Sidney Crosby to be at Kings prospect camp

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SpooKy

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Vlad The Impaler said:
I think it's a great thing for Crosby but not for the Kings.

They should concentrate on the Kings family instead of pulling weak publicity stunts like that. They've licked balls for years.

You'd think they would be tired of the taste by now.

The summer has to be dedicated to your own players as well as a few tryout contracts on guys you have a chance to secure. Not kids who will go in the draft that you have no chance to sign at all as of now.

If they were a team in great shape, I'd think it's just a harmless waste of time. But it's the Kings. They have a whole lot more to care about than to draw attention stupidly.

I suppose you work in the marketing department of the NHL, right?

Oh you don't? Ahhhhhh I see.

The NHL needs to promote their marquee names and the prospect camp in LA attracts a lot of people. So what's the big deal? No one is going to get beat-up, checked from behind or slashed on the wrist. And the LA Kings have a top-notch core of youth to compliment a prospect like Crosby.

It's promotion for the NHL, nothing more, nothing less

Take it easy, have a beer and go bash the Rangers

:)

--Spooks
 

DaveyCrockett

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I can't wait to see how Sid does against the King's prospects. The injury talk is bs, everytime a player laces up the skates he risks injury, you can't live your life in fear.
 

stockwizard*

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DaveyCrockett said:
I can't wait to see how Sid does against the King's prospects. The injury talk is bs, everytime a player laces up the skates he risks injury, you can't live your life in fear.
Yes, I expect the people who live in L.A. and who attend the camp to post updates on here to say how Sid is doing.
It wouldn't surprise me if he sets the pace.
 

SpooKy

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stockwizard said:
Yes, I expect the people who live in L.A. and who attend the camp to post updates on here to say how Sid is doing.
It wouldn't surprise me if he sets the pace.

I know for one, I'll be there. You'll probably be able to check out an update in the Kings section. And there is a certain website of Kings fans that attend every practice - with reports and all. You can always browse that place too.

-- Spooks
 

swinginutter*

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stockwizard said:
Yes, I expect the people who live in L.A. and who attend the camp to post updates on here to say how Sid is doing.
It wouldn't surprise me if he sets the pace.

I go to the prospect camps every year since they've been around for us, and Brady Murray also set the pace against our older players when he was 16 and 17. Luckily we ended up drafting him. Hopefully same goes for Crosby!

I think it's a great thing for Crosby but not for the Kings.

They should concentrate on the Kings family instead of pulling weak publicity stunts like that. They've licked balls for years.

You'd think they would be tired of the taste by now.

The summer has to be dedicated to your own players as well as a few tryout contracts on guys you have a chance to secure. Not kids who will go in the draft that you have no chance to sign at all as of now.

If they were a team in great shape, I'd think it's just a harmless waste of time. But it's the Kings. They have a whole lot more to care about than to draw attention stupidly.

Are you serious? You support one of the most boring teams in the league. If we're licking balls, you must be tossing salads and that must will never leave! If you're prospects we're asked to attend our camp, they would be here in a heartbeat. Let's see Buffalo :help: or So Cal :yo: ?
 

Vlad The Impaler

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Ziggy Stardust said:
What are you rambling on about? It is a prospects camp in which the players are made familiar with the system and each other.

Exactly. Thanks!

Ziggy Stardust said:
They will just be running drills and a few scrimmages. All it is is another off-season regime for the youngsters. How does this effect the Kings at all?
A good majority of these guys will be sent back to their junior/college/european teams by the time training camp comes along.

But it should be for Kings and Kings alone. I fail to see how this can help the Kings' organization in any way, and it could be distracting. Pro organization with a sense of pride skip that kind of garbage and get down to business.

That thing reminds me of the time where Esposito brought Manon Rheaume in TB. It's just useless and purely driven by a desire for publicity.
 

Vlad The Impaler

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swinginutter said:
I go to the prospect camps every year since they've been around for us, and Brady Murray also set the pace against our older players when he was 16 and 17. Luckily we ended up drafting him. Hopefully same goes for Crosby!



Are you serious? You support one of the most boring teams in the league. If we're licking balls, you must be tossing salads and that must will never leave! If you're prospects we're asked to attend our camp, they would be here in a heartbeat. Let's see Buffalo :help: or So Cal :yo: ?

I declare humanity hopeless.
 

jfont

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Vlad The Impaler said:
I declare humanity hopeless.
oh come on vlad, whats this gonna hurt? if anything this is a great opportunity for kings prospects to 'see what they got' agasint one of the best young players in the world.
 

