In another subtle sign that Willie Mitchell is close to returning to the Kings’ lineup, he apparently took the ice today sans brace. The wrist support that Mitchell had been wearing on the ice in recent days was laying on the ground in front of Mitchell’s locker while Mitchell was on the ice this morning. Terry Murray said Mitchell will be examined again on Thursday, and at that point he could be cleared to play. Murray previously said he doubted Mitchell would be able to play Saturday against Minnesota. Murray said of Mitchell, “I see him out on the ice there today, handling and shooting some pucks, so it’s pretty encouraging to see that.”
Alexei Ponikarovsky appears to be ready to go, though. Ponikarovsky made it through a second consecutive full-team practice without issue today, and Murray pronounced Ponikarovsky ready to return to the Kings’ third line, alongside center Michal Handzus and right winger Wayne Simmonds.
MURRAY: “I’m going to say he will play. He’s holding up very well. His conditioning is outstanding. They’ve been doing a lot of hard skating over the past couple weeks, in that small group skating club. So he’s ready physically, and no question, mentally, he’s been excited about getting back in for the last five or six days. Shooting the puck, handling the puck, he’s doing everything that you ask a forward to do, a player to do, in these practices. In my mind, he’s ready to go.”
Ponikarovsky has two goals in 13 games this season, and Murray was asked today whether he is expecting more production out of a player who has topped 20 goals in four of the last five seasons.
MURRAY: “I am. When he was acquired in the offseason, we were talking upstairs about a 20-, 25-goal scorer. He might have a little bit more of a difficult time, because of the injuries, getting to that number right now, but I think he’s a player that can put up, pretty consistently, some offense. I can’t put a number on where he’s going to be at the end of the year, right now, but he’s got ability. He’s got a great shot. He’s a big body, he goes to the net, he has the right attitude about how to play in the offensive zone and he protects the puck very well on the cycles and takes it to the net. So all of the ingredients are there.”
Cant Wait to we have a full team Glad to see Poni back in the line up hope he makes the difference and fill that empty spot that we try fill up we did good on the scorer spot…
But the D one that giving us problems we need Mitchell Glad he almost back healthy Kings need Mitchell just wish we know what D going to the minors i hope its not Martinez he did great
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puck73 Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
@KingsFanFTW, If Martinez keeps playing this well, I dont think he will be sent down.
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Garry Reply:
December 8th, 2010 at 11:33 am
@KingsFanFTW, Why no Poni on the first line?
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KingsFanFTW Reply:
December 8th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
@Garry, yea that what i dotn get either
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D will soon be great…its O that needs work! Still need a left winger that can score on a consistent basis–management are you listening. Frolov minutes have been cut back according to CNN. Not missed in LA.
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I’m happy Poni is back…he will help however I continue to read how he is going to save our scoring issues, far from the case.
He has never been a big scorer, he is adefnsive forward who will do a very good job on our 3rd line as a checking role. End of discussion. This is not the scoring answer to the 1st line.
I will say our 2nd, 3rd and 4th line just got stronger with this change however the number 1 line remains a bit of a mystery. We need a good solid 30-40 goal guy.
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backchecker Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
@Harty, I agree 100 pct as does everyone else How does Steve Stemkos sound
2008 draft number 1 pick we could havd had him we won last game of season
got the second pick oh soooo close but no cigar ooops i mean cup
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YoBro Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
@backchecker, So you’re saying we should’a thrown the last game so’s we could draft Stamkos?
Personally, I’m plenty happy playing with pride and getting Drew . At last reports, Stamkos hasn’t won Diddly.
Go Kings
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backchecker Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
@YoBro, exactly what i am saying have you never heard of such a thing ?
I like drew also as a matter of fact if he continues he could be another
bobby orr but stemkos could be more valuable to the kings as of last year
and this year your right he has not won diddly playing with the worst team
in the league and helping them into a contender right he has done nothing
kinginsaltlake Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
@YoBro, Plus Drew always wanted to play for the Kings
ducksuck Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
@backchecker,
I couldn’t diagree more what kind logic is throw the game see the future??? All I remember is at the time the defense was hurting and I remember and DL saying this team needed a good solid DEFENCE and good GOALTENDING!!! I look at the team now and all the Kings need is a goal scorer. With all the propects like Hickey, Tolbert, Martinez, Muzzin, Cambell, Drewiske, Quick, Ersberg, Beiner, Zackoff, and Jones I can’t see why anyone would question DL knows what he is doing.
Also I agree Drew is getting a very slow start, but he will grow like Brown and Kopitar did.
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backchecker Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
@ducksuck, you make my point exactly and you dont understand mine so i will explain
drew is a great hockey player drew will be a great holckey player over time as well
stemkos is more valuable to the kings than drew is and as you say the reeason
the kings need a goal scorer last year and this year more than defesmen albeit drew who is great
King o' Philly Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
@Harty,
totally agree.
he’s more muscle & forecheck than hands & scoring, but as i posted yesterday in another thread, we need to be stronger below the hash-marks.
poni comin back will help a lot in that regard, at least. he’ll bang a few in, too, let’s hope!!
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brian spain Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
@King o’ Philly, Poni will also play some PK and give Kopi some rest there. that should help him stay fresher. he has been playing too much PK
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rick Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
@Harty, Agreed. If someone has a magic wand to make this happen, please start waving it.
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puck73 Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
@Harty, Another home run, I gotta start intentionally walking you from now on Barry Bonds!
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NOT IMPRESSED Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
@Harty, But until we get a 30-40 goal guy, Ponikarovsky should be on the first line with Kopitar if TM expects him to score 20-25 goals. For TM to expect 20-25 goals from anyone on the 3rd line is unrealistic.
