Editor’s note: This is the Wednesday, March 1, edition of the “Game Day with Kevin Modesti” newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
Good morning. Kings fans woke up to bittersweet news: The team has given up a piece of its Stanley Cup past to try to improve its immediate future.
In other sports headlines:
On happier notes:
- The Angels watched Shohei Ohtani make his spring pitching debut, going two-plus no-hit innings before sounding at ease going into his free-agent season.
- The UCLA and USC women’s basketball teams go into the Pac-12 tournament, starting today in Las Vegas, after improved regular seasons.
- New Chargers defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley sees ways to improve, although it will still be head coach Brandon Staley calling defensive signals.
On the ice last night, Anze Kopitar scored four goals and goalie Pheonix Copley was unbeatable in the shootout as the Kings rallied to defeat the Jets 6-5 in Winnipeg, jumping into a first-place tie with Vegas in the Pacific Division.
Then came the shocker: The Kings traded goaltender Jonathan Quick, a 2023 first-round draft pick and one other pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets to acquire defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo for the season’s last 20 games and playoffs.
Keep checking for reactions and analysis from the Southern California News Group’s Kings page and The Royal Road newsletter as the day goes on, and follow beat writer Andrew Knoll on Twitter (@AndrewKnollNHL).
For now, suffice it to say the Kings are paying a big emotional price by giving up Quick, one of the heroes of their 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cups. Kopitar and Drew Doughty are the only cup-winning Kings left.
But hasten to add that it’s a price worth paying if it helps the Kings to make their first playoff run past the first round since those Stanley Cup years.
Quick, 37, isn’t the same player now, his record (11-13-4), goals-against average (3.50) and save percentage (.876)…
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