No doubt Gaborik, Sutter can co-exist on Kings

The New York Times illustrates how winger Marian Gaborik has been showing creativity with the Los Angeles Kings since being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Two quotes of special significance for those tracking Gaborik and his ability to mesh with hard-nosed, no-nonsense coach Darryl Sutter.

From Teemu Selanne, who fared well as a member of the San Jose Sharks under Sutter for several seasons:

“Darryl knows that, offensively, you should be able to do some different stuff than maybe the third or fourth line,” Selanne said. “That’s how it goes; he knows the game very well. Defensively, he wants responsibility and the right things done. It was a fair deal.”

From Willie Mitchell, describing how Gaborik can play both sides of the puck:

“The play I think about was a power play where we turned the puck over — there was a two-on-one the other way,” said Mitchell, who played with Gaborik for five seasons in Minnesota. “He went and caught the guy in about five strides.”

Gaborik, for his part, offered this recently on the Kings:

“Everybody is on the same page; everybody is trusting each other. It is like one big machine. I try to fit into that system and play the right way on both ends of the ice.”

Source: Andrew Knoll, New York Times