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Los Angeles couldn’t be happier to have Matt Greene back

James Sheppard, Matt Greene

San Jose Sharks center James Sheppard (15) collides with Los Angeles Kings defenseman Matt Greene (2) in the first period during Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs, Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

AP

If the Los Angeles Kings didn’t quite seem themselves for parts of this season and into the playoffs, there may be a good reason for that.

Defenseman Matt Greene missed most of the regular season and playoffs with a back injury, but now that he’s made his return to action the team couldn’t be more pleased as Mike Richards tells Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times.

“The things that you guys don’t see — the leadership in the dressing room, that powerful voice — I think all year we missed him,” Richards said.

“On the ice, too, just how physical he plays and how hard he is to play against. Even before we got Regehr, too, I think that’s kind of what we were lacking on the back end. We have some skilled guys, guys that move the puck well, but I don’t think you can replace someone who plays that physical and how hard both of those guys are to play against, and Matt coming back is a big boost for us.”

With Greene and Robyn Regehr the physical part of the game is more than set on the back line and guys like Slava Voynov and Jacob Muzzin are thriving thanks to that. It also helps the Kings look like they’ve got some of that championship swagger back as well. That can only spell trouble for everyone else left in the playoffs.