Justin Williams will miss a fifth consecutive game tonight with his “lower-body injury.” Williams has skated for three consecutive days — today for 20 minutes with healthy scratch Trevor Lewis and backup goalie Erik Ersberg — and is expected to rejoin full-team practices after today. Williams today talked about his recovery…
WILLIAMS: “It’s going good. I just feel like I’ve been missing so many games. I’ve been out six days and I’ve already missed four games. … Tonight, I’m not going to go. I’m going to wait until it’s 100 percent. We’ve got some good practices coming up, and we don’t play until Monday, so that’s the decision the training staff (and) the coach made. I’ll get some good practices under me and I should be good to go Monday.”
Williams was also asked about the play of Wayne Simmonds, who has done a strong job in place of Williams on the first line with Anze Kopitar and Ryan Smyth. Terry Murray has said that Williams will return to the first line when healthy.
WILLIAMS: “When everyone is rooting for everybody and everybody is competing, I think that’s really healthy. Wayne has played really well on that line. He’s made some real good strides and shown that he can be an offensive player too. I think he’s played great. I think the team has played great, too, since I’ve been out. So that’s always promising, when you’re out and the team is doing well. Then you don’t push yourself to get back, maybe before you’re ready. I agree with the decisions they made.”
Here’s what Murray said today about Williams’ workout this morning, and the timetable for getting Williams back in the lineup.
MURRAY: “The plan was, only 20 minutes. That was it. He’s not 100 percent. The conversation I had with him was kind of the same scenario I mentioned [in the previous post about Randy Jones]. We get through this game today and then we have an opportunity to get into some good competitive drills, team practices, (then) one game and the same scenario, two more days of practice. So I think it gives him an opportunity to get back, not only for skating and that kind of board-battle game, but now puck skills, get his hands going again and get him back to 100 percent ready to play.”
Justin Williams…today’s Alyn McCauley
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His Simmonds comment does show some class.
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OFF SUBJECT WARNING:
The Kyle Calder experiment for the Quacks will begin on 11/5/09, when he suits up for the Bakersfield Condors on the road in Las Vegas.
He is NOT on a conditioning assignment, currently. This makes me think the agreement is similar to last year’s San Jose experiment with Claude Lemieux. He joined the Worcester Sharks on a PTO, and later actually joined San Jose, for those who don’t remember.
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Did he get hurt giving this interview?
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Oh NO YOU DIDN’T Just curse Justin Williams like that WWAMD!
I reverse it.
Agree with Anthony (Sharp Pain in head), Williams did sound classy there. Between those comments and the one’s on the fox postgame the other night, maybe JW would be OK with 3rd line duty if things are clicking.
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Even with JW out for four games he is still a bigger presence in front of the net than Perimeter Patty O.
Here is an interesting stat comparision. Last four games. JW zero points. Patty O. Zero points and a combined minus 5. It is still a good trade for us even when JW is injured. O’Sullivan is fitting right in up there in Edmonton with Team Charmin. They’re just so squeezably soft.
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Offtopic here but hey Rich (or anyone tht knows) is Luongo a No go tonight?
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Lanny,
In response to the below post from another conversation. I don’t think you got it straight. I never said the injuries were JW’s fault. I don’t claim to know why, but some people are injury prone. Some players get injured all through their career, and some hardly ever miss a game.
Take Norstrom for example. The guy rarely missed games due to injury. He was a rock. Then there are players that are described as “oft-injured” who seem to find a way to get injured
JW is a great player. His experience winning the cup is a great thing for our team. But how much does that experience count if he ends up playing 32 or 37 games like he played last year? How much does his point per game count if he ends up with 35 points? How much does his playoff experience count if we make the playoffs and he isn’t on the ice?
All I’m saying is that if he is injured a lot this year, his experience and skill count for nothing. And if we trade POS, or anyone else, for someone who doesn’t play many games, then yes, we traded that person for nothing.
