It was not surprising. In fact, in many ways it was expected. Nashville scored its third consecutive goal, in a span of less than seven minutes, to take a 3-2 lead with approximately five minutes remaining in the second period and, on the next shift, Wayne Simmonds fought Francis Bouillon. It’s practically a time-honored tradition. When a team’s fortunes are headed south, a stout-hearted player drops the gloves in order to try to give his teammates a boost, to get them fired up. Simmonds fared quite well against Bouillon, and got the Staples Center fans back into the game, and then…the Kings didn’t score a goal in the final 35 minutes. Of course, a fight isn’t an iron-clad guarantee of improved play, but Terry Murray said today that he expected his team to get more of a lift from Simmonds’ actions.
MURRAY: “Yeah, we sure did. In fact, we talked about it between periods in the locker room. He’s an amazing guy when he gets into a fight. He always seems to do damage. But I really thought that that would bring a good spark, to get us back on track. You have a 2-0 lead in the (second) period, and when he does that, you’re hoping that it’s like changing a goaltender sometimes, that it’s really going to excite everybody and get them back to doing the right things on a high-energy, high-level basis. It didn’t work out.”
What was the damage on Bouillon?
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MiniKing Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
@PK, Nose
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wavesinair Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
@PK, The poor guy was yelling for his mommy.
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EJ Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
@wavesinair, wouldn’t you? His nose was severely bent.
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KingsFanFTW Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
@wavesinair, LOL yea if we cant win on the score bard we break that guys nose LOL
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why don’t the icestitutes drop the gloves? that would be real momentum changer for my trip to the box office for a refund? instead of shoveling snow from the front of the net, they should Saunter to the blue line and sacrafice mascara in the name of hockey and the Kings!!!
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The way things are going they would carry the fight over to the King’s bench and injure one of them.
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I’m not a big fan of fighting, but Wayne “The Hurt” Simmonds is really fun to watch. I actually felt bad for Bouillon. The guy was holding is face on the ice as if he was just mugged. The crowd was so pumped and ready for the Kings to get back into it and I felt like they did respond for a bit then the 2nd ended in a whimper. Once the 4th goal was scored, the team looked like a deer lost on the highway. The stats show only Smyth with a penalty in the 3rd, but didn’t JW get a trip to the sin bin too??? Hmmm.
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happylappy Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
@wavesinair, I think that fight by Simmer was a real good statement of his character, just wish the rest of the boys could have put one in the net for his efforts. Could have turned that game around.
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crashin' da net Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
@happylappy, Right it would prove fighting does not positively get a rise out of the team.
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OFF TOPIC:
But this … from Yardbarker regarding the Langenbrunner trade:
“As for the Devils, this deal signals the housecleaning of the roster has begun. ”
(…mmuuwwaaAAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!))
We now return to your regularly scheduled blog.
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Dominick Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 3:36 am
@Matt George, Funny that they’ll cleanhouse, and not get rid of the one player that ruined everything for them. Better to fire the coach and trade away your entire identity. I thought Lou was a genious for years. Now I think he’s just a yes man, and he’ll be next.
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Rich, I love the titles of your blogs. I chuckled at this one.
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Can anyone remember a game this year when a King had a fight and it changed the outcome of the game……….Neither can I ………Can anyone remember the Kings coming out after a bad period and dominating the next period(where you would say…whatever the coach did between periods mustve worked)….neither can I
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I don’t spend much time on the blog, so what I have to say might look like Monday morning quarterbacking. I will give my honest opinion, when the Kings were winning early I was wondering with the grinders they have on 3 of the 4 lines, how in the heck are they doing this? Well, unfortunatley the reality has set in. The Kings playing in this system got the most out of their minimal scoring talent. I don’t see this year’s team as the contender, what surprises me is that TM and DL haven’t used this year get experience for the true talent waiting in the wings in Manchester. Perhaps some will play the remainder of the season when they fall out of playoff contention. Am I wrong or do we need this year to get those ready for next year?
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Bill M. Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
@happylappy, You are wrong. This team has a ton of talent. You are right about even more talent waiting in the wings. I think the plan is to break them in slowly, 2 or 3 per year, until we arrive at where we really want to be, probably in about 3 years.
However, this team expected to be a real contender, and they can be. The problem is not talent, it’s focus and drive. Something is wrong in that locker room. When they come out with focus and drive, they have buried some of the leagues biggest talent. And it wasn’t just at the beginning, it was again at the beginning of december. Untalented teams don’t completely bury the Sharks, Wings, and Avalanche all in a row like that.
This team SHOULD have been a contender. They still COULD be, but they clearly have a locker room problem, and they need to fix it QUICK in order to make the playoffs. I’d say they have a week to fix it, although every game it takes from here probably costs us a seed. If they get it right soon, they’ll get in and they’ll be good. If they don’t get in, I would expect DL to send the Vets packing and use next year to give the young talent experience.
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happylappy Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 7:07 pm
@Bill M., I don’t see a ton of talent, not any true scorers, I think they need to bring in a solid scorer on the left wing, and a second line center who can show some scoring touch (none on the Kings right now). Great goalie in Quick, good blueliners but not enough scoring to make a playoff run. Hey, it’s my opinion, I love the Kings and I hope I’m wrong.
