Most of the Kings didn’t skate Sunday morning, but they didn’t all get a free day. Many of them ended up in Terry Murray’s office for a little chat. After yesterday’s game, Murray had said he intended to talk to Anze Kopitar about his game, and he did (see below), but Murray said several other players also got the call, “about how everyone is doing, how they’re feeling, some feedback on what I’m seeing in the last several games, bringing awareness to good things and stuff that needs to be refocused.”
Kopitar’s goal-less streak extended to 12 games after Saturday, and I asked Murray if anything productive came from today’s meeting with Kopitar…
MURRAY: “Well, we’ll find out. We talked about a few things. I know there’s a sense that there’s a need to get some results and a need to be better, obviously, in that area, the offensive part of it. We’re a team that relied on him, and looked to him, in the early part, and he really came through for us. Inevitably, when there’s a high level of performance, there’s going to be a cycle where you’re going to start to drop off a bit. I’m hoping that it starts to get back on the climb again real soon.
Also, I asked Murray what, simply from watching the games, he saw in Kopitar’s play that he thinks needs to be corrected…
MURRAY: “There are a few things that are different. The one thing I can share with you, that I think he needs to bring a big focus to, is to shorten things up, get into the habit again of high-intensity, shorter shifts, to regain that flow in your game. I think that sometimes — and I’m not necessarily saying this was part of the conversation — in general, players feel that they need to stay longer, do more, be great, `I’ve got to get it done now, this shift,’ and the attitude with that is, it usually snowballs the other way on you. Simplify, get very focused, keep the shifts short in most every situation, and it starts to come that way.”
There are just too much shifts in lines all the time since Ryan’s injurie. Let’s wait for Ryan and then we will find out soon.
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Brown is working his rear end off in all zones and if you watch, and you don’t even have to look hard as Kopitar goes into his loafing routine, sometimes he makes one halfast skate up the ice while doing nothing and then goes right to the bench like he’s winded. I know there are a lot of Kopi fans out there and heaven forbid anyone criticize him, but from what I see that’s how it looks, I don’t wear rose colored glasses. I want the Kings to win and they should have yesterday, and I want guys busting their asses when on the ice, don’t need any floaters.
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Rich, are you a “Mad Men” fan? The post title made me think of the season finale this year.
I hope some of what Terry Murray said sinks in with the players, especially Kopitar, whose lack of production with Smyth down is pretty shocking.
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I think in the last dozen games or so, we’ve seen more of the Anze from last year, where he’s hesitating and not making the instinctual play. We’ve seen unnecessary passes to the wing, and one extra stick handle when not needed. At the beginning of the year, he was driving to the net and shooting early and quickly. Maybe he’s overthinking things out there, and Murray may have it right with the shorter harder shifts. It’ll get Kopi driving harder and taking those quick shots again.
If that doesn’t work, we can always bring back the dads.
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Kopi certainly is not skating with the quick bursts that helped get him chances earler in the year. If that’s result of too long shifts then TM is right.
Part of it seems mental. He didn’t score on a few chances right after Smyth went down. After that he seemed to lose confidence and focus. Smyth was feeding him good passes from behind the net that is also an element currently missing.
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You guys think he may be injured in some way, i mean a nagging but not serious injury?, to me he seems hesitant to take punishment right now and doesnt have that go to the net mentality he had earlier
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At this time of Kopi’s career he does not make other players better. He is young and will eventually find away to make things happen. He is not the go to guy on this team. As I see it, the best players without the puck on this team not including defensemen are Simmonds, Richardson, Williams and Parse. These players are constantly moving and working without the puck, they have heart.
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IMO, Kopitar’s little “slump” began before Smyth’s injury.
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kingsfan,
That occured to me as well. Game before last he got slammed into the boards back first. He was slow getting up and since then has been skating like he has a piano on his back.
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It’s actually very simply IMHO re Kopi. When he is moving his feet, he plays well. When he coasts, he doesn’t. Watch him skate over the line. The moment he stops skating, he is bumped off the puck, pressed against the boards or goes behind the net. Then, watch earlier videos of him, nearly every shift where he was at his best. The feet never stop.
The legs feed the wolves boys.
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kopi may well be hurting.
But, how is it
That this gifted player
Looks like he’s doubting himself? I’ve seen little of the
Genius he posesses lately, and feel that Murray is responsible for the lack of confidence. I see it in many of Murray’s skilled youngsters. A great coach would not have players like Brown, Frolov, Kopitar, and Johnson questioning themselves, rather they would be thriving with the recent secondary scoring.
Defensively we look constantly out of synch. And mistakes are hurting us a few times per game.
