Rich Clune had two assists Saturday night, for his first multi-point game in his second NHL game. He also did it in front of family, as his father and a cousin made the trip out from Toronto…
CLUNE: “My dad and my cousin made it out. Someone let them down to the bench area at the end, and they got a little crazy. Got to keep those guys locked up upstairs.”
Clune is a pretty hilarious guy, the same guy who, before a training-camp interview with LAKings.com, said ruefully, “I left my teeth at the hotel.” Clune also got the puck from his first NHL assist, on the second-period goal scored by Brad Richardson…
CLUNE: “In the American league [AHL], they don’t really do that for assists but, you know, it’s the NHL, the best league in the world. You’ve got to cherish every minute of it.”
Reporters joked with Clune about his point-per-game output so far, but Clune takes his job as an “energy” player seriously…
CLUNE: “The one thing that will be constant is my work ethic. I can’t promise points, assists and goals, and I don’t think the organization is looking for that from me. But the one thing I’ve got to do every night is work hard, and play smart, and things will come when they come.”
Hard not to like this kid.
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I really have liked what I saw from him. What a game for him! He got his first points, a big penalty for mixing it up and wasn’t afraid to take the puck to the net if no one was around him.
Keep up that sort of play and I think you’ll be around a while RC!
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What a terrific attitude. Seems like a good addition to that strong room…
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he fits perfectly into the prototypical TM type player.. Hard to see him losing a job on the kings to anything other than injury
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I really love this kid already.
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This guy fits with the team and will make a wonderful addition. He may not be a goal scorer, but he will help the team and inspire strong play. If he was not injured at the end of trainging camp he would have been with the team since the begining. He will not get a point a game, but he will inspire. Congrats to Clune.
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I remember seeing Clune at Kings rookie camp September 2008, when Doughty broke in too. Watched down by the glass at Toyota Sports Center and Clune stood out from the rest as a tough hombre, scrappy and with energy. Didn’t forget him…wondered who he was. And he’s been hurt a lot in 18 months.
Clune’s comment is right: ““The one thing that will be constant is my work ethic…work hard, and play smart, and things will come when they come.”
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been waiting to see him dressed all season. was worth the wait. hope he’s shown enough to stay up!
cluuuuuuuuuuuune
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we now have clun(e)y and whisk(e)y…
rocks or straight-up…?…
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sounds like greener has some competition for being the funniest guy in the room
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All for lauri tukanen. I’ll say lombardi made a lemon into lemonade with this move.
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Always liked the kid, did DL seriously trade Lauri Tukonen for this guy? Wow, another great move by our outstanding GM
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On a completely unrelated note, did anyone else see drew doughty put his hand up while harpo was doing the interview at the start of the third? He had a goofy grin on his face. Classic.
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Need to see Clune play another dozen games. I can think of three or four players that have been impressive in their first couple games and ended up in TM’s dog house–sometimes repeatedly. I think two of them are playing elsewhere lately.
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Happy for the kid! It’s been a long couple of years for him.
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Clune is absolutely hysterical.
And if you’d guess he likes to talk based on the fact that his mouth is constantly going on ice, you’d be right. Last year at the At Your Service Dinner (think Tip a King plus large amounts of alcohol) he wouldn’t shut up. I was talking to him during the cocktail hour, intending to just have it be a quick hello and tell him how much I like watching him play, and he literally went on and on for about twenty five minutes about everything and anything he could think of. He only shut up when he realized that they had to line up for introductions and he had to go to the bathroom. He literally said “Listen, I really have to pee. Find me later because I have a really awesome story to tell you guys. Seriously, awesome.” I never did find out what that story was, though.
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Absolutely love Clune so far. What a stud
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Does he remind anyone else of Sean Avery, without the baggage? On the ice, his edginess reminds me a little of Sean. However, unlike Avery, Clune is not a P—- (whimp).
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Gotta love those words.
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Clune himself talks about the Avery thing. He’s made reference in the past that he admires Avery’s skill and his ability to get under peoples’ skin. But he’s also made comments indicating that for him it’s as much if not more about the team as it is about him.
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So he’s like Avery, but with an IQ greater than his shoe size. The skill will improve.
