Deadmarsh Happily Back

Adam Deadmarsh is back in the Kings’ lineup.

The Kings would have loved to have heard those words last April, when they were matched against the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs, but they’ll settle for today after the frightening injury that took the winger out of the first-round series.

Seconds into the third period of Game 4 at Staples Center, Deadmarsh suffered a torn disk in his neck when he crashed head first into the end boards after losing his balance while trying to check Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote.

Though his status was listed as day to day for the rest of the series, won by the Avalanche in seven games, Deadmarsh would not have been able to play again even if the Kings had advanced to the Stanley Cup finals.

“The next day I knew it was bad, when I couldn’t turn my head at all,” said Deadmarsh, who made his exhibition debut Sunday night in the Kings’ penalty-filled 3-2 victory over the Mighty Ducks in front of about 5,500 at Centennial Garden. “When it first happened, I was a little concerned.

“Obviously, going in like I did, I was actually feeling pretty fortunate that I came out of it as well as I did. But the next day I could really feel how it had tightened up and I knew that it wasn’t going to be a quick fix.”

For the next month, he couldn’t turn his head, and it was another two weeks after that before he could begin rehabilitating.

“The big thing with that was time, to let the disk heal and let the muscles around it relax so they weren’t contracted,” he said. “After that, it was a little bit of strengthening.”

And now?

“I’m pretty much 100%,” Deadmarsh said. “I don’t know if it will ever be as good as it was. There’s always going to be some crackling and crunching, just from joints riding a little rough in there, but as far as the disk, it’s all healed up.”

Deadmarsh’s all-out style has made him a fan favorite but has also led to a litany of injuries. Last season, however, he sat out only six games while scoring 29 goals and establishing career highs of 33 assists and 62 points.

“There weren’t many nights when we were unhappy with him last year,” Coach Andy Murray said. “The reason he does tend to get hurt is, it’s the way he plays the game. But I don’t think you can ask him to play the game any differently.

“Maybe what you can ask him to do is to pay a little more attention to his off-ice conditioning in the summer, and I think he addressed that this summer.”

*

Eric Belanger scored a short-handed goal off a pass from Deadmarsh with 10:34 to play, improving the Kings’ exhibition record to 2-0.... The teams combined for 22 penalties and 66 penalty minutes.... The game was delayed for nearly 25 minutes in the first period while an arena crew replaced a shattered glass panel.

Jerry Crowe

*

The easy observation: Youth is being served, maybe even catered to, at Mighty Duck training camp. The reality: The team’s prospects just bring more ability to the table than in past seasons.

Timo Parssinen, Jonas Ronnqvist and Antti-Jussi Niemi are all on extended European vacations. The new models, such as Stanislav Chistov, Alexei Smirnov and Kurt Sauer, may take up permanent residency, if not now then in the future.

The influx of young talent has put mid-level veterans on notice. Left wing Denny Lambert, defenseman Jason York and left wing German Titov were assigned to the minor league practice group last Monday. The groups are expected to change for today’s practices.

“I did my best this week,” said Titov, who scored a goal in the Ducks’ 4-2 exhibition victory over Phoenix on Saturday. “I worked hard and showed I can play on this team.”

Whether that is enough remains to be seen. General Manager Bryan Murray declined to say whether the three veterans are available to other teams. But he did make it clear there will be changes.

“We finished out of the playoffs by a lot last season,” Murray said. “We know the players who are going to make this team. But we need to upgrade talent at the other spots. We are going to evaluate everyone and we are not going to let salaries lock us in to anyone.”

Murray knows how talent-starved the Ducks were last season. He had to use center Samuel Pahlsson and Parssinen on the first line with Paul Kariya. Pahlsson may be the fifth center on the depth chart and Parssinen has returned to Finland. Ronnqvist and Niemi have also returned to their homelands.

The talent upgrade has been evident with the younger players. Chistov, Smirnov and Sauer have impressed Coach Mike Babcock.