Vlad The Impaler

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jfont said:
oh come on vlad, whats this gonna hurt? if anything this is a great opportunity for kings prospects to 'see what they got' agasint one of the best young players in the world.

I'm probably old school, but I like the idea of activities being restricted to team members, with an exception for tryout contracts.

I think it's a time where you watch your guys, tell them what they have to work on, let them know each other better. I don't like the idea that a very hyped stranger can come up and be a distracting presence.

I might do a second exception for close relatives of team members that are unusually gifted but that is as far as I would go, and even then I doubt I would do it.

I don't think it will be disastrous or anything but I don't like it, and I seriously doubt any of the better GMs would do that. For Sydney, it's a no-brainer to go there but for the Kings, there's nothing to be gained except in marketing. I like marketing off-ice but no compromise on-ice.

I am also wondering how this could affect the Kings should they be in a position to trade for Crosby at the draft. They might have to pay extra. I know this, if Montreal or Toronto had the bad idea to bring Crosby to camp, you'd have hundreds of people constantly whining for Crosby to be a Leaf or a Hab in 2005.

In LA, I don't know the press much, nor the fans. I doubt it will create as much expectations but it could still have negative repercussions.

As I said, perhaps I'm too old school. I know I was shocked the first time I saw a camera in a dressing room between periods :D

I don't like marketing compromise when they involve the players or coaches directly in their work or practices.
 

Captain Conservative

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jfont said:
oh come on vlad, whats this gonna hurt? if anything this is a great opportunity for kings prospects to 'see what they got' agasint one of the best young players in the world.


Pretty much how I feel. I don't understand the need to be negative all the time. It'll be fun for fans and for the Kings prospects.
 

Vlad The Impaler

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Captain Conservative said:
Pretty much how I feel. I don't understand the need to be negative all the time. It'll be fun for fans and for the Kings prospects.

There's plenty of good decisions I approve of. I just don't like this one ;)
 

Legionnaire

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Vlad The Impaler said:
There's plenty of good decisions I approve of. I just don't like this one ;)

I tend to agree with you. It was clearly done for the "show" factor, and I'm hoping that it his presence doesn't take away from what needs to be done. Know Murray though, I don't think he is going to pay any special attention to Crosby.

Like SU said, Brady Murray has been there for that last 3 years, and even as a 16 year old was surprisingly tearing it up. There seemed to be and unspoken rule about not hitting him too hard, and I'm sure that will apply to Crosby as well. However, other than that, it didn't seem like too much of a distraction.

On the other hand, it's hard for it not to be a distraction, and his presence will almost certainly take away some opportunities from our legitimate prospect to shine
 

dunwoody_joe

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Anybody think that Crosby and his family haven't already taken out a huge insurance policy on his health?

Sure they must have. He has enormous earning potential and will be playing (and risking) plenty before draft day.

I think prospect camp somewhere is a great idea. Let's see what he can do against the next level. Bet there will be a bunch of NHL scouts there too.
 

GKJ

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Vlad The Impaler said:
That thing reminds me of the time where Esposito brought Manon Rheaume in TB. It's just useless and purely driven by a desire for publicity.

If you're the Kings, and in the past 5 years you saw the Lakers win 3 Championships, the Ducks go to the finals and the Angels win the World Series, you're feeling a little left out and have to do something to get people talking about your team. This is Los Angeles, its not like this is Pittsburgh or Chicago
 

ZombieMatt

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I'm definitely with Vlad on this one.

Frankly, this makes absolutely no sense from the Kings point of view.

Lay it out on the line.

What is the intention of this event?

Answer: To watch your own prospects closely, try to give them some ice time during the summer, introduce them to your teams system, get them practicing etc.

Key words: "your own prospects"

What is the purpose of Crosby being there?

Answer: Publicity stunt

I'm sorry, but a prospect camp that very, very few fans pay attention to is not going to suddenly create huge revenue by having an undrafted player, no matter how spectacular, make an appearance.

For the Kings this simply doesn't make sense. It takes time and focus away from their own players at this camp.

For Crosby, obviously its great, he gets to play, he gets to skate with guys a few years older than him, more refined players, see how he compares to them, etc. He can't always be afraid he'sgoing to get injured. He's a kid who loves to play hockey...he wants to play the game, and will probably jump at each opportunity to play. Team's want to see that sort of enthusiasm, especially from their top stars (or future stars).
 

LaLaLaprise

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Im with Vlad.

How would you feel being a Kings Prospect and the spotlight has been taken off you because some 16 year old is stealing the show (he will steal it, there is no doubt in my mind).

Im a Crosby fan, and a I like the Kings, but its just kind of odd.
 

