Getting back to the Open Forum, here is the second set of questions and answers…
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Joey asked: “Parse, Elkins, Moller and Purcell-what do you see them becoming as far as maximizing their potential (ie first line winger, second line center)? They all seem to have qualities and flaws. Who seems to fit in the most right now on this team if all the pieces return to full health?”
Answer: Based on what I’ve seen so far, and what their track records seem to be, I would think that Parse and Elkins project more as third- and fourth-line players, at best, on a playoff-caliber team. That’s not a knock. Those can still be fairly important roles. Moller and Purcell are harder to predict. Purcell’s game seems to indicate that if he can’t play on a top-two line, he’s not going to be a regular contributor. He’s very much on the bubble right now. With Moller, it’s going to depend on how much stronger he can get. He has skill, and he’s a very, very tough player, but if you saw the Calgary game, he was getting smashed. No player his size can handle that on a regular basis. If he can bulk up some, he has great potential on the wing.
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puckbob asked: “when the rules changed on how much curve the players could have on their sticks, how many of the Kings changed their sticks?”
Answer: You mean the rule change in 2006? I’m really not sure on that one. Most of these guys weren’t even in the league then. The only player I know of who significantly changed his curve this summer was Doughty, who went to a bigger curve in order to get more rise and power on his shots.
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HawKings asked: “What are your top 5 surprises with the Kings this year, and conversely, what are your 5 biggest disappointments?”
Answer: Surprises would be 1) The Kings’ ability to win one-goal games, 2) The Kings’ ability to hold third-period leads, 3) Ryan Smyth (I knew he was good, but he was better than I expected and he really brought Kopitar along), 4) Brad Richardson and 5) Scott Parse. Disappointments would be 1) The penalty kill, 2) Teddy Purcell, 3) The number of games in which the Kings have allowed 30-plus shots, 4) The first half of Alexander Frolov’s season and 5) The second half of Anze Kopitar’s season so far.
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Cynic asked: “I would also like to request a Mid-Season report of every prospect in the Kings system that is NOT in the AHL. (Please include guys like Dwight King, callups from the ECHL) from Mark Yanetti & Michael Futa.”
Answer: That’s probably possible, but remember also that the Kings have a “web” of scouts and folks such as Ron Hextall and Jack Ferreira who go out and travel the continent. Getting a full, accurate assessment of every single prospect might be quite a daunting task, but I’ll do my best to track down some information next week. As far as the names you mentioned, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe any of those players are under contract. The Kings still hold their NHL rights — as they do with Brady Murray for instance — but I don’t believe they’re really “taking up space” anywhere, as they’re not under contract to the Kings.
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Brian M. asked: “Rich, When was the last time this far into the season that the Kings were in first place or close to it? Thanks for all of your hard work for us Kings fans.”
Answer: I guess it depends on your definition of “close to it.” In 2005-06, the Kings were second in the Pacific Divison and fourth in the Western Conference on Dec. 20. The last time the Kings had a division lead on Dec. 20 was in 1990-91, in the five-team Smythe Division.
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Ryan S. asked: “Rich, can you inquire from the trainers what kind of workouts the athletes do? One time, I sneaked down to the locker rooms and I saw a bunch of players go into the weight room? What’s the deal? I want to follow their routine!!”
Answer: Well, there’s a lot of variety there. Morning skate, pregame, postgame, practice day, offday… They all contain different kinds of workouts, and within that, there’s no uniform workout. Players have different routines, workouts, etc. Generally, many guys will go to the weight room after practice. Some guys will ride bikes, some will stretch, so there’s a lot of variety.
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bbb7 asked: “Also, I read a while back that some teams keep +/- for scoring chances, and that seems a much more telling stat than one for goals. Do you know if the Kings do such, and is there any way you could get a hold of them and post them on this forum? We have debated at times here the whole ‘3-pt’ games situation and how to fix it (if indeed you think it needs fixing.) I’m all for making a regulation win worth 3 points; what’s your take?”
Answer: 1) Since “scoring chances” aren’t kept as an official NHL statistic, I’m certain that each team does its own set of stats on that sort of thing. It’s all but an impossibility that the Kings would allow information like that to be public, for other teams to see. 2) That’s exactly what I would do. I go back and forth on it, but ultimately I think you’re right. Three points for a win and one for an overtime/shootout loss. It avoids adding another column to the standings, which scares some people, and it also makes a win actually worth something. A team could lose five consecutive games in shootouts and earn more points than a team that went 2-3. That doesn’t sit well with me.
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HawKings asked: “I know it is kind of a goofy question, but I tend to notice unusual things during games (makes of equipment, tape around skates, sticks, etc.). When Andy Murray was here, if I remember correctly, all of the players wore their helmets during pregame warm-ups. I think that is still true today. Was there a team policy during AM’s time here and is there a current policy regarding helmets during warm-ups?”