It’s time to get rid of Kompon who has no understanding of the game. After great
Control of the second period he comes out talking the same rubish as always. We need a real PP coach and someone who knows what they are doing.
Get Kompon out!
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plus, we need to be more fit and more muscular, all around
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The legs feed the wolf. Herb Brooks.
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I said it before, bench Kopitar for a game. Not as punishment, but to give hit a rest and to refocus. It seems like 90% of the time when they bench a player, they come back scoring goals.
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Puckhead,
I agree.
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Kopi is nursing something and I dont think it is his point leader board article he still has hanging on his closet door…I believe that since Kopi has a 200 plus games in a row streak the Kings wont sit him. But they sit Scudari 10 games with a bruised sac? Lets see how this unfolds but Kopi has stopped playing and it’s been 12 games plus since he has. Lets hope Kopi can get back to his game soon, cause his Zues impersonation is getting old.
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Interesting how Kopitar is now thought of as a floater?! The guy is playing a pretty significant number of minutes and is often double-shifted. He may be a little off his the game he had at the start of the season, but this IMO is a learning process for him right now. He had Smyth on his wing and could rely on him and Williams. He may be playing a little hurt right now (I don’t know, but he’s also on the opposition’s radar and will suffer the consequences of that), but I think some of the hesitation comes from a lack of complete confidence in the teammates he’s had to adjust too. Kopitar is still very young and still has a tremendous amount of potential, but give him a little room to grow and mature, learn and process – two steps forward, one step back kind of thing. This kid is going to be a superstar and he’s well on his way.
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@Lanny : excellent Mad Men call!
I’m not sure about Kopi loafing because frankly that’s something you can probably see better when you’re at the game vs watching on TV…and i’ve only seen 2 games this year, so i’ll defer to those of you in the stands (although my knee jerk reaction is to defend Kopi because he is playing a full ice at least on TV it seems)…but the one I feel real strongly about is Brownie, it looks to me like he is really working his a$$ off
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I think others have hit the mark with the comments of needing to roll four solid lines. This gives the top six a bit of a break. I have always liked the idea of keeping an enforcer in the line up but I am rethinking that opinion (at least if it is Ivanans).
Monday is another real difficult game. I am confident the Kings can win but I feel like it will take them playing a full 60…
Richie is on fire, I really like him with Stoll and Brown. Interested to see where Moller fits in?
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Enough of the Kopi gets keyed on too much (oppositions Radar) Gee and who isnt? Ovechkin, Iginla, Kolalchuk,Malkin,Toews, Perry these guys are relied on by their teams to lead them through to the playoffs and of course they are usally the highest paid as well. Suck it up Kopi and start dominating or get off the ice to get healthy enough to dominate. Having Kopi go through the motions until Smyth gets well will not help us in the long run. If he gets hurt further from whatever ails him now we will not make a playoff run. So TM please let us know the truth of whats really going on. If he is not hurt I am buying him a Smyth bobble Head doll to hold onto till Ryan is back…
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Not buying the I-Need-Smyth excuse. He’s paid to be a leader and needs to produce like one. Scratch him for a game or two. It seems to help players re-discover their focus. I’m willing to believe he’s playing hurt, but he wasn’t exactly on fire prior to the collision with the boards.
Cristobal, I agree with the skepticism of Kompon. But Murray should be held accountable for the team’s penchant for lackadaisical effort at certain points in the games. It seems like for a 10 to 15 minute stretch of every game (if not an entire period), they are pushed off the puck with ease and just start letting the opponent circulate it as if they were playing keep away. And how about those attempts to clear the puck through the middle? Would it pain Murray to call a timeout every now and then? Maybe raise the voice an octave. Motivate. Watch teams like Detroit, San Jose, Pittsburgh, even Nashville. They seldom have such drastic downslides in games. If they’re ever going to compete on an elite level, they need to toughen up.
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I’d take Phil Kessel in a heartbeat for my #1 center. Money’s about the same. BTW the other night Kessel was triple shifted and was still a fire wagon. Quit making all the excuse for Kopitar.
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Personally, I think Kopi has some sort of lower body nagging injury. He is not changing direction anywhere near like he did earilier.
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IMO, Kopitar’s little “slump” began before Smyth’s injury.
Yep. All the way back to the Blackhawks game on VS. During that game, or perhaps the one prior, he got drilled pretty good down around the net. So maybe’s he’s hurt, or maybe he doesn’t want to get drilled anymore.
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Simple. He needs to stop making 4 stickhandles before every shot. Just shoot quickly, even if you don’t get what you want out of it. The goalie won’t be ready so it doesn’t have to be a great shot.
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Rich,
I’d like to know other than Kopi, who else was called into TM’s office?
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