Fellow blogger and friend, TheMayor, got this beauty from Terry Murray about Andrei Loktionov:
“Well, I had many different scenarios in my mind on how it would all come together in the summertime, thinking Loktionov would really feed off of his opportunity from last year. I felt his training camp was off, quite frankly. in the exhibition games, in the practices, I saw some hesitation, I saw him not handling the puck, not transporting the puck through the middle of the ice and creating in the offensive zone, as I envisioned it would be. So, with that, that’s where it ended up at the start of the year – with him back in Manchester. Now, it’s a situation where I need a player to fit into a position. We’re pretty much set down the middle. If he’s going to fit in and be a player for us, he’s up on an IR replacing Penner, we’re looking for offense and we’re looking for goals. We feel with Loktionov fitting in there now, he’s going to give us that same look – creativity, he’s a hockey player, he has a high IQ on the ice, I think. He’s going to make plays with Richards and Brown.”
He went on to talk about any motivational tactics he may use on the two players just called up from Manchester…
“I’m not going to motivate them,” said Murray. “I’m telling you guys right now and they can read it in the paper tomorrow – this is an opportunity for them to show us what they can do. They’re up on an IR, but they’re not kids. They’ve been pros now for a couple of years. So, it’s an opportunity to show the organization where their game is at and how they’re going to fit it, impress us, force us to do something and force us to think about it. It’s a great opportunity for them.”
He later added – “Pro players have to motivate themselves, that’s your job as a player – is to get yourself ready to play hockey. It’s an 82-game season, it’s a grind out there. If there’s any need for anybody to go over there and kick your butt to get going, we’ve got some problems.”
Click on the link for the entire interview. It’s a good read.
I added the emphasis with the bold.
My initial reaction to the Loktionov comment was, “what the hell?” You don’t want to know my first thought on the motivation remark. Then, I paused. That sneaky sneakster. I damn near fell for it. Do you see what Terry Murray did here? Or are you taking his comments literally?
Terry Murray eats my butt
Yeah, I see. Good catch by you dude. Murray caught in a little bit of a trick there with his “center” comments. Could it be he didn’t want Lokti on the team to begin with? Hmmmm….
OK…
And which one of the top two centers would Loki have replaced? Richards? Kopitar?
Loktionov is a top 6 forward, needing top 6 minutes.
If Bobby S. thought this was a motivating/non-motivating comment by TM, perhaps he is right IF he sees Loki taking the puck up the center of the ice & dazzling us with his brilliance…
If Penner and Parse were healthy, we could easily have a pretty skilled/fast 3rd line secret weapon put together.
Loki has top 6 skill, but he’s not an NHL player yet and he needs any NHL minutes he can get.
And the other catch is he’s not motivating them by telling the papers he’s not motivating them so they will be motivated by his motivational comments. Got it, thanks.
I think this has nothing to do with Loktionov. I think he just explained why Penner has sucked as a King.
Hmmmmm…..not getting it.
He doesn’t want to motivate people, Penner needs motivating. It’s a joke.
Oh…..so this isnt really a TM diss as usual. Its a Penner diss. Huh.
No its both. Its childish, I know, but I can’t help poking fun at the vermin.
That’s what we call 3 for the price of one.
The answer is PI people, get your head in the game!
I would be a very happy fan if the Kings can get their offense to π.
I guess I see what you’re saying…I just think it’s weird that Pens is on IR and then he’s at practice shooting pucks. Last time I played hockey you pretty much need both your hands to shoot the puck. And you will need to grip your stick with some strength to at least get the shot off.
Maybe I’m looking at this all wrong but I’m seeing it as an opportunity to re-audition Loktionov. We’re now 17 games into the season, Pens played 14 of those games, and he’s only got 2 assists. For a guy we’re paying $4+mil this season, to me that’s pretty much sucking dirty stinky Ass. For God’s sake, Greene has a goal!
If I were Loktionov I’d just play the winger minutes and do the best you can. I can understand what he’s saying because it always felt a little weird to me when I was asked to play center but whatever. Do what you gotta do to help the team get the 2 points.
i think TM was sending a message to penner for him to get his lazy ass motivated or he wont be playing much longer.