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Keeping tight schedule at camp

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Times Staff Writer

Talk about condensed training camp. That’s the case for the Kings, who began practice Monday but have only eight days before hitting the road for nearly three weeks en route to starting the regular season.

“It has its pluses and minuses,” veteran defenseman Jaroslav Modry said of the tight practice schedule for the Kings, who will play two games against the Ducks in London on Sept. 29-30 to open the season.

“It would be easier to ease your body into it but that’s just the way it is. You have to deal with it. You know that coming into training camp, you have to be professional and ready for it. We know that we will be playing games here shortly.”

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The Kings, who will play their first preseason game against the Ducks in Anaheim on Thursday, have divided their camp roster into three squads, named after Butch Goring, Bob Berry and Mike Murphy from the 1974-75 team that recorded a franchise-high 105 points and 42 wins.

Each team plays two games and the one with the most points at the end of camp will win the Rogie Cup, named for Rogie Vachon. But it’s not a lot of time to win a roster spot.

Instead of having young defenseman Jack Johnson work with Rob Blake in camp, Johnson has been teamed with Modry playing for Team Goring. For Team Murphy, goaltender Jason LaBarbera and rookie Jonathan Bernier will work together.

Team Murphy also has Kyle Calder, who signed as a free agent, Alexander Frolov, Lubomir Visnovsky and Blake. Teams Goring and Murphy will scrimmage today at 10:30 at the Toyota Sports Center. It will be free to the public.

Six years ago today, the Kings’ Garnet “Ace” Bailey and Mark Bavis, who worked in the scouting department, died in the crash of United Airlines Flight 175 on Sept. 11, 2001.

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lonnie.white@latimes.com

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