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Impressions from a Weekend of Ontario Reign (AHL) Games

December 14, 2015, 11:06 AM ET [9 Comments]
Jason Lewis
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT



It was a busy Friday, Saturday, Sunday for the Kings and their minor league affiliate the Ontario Reign. Thus, it was a busy weekend for the bloggers and writers who covered them!

The Kings played a back to back against Pittsburgh and Buffalo on the road Friday and Saturday, and the Reign followed in turn with a back to back against Bakersfield and San Jose at home. Also linking the two teams for the weekend was the call-up of Michael Mersch, who made his NHL debut Friday. This move left the Reign without their leading goal scorer for the first times on the season.

The Reign, however, responded to their missing star with some spirited performances. Saturday against the Bakersfield Condors (Edmonton Oilers affiliate) was a full 60-minute effort that yielded a 3-1 victory and a pretty dominant display overall. Special teams were big

Sunday's afternoon 2-1 OT victory against Jose was of a different variety. It was a more equal contest with the Reign slowly but surely chipping away, avoiding frustration, and finally getting the tying goal in the dying seconds. They eventually went into 3v3 OT and Kevin Gravel buried the winner.

With the basic jist of how the games went, let's go down the list with basic impressions of each player and the Reign overall.

Valentin Zykov

The Kings 2nd round pick in 2013 had himself quite a solid weekend. The game in particular against Bakersfield was tremendous. Skating on the wing of centerman Andrew Crescenzi, and opposite winger Jordan Samuels-Thomas, the trio were downright dominant all game. The crash and bang styles of Crescenzi and JST opened up a lot of space for their Russian counterpart.

He has a bulldog mentality with the puck. He is aggressive, quick, and when he makes a decisions he is all-in. There is not a lot of hesitation in his game which is excellent. Does he always make the best puck management decisions and/or off the puck decisions? Not necessarily. Coach Stothers was adamant however in post-game media scrum that Zykov is "A helluva player" and that they are working with him on the small details of the game. A specific example he pointed to was a long shift in the Bakersfield/Ontario contest where a lost neutral zone assignment led to an exceptionally long shift (And probably the only shift for his line) which had Bakersfield cycling and logging significant possession time. It was probably somewhere in the range of a two minute shift in his own zone.

Nevertheless, Zykov had himself a good weekend and Stots praised his strength and developing two-way game. When you watch him it is hard to not be impressed by his dogged presence on the ice. He is tenacious, strong, and has some pretty quick hands and puckhandling skills as well. Take a look at the quick foot to stick play he made on the 3rd Reign goal against Bakersfield. It is a beauty.




Kevin Gravel

Gravel had maybe the most low-key, yet impressive weekend of anyone. His game on Sunday against San Jose was nothing short of marvelous, despite the team trailing for almost the entirety of the game. He was able to net the OT winner for the Reign, which was a nice bow on a strong overall effort.

Saturday was much the same, except there was less of an offensive punch to it.

First off, San Jose's forecheck was strong. Much like teams the Kings struggle with, San Jose was playing a 1-2-2 forecheck. This put a lot of pressure on the outlet winger to A) Get open B) make the right pass out of the zone. For the most part, Reign defensemen were getting the puck past the initial forechecker, but the second wave of forecheckers on the blue line really hindered the Reign wingers. The Condors game was much more open for carry outs and pass outs. The Reign looked much more comfortable in the first game, no question.

With that being said, Gravel was noticeably good in both games at the simple plays. This kid takes care of his own end first. He is a low risk guy in his own zone and there is very little hesitation to his game when it comes to outletting, going D to D, or jumping into the play. In his college days at St. Cloud he was much less of an aggressive player early in his career. However, Gravel has developed a nice bit of offensive force to his game. He is willing to skate, jump down into the play, throw pucks on net, and rush it himself up ice. He does so without putting his defensive pair, Kevin Raine, at risk as well. When he was paired up late with Vincent LoVerde, the Reign were trailing and Gravel was doing his best to get the puck up ice. It might seem strange to say it since Forbort is with the big club, but Gravel looks like a more offensively talented Derek Forbort. He can skate, he is logging all-situations ice time, and he shows some exceptional understanding of defense leading to offense. When I talked to Kevin after the game he stressed the importance of taking care of your own end first and transitioning to offense from there.


