Reign are rolling in AHL playoffs

Reign are rolling in AHL playoffs

by Eddie Garcia, Locked On Podcast Network

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About This Episode

31:14 minutes

published 10 days ago

English

Speaker 10s - 16.94s

It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The King's time in the postseason was short, but the Ontario GPE rain keep winning in the

Speaker 316.94s - 33.22s

HAL playoffs. We're going to get on the rain train next with Jared Chaffron PERSON on this episode of Locked-on, L.A. King. You are Locked-on, L.A. King. You are Locked-on Kings, your daily podcast on the Los Angeles Kings ORG.

Speaker 033.52s - 38.04s

Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Speaker 339.6s - 55.26s

Hey, Kings fans, welcome to Locked-on L.A. Kings, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network ORG, your team every day. Thanks for making Locked on L.A. Kings your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts. And we are also on YouTube. Please like and subscribe if you're enjoying this content. I'm Eddie Garcia, your host of Locked L.A. Kings ORG fans.

Speaker 055.44s - 112.8s

I've worked in sports media for the past 30 years, 20 plus years, the Fox Sports Radio Network ORG. Also co-host of the Puck podcast, a weekly NHL. review show that's been putting out content for the past 17 years and a passionate L.A. Kings ORG fan fan fan. For you, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul ORG, make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 with any winning $5 bet.Visit fanduel.com slash locked on to get started. Well, we're all disappointed. The L.A. Kings were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but we still have hockey to watch in the King ORG's family. That's the team's HL affiliate, the Ontario Rain ORG, who are in the Pacific Division ORG finals here to discuss that.And the team is friend of the show Jared Chaffron PERSON. He is the manager of communications and content for the Ontario Rain contributor to LA Kings Insider ORG. And you can hear and sometimes see him as an analyst on the Ontario Rain ORG game broadcast. You can follow him on X and Twitter. He is at Shaft Rain ORG.

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Hey, Jared PERSON. Thanks for joining us. How are you doing? Hey, Eddie PERSON, you doing great.

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Thanks for having me.

Speaker 3117.56s - 146.4s

Thanks for joining us after getting off a flight from British Columbia GPE after seeing the rain take your business. I'm excited to talk to you about everything this would go on with the rain here, especially in the playoffs. Five playoff games so far, five wins for the Ontario GPE rain. Four, three over Abbotsford last night to sweep that series,the best of five series, three games to nothing. Before we get into the season and the postseason, let's talk about last night's game. I know the rain have been rolling for the most part, but they did have to come from behind to win last night.

Speaker 2146.94s - 237.84s

Yeah, it's the first time that they've had to do that in the playoffs, and it was a totally different recipe. It's funny, Eddie PERSON, I feel like at the beginning of both series that they've played, they've really just from the outset dominated their opponent. They've come out physical. They've dictated the pace of play.They've had great goaltending. But for whatever reason, in the clinching games, they've won them both, but they've started slow. They were a little tentative last night. It just didn't seem like they were going for the jugular, you know, like stepping on on Aventor PERSON's neck.And, you know, it turned very quickly all of a sudden. A nice deflection from Samuel Fagimo in the offensive zone off a shot from Joe Hicketts PERSON. And the game was two to one. And I think from there, everybody kind of on the bench relaxed a little bit, got on the board and said, you know what, we're only one goal down. We haven't even played that well halfway through the game. And then the next shift they scored to tie the game.And then the next shift they scored. So all of a sudden, they had a lead and they hadn't really been played that well. But once the rain, uh, went into the second intermission with a four to three lead, they came out for the third period and played a much different game, a much simpler game, but used their defense and they didn't really allow many chances at all, uh, over the last 20 minutes. Abbotsford really did not have many great looks. Eric Portillo PERSON made some good saves,but there wasn't any crazy diving. He was pretty in good position. The structure was there. It was more of their game that they've been playing the whole playoffs. And you know what? They came out with a victory and finished Abbotsford season.

Speaker 3238.38s - 264.64s

So I mentioned 5 and 0. They down the Bakersfield Condors ORG, the Evanton Oilers ORG, the HL affiliate in the best of three first round. So they won the two games, five one and four and three one. And then they just wrapped up three game sweep of Abbotsford, the Vancouver Canucks ORG HL affiliate,3-1, 4-0, and then 4-3 last night. So the rain, they had a solid regular season, but it seems like they're having a great postseason. What has been working so well now that they've gotten in the playoffs?

