Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…
(on the win…)
MURRAY: “That’s a real hard game, and it was a tremendous effort. The players take that into the room at the start of the game. They understand that there’s a responsibility to come out and play hard. We knew we would have a good crowd here tonight, and we have to make sure that we’re bringing that road attitude back home here after a tremendous road trip. I loved the start of the game. The first period was exactly what you wanted. There was good intensity, both physical and mental intensity. Guys were alert. There were good plays being made. That’s an interesting game, actually. There was a lot of speed. The ice was being used. The Rangers really spread the ice out, so we had to have great awareness on the checking part of the game.”
(on the first home game after the long road trip…)
MURRAY: “It’s hard, coming back that first game with one day off. There’s no question, that’s probably the most difficult thing a team has to face, as far as a challenge. We talked about it in our pregame. I brought it up, obviously, the importance of bringing that attitude. There were five wins on the road, and now bringing that back in front of your home (fans), but bringing that hard work, no cutting corners. I said to the guys, `Hey, look, you have to take this into the dressing room yourself. You have to get yourselves ready to go now.’ I can’t say enough about the character in the room. We’ve got a great leadership group, and they took it from there.”
(on the Kings’ winning streak…)
MURRAY: “You go back and break down this year, and we were a pretty good hockey club at the start of this year. We were in first place in the National Hockey League. You’re not going to maintain that intense level of play for an extended period of time. You know you’re going to hit a little bit of a bump along the way, and we did. We had a difficult time with our seven games at home, but you learn from it. You just try to deal with it the right way, emotionally, and make sure that you’re able to understand some reasons why it happens. You get on the road and you know that you have to keep it pretty plain, pretty simple, everybody on the same page, and just stay with it throughout the 60 minutes. If you do that… The good teams, the teams that win all the time, those teams do that stuff. It’s the same. You stay with it, no matter if you’re down by a goal, two goals. You have to just keep moving on. A lot of the times, it will work out for you.”
(on Brown and Kopitar’s recent strong play…)
MURRAY: “They know a lot of responsibility falls on their shoulders. Kopitar is back where he was. In fact, maybe even a little bit better than what he was at the start of the year. And Brownie is more relaxed. There was a stretch of time when he was carrying the team on his shoulders, trying to make things happen himself, getting big hits, trying to score the big goals, trying to do everything. It’s impossibel to do. Just go out and play with a power-forward attitude, a power-forward game, keeping it simple, and good things are resulting from that.”
(on Kopitar’s recent strong play…)
MURRAY: “When the start, with Smytty and Willy, happened, it was incredible the roll they were on. With injuries, you lose a little bit of that chemistry. Some of the confidence starts to go away on you, and you start pressing. That’s, I think, the story of both Brownie and Kopi here. They wanted to make sure things were going the right way, and they were taking a great deal of responsibility on their own shoulders. As young guys, that’s probably a little bit of a hole that most every guy will fall into at some time or another. Right now, there’s an understanding that it’s a team game. We have to play well as a group in order to have any kind of success, and they get back to doing their part, and now they’re adding to that. We can see Kopi, with his attitude. It’s fantastic. Every time the puck is on his stick now, he has an attack mindset and he wants to be aggressive to the net.”
best damn coach in the NHL!
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That’s what I’m talking about. Stay the course, 60 minutes Solid Hockey and you’re in line for a W. Everyone is on the same page again and clicking. Let’s keep this roll going.
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Not quite. If he can keep Jones off the ice on a more permanent basis and get that PP clicking, perhaps you may be right.
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I have to agree with Buster.Jones scares me.I would prefer to see Whiskey out there.Hopefully he will be ready for the Ducks
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Jones wasn’t that bad tonight. No terrible errors and he was getting the puck to the net on his offensive chances. I have no trouble with him on the 2nd PP unit.
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The power play is 9th in the NHL, Jones is not bad- he is leading our team to wins and that is what matters. IMHO, he is the best damn coach in the NHL!
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Jones may not be terribly consistent, but he has a solid shot and a “good” offensive nose. The only problem is he is like a space cadet out there in his own end sometimes. Watching him, it enhances my worry that if JMFJ doesnt continue to develop he could spiral into a Jones-type guy.
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Ain’t it just sweet!?! Staples was packed again, and probably will be for the rest of the season! It’s that team mindset that’s working here, but having a true number one goaltender sure does feel good, doesn’t it?
Uhhhhhh, Kopi who???
7 game win streak…………PRICELESS!!!
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Funny how people were asking for his head and now all you hear from the critics is………. *crickets* ………. that’s right. Nothing.
Go Coach!
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Jones… a coach??? ::scratches head::
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TM great coaching.
Jones is not good IMHO
I caught him getting caught up the ice at least 3 times
That JJ play he shoots shortside.
On the PP he takes the same shot. doesn’t move to get an opening
Overall not very good.
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@Mcsorly
We are talking about TM
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Was at the game tonight. Jones had his best game since his injury imho. Wasn’t supper, but not bad. JJ played pretty well for him. Kopitar was outstanding. Simmons fell down 3x on his own. don’t know what was going on with him.
Brown was fantastic. His shot might not be the greatest, but man can he pass the puck and get good posiiton.
DD had a C+ game for him B+ compared to normal humans. Stoll struggled a bit, but wan’t terrible.
Quick was pretty good, but the boys in front of him made it pretty easy for him.
