One correction to the previously posted lines…Dustin Brown will play left wing, with Wayne Simmonds on the right. Terry Murray said he talked about the move with Brown, who last played on the left during the Olympics.
Rob Scuderi missed the last 15 minutes of practice — and apparently the latter part of the third period of the Montreal game — with some type of undisclosed issue, but Scuderi is expected to play tomorrow and the Kings aren’t expected to change their defensive pairs. More notes and quotes to come…
Murray needs to stop treating this like it is a house league. This is the NHL and you can’t win games playing an unproven backup goalie.
You want to make some money. Bet against the kings when Bernier is playing. You can’t lose.
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Crown Royal Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
@jojo
Bernier has not played well so far. However, TM played Quick to death last season and he has to use the second goaltender sometimes. As Bernier is the second goalie I can’t fault TM for playing him. Bernier needs to pick it up for sure!
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Slapshot Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
@Crown Royal, No he has not played well yet, but his D has not played well yet for him either.
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NoDoughty Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
@Slapshot, neither has the offense in some cases. It’s a team sport, you don’t score you don’t win SIMPLE!!!!
VanKingsFan Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
@jojo, Except the 2 games that he won right jojo
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kinginsaltlake Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
@jojo, lame
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USHA#17 Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
@jojo,
Take a closer look.
Bernier has been no better or worse then Ersberg. The Kings play no better or worse for Bernier then they did for Ersberg. And Bernier carries the promise of a huge upside.
The Bernier story is rebounds. Once he starts gathering them he’ll be tough to beat
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Great line combinations. I would play Simmonds on the left and Brown on the right. Other than that, I think TM has finally got it right with the present roster!
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Kyle Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
@Crown Royal, Except for Westgarth, of course. We knew what you meant though. It is perfectly natural to mistake him for an actual professional NHL player.
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If Scuds is hurt we’re screwed. Kopitar’s line should be interesting. Black Hawks defense sucks so hopefully we can put some pucks in the net.
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Pass the Brownie to the left hand side….
Don’t love this move, I love the line, I just wish Brown performed better on the LW than he has in the past. We will see how he does, I think he is smart enough and talented enough, we’ll see.
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Crown Royal Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
@VanKingsFan,
Very true about Brown on the left. It’s time for Simmonds to show what he can do on the first line. He needs to tear it up and I’m confident he can.
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Cynic Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
@VanKingsFan,
OK, I don’t know whether to applaud you or lynch you for that Musical Youth reference. LOL!
Classic!
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VanKingsFan Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
@Cynic,
haha you can applaud, then punch me in the face. I will take both in stride.
Just glad someone got it
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Yeah, that sounds better with Simmonds on the right. Brown seems to be maturing. Maybe the look will be different (and better) and spark the line with both of them buzzing around. So it’s:
Brown—Kopitar—Simmonds
Smyth—Stoll—Williams
Clifford—Handzus—Lewis
King—Richardson—Westgarth
It’ll be more exciting watching this than King on the 1st line. We’ll have more hope to see what happens. I hope both top lines will ignite.
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King John Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Also remember Kopi with Simmonds and Richardson did pretty well for a while last year. So this would be with Brown who can score. So it should be pretty good I would think.
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No one could have or would have predicted we’d have Brown, Smyth, Clifford and King as our left wingers. Very odd and quite frankly, not comforting at all. I never would have thought we’d miss Poni so much.
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Brownie also played center at the Olympics, but I don’t recomend that. For those unsure about DB on the left, track his offensive zone entries. On the right it’s a dump in or bad angle shot. On the left it’s more dynamic, if he has a step it’s drop the should and drive, otherwise he’ll stop up and still get a bad angle chance or find someone cutting for a scoring chance. He’s just not as creative coming down the right wing.
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lafan13 Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
@2hitnik,
I agree… brown loves to drive to the net, which is pretty hard to do on the back hand…
this way he can lean into the D, and speed around them, and have puck on his forhand to beat the goalie, playing on the right side, he usually powers down the side, then stops and tries to make a move, but loses it.
And simmonds is a beast, hes been kinda flat this year but still has good potential. Wonder why it took so long to give this 1st line a shot?
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King John Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
@2hitnik,
That’s what I think, the look coming into the zone could actually end up better for DB.
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I’m excited to have the entry on Simmond’s stick instead of DBs.
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i’m really still trying to figure out why Clifford is playing. 17gp, 0pts, -9, 10 shots, and 7 1/2 mins a game in ice time.
i’m sure you could say it’s because he’s only playing 7 1/2 mins a game…but surely there’s gotta be someone that can be put in his spot that can produce? or at least be more effective defensively?