Speaker 2265.36s - 394.7s

Well, the first and foremost thing is that Eric Portillo PERSON has elevated his game. During the regular season, he was the starter once David Riddick was recalled by the LA Kings ORG. And he took him a little while to understand that role at the H.L. level, there's a lot more games than what he was used to than in college. And he still was splitting time in net. You know, the rain signed Aaron Dell PERSON, who was a factor down the stretch.Jacob Inham PERSON played a bunch of games. So it wasn't like Portillo was night in, night out, the guy. And in the playoffs, you know, the last two weeks of the regular season, Marco Sturm started to lean on Portillo PERSON a little bit harder to let everybody know, hey, this is your opportunity. You got to run with it.You got to be ready. Let's get you kind of ramped up for the playoffs. He did okay in that spot at the end of regular season, but in the postseason, he has been a rock. And that's what you need. So for the first thing is their goaltending has been excellent. Portillo is at the top of the league in the playoffs as far as goals against average, save percentage, obviously wins, the rainer, you know, one of the first teams to advanceto the next round. So I think he's been everything you would hope for and more in his first postseason in the pros, which is great. But then the other thing is, you know, there's been total health for everybody. There's nobody out of the lineup. They have a full lineup. Everybody has played and they haven't changed that lineup. It's been the same 20 guys with, you know, maybe the only difference has been the backup goaltender changed this past game. It was Arndell instead of Ryan Bednarred PERSON. But everybody on the ice has been the exact same.And the health of this team at the right time was huge because during the regular season, almost the entire year, somebody was out of the lineup somewhere or was huge because during the regular season, almost the entire year somebody was out of the lineup somewhere or was called up or for some reason was not with the team. And now everybody's back. And the Kings ORG obviously being done, not that really anybody came down from the Kings ORG, but there's nobody that's elsewhere that the rain are waiting. They have no other excuses. They have their full lineup of everybody that they'regoing to have. And so just having that consistency has helped them and i think that has really been the key is you got all your talent in the lineup and they're playing consistently so i'll be

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honest before i started doing this show um i didn't follow the rain that closely i certainly knew of them um but now it's been pretty fun to learn more and more about the team and the HL ORG and how things are a little bit different. And I did not know that because the Ontario Rain were the lower seed against the atmosphere, they got the choice of starting at home for the first two games or have the potential final three games at home. So they took the choice of starting at home, won both of them. Then they just had to win one more on the road. So that's very interesting. Do you know who makes that call and does thatgo forward in the playoffs as well? Do they continue that kind of format? It just depends. So

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the HL, as you mentioned, a little bit confusing. The Pacific Division first and foremost has different rules for their postseason than the other divisions.

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Because of more teams? More teams being in the Pacific Division is one of those reasons. Also, because of how far teams are spread out in the Pacific Division ORG. You know, you look at the North or in the Atlantic LOC, there's a lot more bus trips. It's a lot easier for teams to go back and forth. And when you're in a playoff series, I think the league does try to minimize in the Pacificif you are a flight distance away. So there's a, I can't remember off the top of my head, but it's like 250 miles or 300 miles. If you're more than that distance away from each other, then the series format will be a two, three.

Speaker 2477.92s - 490.96s

And you're right. The teammate has home ice gets their choice. Obviously, it would be unfair for the home ice team to get the first three games. That means the series could be over before one of the teams even gets a chance to play a home

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game. So they don't want to have that happen. You know, two years ago when they had 10 teams in the division and Ontario GPE, it was their first year in the situation, they finished as the number two seed. It was the, I believe it was the 2022 postseason. And they finishes the second seed.They defeated San Diego in the first round, that best of three series.