Answer: I don’t believe there is any policy on that. The only Kings player who doesn’t wear a helmet in warmups now is Ryan Smyth. I asked him about it early in the season, and he indicated that it wasn’t really a big deal, and that he just put the helmet on when it’s time to play.
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Dan H. asked: “Have you had any luck reaching out to Tomas Sandstrom for a“where are they now?” segment on him?”
Answer: Really haven’t even had time to think about it, to be honest. Today was the first day since Nov. 30 that there was more than one day off between games.
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Lanny McDonald’s ‘Stache asked: I know this question has been asked before, but since some time has passed I figure the answer could have changed as well. Do you know if anyone in the Kings organization (players, coaches, front office, staff, etc) is a regular reader of your blog? Players especially? And if so, do you ever feel badly when criticizing a King’s play?
Answer: There are only two players that I’m aware of. Oscar Moller expressed, last season, that he knew I had the blog (in its Daily News form). Then, the other day, Corey Elkins, when asked about whether the coaches had talked to him about his role, said he read quotes on my blog. As far as staff members, I really have no idea, but given that it’s now a part of their official website, I’d have to guess that a good number of them do read.
Rich do you have any idea what the practice schedule will be like over the days off before Christmas? Can we assume there will be practice in El Segundo?
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Do you feel as most (if not all) of us fans do that the Ducks announcers, especially Hayward, are extremely biased for their team?
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I have more of a request for a future blog than a question per se. I have read so much debate on whether Brown should be captain, is a good captain or whether the weight of being captain is affecting his game. It would be great to read an interview with Brown on the topic as well as other players take on his leadership.
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I agree Rich, it will be a daunting task. True that the prospects not under contract are not taking up space, and I would like to get any info possible on their development. Whatever you can provide, I will appreciate for sure! Maybe the way to do it so it won’t be so daunting is to pick 5 a week to report on and make it a weekly segment here on the blog or on KingsVision or both. That way it could be done over a period of a few months instead of all at once.
I would like to know about those guys who are taking up spots like the 4 I mentioned in the original question though. Why would we keep those guys who will most likely never make it to the NHL as ‘Prospects’ and not give those spots to younger guys to lock them up? Is there a minimum set by the NHL of prospects that have to be signed by a team at any given time? Maybe that correlates with the ability to hold a young player’s rights until a certain time without paying them until they can become a free agent? I thought there was a ceiling of 51 (Give or take 1) players that could be under contract at any one time. It just seems strange to have these 29 & 32 year old prospects under contract when we’ll never use them. I get the value of not signing a junior player until he’s close to becoming a free agent, but the other escapes me.
Mike K. doing a pocast with Helene Elliot would be great! Hope it happens. Thanks for the hard work!
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First off, keep up the great work Rich, the blog has improved it’s content since you made the move to the Kings. Congrats on your success. Now the questions I have for you…
1.) When is your next interview with Dean Lombardi? I have to assume he is estatic with this team.
2.) In your estimation, and you have talked to Dean extensively, Are we at that point now in Dean’s plan for the Kings where we start seeing prospects being traded for playoff help? Or are the recent rash of injuries going to make the team keep it’s pipeline depth.
3.)Overall since you work for the organization, is there a buzz/excitement around the offices about the Kings now?
4.) What are you doing for the Holidays? Enjoy it with your family, and thanks for keeping up the great coverage of the Kings!
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Hey Rich,
Will you have a “booth” at Tip-a-King this year? They normally give fans the chance to meet Bob Miller, Foxy, Daryl and Nick. I would bet you’d be popular! Here’s hoping
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Don’t players whose rights the Kings control still take up room on the reserve list, even if they haven’t been signed? Or maybe I’m not quite clear on the reserve list concept.
Also, as regards Kopitar’s recent slump: I’m not sure I’d call that a major disappointment so much as a reversion to the mean that was probably bound to happen sooner or later. He’ still on a pace to score 36 goals. Even if Smyth hadn’t gotten hurt, I suspect that some slowing down would have happened.
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Thanks for answering my question Rich!
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As long as we’re asking questions.There have been some really great comments hear and some really good advice at times.Sometimes it’s very criticle,and sometimes it’s very encouraging.Rich,have you ever heard of it making a difference in how a player plays,or the coaching staff coaches.If so could you give us some feedback.
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DD8,
For me it’s not that the Ducks announcers are biased towards the Ducks that is the problem; the home team announcers can and probably should cater towards the team they work for. The issue is that Hayward specifically makes really lame comments all the time and worse yet seems to repeat the lame things he says over and over, game after game. He sucked as a player and now he sucks as an announcer.
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Cynic- perhaps i can save Rich some leg work and answer your ?’s re: those older “prospects”.
First, none of the 4 you mentioned (Marek and co) are signed, so they don’t take up any spots w/respect to the 50 contract limit.
Second, they don’t really take up space- by my count the kings are well under the 90 reserve list limit ( have about 70 something but i could have missed a player here or there though).
