Here’s my LAKings.com game story for tonight, with stats and video included. Thanks for reading…
The Kings host Minnesota tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. There will be a very limited morning skate at 10:30 a.m. in El Segundo for a handful of players, followed by a full-team meeting.
1st game back! Fans are pumped. Again most important game yet.
Have to come out and put the fear of god on them.
They are playing well. We have to dig deep and pull this one out….
GKG.
Oh and by the way things are going. Scuderi scores winning goal!
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Slim Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 11:53 pm
@Slim, Also by the way….sorry Rich about that “hair” joke.
Won’t happen again. The last thing I won’t is to be in your bad radar.
My bad….
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Jason4Kings Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:06 am
@Slim,
Oh man, i wanna hear the hair joke! Must have missed it.
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Cowboy Bill Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 6:47 am
@Slim, and hopefully Clifford gets “pumped up” during the first period and makes another opponent’s knees buckle like last night. That seemed to really fire up the Kings, and I know the crowd would go crazy tonight at Staples if he repeats similar fisticuffs.
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jdm1977 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:17 am
@Cowboy Bill,
Staubitz may want a rematch. Clifford completely handled him earlier this year.
Everyone seems to want a shot at Cliffy to see if this kid is for real. Clifford is showing them over and over that he is.
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sid the kid Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:57 am
@jdm1977, while on the other end of the spectrum westy keeps showing everyone he’s not for real. no point in having him, really
chris2277 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:03 am
@Slim, it waz mitch who scored the winning goal
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Slim Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
@chris2277, I know. Lately All our defense have been scoring goals, that is why Scuds tonite
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Good D in the final half of the game, Quick was very good, DD2 played well after his first period tire-blowout, made good decisions and played calmly.
Sturm was a complete non-factor but I’ll spot him a game or two to get back into it.
Westy was worthless again, tho if he had scored on his semi-breakaway they league would have been forced to shut down for the parade.
Simmonds was strong but he always seems to hold onto the puck too long and either (1) gets into trouble in his own zone or (2) loses the puck without a scoring attempt in the O zone. He needs to learn to pick his head up and find someone.
I think we just have accept that we are not going to see very good offensive play from this team; they just dont have the skill or speed to mount a good attack. Too many bobbled passes or errant passes. They have no snipers. And if youre facing a team without its starting goalie and YOU CAN, you get a lot of shots on net. They cant.
The table is set for the guys now, with so many home games remaining. FOCUS on this homestand, we need 4 of the 6.
GKG!
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Bkrs-Bud Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 12:09 am
@bbb7, Yes we are lacking in skill and speed so being a defensive team is our best chance to win,And the team is going to need to find a way to hold leads better.
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sid the kid Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:57 am
@bbb7, “Westy was worthless again, tho if he had scored on his semi-breakaway they league would have been forced to shut down for the parade.”
LOL!
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Switching from tonight’s game, to why Schenn will not be a part of any trade- Brayden had a 5 pt game tonight, with 2 goals and 3 assists. In 18 games, he has 43 points, for a 2.39 pts per game average.
Video- Blades vs. Wheat Kings 2/23 http://www.saskatoonblades.com/video/index
Game summary- http://www.saskatoonblades.com/article/wheat-kings-fall-to-blades-in-battle-1-of-2
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puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 1:07 am
@LW Anybody?, The only way Schenn leaves this organization is if you hear these names…Duchene, Parise, Nash, Malkin, Crosby, Ovechkin, Stamkos…starting to get the picture ? 99% chance he stays RIGHT HERE ! good post.
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cjms Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:45 am
@puck73, Schenn is the real deal. What a class that was by the way, in terms of guys already making an impact in the bigs: Tavares, Hedman, Duchene, Kane, Schenn, Larsson, … oh, and Kadri.
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Lvhatrick Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:57 am
If the Kings trade Schenn I will no longer be a Kings fan….Schenn is a beast.
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Jason4Kings Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:09 am
@Lvhatrick,
I don’t see it. But i will never not be a Kings fan. I root for the jersey, not the prospects, or the GM, or coach, or any specific players.
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BrokeKingsFan Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:15 am
@Jason4Kings, thats right! will always be a Kings fan regardless!
cpmc29 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 11:27 am
@Jason4Kings, it’s not the name on the back. It’s the logo in front that’s got my heart.
Now thats a hockey game eh? Hitting, scoring, fighting, scrums, all out effort (except first 10 min of game)! It had it all. Loved the Go Kings Go chants from all the faithful in attendance at the Pond! Best road trip I’ve ever experienced. We are definitely in the thick of things. Keep it going boys!
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Great game too see went to it in person and it was amzing Quuick always good
Offense was kinda slow the first two periods like 2 mins then got into speed
I think we out played the Ducks but never really shot at the net
But we did get three score and got the win that great news
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You da man rich! Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 5:30 am
@KingsFanFTW, I was watching it on tv and was laughing cuz u hear “let’s go kings!” from more than half the crowd. N then in between u hear the mumbled quacker fans sayin something that just couldn’t be understood, let alone heard. It was probably only like 5 dudes yellin for the kings. The “pond” is friggin small, has terrible acoustics, bad sightlines. Just demolish it soon please!
