Or at least that is what Kings assistant general manager Ron Hextall is saying. CSTV's Eliot Olshansky talked with Hextall about the Kings stance towards college hockey. Hextall basically took the opportunity to say that despite what all the evidence points to, the Kings really love college hockey as a development route for their players.
Here is what Hextall said about Trevor Lewis signing with LA and then playing in the OHL:
"We were actually alerted that that was the road that he wanted to go," Hextall said of Lewis. "It came to our attention through the grapevine that that was the way he wanted to go. That was not our doing. We actually had nothing to do with it. We would have no problem with him going to Michigan."
If the Kings had nothing to do with it, then why did Lewis, who could have signed with a CHL at any time during the past year, wait until after he signed with Los Angeles to make that move? Sorry, I'm still skeptical.
On Scott Parse's comments to the Omaha World-Herald:
"We don't want Scott Parse?" Hextall asked incredulously. "That's absolutely untrue. We think Scott Parse is a good player and a good prospect."
That's nice, but what else would you expect the Kings to say? They don't want to burn any bridges with a player that will probably be on their team in a year. But the point was that Parse still felt the way he did, regardless of what the Kings say.
It was nice of Hextall to come out and say the things he did about college hockey, and I hope that they are true, but I have a tough time believing words, when every action has indicated the opposite.
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