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And they moved on to the second round. They faced Colorado GPE, which is a further distance than the mileage there. So they had to do a two, three. And the rain said, we want the back three. We want to try to maybe just split in Colorado GPE. And then, you know, you got an opportunity to win two out of three and win the series.And I think there was a lot of factors at play, but it did not go well. And again, you know, some of the things we talk about health, the Kings were still playing the Oilers in the first round. That series ended up going seven games. It was nasty. It was rough. The Kings had to recall goaltender Matt Malta PERSON at the time.So the rain lost their starting goaltender. Maddie V had been the starting goaltender for the rain that whole season. And they were kind of left with a mix and match of who else had played. So for a lot of reasons why they didn't win, but they lost both games in Colorado GPE, just like Abbottesford just lost both games in Colorado, just like Abbotsford GPE just lost both games in Ontario GPE and the rain returned home and they were swept. They didn't have anythingleft in that last game. So I think there's a little bit of a scar from two years ago and knowing, hey, we can get these first two home games guaranteed up front. If we can win both of those, then you know what? We'll have a two-0 lead like they did here. It worked out pretty much exactly to plan and only have to win one out of three on the road. Now, there's other things that come into play. Obviously, building availability, which everybody knows for the Kings is so hard with crypto.com arena, they got NBA ORG playoffs. They got other events, concerts. Same thing goes on at Toyota Arena. The arena is extremely busy thistime of year. They definitely have a lot of concerts on the schedule. They also have a lot of graduations on the schedule. A lot of the high schools and local colleges out in the Ontario area and the IE ORG. They have events there that are scheduled months and months in advance. So I think some of that does play a factor onto what dates are available and you have to be able to work with your opponent to make sure that those work. And it's ultimately a combination of people thatmake that decision. Obviously, the rain general manager, Richard Sealy PERSON, is very involved. On the hockey side, he and Marco Stern PERSON, the head coach come up with, you know, what they would like. Obviously, then on our business side, we have our vice president, Nate Downer PERSON. He's extremely involved with the arena as far as what is available for dates. I think there's a scenario coming up where there is a graduation in the morning and the building's actually going to change it over and get it ready for hockey to play a game at night. So there's a lot of things that we have to work out with thebuilding to be able to do it. And it's on a short notice. The building doesn't know what our schedule is going to be, who we're playing, what the seating is. And so right now as we sit, it could be Coachella Valley GPE, which the Coachella Valley team is number one in the Pacific from the regular season. They have home ice. So they would have their choice of dates first before we get to choose ours. Or if the Calgary Ranglers ORG pull an upset and win that round,that's a completely different scenario. It's just like what we talked about, like, what the rain have against Abbotsford GPE. So with you, you've got two completely separate date situations. And now Coachella Valley GPE is within that mileage range. They're in Palm Desert GPE is where their home arena is. So we can do more travel.So if that series were to happen, it would be a two to one format with Coachella Valley getting the first two games, the rain then getting two at their place. And then if a fifth game was necessary, you can do that extra travel for one game because it's just a bus ride as opposed to getting everybody on a flight, baggage, and all those kind of things.

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Real quick, Pacific Division final. Is it best of five or best of seven? It is best of five.

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It's the last round that is best of five.

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Once you get past this, the Western Conference final against the winner of the Central Division ORG. And then the Calder Cup final is a traditional best of seven series.

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Those are two, three two, traditionally, depending again on arena availability, everything. They would like to structure it again with, they wouldn't want to do a two, two, two that's too much travel it would be a two three two format all right up next we're going to get more into some of the key players that kings fans probably know about for the ontario and that's next you're on locked on le kings PERSON your team every day

