Never assume. It’s something most people learn fairly early on and then get a reminder of a few times every year — especially during training camps around the NHL.
Occasionally, plans change because of injury, other times due to a coach changing his mind. There could be any number of reasons. Riffing off ‘that’s why they play the games,’ we could easily add ‘that’s the purpose of training camp’ — to sort through things and try to figure it all out.
When GM Ken Holland signed free agents Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci back in July, the prevailing thought was the veteran rearguards would become coach Jim Hiller’s new look third pairing. Not so fast, though.
Through the first week or so of camp, Dumoulin has most often skated with the team’s top young defenseman, Brandt Clarke.
“I knew a little bit ahead of time,” Dumoulin told Mayor’s Manor, when asked if he was surprised to see who his partner was when camp opened last week. “I think you have to be comfortable playing with anyone at any given time. I like to watch different guys too and see how they play, and how they play the game. Obviously, I’ve been watching Clarky these last few weeks, and I know he’s very gifted offensively, but he also has an edge to him defensively. He’s a really good skater, really good puck mover, and he sees the ice really well. I’ve been really, really impressed with what I’ve seen.”
Overall, the 34-year-old native of Maine is just itching to get the season going with his new club.
“It’s fun to get back to competitive situations,” he said. “It’s just a different mindset than the summer. We only have a couple weeks here before we play our first game and I’m looking forward to it. It’s great to get back and play in those scrimmages that are a little bit more meaningful than the summer speed. And it’s been fun getting to know the group a little bit; to see them on the ice in different situations and kind of read off them and know where they like the puck, different systems and everything. It’s all a learning process.”
Still in his very early days with the organization, Dumoulin hasn’t been shocked by what he’s seen on the ice since signing with the Kings.
“They were always such a hard team to play against,” he noted. “There was nothing easy, nothing free. The whole game, you had to be very patient. Whenever we played the Kings, you knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game. It wasn’t going to be a walk through; you had to be focused. They almost seemed like they defended, and they countered off frustrating teams. It’s no different than my first impressions were here, like the first few weeks skating with them, and then even now in camp. You can see that all the forwards, especially the top four lines, they all know how to play defense. They’re all very good in the defensive zone, all have really good sticks, make really, really good reads, great hockey sense. You see why they’re so hard to play against. They’re long too, big forwards.”
While they’re not the same player, there could be some similarities to the situation LA was in last summer, when they added Joel Edmundson to their squad and he found a fair amount of success in Hiller’s system.
“It’s nice because they’ve told me my role and what they expect from me,” Dumoulin shared. “They’ve watched me play, so they know my game. They don’t expect me to be leading the rush or jumping up in the rush, so it suits my style of game. I feel like I’m very consistent. My game is trying to be as stable and reliable as I can, game in and game out. Especially with breakouts and defending-wise also. I think this place will really suit my game.”
And circling back to Clarke as his potential new partner, they seem to have one thing in common already.
“He talks a lot, which I love!” said Dumoulin in a rather enthusiastic tone. “If I can hear you on the ice, I know where you are, so it makes it easy. I also talk a lot on the ice. So, I just love that. I’d rather him talk a lot and say anything than nothing at all, so I appreciate that about him.”
Don’t worry new guy, Clarke will talk.
“We’ve been building our communication and stuff since we started reps together during the captain’s skates before camp opened,” explained the 22-year-old phenom. “It’s been good. We’ve been talking a lot with each other, especially on the ice. He was asking little things, like what we did in certain situations last year, like with man-on-man and other stuff like breakouts. And I’ve been asking him, ‘When guys are coming in, when do you want to squeeze? When do you want to hold?’ So, I think we’re already working well together. We’re already communicating well with each other. He’s also really smart with the puck. He makes quick plays too. I don’t think he’s been given enough credit for just how quick he is. He just smoothly makes a play, puts it over on my stick. When it’s on my tape, I have time and space, so he’s been great.”
But about that talking…
“Maybe I’ve cut him off a couple times,” Clarke jokingly said, making fun of himself for being a chatter box at times. “He’s been great. I love guys that communicate. I love guys that let me know where they are, and who want to know where I am and everything like that. In that sense, we’ve been communicating well. Even on the bench, we’ve been talking a lot about the prior shift – designs on the draw, whatever kind of breakout we want to do on a faceoff. He’s always coming over to me and asking me a lot of stuff, and I’m asking him a lot of stuff. So, I think that’s when people are the most in sync; when they actually make sure of stuff and go over things, even things that are really routine. If you just want to clarify and make sure everyone’s on the same page, it goes a long way.”
When asked about the pairing, Hiller has said there’s no guarantee they’ll be together all season. So, assume that Edmondson and Clarke could be reunited at different times.
Or wait — don’t assume. Never assume anything.
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