When asked about staying forward versus going back:


Gravel: "I know personally, in my mind, I like to take care of the defensive zone first regardless of what is happening out on the ice, but yea our coaching staff is stressing D getting up in the play. We've got guys back there that can all skate really well and join the play and when we have our D joining the play and that fourth guy putting pucks on net it's huge for generating offense."

This was a pretty common theme through the weekend from Reign defensmen. All of them, maybe aside from Jeff Schultz, were opting to press into the attack. Even guys with a staunch defensive first ideal like LoVerde or Gravel were doing their best to press forward.

Of the weekend, with Gravel's cool, calm, and cognizant demeanor on and off the ice, he may have been the most impressive player taken in.

Nic Dowd

Dowd is another very cognizant player. You can see him thinking the game all the time. He is situationally aware, and generally does a good job at controlling the center of the ice. All-situations centerman, very good on faceoffs, good playmaking ability, and makes the right decisions most the time. Is there a lot of offensive firepower to Dowd? Not particularly, but he is a really safe and responsible center who can skate well enough and move the puck well enough that there is something to him. Is he 4C material right now for an NHL team? It is possible he would give both Jordan Weal and Andy Andreoff a run for their money in terms of stylistic match up with the Kings, plus doing little things right like defense first and faceoffs. Not a high skill player, but definitely a smart and hard-working forward.


Justin Auger

The massive 6'7" forward is fairly unassuming. He is, however, a very hard working forward. If you want someone who is willing to engage in board battles and play heavy defensive minutes and matchups, Auger will do it. He is a fairly decent skater, not much to speak of from the offensive side of things, but he is a necessary cog offensively for the Reign line which includes smaller guys like Newbury and Backman. Auger is, for lack of a better comparison, the Dwight King of that line. He crashes, he bangs, he fishes the puck out, and he tries to win the board battles. His size makes him a handful to deal with for opponents. Defensively, his reach is also a great asset. He was able to make some pretty solid plays along the boards in his own end this weekend. Not anything exceptional to watch offensively, but his simple North-South game is effective when he gets going.


Nick Ebert

A player I was particularly impressed with a few weeks back had a bit of an off weekend. With Ebert it is very hit and miss. He has a confidence with the puck no question. He loves to skate it, he loves to carry it, and he loves to be in control of the play going up ice and in the offensive zone. At times though, at least on the weekend, it looked like Ebert just waited a split second too long on decisions and/or tried to make the home run play rather than the simple outlet. He definitely has the skill set and skating ability, but he and Zac Leslie somewhat share the same affliction. When they are good it is really noticeable. When they are not so good it is also really noticeable.

Peter Budaj

Solid as could be. Constantly square, good rebound control, good poise. Had to deal with tons of traffic against San Jose and still tracked the puck well. Looks more like the veteran Budaj of a few years ago versus last year.


Jordan Samuels-Thomas


Not a Kings prospect, but a player on an AHL contract. Really underrated and under the radar player. Simple North-South player, but a big body who is always willing to get in the corners and win puck battles. Has some slick hands as well and can maneuver in traffic. I would not be surprised if he gets a pro contract at some point here, because he has the mold of a developing bottom 6 forward that a lot of teams might be intrigued by. Simple game, effective game.


Adrian Kempe


The biggest news on Kempe probably came after the San Jose game, as Stots told the media that the Swede would be joining team Sweden for the upcoming WJCs.

His weekend of games however, for the most part, was pretty quiet. He saw time with Dowd and Brodzinski, and the line had their offensive flashes no question. The biggest noticeable asset with Kempe is his skating. My goodness can he skate. He is also smallish, but very willing to take a hit and give a hit. The skating is a beautiful thing to watch though. He has a long, powerful stride that allows him to get up to speed quickly. He also has a very strong wrist and snap shot that he used a couple of times during the game.

Andrew Crescenzi

Was downright dominant on Saturday. Less so on Sunday, but still a decent game. He was outstanding in the faceoff circle against Bakersfield, and may have only lost one or two draws on the night. Got to the net, made himself a nuisance.


Between the Kings and the Reign this weekend, the teams went 3-0-1. Not bad!

If you have yet to go out to Ontario to catch a game this season, do so. The quality is a huge step up from the ECHL, the atmosphere is fun, and a lot of these players are very close!

More on each player and the Reign in later blogs! Any questions on other players (Including Condors or Barracuda players) can be asked in the comment section and I'll share thoughts!

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