Following up on yesterday’s post about rising expectations, the logical follow-up question, then, is, “How do the Kings improve?” Is it simply a matter of the young players getting more experience and improving their games, or will there need to be talent brought in from outside the organization? Almost certainly, there will, but Terry Murray was asked for his perspective…
MURRAY: “I can’t really go to the free agency and trades. That’s management upstairs. That’s something I’m sure we’ll have conversations about as we get going. From the locker-room side of things, it’s understanding the reasons for success and learning from the success and learning from the failure that we just went through, playing the first series here against Vancouver. You’ve got to learn from those failures, and understand the detail part of game. Every play matters, every detail, every clear, every time you pass up an opportunity to shoot the puck, it could be the winning goal. And how hard it is to get yourself ready. To me, just in the big picture, that’s the general picture that you need to take away and understand how important all these weeks and months of preparation are, to get yourself into the training camp and the hard work that goes on there, and then what you went through in the playoffs. There’s wonderful experiences there to draw from, and if we understand it as a group of guys, I think we can take the next step forward.”
As a follow-up, Murray was reminded about how he frequently talked, during the first-round series, about the Sedins being difference-makers in the playoffs, and how he cited them as the reason the Kings lost two third-period leads. Murray was asked whether he had enough of those type of players with the Kings.
MURRAY: “Those pieces are here. Those Sedins have been around. They’re now in the league 10 years. It’s pretty amazing. Time goes by very quickly. Those pieces are in place for the L.A. Kings. We’ve got premier players here. We’ve got guys who are going to be true stars in the National Hockey League. They’re going to become award-winning players in this league. So there are a lot of pieces in place, especially at the top end like that. They’re the difference-makers in a series, when it comes down to it. When you gather the experience out of this valuable set of games that we just went through, and really start to sort it all out and know what you have to do now, that it’s harder to get up there so you’re going to have to push everybody, push the team and push yourself, that’s when you take the next step.”
Finally, Murray was reminded how, this time last year, he stressed 5-on-5 scoring as the major thing the Kings needed to improve. Going into this offseason, what is the major point of improvement he would stress?
MURRAY: “I don’t want to go too far away from that 5-on-5 play. The offensive part of the game is real important. I think the big improvement in that area was something that was a highlight for me, as I told the players. But we’ve got to stay with that part of the game, also. The improvement there, again, is going to be very important. It ended up, at the end of the day, with shots for — compared to the rest of the league — we ended up still down near the bottom, in the bottom third. That attitude of shooting the puck, getting to the net and paying the price in front of the net, that is something you can never allow yourself to get away from, as a coach. That’s how you do become a better hockey club, by figuring out how to create and generate the offensive numbers.”
People forget how long the Sedins struggled before having a breat out year, THIS YEAR.
I sometimes wonder if the Kings would have given up on them long before now if they were on our team.
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Marc Nathan Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 10:49 am
@Jeff,
I’m gonna respectfully disagree with you on the concept of Sedins struggling…
I’ll choose the word “developing” and point out that post lockout, they’ve been pretty great, and pre-lockout, they had a secondary role on that team, with Bertuzzi-Naslund-Morrison getting the bulk of the ice time.
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Jeff Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 10:56 am
@Marc Nathan,
Okay, but I still wonder if they would have been allowed to “develop” for as long as they did.
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Dan H. Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:02 am
@Jeff,
They’ve been there for 10 years as he said and were the main guys or supposed to be for a while. They probably took less pay to play together I’m guessing as it would be hard to make a two fer signing since we’re not in little league anymore.
They’re good players but it’s not until this year that Henrick really stepped it up and it seemed like that happened after Daniel went down to an injury for a bit.
Would the Kings have let them develop here…hard to say.
Minnesota Kings Fan Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:25 am
@Jeff,
I understand what you’re trying to say. The Sedins were dratfed several years ago and theri potential was constsntly touted, but it took time for them to get where they are now. I don’t think the Kings would have given up on them were they on the team, but I’m CERTAIN that a large group of fans would have been demanding they be traded, etc.
I figure if one can’t be patient, then go cheer for whichever team looks like it’s going to win. Let me just say that I don’t remember seeing too many Red Wings jerseys in the stands in the the ’80s until AFTER they got better. I don’t ever be one of THOSE guys (who cheer for the team that win and dump them when they lose). I stick with my team through thick and thin, and with being a Kings and SF Giants fan, I am still waiting to see what it’s like to have a team I cheer for win a championship. I sure know what it’s like to watch my team LOSE in league championship games.
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Kings Fan In Idaho Reply:
April 30th, 2010 at 11:03 am
@Minnesota Kings Fan, I wondered if you were into baseball, I kind of figured if you were, maybe it would be the Twins. I root for the Angels. My twin sis is the big Giants fan.
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Preach on TM! He’s right on all counts. Keep moving forward. I like this organization going forward and EXPECTING to win for a change.