Wow, 7 straight and counting. Just one shy from tieing the franchise record.
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Murray has done a great job with a young team and a solid group of veterans. No team will have straight A players across the board, that’s impossible, but if he can get them all on the same page buying into and playing a sound defense-first system, then that alone is huge.
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Tremendous Effort again.
Lay off the criticism of JJ and Jones.
The fact is we got Jones for nothing and half price, he is what I think DL hoped for a #6 D-man that is a top 3 D power play pointman. As for JJ he has been around -18 on plus minus for about 6 weeks to me that means he played alot of PK early maybe shaky to start the season, but for 6 weeks he has been even despite continuing to do alot of PK work. Also lets not forget JJ is an absolute STUD in the shootouts. 7 staight wins keep it up boys.
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You don’t get a minus for a goal scored against you while your team is shorthanded.
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Yep JJ has moved all the way from -18 worst defenseman +/- in the league to -16 (4th worst). He’s on a roll.
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IMO Jones had a very good game. If the mistakes of the other players were acknowledged as much as is focused on only Jones you wouldn’t be so quick to criticise. The other defencemen make the very same mistakes and just as many but nobody says a word, it’s accepted. I guess everyone has their favorites. Like it or not when Johnson is partnered with Jones is the only time JJ’s plus minus has improved.
On another note, Rich Hammond’s coverage of King’s hockey is the best I have ever seen. He is a true gentleman to everyone and sets a standard for us all to learn from. He shows no prejudice and treats all the players equally while encouraging the posters to show the same respect. Cudos to you Mr. Hammond, that is very rare for a journalist. None of the other team’s have anyone that keep their fans as up to date. We are very lucky.
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But that’s a plus 2 over the course of about a month. Nice job, JJ.
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TM can you say Coach of theYear?? We are definitley playing great hockey now and the chemistry is there, but another bonified goal scorer might take us deep in the playoffs as opposed to just getting there. We will make the playoffs but I am concerned about lack of scoring. Whitney or Kovi would be welcome additions
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I’ve said it here before – +/- is a garbage stat. I don’t know why anyone pays attention to it.
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I do no think +/- is a garbage stat… but you can have a good player with a MINUS and he is playing well.. It should not be used as the sole determinant in evaluating a player, but it is a helpful stat… as is Time on the Ice, Hits, Scoring chances…
The reality is JJ is a + player of the last 10 games or so… He is playing well. He was -10 in the first 20 games of the season… so since then he is a -6… that is not too bad over the long course of a season… a Few more games like last night and his +/- will no longer be an issues… so then people will complain he doesn’t hit enough or something…
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Maybe This was already mentioned, but did my eyes deceive me, or did TM put Smyth-Kopi-Brown on the ice for one shift. I remember watching that and then watching the Rangers. It seemed to throw off Torts a bit in countering a line for them. I’m curious if TM did this on purpose for that reason (To throw off Cinderella…er..Tortalinni…uh TORTS) of if there was just a mixup in lines from a PK or something and those were his rested guys. Either way, I think it confused them a little bit. Don’t want the line change to become permanent because Richie-Kopi-Simmer is just NAILS, but it was an interesting look.
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I loved watching Kopi come in on that shorthanded break. He just look so confident and at ease, and snapped that shot off like it was just another day at the beach. Definitely got his swagger back. This is fun to watch
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I think the Jack Adams will go to the coach of whichever team is highest in teh standings at the end of the year: Yotes or Kings. Both were near the bottom last year.
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Can’t wait to see this team play the Quacks on Thursday, should be a good one.
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with my time with working for the Kings, the coaches are not concerned about Plus and Minus. the players are graded INDIVIDUALLY after each game. i don’t get this focus on JJ and Jones. they are learning, just like we had to learn to be better at out jobs. Rob Blake was a terrible dman the 1st 3 or so years when he was brought up. i think he won a Norris trophy later when he learned his craft and he matured.
regarding those who think we need another goal scorer for the playoffs. sure, another players who is a pure scorer doesn’t hurt, BUT, remember, in the playoffs those players are usually shut down, focused on, have a real difficult time getting open, and it is the Secondary players who are unhearlded in the regular season, that are needed to score in the play-offs. look it up.
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Looked it up: http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=25427
2009: Malkin (Penguins: CUP)
2008: Tie, Crosby and Zetterberg (Penguins: LOST in SCF; Red Wings: CUP)
2007: Alfredsson, Heatley, Spezza (Senators: LOST in SCF)
2006: Eric Staal (Hurricanes: CUP)
2004: Brad Richards (Lightning: CUP)
2003: Tie, Langenbrunner, Niedermayer (Devils: Cup)
2002: Forsberg (Aves: Lost in CONF Finals)
2001: Sakic (Aves: CUP)
2000: Brett Hull (Stars: LOST in SCF)
1999: Forsberg (Aves: LOST on CONF Finals)
I think clubs still need top flight scorers to win games in the playoffs.
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what i didn’t say was, the leading scorers on teams don’t score, but secondary role players come to make a big impact. we have leading scorers on the current team who may lead in scoring like Sakic, Crosby, et al, but the history of the playoffs shows that scoring is down. kopi, and smyth could still be the leading scorers. in that case, we have top scorers.
what is not looked up is the other scorers for the teams that go thru and win 14 cup games, are those not seen at the top during the regular season in the league totals.
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Well, DB Cooper, you could look it up and report back.
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