August 7, 2014
by Gann Matsuda
LA KINGS PROSPECT WATCH: Throughout the summer, Frozen Royalty will be taking a look at several of the Los Angeles Kings’ young prospects. In this installment, the focus is on 2009 fourth round selection, goaltender Jean-Francois Berube. Audio interviews with Berube and Kim Dillabaugh, who handles goaltender development for the Kings, are also included.
LA Kings goaltender prospect J.F. Berube (left) and Kim Dillabaugh (right),
who handles goaltender development for the Kings, shown here
during a practice session on May 8, 2014, at the
Toyota Sports Center in EL Segundo, California.
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net
LOS ANGELES — Back on June 13, 2014, at
Staples Center in Los Angeles, more than one hour after the
Los Angeles Kings had won the 2014 Stanley Cup Championship by defeating the
New York Rangers in Game 5, 3-2 in double overtime, most of the Kings players had retreated into their dressing room as their own, private celebration had begun.
But a few players remained on the ice, soaking in the atmosphere. This handful of players also hoisted hockey’s version of the Holy Grail, but only briefly, and they did not skate with the Stanley Cup at all.
Those players were some of the Black Aces—young prospects who had been recalled during the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Kings’ primary minor league affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, to observe rather than play.
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