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told u guys u wont miss segal after u saw clune play. Hes like sean avery but not an idiot
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Dobe gets one of the boxes.
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I had the pleasure of meeting Rich Clune after practice yesterday, and told him how I enjoyed watching his style of play during his first NHL game. He told me how excited he was for last night’s game, as he said it was going to be a more physical game. 2:30 in and he dropped the gloves…a man of his word. I really like what I see from Clune so far.
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Great attitude! Keep up the good work!
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Why rag on Tukonen? The kid never got a real chance under Crawford and had a horrible injury problem with his shoulder.
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Here is Cristobal’s orginal post on the trade. It is a pretty amazing thread where you can see many folks (NY, JDM, Shakes, Quisp, etc) actually can see where the team in going. Supersonic420 even predicts Rich’s server crahsing if there is a big trade. Great stuff, I included a link below Cristobal’s quote.
July 23, 2008 11:30 AM
cristobal said:
for those bashing Tukonen for not developing into what he was billed as…..he has just as much chance of becoming a good or great nhl player as the kings have of becoming a good nhl team. He’s 21, the same age as jack johnson. Johnson and O’sullivan were given lots of 1st team action to get to where they are now – developing.
Tukonen would hardly have been expected to have a positive outlook when he was being passed over for the likes of zeiler and guiliano.
Dustin Brown WAS played on the first line with Pallfy and Allison when he first saw nhl time, he suffered an ankle injury that set him back a bit.
It’s great to see Lombardi give up on a guy so young instead of taking him in and finding out how to motivate them to reach their potential.
Tukonen probably regrets even coming to the states, and who can blame him…..i’m sure finnish kids don’t dream of winning the AHL championship. F-ing Kanko could probably have told him he’d never get a chance because LA likes 4th line grinders more than 2nd line scoring.
http://www.insidesocal.com/kings/2008/07/tukonen-traded.html
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I’m excited to see Clune finally make it to the Kings. Everybody compares him to Avery but I see him more in the Bert Wilson & Phil Sykes mold- hardnose middleweights who don’t back down from anybody and who might occasionally put one in the net.
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Jet…did you seriously wait that long to pull that one out?
Good lord!
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Things are so terrible. I don’t think we have a shot at the playoffs. We missed the trade for Kovalchuk, we didn’t bring ANY help in and now Phoenix is pulling away. With the break, we’ll lose focus and the world is gonna end.
BRING UP CLUNE!!!
…………………oh wait. LOL!
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Is this the same Tukonen that didn’t think he should be in the minors or playing on any line but the top 2. Great attitude-not. Reminds me of a Denis Tsurgov- (sp). Thinks he’s better than he is. Maybe that’s why he’s now an Atlanta prospect.
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Brett — been carrying it in the front pocket for awhile now. But Seriously, that thread was the pinnacle of the fight for the direction DL should take the team. I believe it was one of the threee all time best threads.
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Did Clune borrow Mikus’ socks or something? He is off to a good start. Glad to see he seems like a cool guy off the ice as well, he should fit nicely with the chemistry that’s already present.
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Jet -
Curses! I was/am preparing an entire novel-length trip down memory lane, starting with that very post.
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Quisp — It amazes me how many things the posters got right looking so far into the future, but 420′s prediction of shutting down a server is spooky.
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I know I was right…na na na na na na.
Lombardi has made his mistakes, but it’s not like he has a boatload to work with either.
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I admit I was skeptical of all the hype around Clune. I honestly didn’t get it. But from what I’ve seen so far I’m impressed. He plays a very valuable role on this team as an agitator, a role that I think we’ve been missing since Avery left. Hopefully he can stay out of the box on a consistent basis. I’m cautious optimistic about him since both Parse and Jones came in really hot, then ran into consistency issues after a little bit. We’ll see how things turn out after the break, but a very good start. Congratulations Cluner, keep it up!
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I don’t think that is what we are talking about AZ…Clune is what he is…a 4th/3rd line energy guy. That’s great, and he’s played fairly well his 1st two games. He will have his bad games also, where he takes a young, stupid penalty, I can almost gaurantee it.
