Bodger’s Arm Improves, but He Again Misses Sharks

Doug Bodger could comb his hair Wednesday morning, which was a serious improvement from the day before, when he couldn’t get his right arm above his shoulder.

“It’s better,” said Bodger, who was scratched from Wednesday’s game against San Jose after being pounded into the boards at Phoenix on Monday by Dallas Drake. Bodger expects to play Saturday against Colorado.

Drake drew a four-game suspension for the act.

“They called here to see how badly I was injured,” Bodger said. “I don’t know why they did that.”

Apparently it’s a factor in the severity of the punishment handed down by Colin Campbell, the NHL’s director of hockey operations.

“I guess if I’d have had a concussion, it would have been worse,” said Bodger, plainly disgusted by the whole thing.

His primary concern was missing Wednesday’s game against his old teammates, the Sharks, for whom he played one full season and parts of two others.

“I missed the last game because I had broken my hand,” Bodger said. “I guess I’m never going to get to play against those guys.”

The Kings lost the Nov. 18 game at San Jose, 5-4, when the Sharks’ Tony Granato scored two goals.

“I told Granato he wouldn’t have scored those goals if I’d been in there,” Bodger said, laughing.

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Center Jozef Stumpel, who scored three goals in five games coming into Wednesday night, on his injury-plagued season:

“I still feel pain in my hip flexor and ankle, but I can’t let myself think of that now. I’ve got to play.”

He scored twice against Phoenix on Monday, but dismissed that.

“Doing the little things to help my teammates is more important,” he said. “You can have a bad game and score two goals.”