Blind Gardien

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La-La-Laprise said:
Im with Vlad.

How would you feel being a Kings Prospect and the spotlight has been taken off you because some 16 year old is stealing the show (he will steal it, there is no doubt in my mind).

Im a Crosby fan, and a I like the Kings, but its just kind of odd.

I just don't see how it's that big a deal at all. I doubt it has any publicity value for the Kings, as it's a pretty obscure development camp anyway, and I doubt that hordes of Crosby fans will be breaking down the doors to catch a glimpse of the phenom anyway. It's Southern California in July. Who would care?

And given that it probably won't involve much hype or publicity, I don't expect it will have much effect on the other players there. The Kings staff is there to do a job with their own prospects, and how unprofessional do you think they are? What, they're just going to stand around gaping at Crosby the whole time and fail to notice what the guys they're being paid to train are doing? Fat chance. Have the players ever played on a team where there wasn't a star player on the team before? Hardly. Are they going to come to the NHL and expect that they won't share a dressing room with Joe Sakic or Ilya Kovalchuk or some other big name $10M superstar? It's all part of the game.

Besides, Crosby isn't a primadonna who will troop in with a big posse of hangers-on. He'll just try to blend in and be one of the boys, and the staff will do their best to facilitate that.

I think you guys are building mountains out of molehills here. This is probably just a case of Crosby or his family/agent/whoever saying to a pal like Brady Murray, hey, can we come along, and then it gets passed up the chain and Taylor or whoever says, hey, why not? It's all just a bit of networking, and Crosby gets a peek of an NHL development camp, some time in the LA sun with some of his pals, and the Kings don't lose anything on it. I doubt they're marketing or posting ads around town or anything. Relax. :)

(Of course, I humbly retract this post if it turns out they are publicising or hyping it!)
 

Old Hickory

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The Kings have several non-Kings prospects participating in this camp every year.
 

Rabid Ranger

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kingsjohn said:
The Kings have several non-Kings prospects participating in this camp every year.



Including Jack Johnson who is a top rated defenseman for the 2005 draft. What I would give to see these scrimmages!
 

Kings86

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I think you guys are overrating the LA media, Crosby coming for Prospect camp will probably get very little if any coverage.

Every year the Kings invite local kids (i.e. Macias), ex-Shattucks guys (I think Parise was there before he got drafted) and other non-drafted players. It really hasn't affected the amount of time or attention Kings prospects get.

He probably decided to go because a) Neilson is going b) chance to get some workouts in away from media attention where nobody would recognize him c) Possibly (not likely) generate some publicity in the United States in a major market
 

KingPurpleDinosaur

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it's just a few days of camp for crying out loud!!! do you think the kings prospects learn that much in those 3 days that it'll affect them for the rest of their hockey career??? do you really belive having someone as great as crosby will scar their confidence??? if anything, this camp's only purpose is to get together prospects so that they can get comfortable and know each other. As kingsjohn said, every year they invite at least two handfuls of players who are not signed for the kings and are trying out. does it matter if they havne't been drafted yet and can't be signed?

if so, then how bout brady murray? he's been at the camp for years now and he was never able to sign with the kings or had been drafted yet. If I can remember correctly, he must have been playign at the camp since he was 15 and was fantastic each time. So what if Crosby came in, it's no different then Murray. And so waht if it's a publicity stunt? who cares if it is or isn't. there's nothing wrong w/ drumming up some interest in the prospect camp every year. I personally like it as it gives me more and more incentive to keep goin to the camp and games, even though they make a huge profit off me as I go in paying NOTHING to watch the kids play.

if you have a chance at bringing in a real unique talent at camp, why would u pass it up? i'm happy as a fan and i'm sure management is happy becuase they get to see how good he really is compared to our prospects
 

c-carp

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Don_Cherry said:
So is he expected to stay off the ice for the next 353+ days between now and the draft? Come on, he's a kid. He's a hockey player. Playing hockey is what he's supposed to do. He hasn't had a serious injury in 14 years of hockey but now you're worried about a little prospects camp getting him? Tha's ridiculous.
I am not saying that he should quit playing, I just think going to a prospect camp when you are a lock to be the no1 pick in the draft is a risk I wouldnt take. He has nothing to gain by this. :dunno:
 

Ziggy Stardust

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What's funny is the fact that this development camp runs from the 11th to the 23rd, and consists of only ONE exhibition scrimmage game.
And his close friend Eric Neilson, whom the Kings drafted, will be at camp. How is Crosby going to "steal the spotlight" from some of these guys who aren't even in the spotlight in the first place? This nonsensical *****ing by some of you makes no friggin' sense.
 
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