Career takes unusual turn for Kings defenseman Christian Ehrhoff

Funny how it often comes full circle in the hockey world.

Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, then a teenager, left to go work out and his life changed by the time he got home that summer day in 2001. He returned to find he was the property of an NHL team.

“I wasn’t at the draft,” Ehrhoff said Wednesday. “I remember I went for a run and I came back home and I checked online and I was surprised to see my name already. I was happy to go to the Sharks.”

The general manager of the San Jose Sharks then was current Kings GM Dean Lombardi. San Jose’s coach happened to be Darryl Sutter.

Now Ehrhoff is playing for Sutter and the Kings after Lombardi signed the defenseman as an unrestricted free agent in August. The Kings play at San Jose on Thursday night and, although Ehrhoff faced the Sharks plenty of times when he was with Vancouver, trips to San Jose were rare after he left the Canucks for Buffalo and later Pittsburgh.

Still, this isn’t one long walk down memory lane. It’s more like a few steps for Ehrhoff because his association with the Sharks, which lasted parts of five seasons, didn’t include much quality time with Lombardi and Sutter.

“The year after I got drafted, I just went to rookie camp,” Ehrhoff said. “The second year I played one exhibition game and still went back and that was the year they left, or got let go.”

Fast-forwarding to the present, Ehrhoff is still trying to assimilate to the Kings’ defensive system. Last week, Sutter noted that Ehrhoff had to get up to the pace of the game.

Ehrhoff, a minus-five in five games, agreed he needs to get better.

“Still adjusting. Still haven’t played my best below the goal line,” he said. “There are things I’m working on and trying to improve and trying to earn the trust of the coaching staff. It’s just going to take a little bit of time. I’m patient with that.”

The bottom line is faster execution.

“You still got to go out there and play your game,” he said. “This is probably similar to the way I played in Vancouver. The coaches want me to get back to the way I played there, being involved offensively; defensively, ending the plays quickly and helping the team get out of the own end quickly. That’s something I can do and, like I said, something I’ve got to get to on a consistent basis.”

Penalty-killing overload

The Kings spent a lot of time killing penalties in their 2-1 victory over Colorado on Sunday. The Avalanche was one for five with a man advantage and zero for one when they had a two-man advantage in the third period.

“Too many, clearly,” Sutter said. “It’s taken momentum from our game, regardless what the score is. … I don’t have much patience for offensive-zone penalties and not-moving-your-feet penalties. Or letting your ego get in the way.

“I don’t have much use for those penalties. The fact is, we took a huge stride in that last year in terms of taking it out of our game and getting into the top 10, or top five, in terms of fewest taken. ... A lot of the same guys that kill penalties for us are also our power-play guys. Who knows how that is impacting the power play too. You spend a lot killing penalties.”

Defenseman Matt Greene, out because of an unspecified injury, is still unable to practice with the full squad. “He’s got to be pain-free. When he says he’s pain-free, he’s close,” Sutter said.

TONIGHT

AT SAN JOSE

When: 7:30.

On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 790.

Etc.: Former Kings goalie Martin Jones, who beat them in the season opener Oct. 7, suffered the first loss and first rough outing of his short Sharks career. He had given up two goals in his first four starts — a 0.49 goals-against average — but gave up four goals on 28 shots in Monday’s 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers.