Introducing: Jordan Spence - LA Kings Insider

Introducing: Jordan Spence ... Hometown: Cornwall, P.E.I. ... Via NHL.com: ... Spence was named QMJHL rookie of the year in 2018-19 after ranking ... Video Introducing:JordanSpence ByLAKingsInsider June22,2019 0Comments ShareThisArticle ShareThisArticle AndreRinguette/NHLIFourthRound,95thoverall:JordanSpence Position:D Shoots:Right DOB:2/24/01 Height:5’10 Weight:177 Birthplace:Manly,Australia Hometown:Cornwall,P.E.I. NHLCentralScoutingfinalranking:59(NorthAmericanskaters) NHLCentralScoutingmidtermranking:70 BobMcKenziefinalranking(TSN):74 ChrisPetersfinalranking(ESPN):89 Stats(QMJHL-Moncton):68GP,6-43=49,+11 Stats(U-18-Canada):7GP,1-2=3,+5 Twitter:@jordanjs224 ViaNHL.com: •SpencewasnamedQMJHLrookieoftheyearin2018-19afterrankingfirstamongrookiedefensemenandfourthamongallfirst-yearskaterswith6-43—49in68games.HisdebutcampaignalsosawhimnamedtotheQMJHLAll-RookieTeamandawardedDefensiveRookieoftheYearhonors. •SpencehastakenanunconventionalpathtotheNHLDraft.HewasborninSydney,AustraliaandthenhisfamilymovedtoOsaka,JapansoonafterwherehelearnedthegameofhockeyfromhisCanadianfather.WhenSpencewas13,thefamilymovedtoCornwall,P.E.I.whereheflourishedintheminorhockeysystemdespitenotbeingabletospeakanyEnglishwhenhefirstarrived. •Spence,whohasdualcitizenshipinCanadaandJapan,representedTeamCanadaforthefirsttimeatthe2019Under-18WorldChampionship(1-2—3in7GP). •ModelshisstyleofplayafterBruinsdefensemanToreyKrug. CoreyPronman’sfinalranking:82 (subscribetoTheAthletichere) Spenceintriguedmeearlyonthisseasonasarookie17-year-oldCHLergettinghugeminutesandtimeonthefirstpowerplayunitwithMonctonrightoutofthegate.Heplayedwellallseason,includingattheU18sforCanada.Iappreciatehishockeysensealot.Spenceshowsalotofpoiseandvisionwiththepuck.HisbreakoutsrelievepressurewellandhecanQBpowerplaysatahighlevel.Heskateswell,butforasmalldefenseman,hisspeedandskilldon’twowme.HehasenoughspeedtoskatewithprosandturnCHLdefenders.Athissize,hedefendedfinethisseasonduetohisbrain.IthinkifSpencewasjustanyotherprospecthe’dbeeasytoslapalate/bubblepicktagonwithhistoolkit.However,heplayedsowellthisseasonafternotevenbeingintheCHLthatyoucouldarguethere’smoretocomewithexperience. McKeen’sfinalranking:106 (subscribetoMcKeen’shere) Undersizedbluelinercameonstronginhisfirstseasoninthe‘Q’.Hashadsteeplearningcurvebuthascomealongwayinthelast12months.PowerplayQBpotential. FutureConsiderationsfinalranking: (subscribetoFutureConsiderationhere) Asapuck-movingoffensivedefenseman,Spence’sturnsandtransitionswiththepuckaremind-blowing.Withhisquickfeet,hehasagoodtopspeedandexcellentacceleration.Hisedgeworkisamazingandhisturnsarequickandseamless.Greattransitionfromforwardtobackwardwiththepuck,whichgivesmoretimeandspacetomaketherightpass.Healwayshashisheaduptofindapassinglaneandcheckseveryoption.Heescapespressuredefensivelywithsucheaseafterrecoveringaloosepuckthankstohisquickstrideandgreatagility.Hecreatessomanyzonebreakoutsandentrieswithquickpassesorbyflyingthrougheverybodyintheneutralzone.Heisverypoisedandmakesgreatdecisionsquicklyunderpressure.Helovestostarttheattackbyhimselfandhemovesthepuckuptheicewell.Heescapespressurenicelyanddodgesopponentswitheasewhichleadstohimcreatingmultiplecontrolledzoneexitsandentries.Hecontrolstheplayattheoffensivebluelinewithhisgreatpuckdistributionandlateralmovement.Despitemakingsomeriskierplays,herarelycreatesturnovers.Hehasaveryquickshotreleasethatcansurprisegoalies,butoverallhisshotisaverage.He’smoreofaplaymaker,ashelovestodistributethepuckandsetupteammates.Hasalotofupsideandiseverythingyouwantinadefenseman. BillWippert/NHLI JordanSpence,onbeingdraftedbyLosAngeles: It’sanamazingfeeling.Like,gettingmynamecalledatthestage,there’snowordstodescribeit.You’vebeendreamingtogetdraftedtotheNHLandforittoactuallyhappenisprettycool. Spence,onthoseintheL.A.organizationhemetwithduringthedraftprocess: Tobehonest,it’sdifferentguyseverytime.Imeetwithdifferentpeople.Obviously,Imetwiththematcombinetoo,soprettymuchduringtheseasonI’vemetwiththemacoupletimesandthencombinewasmylasttimemeetingthemandthengettingdraftedbythemnowissurreal. Spence,onhowhewoulddescribehimselfasaplayer: Forme,Iwoulddescribemyselfasanoffensivedefenseman.Forme,Iliketojumpupintotheplaywhenit’sthereandjusttrytocreateanythingthatcanhappenintheoffensivezoneandtrytoscore. Spence,onwhohetriedtomoldhisgameaftergrowingup: I’mnottryingtobebiasednow,butDrewDoughtywasoneofmyfavoriteplayersgrowingup.Andfornow,IalsowatchToreyKrugandtrytocopythegameafterhimbecausehe’salsoanundersizeddefensemanandIjustwanttoplaylikehim. Spence,onbeingborninAustralia: MydadisCanadianandheusedtoliveinP.E.I.,soafterIwasborninAustraliaImovedtoJapanandprettymuchlivedtheremywholelife.WhenIwas13myparentsdecidedforustomovebacktoPEIandyeah,it’sbeengreat. Spence,onhisseasonwiththeMonctonWildcats: AtthestartoftheseasonIjustwantedtomaketheteambecauseitwasmyrookieseason,soafterthatIjustwantedtoplaymygameasanoffensivedefenseman.Therewasacoachingchange,butIdon’tthinkthatkindofreallychangedmeasaplayer.ButthroughouttheseasonIjustwantedtobecomeabetterplayereverygameandjustwiththeprogressandtheimprovementIthinkitwasreallygood. Spence,onlearningfromAndréTourigny: He’squitetheguy.He’sverystrictwithwhathe’sdoingandIreallylikethat.So,that’swhyhewantseverybodytobecomeproandIlovelearningwhathisadviceisandgettingsomepointsandsometipsontheicetotryandmakemeimprove,sothat’swhatIlikeabouthim. Spence,onlearningtoplayhockeyinanon-traditionalhockeymarket: Forme,Ithinkhockeyisgrowingallovertheplace.ObviouslyinJapan,theydon’tthinktheyhavehockeythere,buttheyactuallydo.Butgrowingupthereandstartingtoplayhockey—first,startedplayinghockeyinJapan—it’sprettycool.Justgoingdifferentplaces,Australia,Japan,Canada,Ithinkit’sprettycoolandthat’sgoingtobepartofmefortherestofmylife. Spence,onwhenandwherehestartedplaying: IstartedplayinghockeywhenIwasfiveyearsold.IwasinOsaka,Japan. Spence,onwhetherheeverplayedforJapaninanytournament: