What You Probably Don’t Know About Kevin Gravel’s Rise On LA Kings Depth Chart

July 9, 2016 by 2 Comments

PROSPECT WATCH: Frozen Royalty begins its off-season coverage of the Los Angeles Kings up-and-coming prospects with a look at the backstory that you probably haven’t heard about regarding defenseman Kevin Gravel’s development and ascent through the ranks of the Kings’ system. Features exclusive comments from Kings Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yanetti.

Ontario Reign defenseman Kevin Gravel
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/CaliShooterOne Photography

LOS ANGELES — This past season, Los Angeles Kings defenseman prospect Kevin Gravel played for the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Ontario Reign, where he showed that he just might have what it takes to be a National Hockey League-caliber defenseman.

In 55 regular season games with the Reign, the 24-year-old, 6-4, 199-pound native of Kingsford, Michigan scored seven goals and added 13 assists for 20 points, with a +4 plus/minus rating and 30 penalty minutes in 55 games.

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An Honor Long Overdue: LA Kings Great Rogie Vachon To Be Inducted Into Hockey Hall of Fame

June 27, 2016 by Leave a comment

STORY WITH AUDIO: After 29 years, Los Angeles Kings great Rogie Vachon was named as an Honored Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame on June 27. Read his comments and listen to an exclusive interview with him below.

LA Kings goaltending legend Rogie Vachon
(click above to view larger image)
Photo courtesy Los Angeles Kings Alumni Association

LOS ANGELES — As the saying goes, justice delayed is justice denied, and on June 27, the Hockey Hall of Fame corrected an injustice in the hockey world when they announced that former Los Angeles Kings goaltender Rogatien “Rogie” Vachon will be inducted as an honored member, joining Eric Lindros and Sergei Makarov in the Players category, on November 14 in Toronto.

Pat Quinn was elected posthumously in the Builders category.

Vachon first became eligible in 1987, but had been passed over time and time again, despite the fact that his numbers, honors and accomplishments shined brighter than so many others who had already been enshrined. So when the call came early this morning, Vachon was floored.

“I was in total shock,” he said. “All of a sudden, out of the blue, I get a call from [Hockey Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board] Lanny McDonald in Toronto, and he said, ‘congratulations. You’re in.’ I said, ‘yeah? In what?’ He said, ‘the Hall of Fame.’ I didn’t realize that he was on the Selection Committee. So he was the one who called me.”

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LA Kings Could Be Quite Active On Second Day of 2016 NHL Draft

June 25, 2016 by 1 Comment

2016 NHL DRAFT – Los Angeles Kings Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yanetti spoke exclusively with Frozen Royalty late Friday night about the Kings plans for today’s rounds 2-7 of the 2016 NHL Draft.

LOS ANGELES — The National Hockey League held the first round of its annual amateur draft on June 24 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. But a few teams, including the Los Angeles Kings, did not have a first round pick and were forced to sit and watch the cream of the crop of the 2016 NHL Draft parade pass them by.

The Kings don’t pick until the 51st overall selection in the second round and never had an opportunity to move into the first round.

“We played some [scenarios] out awhile ago,” said Mark Yanetti, the Kings Director of Amateur Scouting. “If you want to talk about the analytic component of moving up and down [in the draft], there’s no way to get from 51 to 30 [the final pick in the first round] without doing something that doesn’t make sense.”

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LA Kings Draft Hits, Misses and Comic “Relief”

June 24, 2016 by Leave a comment

2016 NHL DRAFT: Frozen Royalty’s coverage of the Los Angeles Kings and the 2016 National Hockey League Draft continues with a look at some of the Kings’ hits and misses in recent drafts, and one hilarious draft story.

LOS ANGELES — One look at the Los Angeles Kings’ record of drafting and developing their young prospects will show that they’ve been very, very good at it since Dean Lombardi took over as President/General Manager in April 2006.

Indeed, 18 players selected in the draft by Lombardi and his staff between 2006 and 2012 have made an impact in the National Hockey League, with ten contributing to the Kings winning the Stanley Cup in 2012 and/or 2014, and more are likely coming from subsequent drafts. Given Lombardi’s stated goal of selecting at least two players who would be able to play in the NHL in each draft, his amateur scouts and development staff have achieved a remarkable record of success.

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LA Kings Looking To Re-Discover Innovation, Creativity In Amateur Scouting, Drafting

June 24, 2016 by Leave a comment

2016 NHL DRAFT: Frozen Royalty continues its coverage of the Los Angeles Kings and the 2016 National Hockey League Draft with a look at how changes the Kings are making across their hockey operations—that re-tooling that President/General Manager Dean Lombardi talked about in early May—and how they have affected amateur scouting and the draft.

LOS ANGELES — About two weeks after the Los Angeles Kings were eliminated from the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs in just five games—they were mostly dominated by the San Jose Sharks—President/General Manager Dean Lombardi spoke to the media and talked about significant changes, both in actions and in thinking, that were in the works.

Lombardi also said that the team would not be rebuilding, but added that some re-tooling was in order and that was not restricted to the current players. He also mentioned that the first group to meet with him was his amateur scouts.

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