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Jarret Stoll On Retirement: “I Knew What I Wanted To Do After Hockey…I Have No Regrets At All”

July 15, 2017 by Leave a comment

Former Los Angeles Kings center Jarret Stoll, shown here during the on-ice celebration after the Kings won the
2014 Stanley Cup Championship on June 13, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Photo: Gann Matsuda/FrozenRoyalty.net
(click above to view larger image)

LOS ANGELES — As reported in this space on July 13, after playing seven seasons and winning two Stanley Cup Championships with the Los Angeles Kings, center Jarret Stoll became, in large part, a victim of the National Hockey League salary cap—given other priorities, the Kings could no longer fit him under it.

“It was tough to leave,” said the 35-year-old native of Melville, Saskatchewan. “When you win championships, and not one, but two, there’s the bond with your teammates, the friendships you make, and the memories you make. That means so much. That made it harder to leave and to change. You never want to have change when things are so good. There were so many good memories.”

“Then there was knowing that I was going to come back and live here during the summer, hanging out with the guys again. So, in the summer, it felt like I was still with the Kings, even though that, obviously, wasn’t the case.”

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Facing Wayne Gretzky Takes An In-Depth Look At Hockey’s Greatest Player Like No Other Book Has Done Before

August 23, 2015 by 1 Comment

Photo courtesy Sports Publishing

MONTEREY PARK, CA — Every summer, hockey fans suffer from withdrawal symptoms while their game goes on a long, painful hiatus.

Indeed, once the Stanley Cup Final has been completed and a champion crowned, all that’s left is the annual National Hockey League Draft, usually one week later, followed by the NHL Awards one week after that.

The final off-season events that pique the interest of hockey fans are the July 1 unrestricted free agent signing frenzy, followed shortly thereafter by team development camps for their young prospects.

That usually takes us into the second week of July, maybe the third week. But after that, zilch. Nada. Nothing. There’s a virtual black hole from that point, when there’s almost nothing to read, see, or hear in the hockey world until rookie and training camps begin in early September.

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What’s It Going To Take For The LA Kings To Make The Playoffs: By The Numbers, March 25, 2015 Edition

March 25, 2015 by 1 Comment

LOS ANGELES — Despite a dominating performance in a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 24, giving them a strong 2-0 start to their five-game road trip, things just got a bit tougher for the Los Angeles Kings, in terns of their playoff hopes.

While the Kings were handing the Rangers a decisive loss, the Minnesota Wild beat the New York Islanders, 2-1 in a shootout. That was followed by the Vancouver Canucks defeating the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2.

Also making things tougher for the Kings was that the Calgary Flames defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, on March 23.

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LA Kings Justin Williams: “Just Win” and “Puck Luck Is For Cop-Outs”

June 13, 2014 by Leave a comment

LA Kings right wing Justin Williams
(click above to view larger image
Photo: Gann Matsuda/FrozenRoyalty.net

EL SEGUNDO, CA — The Los Angeles Kings had a long night after their 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers in Game 4 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final in New York on June 11.

Indeed, the Kings headed to John F. Kennedy International Airport right after the game, boarding their charter for the nearly 5 1/2-hour, coast-to-coast flight back to Los Angeles.

“[The flight] was fine. Had a good Chilean Sea Bass,” said center Jarret Stoll, eliciting laughter from the media. “It was good. Food was great. Really good catering last night. Got a good three hours of sleep.”

The Kings eat quite well on their charter flights. But rest is often an entirely different matter, and as Stoll indicated, they did not get much sleep on the plane, and probably not much more that morning, given their 3:36 AM PDT arrival at Los Angeles International Airport. As such, it was surprising to see that some players chose to skate on Thursday afternoon, despite the lack of rest.

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LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi’s Focus On Character and Leadership Is Paying Dividends

June 11, 2014 by 7 Comments

LA Kings winger and captain Dustin Brown
(click above to view larger image
Photo: Gann Matsuda/FrozenRoyalty.net

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — With the Los Angeles Kings on the verge of winning their second Stanley Cup Championship in the last three seasons, perhaps as soon as tonight, much has been said about their character and leadership qualities that have been on display throughout the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Indeed, leading the New York Rangers in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, the Kings could win the whole enchilada as soon as tonight, when the two teams face-off in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden in New York (5:00 PM PDT; televised on NBCSN in the United States and on CBC and RDS in Canada).

Character and leadership are usually not even a thought in anyone’s mind while watching their favorite hockey team, and especially here in the Los Angeles area, those characteristics were often scoffed at by pundits and fans alike, who believed that skill and talent were all that mattered.

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