Kings sign Kevin Westgarth to two-year extension

The Kings have signed enforcer Kevin Westgarth to a two-year contract extension. Westgarth, whose current contract expires after this season, will earn $700,000 in 2012-13 and $750,000 in 2013-14.

That's a raise from the $525,000 the 6-foot-4, 228-pound winger will earn this season.

Westgarth, 27, had no goals, three assists and 105 penalty minutes in 56 games with the Kings last season.

The new contract follows another happy event in his life: Last month, he married Meagan Cowher, daughter of former NFL coach Bill Cowher. She and Westgarth met while they were students at Princeton, where she was an outstanding basketball player.

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-- Helene Elliott

Photo: Kevin Westgarth in 2008. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Kings' Westgarth saddened by deaths of fellow enforcers

Emptying the digital recorder after Sunday’s Hockey Fest event held by the Kings at Staples Center....

The deaths of enforcers Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak since May have stunned the NHL and resonated especially deeply with Kings forward Kevin Westgarth.

Westgarth, who has three assists and 114 penalty minutes in 65 career NHL games, said he can “empathize with the various struggles and the roller coaster it can be” to be a tough guy and said he felt sorry for the families each player left behind.

“I’ve been extremely lucky. It’s just an incredible tragedy,” he said Sunday. “I’m in essentially the same role as those guys. It’s not hugely different.

“It kind of makes you look in the mirror. It’s awful. And it does hit a little closer to home and it’s just really confusing.”

Boogaard’s death was attributed to an accidental and toxic mix of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone. His family donated his brain to a Boston University study on the effects of repeated brain trauma.

The wearing of the green (and purple) and get used to seeing Jonathan Quick

Jonathan Quick is scheduled to start in goal for the Kings Thursday against St. Louis at Staples Center -- and that will become a familiar sight as the Kings approach their final dozen regular-season games.

Quick had split starting time with Jonathan Bernier the last few weeks -- each started five of the last 10 games -- but with crunch time coming, Coach Terry Murray said the starts will be more heavily weighted toward Quick.

“It’s important to start to put the focus on one goaltender a little bit more now and that’s the plan and I’ll follow through with that plan if everything works out accordingly,” Murray said after Thursday’s game-day skate in El Segundo.

“I plan on using Quick more to get him ready. He’s been our No. 1 goaltender right from the beginning and that’s where I plan to go to.

“I want to say this though. Bernier, his game is real good right now. He’s sharp. His adjustment to the NHL shooter is progressing the right way. We’re real happy with how things are going.”

Murray also said he will use enforcer Kevin Westgarth on the fourth line in place of Brad Richardson.

“I just felt, looking at St. Louis’ lineup, I need Westgarth,” Murray said.

The Kings will wear green jerseys during the warm-ups and will auction the jerseys during the game and online at Lakings.com and Auction.nhl.com. Proceeds will benefit the Kings Care Foundation and the American Red Cross’ efforts in helping victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

-- Helene Elliott

 Photo: Jonathon Quick. Credit: Jerome Miron / U.S. Presswire.

Kings to play enforcer Kevin Westgarth against Penguins

Although the Pittsburgh Penguins will be without superstars Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee surgery) when they face the Kings on Thursday, Kings Coach Terry Murray said he won’t change his approach. Nor does Murray expect an easier game.

"Any time you lose top players like that in the game, it’s really unfortunate for the game of hockey,” Murray said after the Kings’ morning skate at the impressive, new Consol Energy Center. “But from our side of it, we have to come out and play the right way. We have to do the same things and know that we’ve got to work hard, that everything matters, every shift.

“Whether you have the top players of the opponent against you or you have a banged-up team, I know darned well that Pittsburgh is still a very good defensive hockey club. They’re going to bring a lot of intensity, a lot of hard play, and we’ve got to be ready to match that.”

The Kings are 2-0-1 after the first segment of the 10 straight road games they will play this month, and Murray said he planned only one lineup change Thursday: he said he will play heavyweight Kevin Westgarth in place of Brad Richardson. The Penguins weren’t planning to use one of their tough guys, Eric Godard, and their most penalized player, Matt Cooke, will sit out as he begins serving a four-game suspension for his deplorable hit from behind against Columbus’ Fedor Tyutin on Tuesday. But with Westgarth in the lineup the Penguins could bring Godard back in.

“Westgarth brings an element to the game that we feel we have to have when we come on the road,” Murray said. “Pittsburgh’s got some heavy players. As you take a look on the remaining part of the road trip, there are those kinds of teams that play hard.

“The Flyers are going to have a hard team and a hard lineup, so we’ve got to make sure that our bases are covered in the important areas of the game.”

