February 7, 2011
by Gann Matsuda

LA Kings defenseman Alec Martinez has moved up from the AHL to become
a fixture on the Kings’ blue line.
Photo: David Sheehan
EL SEGUNDO, CA — So far this season, the
Los Angeles Kings have been a surprise, but mostly for the wrong reasons.
Indeed, the Kings were expected to be among the top teams in the Western Conference. But after a stretch in November when they lost seven out of eight games, and an even more brutal stretch from late December through most of January when they lost ten out of twelve games, the Kings are struggling just to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot in the hyper-competitive Western Conference, even though they are 5-0-1 in their last six games, and 6-3-1 in their last ten.
Perhaps as big a surprise has been the play of young defenseman Alec Martinez, 23, who not only failed to make the Kings roster out of training camp, but was also a big question mark in terms of ever making the jump to the National Hockey League level. Read more of this post