Here’s a video with Anze Kopitar’s postgame reaction from Raleigh. Also, a couple Kings prospects made a solid impact today in the AHL All-Star Skills Competition in Hershey, Penn. Manchester Monarchs defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov won the fastest skater competition by completing a lap in 14.197 seconds. Monarchs goalie Martin Jones helped the East team win two competitions as the East beat the West 19-7 in the overall competition. The All-Star Game will be played Monday at 4 p.m. Pacific time, and is listed as being available on NHL Center Ice, for those subscribers, and also on a series of regional sports. The game will also be on SiriusXM satellite radio.
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Could barely here the question that Kopi didn’t want to answer. Sounded like a question about a left winger.
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KingsKnight Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
@Dominick, I think it was “Want to take one of those left wings home with you?”
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king lopez Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 7:28 am
@Dominick, thats what she did say. I turned it up real loud.
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kingsxstevenxkings Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 2:18 pm
@king lopez,
Yeah I turned it up too haha..Seems like everyone knows what we (and apparently Kopi) are praying for.
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“Let’s not go there” Hahaha!
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Evidently Voynov has some wheels…He was the fastest skater out of both the AHL & NHL competitions.
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puck73 Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
@Moondoggie, Hearing that makes me think Voynov will not be traded.
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39scars Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 9:27 pm
@puck73, or that he could add 10 pounds of mus
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I’m sorry…….but watching that exhibition was just a downright joke to a true hockey fan…..
That’s not a game & it’s not hockey. They may as well just do more skills competition…..
I’d rather 3 hours of real breakaways…..
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Shakes Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
@dahack11,
This is my suggestion for making the game 100x better:
Keep the fantasy draft thingy….BUT…. make it 4 teams. And make the all star game a mini 4-0n-4 tourney… Game 1 Team Stall vs. Team Lidstrom, and in the other bracket Team X vs. Team Y.. Winners play in a final. Three games total
You could make each game 20 minutes long…that way each player doesn’t get overworked..the whole thing would take 60 minutes (The same as a regular game) and you’ve essentially solved the one problem all all-star games have: no one has a reason to care except for the last 5-10minutes of the game. If you make it a mini game or tourney suddenly players have an incentive to care for the entire mini game.
I think it would be awesome and you’d really get lots of trash talking going during the draft
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I was watching the CBC feed and Eric Staal and Tim Thomas both had mics on while playing. Did Versus do the same?
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NoDoughty Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
@friarking, yes they did it last time as well. Pretty entertaining
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can anyone tell me how Jones and Voynov did at the AHL ASG?
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the dude Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
@Paul G, we can tell you on monday night, say 4pm EST.
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the dude Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 7:57 pm
@the dude, whoops, 7pm EST. 4pm PST. my bad.
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tikkanen Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 12:36 am
@Paul G, Voynov was the fastest skater. http://theahl.com/2011-skills-competition-p168900
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That had to be Helene asking the pointed questions, no?
The all-too-sensitive LW issue and TM’s back-checking policy – had to be her.
I still can’t get over how far Kopi’s interview skills and his mastery of English have/has come since he first started playing in LA.
I’m so proud he’s a King.
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Bill M. Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
@Sparman, Yeah. I think that was her, and both questions I think crossed the line. As far as Kopi – he really has come so far, in his English, his interviews, and on the ice. Seriously world class in every way.
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Niko Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
@Bill M., She flew all the way from LA just to state the obvious on national television.
“You need a top-six LW”
“Back-checking is essential to TM’s system”
“You were playing with all-stars”
Thanks for those insightful “questions”. She thought she was being funny, but that was neither the time nor the place for that.
Loved Kopi’s responses though haha
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anyone else get annoyed by the announcers talking to Cam Ward for 20 min. while the game was going on and the fact that they rarely mentioned what lines were on the ice? Hey, either have an All-Star game or an on ice interview of a mic’ed up player when he is at least not facing a shooter at the same time. I thought Kopi was awesome and could have had 2 or 3 assists with his great passes.
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KC23 Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 9:21 am
@happylappy, Not really as the game is a complete joke anyway. King practises are far more entertaining in every way.
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love ya kopi!
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Thank goodness the game is over. I am very happy that Kopi represented the Kings so well, but especially happy that he finished without an injury. Lets Go Kings and contniue the winning streak in Minnesota. By the way, after seeing a few minutes of the game, it was obvious why no defensemen from one of the best defenses in the NHL were not at the All-Star game.
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Eberlin Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 7:53 am
@DesertKing, in one of the mic’ed up bits, Byfuglien said something like “none of us got here because of our defense, that’s for sure.”
I watched the entire thing and I thought it was nice. It wasn’t so much ‘hockey’ but it seemed like everyone had fun except maybe the goalies. I didn’t care much for Ovie’s thrown stick, which I thought just cemented him as an attention whore, but it does seem to fit a 10yr old kid’s mentality.
Not a lot of dump and chase, not a lot of cycling, not a lot of defense, but I did see a few backdoor plays given up.
Kopi did well and I’m definitely happy about that. Hope he comes out of it knowing just how great a player he is and that he takes that confidence back with him into the rest of the season.