-- Helene Elliott, in Pittsburgh 

Ponikarovsky out of Kings lineup, Westgarth in

Greetings from San Jose, where my suitcase and I were finally reunited after many delays and hours apart …
One change for the Kings lineup against the Sharks at HP Pavilion: left wing Alexei Ponikarovsky is out because of what a team spokesman said is a lower-body injury Ponikarovsky suffered in the Kings' victory over the Ducks on Sunday at Staples Center.
Kevin Westgarth will be in the lineup, although defenseman/winger Peter Harrold was also scheduled to skate in the warmups.
The Kings have lost three consecutive games to the Sharks since Jan. 11.
I’ll have more at www.latimes.com/sports
Helene Elliott, in San Jose

 

The more things change ... the more you know it's the Kings

Some interesting doings at the Kings’ morning skate.

There was news of the imminent trade for Boston left wing Marco Sturm, and Coach Terry Murray’s declaration that he would never trade rookie center Brayden Schenn -- followed a little later by news that Schenn will head back to the junior ranks on Friday. By the way, once Schenn rejoins his team -- Brandon of the Western Hockey League -- he can’t be called up by the Kings again this season.

Murray also made a few lineup changes for Thursday’s game against the Florida Panthers. Defenseman Davis Drewiske, whose ice time has generally been declining, will sit out and his spot will be taken by Peter Harrold.

Murray, never hesitant to change his lines and defense pairings, also changed his lines around: The first line will be Dustin Brown on the left with Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams, with a second line of Ryan Smyth-Jarret Stoll-Trevor Lewis, a third line of Kyle Clifford-Michal Handzus-Wayne Simmonds and a fourth line of Brad Richardson-John Zeiler-Kevin Westgarth.

The line of Smyth, Stoll and Williams had been carrying the Kings for a while, and Williams shares the team lead in goals (nine) and leads the team in points, with 22. But Murray said he thought “the finish” wasn’t there for that trio anymore, prompting the changes. Williams had no points in his previous two games and no goals in his previous six; Stoll had no points in four games and one point in six games, and Smyth had one goal in his previous six.

“We’re looking to get offense. That’s always the holy grail that you’re looking for as a coach to get the chemistry and have balance in the offensive part of your game,” Murray said.

“I’m just trying to take a good piece from one place and put a good piece here and hopefully there’s some good chemistry that can develop and get that offense that we’re looking for.”

Stoll said no matter who’s on his line -- or anyone else’s -- their mission is clear.

“We’ve got to work hard and smart together. Maybe smart is probably the most important,” Stoll said. “That’s going to create chemistry. And communication. We’ve got to be better in that area of the game when breakdowns happen.

“I don’t think it’s really an issue right now what the lines are. We’ve just got to work smarter and harder and more together as a group instead of one line doing it for one period or two periods. We haven’t really put together too many stretches where we’ve played full games.”

Murray said he liked the fourth line’s effort in the team’s last game, a 2-0 loss at Anaheim on Monday.

“They gave us some really big shifts, energy, good offensive-zone time. They were on the puck,” he said. “A little reckless in their forecheck and recovery of pucks, which is always nice to keep the other team off balance, and just looking for that kind of consistent performance every game. And if they do that they can be very effective for us.”

Westgarth said he saw the two-goal performance Wednesday by fellow Princeton alum George Parros of the Ducks against Florida, and Westgarth took it up as a challenge to light the red light himself. He has one assist and no goals in 19 games this season.

“Tonight’s the night,” he said. “We had some pretty good chemistry as a line and I look forward to keeping it going tonight. Creating. Wherever the goals have to come from. We’re going to get our big guys going. If we can help chip in and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played … Unexpected sources are always a nice surprise.”

More later on the Kings at www.latimes.com/sports.

-- Helene Elliott

Westgarth has broken nose, Schenn returning to L.A., and other notes...

The morning after their 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Kings practiced for about an hour Sunday at El Segundo.

Enforcer Kevin Westgarth, pummeled by Chicago's John Scott in a fight Saturday (pictured above), wore a shield to protect his broken nose during practice but won't wear it in Monday's game against the Ducks at Anaheim. Surprisingly, he said he hadn't broken the nose before.

"I think for realsies that was the first one," he said. "It's nice and flat anyway. So I'm sure it's been broken and I never really noticed."

Westgarth and Ducks enforcer George Parros, both Princeton alumni, tangled during an exhibition game and it wouldn't be a shock if a rematch should happen to break out.

"Big Georgie," said Westgarth, who went out to dinner with Parros the night after their tussle. "That's absolutely right."