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man i thought we had some heart break, can you even think of how it is for the Caps right now?? To be the best in the NHL and by ALOT, and to let someone come back from 3 down to win?? Talk about ouch… I mean how many times has that happen the odd are low for sure
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Dan H. Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 10:55 am
@pr0cess,
It was a 3-1 series lead and I think the VS guys said it was the 22nd time it’s happened.
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McDonalds Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:04 am
@Dan H.,
But the first time it was an 8th seed team doing it against a first place team
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pr0cess Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:05 am
@Dan H., Ya checked the record and it shows 20 times its happen, just not updated yet. Its funny we are in alot of those lists for combacks lol
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Rob B. Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:07 am
@Dan H., I believe they also mentioned it was the 1st time for a #8 seed.
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Dan H. Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:08 am
@Rob B.,
That could very well be. I don’t claim to be Quisp with the stats. haha
Anonymous Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:18 am
@Rob B.,
I also heard (probably from the same place as everyone else) that it was the first time a #1 seed had blown a 3-1 series lead to a #8 seed.
I would also say that Washington has taken itself out of the running for best team in the league. That’s why we have the playoffs. I’m not a big fan of “we’re a better team than this.” Not if you lost you’re not.
That would be like saying, we dominated this game, so even though we gave up four goals int he third and lost, we really deserved to win.
You have to win the whole game to get the win. And you have to win the last game of the playoffs to be the best.
Too bad the Kings are out, because the cup was not as out of the question as people seem to think. Philly could easily win it. A team that made the playoffs on the last day of the regular season.
Dan H. Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:55 am
@Rob B.,
Washington was 1/32 for the series on the PP.
Series over. Special teams wins playoffs.
Matt George Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:37 am
@pr0cess,
One of the guys on versus said a quick thing regarding Washington right before a commercial break
“When you do one thing better than anybody else.. it’s only a matter of time before the opposing team figures out how to shut it down.”
Pretty sure the implication here is that Wash was one dimensional and thus, not “The Best Team In the League”
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pr0cess Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
@Matt George, Just perspective is all, just imaging the legacy they will be known for now…
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jeez, I’m already pumped for next year. The idea of Kopi and Doughty getting even better is really exciting
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Steve Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
@McDonalds, a wise man once said…you think you’re excited, look at my nipples.
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KC23 Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
@McDonalds,
I think we’ll see the biggest improvement in players like Simmonds, JJ and Whisky. Perhaps Quick as well. Most of us kind of gave up on him, me included, but he is a strong willed kid who is likely to keep improving.
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I just wanted to make one comment regarding improvements.
We all know that when Justin Williams is at top condition with Ryan and Kopi, that line is one of the most dominant in the league.
I say we got a top line next year … anybody we add should go right to line number 2. That includes Kovi.
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Capt Jam Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
@Matt George,
Dominanting the league in November is way different than dominating at this time of the year. I am willing to give JW a pass on this season due to injury (in much the same way Handzus needed a full season and summer to recover from his knee injury when he got here). Provided those 3 remain healthy next season (and hopefully they do), it will be interesting to see if they have the constitution to get it done when it counts most.
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Matt George Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
@Capt Jam,
Agreed .. the Handzuz comp is exactly what I was thinking.
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One thing that needs improvement is the home record. The Kings just failed to dominate at home during the regular season, and that carried over into the playoffs against the team with the worst road record of any of the Western teams. To lose 2 out of 3 at home wont cut it.
I’m not sure why, but the Kings have been weak at home for the past few seasons, so perhaps something needs to be changed as far as the preparation for the games.
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KC23 Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
@bbb7,
Excellent point. I attribute the home struggles to trying to rush the puck up ice before the support is available.
On the road the King’s were very careful to make sure they got the puck through center ice by sending the puck back to the deep defenseman to buy time for the forwards to get into the proper position for dump in for the forecheck.
At home they were more likely to try and hit any forward with momentum going towards the offensive zone and therefore easy to check off the puck by the defense or a forward playing back.
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To improve, the Kings need two defensemen. One to replace Jones and one for OD if he retires. I don’t know what happened with Druiske. After signing him for 3 years, it seemed strange to sit him all year. Jones certainly didn’t come in and dominate to take his job away.
Goaltending will be fine with the Kids.
A playoff proven forward who can score would be a nice addition to what is already here. It is equally important to find some consistent line mates for Brown and Frolov. Those guys played with more line mates this year than I can remember. They would be a good pair for a full season with a center with good hands.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Modin here another year. He really stepped it up in the playoffs.
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More shots on goal, miss NO opportunities. The # 1 thing that the Kings need to work on.
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Ways to improve LA Kings:
1) Kings will have a garage sale,first one to arrive will get Jones and Kampoon.
2) TM needs to come to his senses that Bernier is better than his boy Quick.
3) Bailey need to charge TM and Kampoon in the board so they will wake up.
and the last one is we need Bernier and Tuebbert
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