TM’s issue with Parse was/is consistency. He has the skills to be a top 6 type of guy, but he takes mental vacations for games at a time. Frolov does also, but Frolov has established himself in the NHL, and Parse has not. Murray, and Lombardi for that matter, believe a player must earn their spot, nothing will be handed to them (unlike previous regimes). Parse shows great play one night, then the next night, or shift, makes 3 boneheaded passes in a row. All Murray wants is consistent play, shift to shift.
What people are talking about, is when the trade was made, 18 months ago, or whatever it was, folks like Cristobal (sorry to call you out bud), made those statements, while others preached patience, and agreed with Lombardi’s vision. Meanwhile, former 1st round pick Tukonen is nowhere to be seen (and was traded again by the Stars), and Clune is now in the NHL.
Building a team through the draft takes quite a long time, and even more patience…some of us were willing to wait, others did not agree with it.
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Brett-
I think you may have misunderstood my comments. I wasn’t writing about anything you guys had posted earlier. I was just making an observation about what I saw from Clune in his first two games.
That being said, I agree with your observation about the time needed to build through the draft. There are a few people on here that want this team built right but don’t have, or have run out of, the patience needed to build a franchise that can have success year after year. There are a few that are willing to wager the success of this team on a big trade gamble that may have the result they expected (Sorry to say Kovi hasn’t done much for NJ up to this point). I still think at this point we can find more value out of a solid role player than a big name star. I think we are still in a building process, just further along that was expected at this point. I believe DL has a plan, obviously knows the direction he wants the team to go, and if we have the patience to see it through we should have a very successful team for a long time to come.
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Rich…Clune is a rather amusing interview (putting it somewhat mildly), isn’t he?
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AZ…yup…I misunderstood you! Oh, and completely agreed.
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Jet,
So was it a good move to get rid of Lauri Tukonen before TM had ever coached a game? Tuk was second leading scorer in the WJC’s overall (for Finland!) in a north American style tournament. He was a boy playing with men in Sweden and a concensus choice by scouts as a very promising draftee. He got about 4 minutes of NHL ice time by Lombardi’s choice of Crawford.
Maybe I don’t know what went on with the coaching and him, and maybe Lombardi was trading damaged goods because Tukonen had an injury string that may have been truly devastating to his development — i dont know. Whatever the case, Lombardi disrespected Taylor and his drafts numerous times but he’s been successful because players like Quick, Parse, Kopitar, Brown, Frolov, and more were all drafted by Taylor.
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Cristobal -
Tukonen is a player who wouldn’t put in the work in the AHL, and who hasn’t been able to crack the line-up of three NHL teams. Nobody on planet earth thinks trading him for Clune was a bad idea. Lombardi didn’t disrespect Taylor’s picks as much as he didn’t agree with them.
As for the Taylor picks still with the team, you said “and more,” but there aren’t any more. Kopitar, Brown, Frolov, Quick and Parse are the only Taylor picks left.
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Quisp,
Tukonen had a string of shoulder injuries and wasn’t doing too bad before them.
Clune could surely have been had for someone like Moulson or Purcell, and I don’t like giving up skilled players when you haven’t exactly had good coaching in the system to bring them along. Lombardi has yet to draft a great forward with all the picks he’s had, though I do like some of his drafting now that I’ve seen them (Moller/Simmonds).
The other guys Taylor drafted have brought us draft picks like Moller and Teubert, so it is erroneous to say that Lombardi hasn’t benefitted from Taylors work.
In the end Taylor was going after a different style team that would more resemble Detroit, that is why you now have players like Kopitar and Frolov. Ironically, I think Taylor didn’t bring draft picks along well and Grbeshkov is a prime example — I don’t know why he wasn’t played consistently with the Kings.
Whatever the case, I don’t see the reason people need to rag on Tukonem because he was obviously not brought into a situation to succeed. I’ll never understand why he wasn’t played with the Kings if we were trying to rebuild. We wasted that time on Nagy, Calder and such.
Ottawa gave up on Gleason for Smolinski which is a similar situation IMO. Tukonen has been playing in Europe and not too poorly. He’s still young so until the chapter is closed I still don’t know if it was such a great move.
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Congratulations, Clune! We miss you in Manchester…good luck in LA!
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