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lafan13 Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
@newf,
Watch clifford play… Acully watch him… dont let his #’s blind you. He’s prolly been playing the hardest on the team on this lossing streak. Hes getting open at times, getting the puck deep, and fighting in the corners…
hes good…
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KC23 Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
@lafan13, Yep. Anyone playing on the 4th line as much as Clifford has is up against it. This is one of those classic cases where plus/minus has little to do with how well he has played.
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I hope for ours and bernies sake he gets a win..
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I have high hopes with this combo,and DB on the LW. Has to be a large improvement. Then Poni will just be a + when hes back.
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Well, Scuds banged up goes with my post in the last thread, but I get the feeling there were a few guys aching. We have to hold this together until our geys get healthy. The whole composite… Guys not hitting like they were, guys shying away, guys 1/2 step behind consistently, etc. all argues for walking wounded. No way we’ll hear about it either; other teams would be targeting those guys bad. I’m expecting by next weekend we start seeing our old team back.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
@mcsorleyfan,
Actually, if teams read blogs, they just heard about it at the top of this page, as did we. No one knows exactly what it is, but if someone runs him on the boards or open ice, something may turn up, eh?
If you think about it, even saying upper or lower body injury gives someone a target area to work on.
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mcsorleyfan Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
@Kingsfanone, yeah, other than the basic “we have a few guys banged up”, I doubt we’ll hear anything. I’m sure teams follow official blogs, etc., if for no other reason than to gather motivational wall fodder. The moment a coach uses an excuse like “well, we’ve played 7 games in 10 days and have a few guys banged up” he’s ringing the dinner bell; he may as well announce over the P.A. that we’re limping as it is, and will roll over if you get physical. If you recall that early scene in Slapshot, that “if someone boards me I’ll piss myself” line, that went straight to the bench, and the guy got boarded. So the games go on, our guys do their best, but limp through it, and we their faithful fans are kept in the dark for to do otherwise would only exacerbate the situation. Just knowing what guy to target can be bad enough; if Scuds had a lower, say calf strain, and got a shoulder to go with it, matters would really suck for him. We’re kind of going back to the Westgarth thing again, with what I was saying about information control, and we as fans doing our best to guess with limited information.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
@mcsorleyfan,
What? Westgarth injured himself on someone’s face??? LOL
Yes, I agree wholeheartedly with you! Luckily we now have Rich feeding us better table scraps than we’ve had ever! (So our guesses are more educated!)
Is it bad that I am half not wanting to go to the game Saturday, for fear of another shellacking?
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mcsorleyfan Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
@Slapshot, um… getting kicked in a particular area repeatedly does tend to develop a sore spot… However, the ‘Hawks have been struggling of late and may be good anxiety bait for our own boys to work out their aggressions against. If this turns around Saturday, you’ll want to be there for it!
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Kingsfanone Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
@Slapshot,
I don’t see our boys following up that no show game with another. This game may just be one to go see them turn it around.
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8ball Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Kingsfanone
i’m with you on this one.let’s hope.
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After that last road trip, I would think the Hawks are going to face an angry Kings team. At least I hope that’s the case.
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KC23 Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
@Goring 19, Except that the last game the Hawks played was just as bad and they are in a far worse position than the Kings in the standings. Don’t expect the Hawks to roll over, but I like the King’s chances against the Hawks dodgey defense.
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WHAT THE KINGS NEED IS A FIRM DIRECTION OF EITHER A DEFENSIVE TEAM OR OFFENSIVE TEAM OR A TOUGH TEAM RIGHT NOW EACH LINE IS MIXED AND THIS IS THE REASON NOTHING WORKS, ALL FIVE GUYS NEED TO PLAY THE SAME WAY EACH AND EVERY SHIFT. LETS GO DL MAKE THE CHANGES I HAVE BEEN WATCHING KINGS HOCKEY SINCE 1969.
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MARTY
1972-73 here. a few baggage-smashers always seemed to
help but i don’t see much of that any more.not dirty-
just tough enough.gritty wingers like al secord.
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hey al
what’s up?
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8 ball, YOUR RIGHT 72-73 NOT HERE BUT BRING BACK DANNY MALONEY, TOUGH WINGER WHO CAN SCORE, ALL GOOD TEAMS SEEM TO HAVE AT LEAST ONE. DL DRAFTS THIRD AND FORTH LINE PLAYERS AND SCORERS IN JUNIOR WHO ARE TO SMALL TO PLAY IN THE NHL. ANY FORWARD WHO IS THE AHL FOR 3 YRS OR MORE IS NEVER GOING TO MAKE IT TO THE NHL, THEY ARE GOOD AHL PLAYERS BUT THATS IT, JUST LOOK AT THE CURRENT ROSTER OF THE KINGS AND MANCHESTER.
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USHA#17 Reply:
November 27th, 2010 at 11:05 am
@MARTY,
“tough winger who can score”
I think you left out the part about “and fight, too!”
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