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You know, I think some of you think too hard about it. It was clear the players had fun and the fans had fun too. If you didn’t like watching it why, didn’t you turn it off after the first?
I for one enjoyed it, I thought it was great to see some of the games top players out there, just joking around, enjoying it, weather it was “Real Hockey” or not. Watching ovie throw the stick was just priceless.
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Kingme20 Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 9:50 pm
@Tmik,
Yeah, I think people really need to lighten up. This was all just for fun.
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Michael_DD8 Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 12:46 am
@Kingme20,
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KC23 Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 9:23 am
@Tmik, I got sucked in by the mention of 2 goals for Kopitar. I know, dumb. I’ve seen more intense pre-game drills.
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“Let’s not go there” was a great way to get his frustration across while seemingly defending his teammates. That’s a tough question to answer in a public forum like that, even if it was just for fun. If it would have been phrased “Would you like to take some of those WINGERS back home with you” and not been so specific about it being a LW, then I might be more inclined to think it was in fun rather than a jab at the team’s hole on the 1st line.
Probably was Helene, maybe it wasn’t. Whoever it was, Seemed like both questions were kind of petty jabs at management and TM’s system. There are digging questions that are searching for insightful answers, and there are these kind of questions that seem to have their own agenda and really put players in a bad position (potentially). This was supposed to be a ‘fun’ event, but the decorum and delivery of those questions didn’t seem to be so much about ‘Fun’ as they did about ‘Agenda’.
I guess it really would matter who asked those questions as to the true meaning behind them. I would think and take them MUCH differently if Heidi Androl was asking them rather than Helene Elliot. Read into that what you will.
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puck73 Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:33 am
@Cynic, Good post. Noticed that stuff as well.
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KC23 Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 9:24 am
@Cynic, Well said.
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personally, I love that she asked him about the LW. We all know that position is needed, bring it to the fore-front. Remember a few years back when the Kings tanked and Bob Miller was outraged after the game? Next day Murray was fired. Sometimes, things need to be mentioned in the public eye. I see no harm in this.
Kopitar… I love him.
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puck73 Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:34 am
@Kevin, Andy Murray and fired go together like bacon and eggs.
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brett butler Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 10:09 am
@Kevin, i dont remember that happening? privide some details please? was this after the 11 game season ending streak??
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Daniel Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 10:57 am
@brett butler, The next season. When they tanked even earlier.
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Okay, completely off topic but it’s killing me can someone explain to me exactly what the guardian project is please?
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Niko Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 7:46 am
@Michael, http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/The-NHL-Guardian-Project-origin-story-Behind-th?urn=nhl-310128
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Sebastian Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 9:43 am
@Michael, wow…after not paying attention to the million commercials about this…yesterday i finally realized why they were doing this crap…the guys name is Stan Lee…as in Stanley Cup. hahah..so clever NHL.
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Dominick Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 11:13 am
@Michael, Just another way to have some fun with hockey, is all that is. I admit, I’m old enough to remember when comic books were cooler than cartoons as far as action. If it wasn’t for the Japenese no one in a cartoon would ever die, or be violently attacked. Stan’s just trying to find another way to bring out new stories, and start a new market. It’s geared more towards Kids, and teenagers. Maybe a few hockeyfans who still remember the old comic book days.
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Ok. Anyone want proof that the kings get overlooked badly by the national hockey media? Kopitar scored TWO goals. Nobody scored 3. And yet a name search of all the major news outlets’ game recaps, reveals 0 occurrences of Kopi’s name. The guy scores two goals in an all-star game and nobody sees fit to MENTION his name? I can understand giving more press to big names or other guys who had big days, but sheesh. No mention at all? Brutal.
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puck73 Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:36 am
@Bill M., Read the book..”Dont sweat the small stuff” Trust me, you will feel much better if the Kings make the playoffs…Everyone’s goal on this site.
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Bill M. Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:56 am
@puck73, Oh yes. I fully realize that a Stanley cup banner at staples would do wonders for the problem. And, of course that the cup makes all the rest insignificant.
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Cynic Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:52 am
@Bill M., Might be true, but you can’t blame Vs. ‘Doc’ was mentioning him quite a bit and even spelled his name for everyone when talking about how to vote for MVP. They interviewed him after 2 periods and gave him lots of camera face time.
Let’s face it thought, Kopi is a pretty laid back guy. He’s not exactly magic on camera. Personally, I care more about how he plays anyway.
I was hoping he’d score that 3rd goal, even the empty netter. Would have been hard to not give the MVP to the guy with the hat trick.
He should have cooked pancakes for the guys in his Homer Simpson slippers. That would have bumped up his charisma a few notches.
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Bill M. Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:57 am
@Cynic, Lol. Probably true. “pancakes: the secret to MVP success!”
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KC23 Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 9:27 am
@Cynic, Kopitar wouldn’t of gotten MVP if he scored all 11 goals. Just the way things work in the NHL.
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puck73 Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 10:06 am
@KC23, Look at the bright side KC, at least it wasnt Crosby or Ovechkin right? Sharp played a good game, and I dont have a problem with him getting it. Weber and Lidstrom were dominant though..plus 6 and plus 7 in a all star game ? Wow!