Prospect Camp!

AKA: I'm really, really desperate for some hockey

Yes folks, your mom's favorite hockey blogger headed down to the Toyota Sports Complex to watch Kings prospects run drills for 2 hours. It was as scintillating as it sounds. Still, it's hockey and for the love of God do I miss hockey.

I pretty much just focused on the "top line" at camp (Jordan Nolan - Linden Vey - Brandon Kozun), Tyler Toffoli, Jake Muzzin & Nicholas Deslauriers. A lot of people go to camps and then give a review of every single person there, which obviously doesn't make any sense. Plus, does it really matter if Ray Kaunisto does well or not? No one cares.

I only saw them for 2 hours so it'd be dumb to make any kind of judgment on how they played. It's one practice. ....With that being said, here are the people who I love and the people who I want killed.

-I really liked Linden Vey. If I had to pick a guy that impressed me the most it'd be him. He moves decisively, gets to the net, makes passes that puts his linemates into good position. He looked good.

-Kozun bothers me. Something about him. He's Kris Versteeg-ish. I hate him.

-Toffoli seemed average except when he shot. One thing I do like about him is how willing he seems to go to the net. And when he's at the net, he's not necessarily looking for a screen or a tip; instead, he's tracking the puck so he can bang the rebound home. I like that.

-I'm glad they finally moved Nolan to wing.  He's going to make a pretty good 4th liner in a few years. Well, either him or Dwight King.

-I felt bad for Muzzin. Why does he have to be there? Hickey & Voynov get to skip it. I guess they wanted a veteran-y guy there to show the younger guys the ropes. Or maybe the Kings just wanted to make sure they had one player who looked vaguely like an eel in camp.

-Deslauriers is Jack Johnson-esque in that he's very talented and I think he might be stupid.

-Martin Jones had really sweet black & silver goalie pads. Looked sharp.

-I couldn't figure out who he was because he wasn't on Hammond's prospect listing but #77 impressed me.

-I get that I don't like kids that much so I'm inclined to think everything they do is annoying. With that being said, why on Earth would you buy your 4-year old shoes that squeak every single time they take a fucking step??? What the fuck, random guy.

-Dustin Penner was there. He is a large human being. At one point he was standing by Rich Hammond. If I were more artistic, I'd paint a picture of that scene and title it, "A Study in Contrasts."

-Nelson Emerson is short.

-Daryl Evans was wearing one of Nelson Emerson's shirts.

-Hockey rinks are cold. Do they have to be that cold? Seems like they could bump up the temp. a little bit.