I don’t really care about POS. What I care about is the team getting a good return in trades. Getting a player who is injured a lot is not a good return. In theory we got a much better player in JW. But again, it only counts if he plays a lot of games.
Maybe you would find peoples posts less amusing if you didn’t read things into them that aren’t even there.
Thanks,
Matt
“So Matt, let me just get this straight:
Justin Williams (4 major injuries in his career):
- Broke his hand when a teammate’s shot caused the puck to hit his hand. Must have been JW’s fault, of course….”
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It’s funny how people allude to POS being a perimeter player. Kpitar the other day gave an interview where he said Williams is essentially a perimiter player. I guyess you can start knocking him for being soft too.
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Luongo has a hairline fracture of a rib. He will is a no go.
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Errr he is a no go.
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Koho…the difference is that Williams does actually go to the net and the traffic areas, whereas POS never did.
There are perimeter players who spend all their time playing on the perimeter, and there are perimeter players who spend alot of their time creating plays from the perimeter, but who DO go to the net.
Take a look at Williams goals from this season, and that’s all the proof you need. Tip ins from around the net. How often did POS do that?
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Koho,
Anze looked really soft driving around Robidas to the net for his first goal of his hat trick. Didn’t he?
Have you ever actually watched Perimeter Patty play or are just enamored with his Potential. Potential that he never lived up to. Not in Minnesota. Not here. Now he appears to be disappearing up in Edmonton as well.
Oh by the way. Patty’s favorite song is “Killing me Softly”
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mrbrett,
Edmonton is a rebuilding team, possibly a year or two behind us. POS is a part of their future, and has been on young, inexperienced teams since he’s been of age to play in the NHL.
How you can compare him to JW, who played with veteran teams in Philadelphia and Carolina (until Car. went to crap) is a mystery.
The sad part is that POS has more potential than JW, he’s just more dynamic. But if you stop and consider that what a great coach is supposed to do, it’s make his players believe they can move mountains — it’s called instilling confidence. All Murray did to POS last season was bleed him dry of confidence. It’s what he does to many young players (Boyle).
It’s difficult enough making it on to the NHL stage, but when you are toyed with the way these young guys are toyed with, there’s no question one will lose confidence.
This is the biggest reason I doubt Murray. Unless he gets the fully formed product, I just don’t see much “development” going on.
I would refer you back to the first month of the ’08-’09 season when the Kings played lights-out hockey, for the most part, but made critical mistakes at the worst time (Calgary, San Jose, Detroit) as a team to lose the game. Obviously, there was something there in that rag-tag bunch of kids and cast-offs, and even I was about to pronounce Dean Lombardi a genius. I don’t attribute that early show of “TEAM” to Terry Murray, I attribute it to the players digging deep and building up their own confidence. Unfortunately, Terry Murray then started playing his MIND GAMES and the season started to founder.
I know you remember that early excitement and I know you’ve seen POS when his confidence is high.
The kid has 50 goal potential, but if he isn’t fostered, he’ll never get there. Some players come fully developed (Doughty and Kopitar) others need some guidance. I don’t think it’s fair to bash POS simply to justify JW.
And, the argument could be made that JW gave Carolina next to nothing when they were struggling, and they even went to the playoffs last season.
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@HBfan – Yeah, and in about 20 games, when he shuts down for the season with another injury, having about 20 points, you may not be able to say that.
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If we’re gonna talk about trades, I’m a little bitter about seeing Cammalleri in the advertisement (filmed as a stature of King David or some sht like that) on the NHL Network, which I had to watch last night to see the Kings on DirecTV (from Colorado.)
It WAS interesting that he managed 82 points in 81 games for Calgary last year and got traded anyway, though. Must be serious locker room cancer!
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@ PP – POS was once part of the Kings’ future, too…and now he’s part of their history–on a REBUILDING team. I guess with Williams, the Kings got what they paid for (in trade.)
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Well, Cristobal…
I wasn’t comparing them, others were. But if you really want me to…
JW is 5 years older than POS.
