By now all of the national teams are entrenched in practices in Sochi preparing for the start of the Men's tournament on Wednesday.
The Kings have sent six players to Russia for four different teams.
Anze Kopitar for Slovenia, Dustin Brown and Jonathan Quick are suiting up for Team USA, Jeff Carter and Drew Doughty for Team Canada, and Slava Voynov for team Russia.
The 24-year old
Voynov is in the midst of a difficult season but will represent Russia for the first time as an Olympian. His defensive partner so far in line rushes has been Montreal Canadiens veteran defenseman Andrei Markov. This is Markov's third Olympics so Voynov has plenty of experience skating alongside him.
You can catch
Voynov and Team Russia playing in the group stages at the following times (All times PST):
Feb 13th, Thursday 4:30am vs. Slovenia
Feb 15th, Saturday 4:30am vs. USA (get up and watch this one, should be fantastic)
Feb 16th, Sunday 4:30 am vs. Slovakia
The other group A powerhouse,
Team USA, has yet to announce a starting goaltender yet. It's between
Jonathan Quick and Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller. It's possible since both goalies seem to be neck to neck in the starter discussion that Dan Bylsma rotates the two. In terms of lines it would seem that
Dustin Brown will be on the wing of Ryan Kesler, opposite of Patrick Kane on the other side.
Watch
Brown and Quick in action during the following times:
Feb 13th, Thursday 4:30am vs. Slovakia
Feb 15th, Saturday 4:30am vs. Russia
Feb 16th, Sunday 4:30am vs. Slovenia
Kopitar is the main man for team
Slovenia. He will center the top line for the squad and will have his hands full all tournament long playing huge minutes against tough opponents. Slovenia is incredibly overmatched in these games, having just one NHL player on their roster. It's going to be a battle for Slovenia all the way but hopefully they have a good showing.
Slovenia is in a rough group with the USA, Russia, and Slovakia.
Feb 13th, Thursday 4:30am vs. Russia
Feb 15th, Saturday 12:00am vs. Slovakia
Feb 16th, Sunday 4:30am vs. USA
The final two players in the mix for the Kings are
Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter. After the initial morning skate in Sochi it looks like Kings fans are going to be happy with the Jeff Carter line.
That's right, if you thought Crosby and Kunitz alone was scary now add Jeff Carter to the mix. He should net a point or two with those linemates.
Defensively
Drew Doughty is going to be paired up with first-time Olympian and NorCal rival Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Good linemates all around for the King players on
Team Canada. Definitely looking forward to seeing the Vlasic-Doughty pairing at work.
Here is a look at game times and opponents for Team Canada:
Feb 13th, Thursday 9:00am vs. Norway
Feb 14th, Friday 9:00am vs. Austria
Feb 16th, Sunday 9:00am vs. Finland
Keep in mind that these are all projected lines.
All the games are going to be shown live on TV on either MSNBC, USA, or NBCSports. If you are in the US you can also stream the games live at the
NBC Olympics website.
The knockout rounds will start next Tuesday after the group placement is decided.
Enjoy the games folks!
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A few minor roster transactions have taken place for the Kings and Monarchs over the last few days.
First off the Monarchs traded Robbie Czarnik to the Hamilton Bulldogs (Montreal Canadiens) for Steven Quailer.
Czarnik, 24, was a third-round selection for the Kings in 2008 and the organization had a lot of hope for him as a strong two-way forward on the bottom lines. However Czarnik was never able to find his feet in the AHL and struggled with inconsistency. Hopefully this move can get the young forward jump started.
In return the Kings get right winger Steven Quailer. The 24-year old was selected in the third round of the 2008 entry draft by Montreal and has been skating on the bottom lines with Hamilton in the AHL.
Quailer is a big body at 6'4 and adds a little size to the Monarchs lineup.
Also joining the Monarchs will be Colin Fraser, the center of the Kings fourth line during their Stanley Cup run. Fraser, 29, has suited up for 33 games so far this season with the Kings whike recording just two assists. He has seen his starts cut into this year by various players including Trevor Lewis and Linden Vey. While Fraser always brings the grit and toughness it appears he is the last name on the depth chart, and in the event of a trade to bring in a center...well...
Fraser was making 825K and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. The Kings now have one free roster spot on the lineup and nearly $4 million in cap space to deal with. Definitely seems like this is a prelude to a move after the roster freeze expires in two weeks time.
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