Six weeks after he injured his groin in the Kings’ preseason opener, Scott Parse will get to make his season debut tomorrow night against Tampa Bay. Parse will make that debut not on the second line, where he was penciled in at the start of training camp, but on the first line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. Terry Murray had a straightforward answer about why Parse is playing where he is.
MURRAY: “I’m not going to change the Stoll line. Ryan Smyth and Stoll and Williams have been a good line, and I’m not going to tamper with that. They’re going to stay the same. Parse, to me, is a player who brings you some offensive play. He showed some spectacular play last year at times, some great goals. He needs to play on your top two lines, and that’s where he’s going.”
Williams, Stoll and Smyth rank first, second and fifth, respectively, on the team in points, but Parse showed a scoring touch as well last season, with 11 goals and 13 assists in 59 games. He will become the Kings’ fourth first-line left winger this season, following Smyth, Andrei Loktionov and Brad Richardson. I asked Kopitar today about his new linemate…
KOPITAR: “He’s got a great shot and good hockey sense. He can make plays. That’s what you need in order to make it to the NHL, first and foremost, and then playing on one of the top lines. It will be interesting to see. I played with him a few times last year, not a whole lot though. I’m sure we might need a little time to get used to each other, and obviously with Brownie too, but we’ll see what happens.”
Parse’s ability to finish might be a particular bonus for Kopitar, in terms of his playmaking skills and the amount of space he will get on the ice from defenders if Parse shows himself to be a scoring threat. Kopitar said Parse’s finishing ability could give the line a boost.
KOPITAR: “Absolutely. He showed that last year, and also he showed playmaking ability last year, which is good. I think he’s going to be a good addition to our line. Hopefully we can click, score some goals and get our confidence and go from there.”
hope he’s up to the challenge
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let’s get some chemistry going boys!
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i sure hope Parse comes out the gates flying. what happens if he doesnt cut it on the 1st line? then what? in my opinion he is either our 1st or 2nd line winger and there is no way we are messing with that second line, so he either does great with Kopi and Brown or he does not have a spot on this team and is trade bait!
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Might have to try Poni on LW if Parse doesn’t cut it. However, I like Parse on this line and I think it will work…
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So what happens to Richardson? Is Poni out with an injury and Richie is on the Zues line?
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takethatstatuedown Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 8:03 pm
@UglyinLA, to me BR is the wild card, he can play PK(I think the best king PKer), he can score, he can move the puck, he can battle deep in the off zone, so not a bad guy to have, can play 1st line to 4th line, love what he brings to the kings table
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Jay Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:16 pm
@takethatstatuedown,
And wow can he take the body. He has easily had 2 of the 5 hardest hits this season.
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lafan13 Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:05 pm
@UglyinLA,
think richardson is the only person of
richardson/schenn/lewis/garth/clifford
that is a lock for line 4, No way richardson gets benched.
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“He’s got a great shot and good hockey sense.” Thank you kopi and that is the truth without parsing words. i predict that this will be parse’s year if he can keep his groin healthy.
oh i can’t wait….
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Kopi and Brown are like steak and ice cream. Two of my favorites, but they just don’t belong together on the same plate/line. I know the Stoll Smyth Williams line has been great this year, but does anybody not believe Kopitar Smyth Williams would be even better? I think a Stoll Brown and Parse line would be physical with a big dose of skill. Combine that with the geezer line, and any 4th line that doesn’t include Westgarth and we are in serious business. Just my opinion….
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BrokeKingsFan Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:10 pm
@LAPD line, if you put Stoll, Brown, and Parse together you are breaking up the Geezer line, so youre recipe for success is a little flawed there.
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LAPD line Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:16 pm
@BrokeKingsFan,
You are quite correct, meant to say our current 3rd line of Poni Zeus and Simmonds… break up the Geezer line.
Kopi Smyth Williams
Stoll Brown Parse
Poni Zeus Simmonds
Richardson Schenn Clifford
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Crown Royal Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:29 pm
@LAPD line,
Don’t like your line combos.
lafan13 Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:06 pm
@LAPD line,
Id like to see a 4th line of
richardson/schenn/lewis
We dont need a bruiser every game..
BrokeKingsFan Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:12 pm
@LAPD line, i do really agree with your 4th line comment though!! couldnt be anymore spot on with that one!
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Kingstane9 Reply:
November 4th, 2010 at 12:05 am
@LAPD line, jp, I belive so too. I don’t see Stoll as the best scorer in the league on the fist line with Willy and Smyh, but Kopitar could have been or should I say, he was last year. So yeah, they (Smyth-Kopi-Willy) would probably produce even more points for sure.
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I’m just ecstatic that we have this “problem” to deal with now. The last couple of years I could see the team starting to come together. Small steps and frustrating at times but, you could still see that they were taking that next step forward. I hope that we have this “problem” for years and years to come.
G_K_G! ! ! !
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I’m getting the same feeling I got when Teddy Purcell moved onto the Kopi line last season after JW broke his leg. Did OK, worked very hard, but in the long run…well, there was no long run. Simmonds took his place there. Purcell and Parse seem quite similar to me.
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What a great thing to have, first time ever as a fan, I have to look at the players who are here and the players who might go back to jr’s and the players in the minors–Think about it, we are now looking at 25 to 35 players who could play at the NHL level (here or somewhere else) and they are KINGS, I don’t care what anyone says- great time time to be a KING fan—thanks DL
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Nice comments by Kopitar about Parse coming on the line. I do hope the chemistry comes together quickly and they have scoring success!
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Here is to hoping TM proves me wrong yet again. This move makes little sense to me, but that is why TM is the coach. I would of thought he should start on the forth line for awhile to get into game shape.
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BrokeKingsFan Reply:
November 4th, 2010 at 9:19 am
@KC23, the kings dont see Parse as a 4th line guy, they feel he needs to be with a line that has offensive talent to get the most out of him. If our 2nd line wasnt doing so well TM would probably pencil him in there but obviously they are killing it so 1st line it is. I think if Parse cant cut it on the first line then his days with the kings are numbered since it would be a waste of talent on the 4th line and we could get more value out of trading him. IMHO
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KC23 Reply:
November 4th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
@BrokeKingsFan, I see why it makes sense eventually to put him on the 1st or 2nd line, but his first game back after a groin injury and missing pre-season entirely?
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“He needs to play on your top two lines, and that’s where he’s going.”
Just remember that in 3 weeks when he’s playing with Richardson and Lewis…
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