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KingsFan in OC Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:50 am
@You da man rich!, Trust me, there were waaaaaayyyy more than 5 dudes there! Especially in the upper sections. In my section alone, Kings fans looked to outnumber Quack “fans”. Kings fans were freakin’ loud last night and it was a lot of fun to be there. I cannot imagine what a playoff series between these two teams would be like!
I saw a lot of Staples Center regulars at the Ponda Center too. Lots of familiar faces last night.
Can’t wait to be back home at Staples tonight. To quote the Rock: “Finally! FINALLY!!!…”
GO KINGS! KEEP IT GOING BOYS! LET’S GET ANOTHER TWO POINTS TONIGHT!!!
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I feel like the Kings are too slow and not tough enough. Seemed like the Ducks out hustled and out hit the Kings but just could not finish.
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Galen Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 3:23 am
@WTF, Ducks lost.
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Blake Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 6:43 am
@Galen, ahhahaha
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Kingme20 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:12 am
@Galen,
Bravo!
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mrbrett7 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:15 am
@WTF, WTF?
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kennynakamoto Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:10 am
@WTF, kings got out hit, but they also made some big hits, and did you even see cliffords fight??????
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What a win for the boys and how about that Clifford fight ? He dropped that guy on he’s first punch.
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What a successful road trip these guys had. It couldn’t have been a more daunting task, but to come back with 15 out of 20 pts, you’re on crack if you’re not satisfied.
Last nights game may not have been a thing of beauty, but the 2 pts is all that matters now. Quick was huge when he needed to be. Ou D had a couple of ugly turnovers, but Mitchell’s goal made up for everything.
There was some really good work last night by the forwards. JW continues to be the best player on offense, each night. I thought Lewis was really involved and loved the power move to the front of the net for a great scoring chance. Even Westy was effective..except for the penalty. If you think about it, he hasn’t taken many bad penalties this year. I guess that’s a positive.
Our PK continues to be outstanding.
The Ducks may have been without 2 of their best players, but that’s not the Kings problem..again, it’s all about the points now.
Tonight’s a huge game against Minn. I’m sure the Kings will come out with a lot of fire to start the game. You can bet that will be the theme of the team meeting this morning.
Murray has the pulse of this team. Say what you want, I think he’s a terrific coach, who knows how to win hockey games. I may not agree with all of his line changes, but he knows a lot more of what’s going on than we do. I give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s certainly earned it.
Big 2 points tonight…Go Kings!
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puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 7:29 am
@nykingfan, I knew if I waited patiently, I would be rewarded with the George Stefanapalaous spin job ! Morning dude ! TM and DL sending down the creativity of Lokti and putting people like Westgarth, Drewiske, AND STURM did not sit well with me last night at all. According to their logic, Visnovsky and Beauchemin should have been swnt down as well because they absolutely STINK on defense ! In fact, like Lokti, Visnovsky loses individual battles and is muscled off the puck CONSTANTLY and yet mysteriously stays in the lineup. Actually, their’s no mystery, without Visnovsky’s creativity on the backend, the Ducks would be even worse…Starting to get the picture TM ! Oh, and how bout that tape to tape pass that JJ giftwrapped to Selanne? Like he needs any help to get a scoring opportunity. Look, I know the bottom line is that they found a way to win, but I got very little joy in watching the Kings play an outmanned Ducks team that was scorched by the Blues on Saturday and then we come in and get only 18 shots on goal and they get 27 ? Let me ask you this..how do you think we would have done without Quick, Kopitar, and Stoll last night? You KNOW how we would have done, we would have been scorched like Malibu after a brush fire! I really dont like TM’S lineup changes, and Lombardi seemingly allowing it..Just my opinions.
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neil Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 7:46 am
@puck73, The fact the Ducks have been losing and had injuries, i think they came with more energy and a cause….Sometimes a wounded team is more dangerous…..seems like the Ducks stepped it up because of the injuries and losing streak….I also think that the line changes didnt help the Kings with the flow of the game..esp in the first period…It looked like a team that hasnt played with one another that much….Also I thought Richardson played really well….
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puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:03 am
@neil, I agree. And I gotta say again…Beauchemin is HORRIBLE! Since the ducks have traded for him, he is been nothing more then a pylon, I think his game regressed in Toronto ALOT! The way Francois played last night reminded me of the way Sturm played last night….invisible, and useless.
mrbrett7 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:17 am
@puck73, 10 GAMES ON THE ROAD…OVER 9,000 MILES TRAVELLED.
Open up your eyes to reality at some point, will ya?
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puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:22 am
@mrbrett7, ehhhhh, wrong answer. The Ducks and Kings have both been off since Saturday, and the Ducks were playing without Getzlaf, Koivu, and Hiller and we could only muster 18 shots ? Look it was a great road trip, but in all honesty we should have ran them right out of the builing with the personell they were missing.
