A few weeks ago we posted comments from Kings GM Dean Lombardi, where he went out of his way to praise the maturity and growth he witnessed in Slava Voynnov during the NHL lockout.
During that time, Voynov played 35 games in Manchester and produced 16 points (seven goals and nine assists). And he’s kept up the pace, leading all Kings’ defensemen in points through the first 11 games with two goals and four assists.
As we like to do every few weeks, we broke out our Russian-to-English language dictionary after practice today and checked in with Voynov on few timely topics.
First off, he said there wasn’t any particular area he was working to improve in during the lockout – “Not really, just trying to stay consistent from year to year. I just tried to get better every day in Manch.”
Voynov also credited somebody from the Kings’ developmental staff for helping him along – “Mike O’Connell worked with me and helped me all the time. He helped me with my play in both the defensive and offensive zones.”
With Alec Martinez injured and out of the line-up for the next week or so, the Kings have called up Andrew Campbell again – somebody Voynov knows well from his days in the AHL.
“I think I played my whole second year with him. He’s good defensively” the 23-year old added. “I like playing with players who stay back the whole time. Nice guy, nice player.”
Finally, Voynov has told us in the past that he’s taught a few of this teammates a little bit of Russian – as Matt Greene put on display during the playoffs last season.
So, did he teach Campbell any of the mother tongue when they were partners in Manchester?
“No,” Voynov said with a big laugh. “Just Marty.”
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