[ianmonsta]

With Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Mike Cammalleri, and Jack Johnson, the Kings have some of the brightest young talent in the NHL. At 19-28-2, they also have a league-worst 40 points.

Someday, perhaps, those young players will look back on this trying season and realize how much better they are for having gone through it.

Maybe, but if they do, Johnson won’t be among them.

“I think a lot of people try to justify losing,” Johnson said. “I don’t think you need to lose in order to win. I think losing stinks. Flat out, period. There’s no need for it. There’s nothing wrong with winning all the time. I don’t believe that you have to learn from losing before you can win. I think you need to have the mentality that winning is everything.”

At 20, Anze Kopitar of the Kings will be the youngest player in the upcoming All-Star game. But after a year-and-a-half in the NHL, Kopitar is feeling like he’s not that young anymore. “I’m still 20-years-old,” he said, “but I’m not a rookie anymore. I don’t really feel like a young player.”

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