HOCKEY DAILY REPORT : ‘Please, Put Your Teeth In Before Posing’

A television crew from “Hard Copy” visited the King dressing room on Wednesday after practice and there was teasing all around when the topic turned out to be . . . Hunks in Hockey.

“What is hunk?” forward Dimitri Khristich asked.

His linemate and buddy, right wing Vitali Yachmenev, shrugged and they asked a reporter. Left wing Kevin Stevens joked that it was a good thing he had the messy stitches removed from his mouth earlier in the day.

Most of the Kings claimed they didn’t watch the show, but almost all knew something about it. Yachmenev said he prefers another television program, “America’s Videos,” he said. “And television shows about surgeries.”

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Forward Craig Johnson played his first game of the season Monday in Detroit, and it felt like it. Johnson sat out the first eight games of the season because of an abdominal strain.

Against the Red Wings, he had no shots on goal and finished with an even defensive rating.

“It was all right,” he said. “I’m out of shape. I can’t find them [my legs]. I’m still looking for them.”