That's right, Mathieu Garon might be a King once again. Maybe. According to the John Hoven at the Mayor's Manor Garon will join the King's training camp which opens in just over a week (Sept. 12th) on a PTO.
It was later confirmed in a tweet by TSN's Bob McKenzie.
Garon, 35, was the starting goaltender for Los Angeles back in 2005-06, and was the majority starter in the 5-man goalie carousel that was 2006-07 (Burke, Fukufuji, Brust, Cloutier, Garon). He posted a career .898 save-percentage in 95 games with the Kings. Garon has been bounced around since and played backup for Columbus, Edmonton, Tampa Bay, and Pittsburgh. He was a split starter in Edmonton in 2007-08 with Dwayne Roloson, doing the same in Tampa Bay in 2011-12 again with Dwayne Roloson (funny how those things work out huh?) He's held consistant in his numbers, hovering just below or above the .900 mark since leaving the Kings.
The move could have to do with the current status of minor league goaltender Martin Jones, who as an RFA has yet to come to terms with the team on a contract. Jones has been stellar in the AHL despite struggling to find consistency at times. The 23-year-old Jones has held a .920 save percentage in his 136 game AHL career, which has also included 10 shutouts and 11 career playoffs games.
Jones, who was an undrafted FA signing by the Kings, looks to be on the cusp of being an NHL backup so the fact that he has yet to sign has to be a touch concerning to the team and why Mathieu Garon was invited to camp. Scrivens still ultimately looks like the penciled in backup, but with Jones the Monarchs will be left sitting without a No. 1 goalie (No Berube is not ready to be that yet.)
Also floating around out on twitter, the Kings finally changed the center ice logo to reflect the current jersey logo. That's right everyone, no more crown at center:
So if you think you were having a hard enough time following the puck as is, just wait til it goes across center ice into the pitch black. Maybe ESPN can loan Fox Sports that cool glowing puck streak thing they had for a while. Oh the good ol' days.
Just a reminder to everyone the rookie camp does in fact start tomorrow. I'll likely be editing this blog to include the rosters IF they are released today. The camp is going to run through the coming weekend and will include two games against the Ducks; Saturday @ Honda Center and Monday @ TSC in El Segundo. I highly suggest going, they are a lot of fun and it will give everyone a chance to see some extremely talented players (On the Ducks side in particular, an unbelievable amount of young talent there.) HockeyFest will also be on Sunday and tickets are on sale for that.
Whew, okay. Speaking of events. Frozen Fury is coming up, and get this...if you can't make it out to the MGM Grand for the two game set between the Avalanche and the New York Rangers it looks like the games will be televised for the first time ever!
The full article by Deborah Lew can be found
here on LAKings.com, but here is the juicy part:
Cline’s primary responsibility is to manage all of the day-to-day operations at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but he also oversees the arrivals and departures of the teams, as well as works with the MGM’s PR department to manage the television and radio broadcasts for both teams.
Whereas in the past, there have only been two teams to deal with regarding travel and PR, this year, Cline must tend to the accommodations of the Kings and both opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, and the New York Rangers.
“This year’s event will be a little more challenging as we not only will we be hosting two games back to back, but they will both be televised with different broadcasters for each night,” says Cline, who is tasked with ensuring that the proper camera positions are set up and broadcast trucks are parked and powered. “That’s probably our biggest challenge right now, one month out from the games.”
The games have generally been radio only but it looks like this year we'll be getting to see some live hockey in the preseason. From what I hear it's a pretty unique atmosphere and a very loud one to boot. Personally I've never been but I become more intrigued by it each year as it has grown in scope and popularity.
Quick poll as well for all the readers... Where does Frattin fit in in your opinion?
Next time I'll (hopefull) have the division preview of the Seattle, er, Phoenix Coyotes ready.
Also, it's been over a month now since I joined the HB team and I just want to thank all the readers and commenters for following me and interacting, as well as giving a huge shoutout to Eric and Eklund for granting me this opportunity. Much love and respect to everyone. Much more is to come as this season gets underway!
Seguimi su twitter @SirJDL per favore. Molto bene!
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