JW has twice in his career scored over 30 goals.
JW has won a stanley cup.
JW has competed in playoff hockey every year of his career but twice.
JW DOES go to the net, meanwhile POS in the first 4 YEARS OF HIS CAREER does not.
You compare the two because they are similar players. POS can be every bit the player Williams already is.
Murray hurt POS’s feelings? Too bad. Grow up. Your a professional.
I’m not trying to justify anything. I said it then, and I’ve said it anytime since then. POS isn’t even on the same planet as JW. He can’t match his defense, he can’t match his offense, and he most certainly can’t match his experience.
This team is full of inexperienced players full of potential. Included in that is Kopitar, Brown, Simmonds, Doughty, Johnson, Quick, and at the time Moller. What use is a player who does not listen to instructions, and refuses to do what every other player in the NHL knows? Go to the net, and you will have success. Was he scared? I don’t know, and I really don’t care.
You brought up Boyle. Your really going to blame the Boyle debocle on Murray? He wasn’t even here for that! That’s on Crawford and on Lombardi. Now what is Boyle doing today? Playing 4th line minutes for the NYR, and they are asking him to do the SAME EXACT THINGS that Lombardi and Crawford asked him to do here, but couldn’t. However, I do agree Lombardi royally screwed that one up. You can’t make someone into something they are not. But you CAN teach them the reason why you go to the net. Williams does…POS does not, period. Very simple.
You score goals in the NHL from within 5 feet around the net, not by throwing wrist shots blindly from the boards and 25 feet away. Just does not work, has never worked, and will never work.
So, if your not going to contribute on offense with your unbelievable potential (which he has), then you had better do other things to keep yourself in the NHL, which he WAS NOT DOING. He continues to not do while in Edmonton.
Now…Kopitar fully developed? Not EVEN CLOSE. Sure…he could be happy scoring 25 goals and around 35 assists per year. Fully developed? NOT EVER CLOSE. Doughty? We haven’t even seen the beginning of what this kid is capable of.
Of course the argument could be made that JW gave Carolina nothing…HE WAS HURT…out with a blown apart knee. Came back too early (you know…Michael Handzus), and then had his hand smashed by a 95mph slap shot from a teammate. Guess where he was when he got hurt. In front of the net, trying to score…not hiding along the boards.
Besides…we already have another POS with a world of talent, and refuses to go to the net…Teddy Purcell.
You know who else had unbelievable potential? Jimmy Carson. After scoring 37, 51 and 49 goals his first three years in the league, he bounced around because HE NEVER WENT TO THE NET!!!!
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Kenneth…how many points/goals did Cammy score when the games really mattered. How many of his goals/points were meaningful in the games he played in.
In the playoffs, I may be wrong, but he had 1 assist, and in the stretch run, he was basically invisible.
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Lanny
Sorry man, but I’m going to have to back Matt R on this one.
I couldn’t find one instance where he called Williams “soft” or “glass”.
He just said there seems to be a pattern of Williams getting injured. He’s not saying anything that isn’t true. This is not his opinion. He’s stating a fact based on the number of games he’s missed due to injury (especially over the last two years).
Again, you went to document how his injuries weren’t his fault. An injury is an injury. It doesn’t matter how or why it happened or who’s fault it was. Matt R just said the guy tends to get injured quite a bit as of late. He didn’t say it was Williams fault.
I thought it was a little “amusing” when you tried to justify his injuries by playing the blame game.
Like Matt said, stop reading stuff into posts that just isn’t there and you probably won’t get as wound up.
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I don’t really understand this Perimeter Paddy stuff. I’ll agree that he’s not as aggressive as Williams, but the insinuation that Paddy doesn’t go to net is just plain wrong (i.e. Vancouver vs Edmonton 10/19). The fact is that Paddy did more in his first 4 years than JW did in his first 6 while being on a significantly worse team. Saying JW had more upside was a flawed rationalization.
