, especially now that he’s openly talking about requesting a a trade out of LA. Defenseman Thomas Hickey, selected the year after Bernier, has been surrounded by controversy almost from the moment he was called to the podium. Lombardi and staff caused quite a stir when they called his name fourth overall in 2007, this for a player who most experts had pegged as a second rounder.
The following year, LA took Drew Doughty second overall and Lombardi supposedly whispered ‘Someday you’re going to win me a Stanley Cup’ in his ear while they were posing for pictures on stage.
There’s also Colton Teubert (2008) and Brayden Schenn (2009) – both traded away over the last two years, for Dustin Penner and Mike Richards. However, perhaps lost a little in all these names is Trevor Lewis.
It was at the 2006 NHL Draft, where Dealer Dean went right to work – sending forward Pavol Demitra to Minnesota for the infamous ‘prospect and a pick.’ Demetria was coming off a season where he scored 25 goals for the Kings, just one shy of the team lead. In return, Lombardi received a player who had yet to make his NHL debut (Patirck O’Sullivan) and the Wild’s first round draft pick, 17th overall.
Lombardi used that selection to do something no other Kings GM had ever done in the first round before him – take a player from the USHL.
Enter Lewis, who had just spent two years with the Des Moines Buccaneers, including a coming out party in 2005-06 where he led the team in goals (35) and points (75). Lewis then played the following season in the OHL before turning pro and cutting his teeth with the Manchester Monarchs.
On today’s show, we’ll talk about some of his memories along the way and hit on a few of these topics as well:
– Growing up in Salt Lake City
– Taking the Stanley Cup back to Utah
– Anze Kopitar’s younger brother Gasper
– Kevin Westgarth when he first left Princeton
– What happened during his NHL debut
– Scoring his first NHL goal against his favorite childhood team
– Hanging out at the USC football game recently
– If the lockout continues, where is he thinking of playing?
– Terry Murray vs. Darryl Sutter
– His two goals in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final
– Changing positions
– Lots of talk about Drew Doughty (being roommates, his Cup party, late night calls, etc.)
– And of course, we had to get an answer to this question submitted by a MayorsManor reader:
@mayornhl who spoons who? Doughty and Lewis. #askLewis
— Colin Fraser (@colinfraser) October 23, 2012
Overall, it’s a strong effort by Lewis in his first appearance on the show…
NOTE: If you’re on an ipad or iphone, click here to listen to today’s episode.
Many other Kings related guests have joined us recently as well – including Jeff Carter, Dustin Penner, Dwight King, Jordan Nolan, Monarchs coach Mark Morris, prospects Tyler Toffoli, Martin Jones and dozens more – click here to see the full list of shows.
Also, be sure to check out Kevin Westgarth’s appearance from last Friday here. He’s the Kings player rep and has been heavily involved in the CBA negotiations. He stopped by to clear up much of the confusion and share his take on what’s really been going on. Very interesting stuff related to the lockout – don’t miss it.
Thanks for listening!
Trevor man, did my invite to your cup party get lost in the mail? It was probably family only, but I bet we have enough Kings fans here in UT to have our own little parade. Well, I promise to come see you play for the Grizzlies. I’ll be the one in the Legends Night jersey.