Willie Mitchell and Alexei Ponikarovsky both made their returns from injury last night, and while neither player got on the score sheet, both played significant roles — Mitchell played 21:25, while Ponikarovsky played 13:54 — and helped keep the Blue Jackets off the score sheet. The Kings’ penalty-kill unit has struggled of late, but went 3-for-3 against Columbus. The Kings, overall, had six minutes of penalty-kill time, and Mitchell played 3:49 of it while Ponikarovsky played 2:06 of it. Here’s what Terry Murray said today about the return of both players…
MURRAY: `It was great to have them back. Certainly, you notice them in the lineup. They’re big-bodied guys, and they’re veteran players who bring a lot of that experience `to the game, in situations that are pressured. They can calm the puck down, calm the play down. Certainly, Willie, in the penalty-kill part of it, I thought he was tremendous. We’ve missed him there. It was great to have both guys back.”
Anybody else like Poni on the top line? I did. I’d like to see the results of that over a few weeks.
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18,118 Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
@Jason4Kings,
Nothing earth shattering last night, but I say give it a shot, for a bit. This means you, TM!
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puckbob Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
@Jason4Kings, I like him on the 1st line better than Zeus. I love Zeus but I think he’s too slow for the 1st line
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KC23 Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
@Jason4Kings, It was against Columbus so not impressed. Problem so far with Poni has been consistency.
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Dave Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 8:28 pm
@Jason4Kings, definitely like the look. i think sturm needs a couple more weeks to get his legs under him. let poni play there and see what transpires.
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xeropoint Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
@Jason4Kings, I like what he brought to the line. A very small sample size, obviously but with a few more games we’ll have a better idea of what they can all do together.
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puck73 Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
@Jason4Kings, What Poni brought to the top line is the same thing that Parse brought for the 5 games he played with them..space. Kopi and Brown were flying out there last night because they had a veteran big man out there creating space !
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Speaking of injuries…..
Alex Frolov done for season
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nhl/news/story?id=6006169
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nickdoh Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
@Kris, hammond just got all tingly and happy for no reason.
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Katy Perry Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
@Kris,
You never want to wish an injury on a player, but if I had to pick an ex-King to get injured, it would be Frolov. He drove me crazy when he played for the Kings and was cancerous in New York. Go back to Russia, bro.
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Brent Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Aw, that sucks. I’m sorry for Frolov and hope he comes back strong next year.
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Dave Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
@Kris, that might be the last time we see Frolov in an NHL uniform. he was on a one-year deal and he won’t get any good offers from an NHL team next year coming off a sub-par first half and a major knee injury.
some KHL team will offer him a deal and that will be it.
he was a good King but DL made the right call to move on.
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tuan jim Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 9:51 pm
@Dave,
DL’s specialty is picking up players coming off injuries. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fro back in a Kings uniform — especially considering the number of guys we have who’ll be UFAs at season’s end.
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puck73 Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
@tuan jim, He will be back right around the same time Osullivan will be back…NEVER !
Dave Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 12:09 am
@tuan jim, i don’t think Fro is coming back. he’s not a TM/DL type of player. they would prefer effort and playing the system over skill and freelancing and Fro isn’t interested in playing this system and isn’t known for giving all out effort every night.
VanKingsFan Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 9:42 am
@tuan jim, He won’t be back in a Kings Uni, and he won’t be in the KHL. Here are my top teams that will look to sign him next year:
1. Toronto – Big body, puck control. and Burke is desperate for offense.
2. Detroit – He would go here and put up 100 points I have little doubt. Everyone rejuvenates their career in Detroit
3. Islanders – They always pull moves like this; but they will still suck.
4. Atlanta – Try to take the next step by throwing money at another russian sniper. Also to help Burmistrov acclimate to North america
5. Minnesota – Need LW. Always looking for offense
6. back to NY rangers
Was great to see both contribute last night..fingers crossed they wont be so fragile going forward.
On a side note, can you believe the winner of the Most Accurate Shooter at the Ducks Skills Competition was… George Parros? If only we had know what we had back in the day!