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luc20rules Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
@Harty, 1st line scoring may get a boost if Richardson is given 2 or 3 shifts. Brown can play an extra 3 shifts with the 2nd or 4th line. I would just love to see Brown wreck somebody with Westgarth on the ice for backup. Richardson has good speed and skill, but seems to wear down if played more than 16 mins or so. It definately does change the look of the 1st line with Richy there, but it doesn’t work long term.
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I think adding JW to the first line will really help. Kopi needs someone other than himself to hold onto the puck and make plays. Its just a matter of the second line keeping up with secondary scoring. Smyth looks tired…I’m hoping the layoff will help.
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rick Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
@Barry’s Mullet, To use a phrase from business school, Smyth is a depreciating asset. A ton of heart, but I am afraid his body is slowly leaving the building. I am concerned that this might be the last season we will get any decent production out of him. Our problems at LW are going to expand in the not so distant future, me thinks.
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Muzzin who?
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puck73 Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
@Michael_DD8, Muzzin will be good, but 23 year old Alec Martinez is closer to being ready at this point then he is.
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Off topic but just wanted to mention that I love the update to the mobile site, so much more user friendly
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Keep JW on the first line. You could definitely see an improved chemistry between him and Kopi and DB. Kopi seemed like he was having fun. The Red Wings defense was having problems trying to deal with two good scorers which resulted in more open ice for DB and better shot opportunities. On defense, what a great problem to have when Mitchell gets back – what do we do with Harrold and Drewiske? Not to mention will we ever be able to bring Muzzin back up? As soon as some other teams start experiencing injuries, their lack of depth will show and that will be the time when we really make our move in the standings.
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puck73 Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
@DesertKing, Glad you are one of the few that understand how important depth is with 82 games, plus a possible extra 28 games in the playoffs…Great Post!
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KC23 Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
@DesertKing, Good points. The Kings have an embarrassing richness in defense debth. The only defenseman that isn’t playing well is JJ and it seems he is somehow gets a free pass for his weak play.
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Poni make sure you read all these posts so you know where you stand! Understood?
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@backchecker, You aren’t happy with Doughty???
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backchecker Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
read my blog above rely to bro very happy he could be the next bobby orr
but stamkos is more valuable to the kings last year and this year
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
@backchecker, Okay, but I can’t see dwelling on it, since it was never an option.
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BACKCHECKER Reply:
December 8th, 2010 at 9:19 am
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
why are you asking me then ? you asked me a question i answered it is that dwelling
And it was an option back in 2008
Dont know if this has been discussed. I think it will be interesting to see who TM will choose as the top two pairings. Do you put DD/JJ with sucds or Willie? Lets look at the scenarios. its also worth noting that we know what we get everynight with the established veterans so Im looking at this from the younger players perspectives
DD/Wille- advantages- doughty playing well now and could help reacclimate recently injured Willie/seemed to work at start of year/on paper should compliment respective players game
disadvantages- chemistry?
DD/scuds- advantages- known chemistry/working well right now to get DD back on track
disadvantages- no growth for DD as standing on his own per se
JJ/Willie- advantages- 2 hard hitting dmen
disadvantages- inconsistent player with player returning from injury
JJ/scuds- advantages- worked well to begin the year/last year raised DD game, why not same for JJ
disadvantages- speed discrepancy?
please chime in here
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KC23 Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
@tornado12, There is no doubt in my mind that DD will be with Scuds. Those two are perhaps the best defensive parings in the league when healthy. Poor Mitchell is gonna have to deal with playing with JJ unless TM goes some huevos and drops JJ down to 3rd defensive paring. I would love to see Martinez play with Mitchell.
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puck73 Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
@KC23, Jack Johnson is to Terry Murray what Daryl Sydor was to Barry Melrose..Love at first sight ! Why ? I HAVE NO IDEA !
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KC23 Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
@puck73, My theory is that TM was told by DL to “handle with care” (i.e. don’t ruffle JJ’s feathers) after DL dissed JJ’s college coach and basically said JJ was extremely difficult to coach as a result of poor college coaching. JJ wasn’t happy and let it be known.
DL basically said JJ’s had a poor grasp on the NHL style of play and was a work in progress. He was dead on right. The thing I don’t get is how JJ came back from the Olympics, played great through the playoffs and then came back this year with the same lame habits he had at the begining of last year.
Rich the mobile site works very good, thank you. You can still read all coments, but now you can reply. To all those that cant figure out how to turn it off ( go all the way to the bottom of the page, their is avicon that says mobile on/ hit that icon and you go to the reg format, but thanks rich
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I meant icon
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@BACKCHECKER, First off, the Kings and Tampa were tied at the end of the season, and a tiebreaker went to Tampa after the Kings lost the last game, and three out of four. I don’t see how they were supposed to lose worse. Second off, there was a lottery for the top five, and Tampa happened to win (the year before, Chicago wasn’t the last place team and won the lottery.) Third, as noted before, you seem to be suggesting that throwing more games to try to guarantee last place was an option, which I don’t accept was either practical or ethical. Finally, it’s not obvious to me now, nor was it obvious at the time that they needed offense more than defense, or that it was even THAT simple. A lot of people believed Doughty would have been the right choice for the Kings as the first pick, and I can’t entirely disagree with them (the meaning of my original comment.) Side note: I had to struggle to interpret your post because, well frankly, it doesn’t have proper punctuation. Granted, the bug in the flow of the thread made it hard too. I’d appreciate it if you’d take the time to punctuate correctly.
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New line combinations for tomorrow’s game; Poni Kopi Brown
Smythe Stoll Williams
Simmer Zuss Clifford
Can someone give me a good reason why Poni is not our long sought LW
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