Third, I believe the only reason the kings still hold their rights is because they were drafted under the old CBA. Essentially, under the old CBA the rights of European players were held somewhat indefinitely. Now contrast that to a player drafted out of the CHL these days, whose rights are only held for two years and then they have to be either signed or rights dropped- this short time frame ensures turnover of young prospects, which is probably in their best interest so they don’t get stuck indefinitely in a system that may not have space for them. At the same time, given that usually only seven or so 17-20 year old players can be drafted any given year, this turnover limits the number of young players any team can have to an amount that is well within the 40 or so non-signed reserve players alloted.
(note: Timing of rights expiration is diffent for players in college, etc, but the situation is similar)
Also, i’m not sure on this, and next time i look at the CBA i’ll try to remember to check this out, but i kind of recall situations where players no longer count against the #’s but rights are still held (such as non-signed European players, defected players, etc)
DougS- Jay Levin from the predators site did a good break down of the reserve list rules: http://oilers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=430807
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rich,
what are your thoughts on our backup goalie? please be honest; if any trade will come before the deadline, what are you hearing or you think might happen?
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-J -
AHA! OK, that did help a lot! Thanks for all of that! I can see the value of keeping an older Euro prospect under the old CBA if his rights are indefinite. If one of them suddenly gets hot, why not have the rights at no cost. Might turn into a draft pick or prospect if a trade happened. Makes total sense now. Great stuff -J and I appreciate the time to explain it to me. Thanks!
If anyone would want to do it, it would be cool to have a webpage with a running (constantly updated) Kings list of:
1) All players under contract (The 50)
2) All players not under contract but rights owned (The 90)
Maybe it already exists and I don’t know where it is. Having it all in one place would be GREAT! I’ve seen the salary cap sites that give player salaries and all, but to have this along with that on one page for the team would make things easier to follow for everyone.
BTW – If the Kings want to beat Vancouver, they should be watching the 2nd period of the StLouis/VAN game. STL is just taking it to Vancouver and Backes had a BEAUTIFUL power move goal that stole Luongo’s jock and wrapped it around his head. D-man just totally gave up on what looked like a tough angle for Backes to go to the net. 3-1 at the end of the second, STL over VAN.
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Rich,
Is there any way that the Kings could send Ersberg down to Manchester without running the risk of another team picking him up? I think his game would improve if he got a chance to play in games down on the farm, but it seems to me unlikely that he would clear waivers.
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Thanks, -J! That was helpful. The only thing I really knew about the reserve list came from playing Eastside Hockey Manager 2007.
And if the Kings are that far below the 90-player limit anyway, well, they would seem to have a lot of leeway.
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STL beats VAN 3-1!
Thanks Andy Murray!
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@Cynic: Both games tonight were in our favor
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Hey Rich, I emailed you a couple weeks ago thinking I would get a response, but I didn’t. So I thought I would ask here, I remember last season when there were talks about having a game outside here in LA. Something like that would bring a lot more fans in my opinion. People in LA love the weather and why not enjoy watching a hockey game? I would just like to know if you have heard anything from Luc (I’m guessing if you did, you would say something). But, next time to talk to him OR Dean if you bring this kind of question up. I know it could happen it’s just that does the Organization want to do it. Thanks again for your hard work, us fans really do appreciate it.
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Rich! I remembered my other question! I don’t know if you would be able to answer this question with my other one if you get to it or if I would have to wait. But I heard through the grapevine of the la kings playing at the forum for a game! I think that would be so much fun even though the form is a little dumpy compared to staple center it’s still good ol forum! Just wondering if you knew anything about that thanks again rich!
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Hey Rich,
Who is resposible for picking the hit of the game at the staples center. If I was to bet on it, its probably a guy who doesnt watch the game. If the kings are paying somebody to do that they should explain what a hit it. Its not someguy who hit a rut and slides into a king. LOL!!!
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Hey Rich! I have no idea how you handle so many questions without pulling your hair out…
I’m curious to hear what your personal opinions are on the ideas of expansion and possibly having a second team in Toronto. You’re on the road with the team, and you get to see the different markets around the league. I personally see a lot of benefit in moving an eastern conference team like the Florida Panthers north of the border. What do you think about all this?
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Rich,
DL had mentioned prior to the break that the upcoming games were going to be a measuring stick as to where this team is or needs to be.
Have you had a chance to speak with him and get his views on how the team has fared and what he thinks needs to improve for the team to go forward?
Also, any thoughts on putting up a 1st half report card on the players during this loooong break?
Great work and happy holidays!
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Don’t forget Westy reads or at least says he does.
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TB,I heard some analysts discussing the prospect of the NHL wanting to move a team from the Eastern conferance to the Western conferance.Possibly to a town like Kansas,so that they could move Detroit to the Eastern conferance.Not sure how possible that is,but it sounds plausible.
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