Some news off the ice: center Brayden Schenn, loaned to Manchester of the American Hockey League for a two-week conditioning assignment, is scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles on Monday and practice with the team on Tuesday. After that he can play one more game before the first year of his contract would kick in.

Winger Alexei Ponikarovsky, who fractured his finger on Nov. 6, is scheduled to undergo X-rays on Monday to determine the progress of the healing process. Defenseman Willie Mitchell, who fractured his left hand the same day, is due for X-rays a week from Monday. Both skated lightly on Sunday.

The Kings will know by 9 a.m. Monday if forward John Zeiler has cleared recall waivers. If he has, he might play Monday night, Coach Terry Murray said.

Murray also said that goaltender Jonathan Quick will start against the Ducks.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports 

--Helene Elliott

Photo credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

Kings' morning skate: Scuderi expected to play; can't tell the left wings without a scorecard

Kings Coach Terry Murray made Saturday’s game-day skate an optional exercise, so about a dozen players took advantage of the ice time to prepare for Saturday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Staples Center.

Defenseman Rob Scuderi, banged up enough to sit on the bench for the last half of the final period of Wednesday’s 4-1 loss at Montreal, missed part of Friday’s practice and skipped Saturday’s optional session. However, Murray said he expected Scuderi to play Saturday night.

Murray said Scuderi felt “pretty good” Friday. “He wanted to stay off here this morning just to continue to get some maintenance and be ready to go tonight,” Murray said.

“Everybody will go in the warmup. I’ll put seven [defensemen] out there just to make sure that I’m covered, but I do expect him to play.”

The Kings put forward John Zeiler on recall waivers. Other teams have until 9 a.m. Pacific time Monday to claim him. If he clears, he could join the Kings that day.

But the scrappy Zeiler isn’t going to solve the scoring problems that led Murray to switch his lines around for Saturday’s game and leave intact only the Ryan Smyth-Jarret Stoll-Justin Williams trio.

Hockey notes spillover: Ian Laperriere still ailing, new helmet making inroads

So many notes, so little space. Here are some notes that didn’t fit into my weekly NHL column.

The Kings staged a nice ceremony Saturday honoring former team captain Mattias Norstrom, though you have to hope the coffee maker they gave him will run on European electric currents -- and that he checks that before he lugs it back to Stockholm.

One of the bonuses of the event was seeing and chatting with Ian Laperriere, who helped honor his former teammate.

Laperriere would rather have been playing for the Philadelphia Flyers, but doctors ordered him to sit out this season because of post-concussion symptoms. He suffered a bruise on his brain and massive facial cuts last spring when he took a shot in the face during the Flyers’ playoff series against the New Jersey Devils, but he so badly wanted to participate in the team’s Stanley Cup fun that he persuaded team doctors to let him play.

Enforcer Westgarth a nice tough guy

Off the ice, hockey enforcers tend to be among the most articulate and interesting people you’ll ever meet.

Kevin Westgarth, who will replace Raitis Ivanans as the Kings’ resident tough guy, is a Princeton graduate with a degree in psychology. Westgarth, who signed with the Kings as a free agent in 2007, blogged for The Hockey News last season and provided interesting insights into life in the minor leagues.

He used his fists to make a statement Tuesday in fighting Ducks enforcer George Parros, a fellow Princeton alum with a finance degree and a sometime Fabulous Forum blogger. According to The Sporting News, Parros is the fourth-smartest athlete in sports — and a South Bay neighbor of Westgarth’s.

The next night, they went out to dinner. Of course.

Westgarth said Thursday that he doesn't have the athletic bragging rights in his own household. He gave that honor to his fiancée, Meagan Cowher, daughter of former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher. The couple met at Princeton, where she played basketball and led the Ivy League in scoring twice and was the first player in the program to be a first-team all-league selection three times. They’ve set a wedding date for next summer.

“She’s actually the real athlete of the family. She’s the best player,” he said. “I’m looking forward to having kids and retiring on what they end up doing.”

Fourth line still has spots open

Kings Coach Terry Murray said he’s still deciding who will join Westgarth on the fourth line. Brad Richardson was slotted there until second-line left wing Scott Parse injured his groin and toe but Richardson lately has moved up alongside Jarret Stoll and Justin Williams. The fourth line in Thursday’s practice was Kyle Clifford, Brayden Schenn and Westgarth.

Richard Clune, Trevor Lewis, Andrei Loktionov and John Zeiler took turns on another line and remain in the mix for spots. Schenn and Clifford are 19 and would have to go back to their junior teams if they don’t make the Kings’ roster.

“With the young players still here, Schenn, Loktionov, I clearly want to use them while they’re here,” Murray said. “Clune and Zeiler and Lewis are here and I’ve got to play around with that and try to get the best looks that I possibly can.”