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bulldog13lak Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
@happylappy, completely agree, I love this team but I think sometimes maybe other teams are having an off night and making us look good. This team has looked sluggish the past few games, and we back off too much giving opposing forwards way too much space and then when we get over their blueline we are crushed into the boards and stripped of the puck. I disagree with TM putting the blame on the O, we are scoring enough goals to win games but we cannot keep giving up too many goals, 23 in five games is ridiculous! I wish to thank Simmers for his valiant effort last night, shame it didn’t light a fire under anybody. Interesting comments from Bob Miller and Jim Fox, that Barry Trotz said he studied his team and learned their characteristics andthen adapted the system to suit his players. I wonder how many other Coaches in the league do that?
Dominick Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 4:06 am
@happylappy, I have to agree with Bill. When the team is focused they’re unbeatable. You do have a point with regards to a top left wing, and a #2 center. Stoll has shown early in the season that he has the talent to play there, but seems to be losing it. It’s also still a Question mark wether he’ll be able to find it again. Those are 2 area’s that are weeknesses dating back to last season.
Only thing is, what could we have done during the summer to shore up those areas? Nobody could of predicted that we would be handcuffed by Kovi, and DL shouldn’t be blamed for it either, since that was a major concern going into the summer, and still is. He held out for as long as possible for the best possible player, according to our needs.
Those are still 2 glaring holes, but we do have the talent to win, if we can get this team to stay focused. Maybe fate will give way to a skill player or 2 becoming available, but right now just getting them to play to their potential consistantly would make a world of difference. I personally believe that without all the mistakes being made by the guys, we’re a damn good team.
Simmonds is a third line guy. Yeah he kicked butt in that fight. I repeat what I said last night: WHO CARES!
Can we please see some guys on the top line that have skill and put grinders like brown and Simmonds on the third line where they belong!
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Bill M. Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
@Tony, why are people criticizing Kopi and Brown? Both are doing very well and having career best years. People are so quick to blame them because they are the oldest of the younger guys and in high profile roles. But they play well and do it consistently. They can’t help it if the rest of the team is gagging on their breakfast.
I’ve been looking in more detail at a stat that caught my attention – turnovers. Do you realize we are THIRD WORST in the league in turnovers? we all might have guessed, because we see far too many of them. BUT, so many are quick to praise Williams for having a comeback year, while they bash Kopi and Brown. so try this stat out:
Kopitar: Third in time on ice with 853 min. 7th in turnovers with 24
Williams: Eighth in time on ice with 688 min. 1st in turnovers with 43
So Williams has 19(!) more turnovers, despite being on the ice for 165 minutes LESS than Kopitar.
Admittedly, Brown is far worse in the turnover department than Kopi, with 33, but it still 10 less than Williams, with 84 more minutes on ice.
I’m considering calculating the ratios of turnovers per time on ice, and posting the whole rosters listing here for us all to see. Our stats are quite good still, EXCEPT for the turnovers, which we can all see are costing us games.
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johnjuan Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
@Bill M.,
Great stat!
Williams kills me with his inability to walk and chew gum at the same time. I think he could be more effective taking one time chippers from the slot.
I think the 3rd man high routine can be effective but the Kings are to one dimensional with it. They need to have a plan B and bring the D in off the corners to give help down down low and in the slot. We have the” system” without any creativity.
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mcsorleyfan Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 9:04 pm
@Bill M., I’d applaud that move; I believe(hope) it would bring a better perspective to folks pointing fingers at some of our hardest workers.
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Rumor there’s a big trade brewing, Kings and Leafs, or Kings and Columbus. Of course, the rumor monger in question is usually wrong. The word is the Columbus deal would be a blockbuster.
My take: There will be no trade at all. Lombardi is afraid to pull the trigger. Why deal for some skilled players when there’s all this talent in the Kings system? So we wait, and wait, and wait, and …
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happylappy Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 7:12 pm
@Cowboy Bill, I hope there is something to it, for the right players we need NOW. Not just to change faces, I think trading one of our young centers and Dman from Manchester would be ok, I’m sure DL won’t give away our future.
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Time for Murray to make a public example. Doughty needs to be a healthy scratch for a couple of games. Maybe if he gets a reminder that talent alone doesn’t make it in this league. Everyone is a good player…..you have to WORK at it and Doughty has been the most disappointing King this year. Bring up a couple of guys from the minors…..would the results be any more disappointing that what we’re seeing now?
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If Murray is relying on a fight to get this team going …ugh.
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ha ha ha…….what does TM know about changing a goaltender…..oh yeah, there must be 6 goals scored against!
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Where is the heart on this team? Leadership? How about TM showing some feistyness behind the bench instead of that ever present stoic look. Seems like there is no accountability again. Ok well change the lines. That has been done before each of the last 3 losses. How about making some other changes? Perhaps to the PP? Brown step up and take ownership of this lockerroom and call a meeting? DL make some kind of public statement. SOMETHING!!!!
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Sure he can fight, but that doesn’t makeup for all the give-aways he’s been making lately. Simmonds never seems to know what to do when the puck ends up on his stick – passesup the middle, passes right to opposing players….arrrgggh.
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Totally random, but does anyone know where I can find footage of Drew getting the stick to the nuts? I cant find it anywhere. GRR
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