Speaker 3761.06s - 766.62s

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Speaker 1766.82s - 798.46s

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Speaker 3798.5s - 885.08s

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Speaker 2885.08s - 1078.42s

first year of pro hockey? Well, his confidence is really grown. I think that's the first thing. He's really comfortable with his game. He's always been comfortable with his game. He's a confident guy when he started. But you know, you're getting used to a new league. You're getting used to new team. teammates. You know, I think it took him a few months to really settle in. And then, you know, then all of a sudden it was the first part of the season was, okay, he's the backup.He's getting his playing time. He's getting starts here and there. But the rain, their job, and I think we spoke about this, you know, during the regular season, their job was to make sure that David Riddick PERSON was ready. If David Riddick was forced interaction with the Kings ORG, he needed to be in rhythm. He needed to be playing.So he was getting a lot of the starts. And, you know, on a back-to-back, yeah, Portillo PERSON, he needed to be in rhythm. He needed to be playing. So he was getting a lot of the starts and, you know, on a back-to-back, yeah, Portillo PERSON, you'd see him in action. But I think once Riddick was recalled and was clearly going to stay with the Kings ORG for the rest of the season, that's when, okay, now his confidence has got to grow into being the guy, the starter. Again, he didn't play every game, but he was going to be the go-to guy more than more often than not for Ontario GPE. And so that took a little time and adjustment period of,okay, now this is, you know, I'm going to be the guy here. And so I think by the time the playoffs has started, he's comfortable with the league, he's comfortable with his teammates, he's comfortable starting every night. He knows, especially right now, in this specific division playoffs, the rain are playing teams they played all season. He had played a couple times in Bakersfield GPE. Going to Bakersfield, no different than any other game during the regular season. Going to Abbotsford, he played in three of the four games that the rain had played inAbbotsford during the regular season. So that wasn't anything that's out of his comfort zone. And, you know, whether it's Calgary or Coachella Valley GPE, he's had some excellent performances against both of those teams in the regular season. So it helps him prepare. He knows what, he knows, you know, some of their top players. It's not out of his comfort zone at all. Obviously it'd be great for the rain to maybe advancefarther. And then then you're talking about some different teams, some different environments. And that'd be great the next step in his development. But I think, you know, step by step, he's mastered everything that he needs to do. And now he's prepared. He's coming in focused and he's making big saves. The rain didn't allow a power play goal the entire series against Abbotsford GPE. This is a team that was really good on the power play. Some of their best players that have played in the NHL for Vancouver this year wereheld without a point in the series. All three of their top scores were held without a point in the series. And they're going to get their chances, but Eric Portillo PERSON shut down a lot of those chances. So I think we've seen him make that gradual progression. And I think maybe even faster than what the Kings ORG were thinking, because I don't think he's been on the radar as an NHL ORG-ready type of a player just yetbecause he's just a rookie. And goalies a lot of times take a little longer to develop. But we're getting to the point where maybe next year, if there was an injury, then maybe they'd want to bring him up for a start or two. I don't know that they thought that he would maybe be ready for that,but I think definitely the Kings will have Eric Portillo PERSON play in some preseason games next year and start to have him become more of a person that would be in their rotation. I don't know that, you know, obviously with the Kings ORG goaltending situation moving forward,it's anybody's guess what's going to happen. It's too early right now. But I just think, you know, when they start thinking about what are those moves going to be as they set up their goaltending for next year, they now are Portillo PERSON's a little bit more on the radar than he was a year ago for sure.

Speaker 31079.26s - 1106.24s

Obviously, most fans are familiar with defenseman, Brand Clark, former first-round pick, expected to be an impact player in L.A. GPE soon. 50 games this year with the rain, 10 goals, 36 assists for 46 points. He finished tied for third in the league amongst defensemen in points. And the other three players ahead of him played at least 12 or more games than he did. And he was only seven points out of being the highest scoring defenseman in the league. So the same question for you as Eric Bortillo, how have you seen him progress this season?And I would ask specifically, how has he looked defensively?

