Jonathan Quick will start in goal again for the Kings today, and Terry Murray said he has not “penciled in” Erik Ersberg for a start in the near future. But given Murray’s comments, below, coupled with the fact that the Kings have 13 games in a 23-day span after today, it’s likely that Murray will be keeping a very close eye on Quick. Here’s what Murray said about Ersberg…
MURRAY: “I’m certainly not going to forget about him. He won a game for us there. He played well. Another game is going to be coming up soon. We do have 13 of 14 conference games here before the holiday break, so it’s a heavy load and it’s a demanding load. I’m going to keep awareness to Ersberg.”
Let the chips fall where they may….
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See how well Boucher did getting a rare start for the Flyers on Wednesday night? That’s what Ersberg has to do for us maybe twice before Christmas.
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The Kings will be just 4 games shy of the half-way mark prior to the xmas break on December 17th. We will play game 41 on the last day in 2009. Meaning much of what’s to come in these next games will go a long way towards telling us fans if this year’s Kings are different than the past few years.
By all indications, most of us would agree that is likely the case… we are indeed better. But the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. These next games are critical to proving that the first quarter of the season wasn’t yet another strong start by the Kings, only to see them fade in the second quarter. And to top it off, we face what is arguably our first major test of the season in losing Smyth.
So it all comes back to Quick yet again. Is it possible that he continues racking up the wins despite pedestrian numbers? Sure. Is it likely? No. Despite the many variables that will decide our fate in the next 13 games, the one that I’d like to see most come to fruition is a shutout by Quick.
And to really make a bold statement to the rest of the league, how about 2 of them?
Come on Quick, I know you can do it!
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calgary are 6-1-2 on the road. they took a 7-1 beating last game vs chicago. its a afternoon game and kings are a lil banged up in regards of roster. humm why do i get a bad vibe about todays game? hope im wrong!
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Clearly, Smyth is a huge portion of the difference. The marginal portion of the difference is the confidence and growth of the remaining players. Let’s hope the growth doesn’t revert and the confidence does not wane.
As for Calgary, I had the same thought. Getting hammered by Chicago is probably a wake-up call for them, and the Kings can expect them to bring their ‘A’ game.
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I agree, Flames will bring it today. On top of the beating they took vs Chicago this game could leap frog the Flames over us. As far as the rest of the season, after the X-mas break we will have a 2 day break twice before the Olympics. After that we will have 1 three day and 1 two day. Other than that we play every other day with 4 back to back. That’s not even looking at how hard the sked is up to the break. Man I hate Olympic years. I recall a recant TM comment on how hard the sked had already been on Quick. Well TM, that was the easy part. We need a great game from EE in the next few weeks or we may be in trouble.
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bring in bernier…
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jofa, it may be the wrong time for Bernier. With the upcoming sked, we need a goalie with more NHL experience not 2 young ones. But that’s my opinion. I’m not a coach.
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Calgary and LA.
Big game tonight.
The team is not going in the right direction, so I have decided to go the game this afternoon to check things out.
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Is the game being televised???
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Kris is right, leave Bernier with the Monarchs (unless injuries are an issue), Quick needs to get as many NHL games as he can handle this year, mostly for his personal growth, to prove that he belongs in this league and in order to have a very strong backup when Bernier does make the leap making Ersberg expendable (or possibly Quick tradeable – either way eventually it’s a good thing to have; solid long-term goaltending and/or a tradeable asset that could bring in picks or a valuable player).
This is necessary for this team at this time as the goaltending position is still a little shaky. It’s Lombardi’s philosophy to let the team grow together and there’s no denying that this team is still in growing mode.
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For those who may not know, game is at 1PM THIS AFTERNOON, NOT TONIGHT!!
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And it is televised on FSW
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Are the Kings better this year vs last year?
I would say, Offensively…YES! Defensively…NO! Goaltending…NO! Special teams…NO! If they are better, is it because of the moves DL made? Could it just be nothing more than the team is another year older and the younger players are maturing?
I’m a little concerned that our team is not as deep as we all thought. The next wave of young players we have seen this season to this point have been a disappointment. Their all still very young but no one has stepped up and solidified a spot.
I believe we are seeing nothing more than a team that has now played together for a full season plus. A great trade by DL to get Smyth and the emergence of Kopitar.
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It might actually be good for Quick if he misses the US Olympic team. Then he’ll have a time to take a break and look at film with Ranford, or whoever will help. Otherwise, with the tight schedule, there’s no real time to work on bad habits, etc.
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The lack of depth is at left wing. It’s been there, but just got exposed.
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Barry’s Mullet,
This year’s team over last year’s team is like night and day. I don’t think you can break it down that easily anymore. Overall, the team has a very solid defensive foundation. This year they’ve opened it up to more offense and a transitional game. Just as they struggled last year implementing the defensive system, they will struggle this year implementing the offensive side and the transitional game.
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Regarding Wavesinair’s comments, what’s really critical about the upcoming games is we’re finally playing against Western Conference opponents. The last 5 straight games and 6 of the last 9 have been against the Eastern Conference. Today the Kings start a stretch of 17 of their next 18 against Western Conference teams leading up to New Years day.
I still think TM is playing Quick too much, but I’m fine with him starting today since the Kings have had an extra day off compared to normal.
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dman
I agree with everything you say but the night and day reference. As you say the team is struggling to find balance but what happens when they achieve this? Whats the next step? Everyones happy we make the playoffs and than we get our clocks cleaned in the first round.
The D is solid and will just get better but half the forwards won’t even be with the team after next season.
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Get our clocks cleaned by whom? The Kings have proven that they can at least compete with the top teams in the league.
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Good point Oxnard. Makes it that much more critical.
khanon, the Kings schedule lists the TV schedule for the season.
http://kings.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm
Of course, some games not listed can be found on the interweb.
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Barry’s Mullet,
The Kings’ philosophy (Lombardi really) is that there is continuous improvement because there will always be an area to shore up, so the idea that a team finds itself at a penultimate level (or balance as you put it) is non-existent, especially given this age of caps and free-agency, a big part of this successful strategy includes anticipating and lots of long-term planning around needs, costs, etc.
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Right. They just get their clocks cleaned by middle of the pack teams. Atlanta. Phoenix. Etc..
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Crap!!!
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dman
I completely understand what DL is trying to do. I just don’t buy into this instrumentalist approach. If you are going to do something, do to it 100%. If Bernier is the future, now would be the time to play him. Why wait to play him next season when the team should be that much better and is a legitimate playoff contender? If Purcell is the future, give him some serious minutes now maybe with the 1st line while Smyth is out.
I hate playing ping pong with Frolov and breaking up one line that is trying to build chemistry, only to move him back when Smyth is healthy….what’s the point?
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If Bernier is the goalie of the future, then shouldn’t he be played in the future? If he’s played now, then he’s no longer the goalie of the future, is he?
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Get that pencil and eraser working.
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After today’s game, I have zero confidence in either Quick or Ersberg. I’m hoping some phantom “minor injury” occurs to give both of them a few games off and bring up Bernier.
The goaltending right now is pathetic and has been in all but about 4 or 5 games.
An NHL caliber goaltender should not allow 1 soft goal in 95% of his starts.
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