No,tobehonest,Iwasneverinvitedtoanything,TeamJapan,butIdidplaytheprovinceteam,Osaka.ThatwasoneoftheprovincesthatImadeandplayed,buttobehonest,withTeamJapanoranything,Ididn’treallyparticipateorgetinvitedtothat. Spence,onmeetingwiththeKingsandtheimpressiontheyleftonhim: Yeah,Ididmeetthemacoupleoftimesduringtheseasonandobviouslyduringthecombinetoo.IthinktheylikedmethatI’manoffensivedefensiveandIthinkthegameischanging.Idon’tthinksizemattersinthegamenow.Obviouslythere’sbiggerguys,butIthinkit’schangingtospeedandskillandthat’swhatIbringtothetable,sothat’swhatI’mhopingtobringtotheshowcaseatdevelopmentcampandrookiecamp. Spence,onwhathebringsofftheice: Personally,offtheice,I’mjustanoutgoingguyanddowntoearthandcommunicatewithotherguys. Spence,onhisdadbeingoneofhisfirstcoaches: IthinkitreallyhelpedthatmydadwasCanadiantoo,becausehewastheonewhoreallycoachedmeinJapan.AndwhenIwasyoung,IwouldvisitPEIduringspringtimetoplayspringhockeythere.Sothat’swhereIkindofgotthegrooveofwhatCanadianhockeywasandkindofchangedmygamealittlebittokindofbecomeaCanadianhockeyplayer.That’swhatIreallydidandobviouslywhenImovedtoPEIIgotmoredeterminedandmotivatedtobecomeabetterplayer. Spence,onhisfavoriteplayergrowingup: It’sgottobeDrewDoughtybecauseI’vebeenadefensemanandIthinkwatchinghimplay,he’sagreatplayerandIhopetoseehimatthecampandgettoknowhimmore. Spence,onwhathewouldaskDoughty: Tobehonest,Idon’tknowyet.ObviouslyIwouldintroducemyself,butaswetalkIthinkit’llkindofpopup,questionsandstuff,butrightnowIwouldjustaskhimhowLAisandjustgofromthere. Spence,onwhetherhehasevervisitedLA: No,Ihaven’tsoitwillbemyfirsttime. DaveSandford/NHLI —LeadphotoviaKevinLight/GettyImages RulesforBlogCommenting Noprofanity,slursorotheroffensivelanguage.Replacingletterswithsymbolsdoesnotturnexpletivesintonon-expletives. Personalattacksagainstotherblogcommenters,and/orblatantattemptstoantagonizeothercomments,arenottolerated.Respectfuldisagreementisencouraged.Poststhatcontinuallyexpressthesamesingularopinionwillbedeleted. Commentsthatincitepolitical,religiousorsimilardebateswillbedeleted. Pleasedonotdiscuss,orpostlinkstowebsitesthatillegallystreamNHLgames. Postingundermultipleusernamesisnotallowed.Donottypeinallcaps.Allviolationsaresubjecttocommentdeletionand/orbanningofcommenters,perthediscretionoftheblogadministrator. Related BehindtheScenes Practice4/19–Power-playwork,Kempeonlinemates,MattRoy,McLellanonMarleau Forthesecondstraightday,theKingsheldafull-teampracticeatToyotaSportsPerformanceCenter……justfeelsweirdsayingthat, ByZachDooley April19,2021 0Comments BehindtheScenes Practice4/18–Unexpectedpracticetime,areasofemphasis,Roy/Bjornfot,Wolaninvideo Insiders,gooddaytoyoufromm̶o̶r̶n̶i̶n̶g̶̶s̶k̶a̶t̶e̶PRACTICEinD̶e̶n̶v̶e̶r̶ELSEGUNDO! Followingthealterationoftheteam'sscheduleon ByZachDooley April18,2021 0Comments GameAnalysis FINAL–Kings2,GoldenKnights6–Moore,McLellan TheGoldenKnightscompletedthetwo-gamesweepovertheLAKingsthisweekatSTAPLESCenter,scoringearlyandoften ByZachDooley April14,2021 0Comments Advertisement Advertisement