Speaker 21106.82s - 1252.38s

Well, yeah, that's what I was going to say, is that defensively, that's where he's progressed. His offensive skills, I don't know how much more progression that I need to see from his offense. He is elite as a playmaker. He always has his head up looking to find guys. He's looking to shoot the puck and create chances on the offensive end. And as far as, you know, just transitioning from defense to offense, he can do that immediately.And his vision is elite even at this level. So right away when he started the season, all of those things were still true. He's still doing those things, which is great. Obviously, that's his bread and butter. I think the Kings ORG wanted him to really round himself out a little bit more on the defensive side. And again, it's not that he can't do it.I just think he, you know, we're playing in the OHL for a good part of last season. He did play, obviously, in the NHL and HL last year. And I think in the OHL ORG, you know, he doesn't have to play the defense that much because he's, you know, just kind of skating past people and not having to shut people down defensively. So now you look at this guy and you want to be able to play the defense that much because he's, you know, just kind of skating past people and not having to shut people down defensively. So now you look at this guy and you want to be able to play a lot of minutes and be a shutdown type of a player as well as an offensive player.And he started to really round himself in a form. We look at all these numbers for Portillo PERSON. Well, that's the defense in front of him also is helping. And Brand Clark is on the ice for like 27, 28 minutes. The minutes stats are, I don't really know exactly because they don't keep them publicly in the HL.The team does have a record of who's doing what they have their advanced stat metrics that they get to look at. And I'm hearing from the coaching staff when I talk to them, hey, we're putting Brand Clark out there routinely for 25 plus minutes. You know, we see him. He is out there accumulating a lot of minutes. He's playing in all situations. He plays obviously on the power play, but he's playing penalty kill as well. So he's playing with Joe Hicketts PERSON, who's also a guy who's pretty dynamic offensively and theyboth move really well. So it's a really interesting pair with the two of them because they're able to eat up a lot of minutes, but they've become more physical and they've become much better at shutting down opponents. Marco Starram is comfortable putting Clark PERSON out thereagainst any of the other team's lines, and he's out there against all of them, honestly. So that's what I think the Kings ORG wanted to see, and I think that we started to really see him become more comfortable, eating up those minutes, and then also playing a much better defensive game, well-rounded game.

Speaker 31252.84s - 1275.1s

And another first round pick forward, Alex Turcott PERSON, had a relatively injury-free season. Of course, he's had some tough luck with injuries in his past. 55 games, though, for both the Kings and the Rain ORG. Got a nice little look in L.A. 11 goals, 22 assists for 29 points in both places combined. Talk about him finally getting some good luck health-wise and how he's played this season.

Speaker 21275.94s - 1497.12s

Yeah, I mean, at the H.L level, he's been a top line forward for Ontario the entire season. You know, he's a guy that drives play. Now, it's interesting that, you know, for the rain during the regular season, he was playing center. Marco Stern PERSON had him exclusively at center. But as I mentioned, you know, one of the reasons, you know, during the regular season,somebody was out of the lineup or called up or something. You know, there was never a situation where the rain had all of their centers healthy and all of them down in the HL at the same time. So a lot of times earlier in the season, Turcott PERSON was factoring as a center because they needed him there and he was dependable. He was great defensively. Wins faceoffs, hard to play against, wins battles, great in his offense and defensive zone, just grinding out plays. And now they had a situation when Akiel Thomascame back from L.A. after his call up with the Kings ORG, you got T.J. Tynan PERSON, who is probably the top center, maybe in the H.L. He's a veteran leader. He's the team captain. You're not going to take him out of that position.Akeel Thomas PERSON has been very good on faceoffs and been very dependable. He's been great. I think the Kings ORG, maybe you wanted to see him eat up some center minutes in a playoff situation. And then you've got Samuel Holanius, who's a prospect, second round pick. He's been great at center as well.So there's been the top three spots at the center position. We're kind of taken up. And so I think Marco Stern PERSON looked at it and said, you know what? We need Alex Turkot playing in a top six role. He needs to be playing in all situations for us. And he plays on the wing in L.A. GPE So he knows how to do that.He's starting to get more used to it. Let's put him with T.J. Tynon on that top line with Samuel Figuimo PERSON, the top goal score on the West Coast LOC here. So just to have those three together, I mean, I feel like they haven't even hit their stride yet. They can dominate play, but they just came together the last weekend of the regular season.This is still technically a pretty new trio. They all have extremely high talent and their skill set is unmatched. But none of their numbers have been amazing in the playoffs. They haven't had to carry the load. I think some of the other guys have stepped up. It's been a very balanced scoring situation for Ontario GPE in the playoffs. They haven't had to carry the load. I think some of the other guys have stepped up. It's been a very balanced scoring situation for Ontario GPE in the playoffs.So Turcotte's still kind of finding his way with those other two guys, but they started in the last two games, especially against Abbotsford GPE. They really have started to get a little more comfortable with each other. Turcott PERSON has found the back of the net. And Samuel Figuimo scored his first goal, the playoffs in yesterday's win. T.J. Tynin PERSON is always going to be on the score sheet. He always finds ways to contribute. So it's been a good trio, but I think for Turcott PERSON, you know, definitely,I think staying healthy has helped him. But I think at this point, it's just being able to show that he can play consistently because he was always a factor when he was healthy. It's just he wasn't healthy as much. And he hadn't put together a full complete season. And I think now we've seen that from him. So this is an opportunity now for him to learn how to play in the playoffs, right?He's never really played in a longer playoff run. He had played some playoff games with the rain, but I think it was only like three or four ever in his career. So his first longer playoffs with the rain, when I mentioned two years ago, they lost to Colorado GPE. He was injured in that series against Colorado, and that injury set him back for a while. It didn't have a good off season because of it. So last year, you know, he was, again, like the rain had two games in Colorado GPE. That was it. So it wasn't really a longer playoff run like this.And this is giving him an opportunity to play some of those hard minutes, to play play playoff style hockey and get himself ready for, you know, hopefully a really good run next year where he expects to be in the NFL ORG.

