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About Curtis Zupke
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Curtis Zupke grew up in Los Angeles and got hooked on hockey (along with thousands of other Southern Californians) upon Wayne Gretzky’s arrival to the Kings in 1988. He covered the Anaheim Ducks for the Orange County (Calif.) Register from 2006 to 2011.
His work has also appeared in The Hockey News, Associated Press and QMI Agency (a Quebec-based wire service that serves 250 daily and weekly newspapers in Canada).
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| Kings continue their mastery of Sharks |
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| Pacific |
| Written by J.P. Hoornstra |
| Tuesday, January 05, 2010 02:54 |
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Pacific Division notebook: The San Jose Sharks must be wondering how long the Los Angeles Kings can keep this up. With a few more games like Monday’s, so will the rest of the NHL. The Kings were outshot 47-20 yet still matched their largest win of the season in San Jose, 6-2, to end the Sharks’ NHL-best winning streak at eight games. “It was a huge game for us,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We’re right in the eighth spot there, so we needed this win.” Doughty had already established a new career high for assists in a game by the time the first period was over, helping on all three goals as the Kings took a 3-0 lead. He added another in the second period, and the Kings took a 5-0 lead into the third to chase Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Backup Thomas Greiss had been in net for all of 13 seconds when Kings forward Scott Parse intercepted a Rob Blake pass and put it in the net to make it 6-0. San Jose added a pair of late goals but couldn’t keep Los Angeles from improving to 3-0-1 in the intradivision rivalry this season.Except for the final score – they rarely win big – the victory was a typical one for the Kings. Doughty was outstanding, six different players scored, three goals came on the power play, and Jonathan Quick outplayed his opponent. The Kings goalie weathered the Sharks’ shooting barrage with aplomb and was rarely caught out of position en route to a season-high 45 saves. “Even though we got six goals,” Doughty said, “if (Quick) didn’t play as well as he did, they could have easily got six goals. He’s been great for us all season long.” Prior to Monday, both teams were on the upswing. The Kings had won back-to-back, including an impressive 2-1 victory over Washington on Saturday. San Jose’s long streak left them a comfy eight points ahead of L.A., and seven points ahead of second-place Phoenix, in the Pacific standings, even after Monday’s debacle. The big games by Doughty and Quick came on the heels of a big week for the youngsters. The 20-year-old Doughty was chosen as the Kings’ lone Canadian Olympic representative Wednesday, while Quick, 23, was chosen the number three goalie for Team USA on Saturday. Dustin Brown and Jack Johnson (U.S.) and Michal Handzus (Slovakia) are the Kings’ other Olympians. Eight Sharks will go to Vancouver: Joe Pavelski (U.S.); Dan Boyle, Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton (Canada); Greiss (Germany); Douglas Murray (Sweden); and Nabokov (Russia). DALLAS The Stars missed yet another chance to win three straight games Saturday, losing at home to Vancouver, 3-1. That followed impressive home wins over Chicago (5-4) and Anaheim (5-3). … Loui Eriksson was named the third star of the week by the NHL for scoring five goals in three games. Eriksson has 17 goals and 40 points this season. … Eriksson (Sweden) is one of four Stars Olympians — representing four different countries — along with RW Jere Lehtinen (Finland), D Karlis Skrastins (Latvia) and LW Brenden Morrow (Canada). … If healthy, Lehtinen will play in his fifth Olympics, and join 14 other returning players off the 2006 silver-medal squad. A defensive specialist, Lehtinen has two goals and eight points in 25 games this season. … Morrow, the Stars’ captain, was considered a “bubble player” leading up to Wednesday’s announcement of the Canadian roster. The 30-year-old has 13 goals, 26 points and a team-leading 21 minor penalties (T-5th in the NHL) in 40 games this season. He’s represented Canada six times in international play but never in the Olympics. … Eriksson, 24, had never been selected for an Olympics either, but was a shoo-in after his 36-goal 2008-09 NHL campaign. This year he’s on pace for a 34-goal season. … Skrastins (two goals, eight points) and Philadelphia defensemen Oskars Bartulis were the only NHLers chosen for Team Latvia. … Asked about his omission from Team USA, three-time Olympic veteran Mike Modano, 39, told the Dallas Morning News that “I guess the hardest part is this pretty much was the last chance to play for [Team USA].” … Defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy and goalie Brent Krahn were chosen to play in the AHL All-Star Game on Thursday, while a third prospect, G Richard Bachman, was tabbed for the ECHL All-Star Game. PHOENIX G Ilya Bryzgalov was named second star of the month by the NHL for his work in December. Bryzgalov, who was named to the Russian Olympic squad on Dec. 25, posted an 8-2-3 record with a 1.82 goals-against average and .939 save percentage for the month. … Two other Coyotes will represent their home countries at the Vancouver Olympics: D Sami Lepisto (Finland) and D Zbynek Michalek (Czech Republic). Michalek scored three goals in nine games for the Czech squad that won silver at the 2006 World Championships. He also played at the past two World Championships, but never in the Olympics. Lepisto had a goal and an assist in Finland’s bronze-medal run at the 2008 World Championships. … Phoenix posted the Western Conference’s best record in December (10-2-3, 23 points). … The Coyotes had their franchise-record 10-game winning streak snapped last Thursday in a 3-2 shootout loss to San Jose. The previous record of nine games was set by the Winnipeg Jets from Dec. 27, 1992 to Jan. 23, 1993. … Scottie Upshall, who injured his upper body in a 4-1 loss to Detroit on Saturday, is listed as day-to-day, according to the Arizona Republic. The newspaper’s Web site also reported C Vernon Fiddler (lower body) and D Jim Vandermeer (upper body) as day to day, and C Daniel Winnik (upper body) as week to week but hoping to return by Saturday. ANAHEIM Ryan Getzlaf’s leg laceration has sidelined the star center longer than expected — four games and counting. He was placed on injured reserve Monday retroactive to Dec. 26 but would be eligible to play Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings. … C MacGregor Sharp was recalled from AHL San Antonio on Sunday. The rookie was held scoreless over an eight-game stint with the Ducks after making his NHL debut Nov. 19. … Seven Ducks players were named to their native country’s Olympic squads: Getzlaf and Corey Perry (Canada), Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu (Finland), Bobby Ryan (USA), and Jonas Hiller and prospect Luca Sbisa (Switzerland). … Winger Kyle Calder was assigned to AHL Toronto after clearing waivers last week. Calder had two points, both assists, in 14 games for the Ducks. … The home countries of four Ducks prospects are still alive at the IIHF World Junior Championships. Jake Gardiner and Kyle Palmieri will lead the U.S. against Canada and Logan McMillan in the championship game. Sbisa would play for Switzerland against Sweden in the gold-medal game, but is sidelined by injury.
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, January 05, 2010 12:54 |
