Matt Murray has been a Kings fan since the late '80s, when Wayne Gretzky grabbed headlines by defecting to the West Coast. Since then, he has been a card-carrying bandwagon member as the club soared in popularity with their sole Stanley Cup appearance to their position near the bottom of the Pacific. But things are looking brighter, as he is anxious to witness the rise of the new Kings.
When Hockeywood invades Hockeytown
Kings defenseman Jack Johnson caught the Red Wings' Game 2 playoff game against Calgary with his good friend Justin at Joe Louis Arena. Makes sense, since he's a long time Red Wing fan. But instead of wearing the winged wheel, JJ sported a Los Angeles Kings cap.
According to Justin, someone commented "who wears a Kings hat to a Red Wings playoff game?" Jack responded "A guy who plays for the Kings." Apparently the fan finally put two and two together and recognized Johnson and they all had a laugh about it.
As if that wasn't good enough, Jack and Justin enjoyed watching Flames defenseman Brad Stuart. Los Angeles is apparently atop Stuart's short list in the off-season to sign as a free agent. If Stuart signs with the Kings, that will bolster one of L.A.'s weaknesses tremendously.
Justin also pointed out that as soon as Jack saw him wearing the red and white jerseys, he quickly threw a Kings hat and t-shirt at him to wear. And when Jack Mother Lovin' Johnson throws something at you, you're thankful it isn't a fist.
Note the USA hockey jacket on Jack? It was announced Mondaythat Johnson will be representing the United States, joining winger Michael Cammalleri and Kings associate coach Mike Johnston in Moscow, Russia for the 2007 World Championship tournament. Cammy and Johnston will be on Team Canada.
During a conference call, Johnson sounded very excited and honored when asked how it feels to play for Team USA.
“I expect my experience from USA hockey and the results I had in Ann Arbor are going to help tremendously. I’m not going to be a stranger to international games and how competitive they are and how much pride is on the line when you put on those jerseys. It’ll be nice playing with other guys I’ve played with before like Phil (Kessell) and Cory (Schneider) and those guys are competitors and we’re looking forward to getting back into the fire of international play.”
Team USA announced its roster on Monday, and it consists of 12 players under the age of 25. Joining Johnson on the national team are Paul Stastny and Tyler Arnason (Colorado), Andrew Alberts, Phil Kessel and Brandon Bochenski (Boston), Lee Stempniak and David Backes (St. Louis), Chad LaRose and Erik Cole (Carolina),
Keith Ballard (Phoenix), Toby Peterson and Matt Greene (Edmonton) and Chris Clark and Brian Pothier (Washington), and college forward, Nate Davis of Miami. The goalies will be Philadelphia's Robert Esche, Carolina's John Grahame and Boston College standout Cory Schneider, who is a Vancouver draft pick.