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We got more with Jared Schafford coming up from the Ontario GPE rain. That's next here on Locked on LA Kings your team every day.

Speaker 01504.12s - 1545.64s

Hey, everydayers. Once you're up to date on your favorite NHL ORG team, head on over to the Locked On NHL podcast to get complete coverage of the NHL playoffs. Locked on NHL is a daily podcast breaking down every playoff series, looking at the big picture and what the games mean for each franchise, while getting you ready for games the next day. No one else is providing a well-balanced, informative take on all the NHL layoff action every single day. So don't miss an episode of Locked-on NHL available daily and part of the Locked-on Podcast Network ORG,your team every day. It is playoff time in the NBA and NHL ORG.

Speaker 31545.8s - 1632.34s

Baseball's in full swing and fan duels your place to bet on every game. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets. Guaranteed that's $150 win or lose, bet on everything from slap shots to home runs, the slam dunks, all on an app that is safe, secure, and easy to use. Unfortunately, we don't have the Kings, Lakers, or Clippers ORG to bet on. But how about betting against the Oilers, Nuggets, and Mavericks who beat our L-A teams?By the way, you see Edmonton blow it against Vancouver the other night? Hey, the Dodgers are in first place and one of the favorites to win it all. It is a great time of the year to be a sports fan, and it can be even more fun by winning with Fandul ORG. You can bet on who will win or lose or things like how many home runs show Hey, Otoneil hit with this season. You can do it all with Van Duel PRODUCT.What are you waiting for? Visit fanduel.com slash locked on to make your first bet an automatic win, Van Duel America's number one sports book. We're back with Jared Schaffernerner PERSON, and there was another player that saw time in LA that I need to ask you about. You mentioned his name briefly, but Akeel Thomas PERSON, another guy who's had some injury issues as well, finally getting his shot, making his NHL ORG debut,and man, did he make the most of it? Seven games, and he scored three goals this season in total with the rain, 22 goals and 46 points. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure he was going to get a chance to see some NHL time this year, but it was great to see him get in there and do the best that he could. And who knows, he could be a guy now after opening some eyes,maybe get some bottom six minutes with the Kings going forward next year. But I did want to ask you about him and how his season is gone.