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more off topic:
and speaking of mid-season reports, hockeysfuture.com had this on the Monarchs. didn’t read all(cause i’m lazy), but the most interesting report was on Kozun, that he’s shown some legitamite struggles.
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/12663/los_angeles_kings_boast_enviable_depth_at_ahl_level/
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Reason we won is Mitchell being back nothing to do with Ponikarovski…….trade him now
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brian spain Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
@Harty, Poni, plays Penalty kill minutes that Kopi doesn’t have to. He is a big body who hits more than most of the guys on the team. He is a good player to have on this team. who would you replace him with Harty?
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Harty Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 4:34 am
@brian spain, this guy couldn’t stay with Toronto a bottom feeder of the league and some believe he will save the team by coming back, he’s a 4th liner on this team and that is it
Penalty killers…
1st unit (Lewis, Richardson)
2nd unit (Zues, Kopi) *play your star player, Detroit does and wins
3rd unit if needed (Parse when healthy, Smyth)
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nickdoh Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
@Harty, the reason THEY won is columbus got a too many men on the ice penalty. and the 35mins the kings played of the 60 was enough.
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Harty Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 4:36 am
@nickdoh, your right and Murray just kept playing the 1-3 lines as westgarth is a liability and he cannot get the 4th line out with confidence, later in the game Lewis/Clifford was coming out with Smyth and then Williams, no trust in westgarth, don’t play him
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xeropoint Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
@Harty, Um, no.
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Harty Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 4:37 am
@xeropoint, Um, no….can’t believe you would think Ponikarovski is useful, now is the time to trade him for a mid range player and draft pick
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Forum67 Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:46 pm
@Harty,
Are you a Ducks fan disguised as a Kings fan?
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Harty Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 4:39 am
@Forum67, nope, never a Quack fan hate them, live in Ontario Canada and like Kings and Habs…..both are going through a tough time right now finding ways to win….
Kings though could win far more often if Mitch stays healthy and keep westgarth out of the lineup
QUESTION DO WE NEED WESTGARTH TO HANDLE ORR ON THE LEAFS??
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Jury is still out on Poni. He needs 3 games in that position for me to begin dissing him. Actually so far he hasn’t done any waorse than anyone else and that includes Simmers. Only thing he’s been proving lately is that he has no problem dropping the gloves and for his salary I will duke it out more than him.
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Play of the game was Mitchell stopping Nash from getting to the net at the end of the game, then a little extra stick to the face for good measure. That’s why Mitchell makes a difference when he plays and why the Kings succeed when he is on the ice.
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puck73 Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:35 pm
@BluLiner, Willie Mitchell is MVP on this so far IMO…12 and 4 when he is in the lineup.
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Forum67 Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
@BluLiner,
Mitchell ABSOLUTELY makes a positive difference when he’s in the lineup. My only complaint about Mitchell this season is that it was necessary for me to use the phrase “when he’s in the lineup” in my previous sentence. He’s been down and out twice so far this season. A third time, heaven forbid, and he will have truly earned my nickname, The Fragile Willie Mitchell.
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Why was Richie not in the line-up? Am I missing something here?
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puck73 Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:36 pm
@Steve, TM benched him, didnt like his game vs Nashville.
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Harty Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 4:42 am
@puck73, but he liked westgarth’s game vs. Columbus?? The issue here is that TM has to get westgarth into games he cannot leave him in the pressbox forever, then send him to Manchester (oh ya, he would have to clear waivers, and you think anyone is looking for anyone like him, NOT)
The game is not based on the big threat of physical play anymore, its part of the game and I enjoy a fight however the NHL is not going in that direction with policies and team chemistry, so why do it Kings fans….
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Steve Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 7:13 am
I just cant see any justification in not having Richie in the line-up. He brings so much hustle & energy to the table. He creates turn overs and is dynamite on the PK. Very very strange move on the part of TM!
Westgarth is a problem, we have Clifford to mix it up and Simmonds, at least they will stand up for our top players. I think the team would be fires up if you have a 19 yr old involved with Orr, he may lose or at least earn the respect, then a fire might be ignighted under the players asses
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