Matt R got it right and is precisely why some of us complained about the trade in the first place. Williams has been out 5 games for a “lower-body injury”. He was injured during practice and missed 5 games. What will happen if he gets injured going full speed with someone who’s not holding back?
The guy skates his heart out. For that, I am grateful. I’ll cheer for him for as long as he is a King. However, if the end result is a cluster of points here and there leading up to a 30 point season, then we have egg on our face for declaring him a bonafide 30 goal scorer. What’s more, saying that an actual 30 goal scorer (Fro) isn’t pulling his weight when he’s paid less and positioned inferior to someone who likely won’t play a full year (JW), looks like a rather weak standpoint and lacks credibility.
Let’s not forget that the greatest player to ever play the game weighed practically nothing and made his way to fame using his head and not his body. “Gretzky’s office” is located behind the net folks. You don’t get more “perimeter” than that.
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Who said anything about Kopitar being soft? Read and fully comprehend before responding you’ll sound much more intelligent for it.
POS never got an opportunity to play with this line of Smyth/Kopitar so we have no idea how well he would do. What we do know is he wouldn’t be sitting out with an injury right now.
People talk about Williams as if he’s Bobby Clarke’s doppleganger. The guy gets hurt more often than not, whether it’s his fault or not he is what he is…an injury waiting to happen.
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@ mbrett7 – Did I comment on Cammalleri’s trade being a mistake? NO, I DID NOT. I commented on him being moved AGAIN, despite his numbers. I’m tired of the hype. Reading is fundamental.
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I said POS one time and all hell broke loose! I humbly apologize for mentioning his name…
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Mrbrett,
Kopitar and Doughty are fully developed in skill and mental-game, in my opinion. They will only get better as they learn more from experience, true, but they are elite players at there position from day one. In my opinion.
From what I’ve seen, and this is opinion, I feel POS has more, much more, potential than JW. I feel that early last season POS, and Boyle, were ready to do whatever was asked of them, but they were singled out (along with a few others) despite doing whatever was asked of them. Boyle and POS never complained in the media, and they never quit on their teamates. They stuck to the task and tried to perform no matter who they were played with or where they were played. I don’t see that either one of them didn’t listen. I see that they did whatever was asked of them, to the best of their ability, and they were criticized and sent packing.
And, not all players are “go to the front of the net” players. You don’t see Thornton parking his big body in front of the net 20 minutes a night, you see him with guys draped all over him behind the net setting up the play. Would you ask Mario Lemieux or Jagr to just “go to the net”? No. You let them create because they are highly skilled players with hockey sense. Luc Robitaille, on the other hand, you ask to get to the front of the net. You don’t ask Luc to enter the zone with the puck and set up behind the net. You have to exploit a players weapons. That is not what Murray did with POS or Boyle. Again, it’s development of the player that I see lacking. I see a team that performed well early last season and continued to slide all season long, thereafter. I see Murray as a big questionmark, rather than a great leader of a young team. In my opinion, he’s done more to hamstring this team.
And that is a compliment, from me, to Lombardi, because I didn’t think the boys had in them what I saw early last season.
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Potential is just that…I don’t really care much for potential when you have a team chalk full of potential. At some point, you need to have players who have reached their potential and can actually play.
Kenneth…what in the h-e-double hockey sticks are you talking about???? I was SUPPORTING your argument!
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Mrbrett,
Well its difficult to follow the Kings and not wait for them to reach their potential as they are such a young team.
I guess we could trade all the youth for Vets, but that is exactly what DL preaches was wrong with this club for so long.
Ironically, he traded youth for vets in SJ in order to start making the playoffs and make the team respectable.
They became a playoff team, but never reached the potential of the Stanley Cup.
Graves, Lowry, Damphousse, Marchment, etc…
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PS – glad to have a civilized debate with you.
Cheers.
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Didn’t sound like it, mrbrett7, but I’ll take your word for it. I guess we agree!
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Could’ve used POS tonight. He got the shootout winner against the Wings…just saying.
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