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Yeah, his season's gone about as well as it could have gone. And again, a guy who hasn't really played as many games as he would have liked to, a former second round pick, someone who, when the Kings ORG drafted him, they expected him to make an impact at the NHL ORG level, but it took a while and mostly because of injuries. Again, similar to Turkkot, whenever Akeel Thomas PERSON in his career has been healthy, he's been a major factor for the Ontario GPE range.Goals score, plays center position, wins, draws, and great defensively plays excellent minutes on the penalty kill. So a guy who can be depended on in all situations, it just, again, he's unfortunately had two different shoulder injuries, and he was out of the lineup for a while. Again, just like Turcotte, the Kings ORG were saying,hey, if this guy can put it all together, we know he has the talent to contribute. It's just can he play at the NHL ORG level and can he stay healthy? And so finally this year, he's been healthy the entire season. Crazy amount of games for him that he's actually going to end up playing. We'll see how far the rain continue to play.But when you look at it, he played preseason games for the Kings ORG, preseason games for the rain. I think you played about 10 preseason games. The Kings were in Australia GPE and playing those games in Australia. And Akeel Thomas, they still had some games to play here in California. He played against Vegas ORG.He scored a hat trick in a preseason game against Vegas ORG. He scored another goal against San Jose GPE in the preseason. He played against Anaheim ORG in the preseason. He played NHL ORG games in the preseason. Then the rain had their preseason. Then he played the entire regular season for the rain before the last month or so.He was up in the NHL. He played seven games with the Kings ORG. Now he's playing playoff games with the rain. He's already played in five playoff games. So when you told it all up, he's going to end up playing, you know, he's well over 80 at this point. So that's awesome to see. That's great. That's what you want from your minor league players when they can come up and you know that they're battle tested, that they can get through a long season. But for Akeel Thomas PERSON, he always had the confidence when he was in the lineup.And this year, it's even gotten to the next level because Marco Stern PERSON has had this amazing relationship with him. I think Marco Sturm at the beginning of the year challenged Akeel Thomas PERSON and said, we need you. You need to be a leader for us. You need to step up.You need to make sure that you're a little bit uncomfortable. You need to push yourself forward. If you want to be in the NHL ORG, you can't just status quo. It can't just be okay in the NHL ORG. You have to be one of the best players in the NHL ORG. And he's had some moments where he has dominated this level.And that's what you need to do to force yourself into the lineup at the NHL ORG level. And again, I don't know that the Kings ORG again again, had him on the radar for a lot of playing time either, but there were injuries. Carl Grunstrom went out. He was injured down the stretch. You know, you had a couple different players that were out of the lineup for theKings ORG at times. Obviously, Victor Robertson PERSON was out for a good amount of the season. Those opened up some holes in the lineup. And, man, Akiel Thomas PERSON came flying through the door. Scores pretty early on. I think he was very dependable in his own zone.He's a good teammate. A lot of the Kings ORG players who knew him, I think they were really excited that he got that opportunity, and they were happy for him, and they love working with him. He fit in on multiple different lines.Jim Hiller was moving them all around the lineup, and he fit in a lot of those places. So I think the King got to see how versatile of a player he actually is. And now they're watching him do great things in the playoffs. He had an amazing pass on the rush last night to set up a goal for Charles Udahn PERSON that tied the game in the second period.He, again, has been key on the power play. He's key on the penalty kill. There are so many good things that he does for the rain on a nightly basis. And again, he's centering that second line. It's been very important for Ontario GPE. So really great to see for Akeel PERSON because he's such a good guy. So easy to root for. So happy for his success. And again, similar to Turcott PERSON, I think he is in position now where he's played inthe NHL, the Kings ORG know who he is. And if he's healthy and ready to go, he can compete for a

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roster spot next year. That is Jared Schafferan PERSON, manager communications and content for the Ontario Rain and Contributed LA Kings Insider and Rain Broadcaster ORG as well. You can follow him on X Twitter at Schafferain ORG. Jared PERSON, thanks for doing this. I know you just got off a plane recently and made time for us. Really appreciate that.

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Thanks for all the information and looking forward to talking more as the Kings ORG go forward or excuse me as the rain go forward in their quest to win the Calder Cup this year awesome thanks for having me Eddie PERSON yeah

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hopefully we can keep this rolling and i talk to you soon all right sounds good thank you very much

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all right we are appreciative of jera chaffron PERSON joining us and look forward to talking to him again down the road and we'll talk to you again tomorrow all you every dayers that dayers that goes you to listen to watch Locked on the Kings every day. Coming up on Friday, another fan feedback show. We've got a lot of things to get your comments on. Rob Blake returning his GM, who the King's next head coach should be, which players will be back next season? What rain players do you think will be on the King's roster next season and ready to contribute?And whatever else is on your mind, you can send an email locked on Eddie PERSON at gmail.com, E.D.D.I.E. And always leave your comments in the YouTube ORG episodes as well, which helps the algorithm. We appreciate that. And stay interactive with us by following us on social media, ex-Twitter, Instagram.We are at Locked on L.A. Kings ORG. Thank you so much for listening and watching this episode of Lockdown, LA Kings, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. We'll talk to you on Friday. And as always,Go Kings Go. Hey, Prime members,

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you can listen to this Locked on podcast, ad free on Amazon ORG music. Download the Amazon music app today.