Michael J. Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:47 am
@puck 73,
So, who are you mad at? The players or the coaches? I mean, are you mad at the coaches for leading the team to only one loss in thirteen games? Or, are you mad at the players for earning points in 12 of the last 13 games?
Abo Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:46 am
@puck73, Amen to that!
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nykingfan Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:52 am
@puck73,
LOL
Morning Bro
ok you got my juices flowing here.
Let’s talk about the play of Vishovsky last night. he showed why he was traded by the Kings. His defensive play is extremely poor. He’s muscled off the puck by pretty much every skater on the ice. His shots rarely get thru to the net. He had a golden opportunity last night, and shot the puck into the corner..or at least closer to the corner than the net..ps: it was not a pass!
the only offense he showed, was more in the way of offensive play..He stunk!
We won last nights game because of defense. Yes JJ had a brutal turnover, but did you see the play he made after a turnover, getting back and breaking up a soring opportunity?
As Neil said…the Ducks were shorthanded, but teams tend to play harder when they’re out-manned. I would assume the Kings would do the same. The Kings system is based on the concept of D first..If you suffer serious injuries, you can fall back on that and still remain successful…but let me ask you this….Would you rather be a Duck fan this morning feeling better because of a moral victory, or a Kings fan who just got 2 poins and now sits 6th in the conference, even though they didn’t play their best?
In the end, that’s the bottom line. Success is based strictly on wins/losses..nothing more at this point.
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kennynakamoto Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:19 am
@nykingfan, “vote for lubo” lol man even though he played horrible he was a bad ass player for the kings and i dont know one person that doesnt like lubo, sucks to see him wear a ducks jersey
sid the kid Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:23 am
@nykingfan, He’s not a muscle player. Isn’t he one of the smallest d-men in the league other than that guy on the Panthers? Lubo’s more of a guy who stays off the stat sheet, and prefers it that way. He’s a guy who does the little things that don’t get recorded.
sid the kid Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:22 am
@nykingfan, “you’re on crack if you’re not satisfied.”
Would we still be on crack if we’re not satisfied because we believe it’s possible the kings might slid into another losing streak? Everyone’s satisfied after the win streak, but after the losing streak that follows, it’s as though the satisfying win streak didn’t even happen
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fsd1 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:48 am
@sid the kid, yes
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nykingfan Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:21 am
@sid the kid,
wow…way to hope for the best!~
“after the losing streak that follows”
Why in the world would you be looking for a losing streak at this point?
I just don’t get the mentality sometimes. The team’s playing well, getting points almost every night and you’re waiting for the sky to fall. Perhaps it does, but that could happen to any and every team in the NHL..why single out the Kings?
What is wrong with this picture? You’re conditioned to think negatively when it comes to the Kings for good reason, yet when a coach comes in and leads our team to 100 pt season and playoffs and has this years team well on its way to the same, you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, instead of enjoying the trip. and for most, usually blaming said coach for everything that has gone wrong or may go wrong in the future.
Sometimes you guys deserve the rep as fans that you get around the country.
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leo of pico Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:54 am
@nykingfan, what rep does the LA Kings fan have around the country
nykingfan Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 11:20 am
@leo of pico,
Not a very good one. I think for the most part it’s bogus, but when you read some of the comments, you scratch your head a little.
I have friends who are fans of a lot of different teams. I just don’t hear the negativity from them that I read on this blog.
nykingfan Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:27 am
@sid the kid,
Also as far as Lubo goes.
No question he’s not a muscle guy, but he was an offensive defensman and a QB on the PP. What is he now? If you’re going to use intangibles, he sure as heck didn’t show them last night.
I loved Lubo when he was a King, although his last year or so in LA was terrible.
Once they’re gone, I couldn’t care less. I only care about the guys on the roster who can help us win. Lubo isn’t half the player JJ or even Martinez is right now. That’s a shame, but not the Kings problem.
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puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:38 am
@nykingfan, Visnovsky gets more shots thru then our youngsters do currently. That will change in the coming seasons, and JJ and Doughty will be better..thier upside is HUGE! remember, Doughty is only 21, imagine how good he will be at 27!
nykingfan Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 11:17 am
@puck73
he didn’t get them thru last night. I don’t watch the Ducks every night, but last night he was unimpressive.
No question we’re better off with JJ/DD than we were with Lubo.
We had a solid road trip, but it only gets tougher at home facing the like of Minnesota, Detroit, and Vancouver coming up.
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Peter90210 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:40 am
@Frogger55, For some reason, we always seem to do better when we’re playing teams that are higher than we are in the standings. It’s when we play the bottom feeders that we seem to lose concentration. This lineup might be just what we need.
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15 out of 20 pts on the road, do I need to say more
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Michael J. Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:49 am
@tothehaters,
Plus three wins in a row before the All-Star berak! Or, was it four?
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Good win, yet still behind 6 points to the Sharks. Gotta keep it going tonight with the Wild. We seem to be winning, it’s not always pretty but we get it done. Here’s to a great homestand. Go Kings!!!!
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Bill M. Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 7:52 am
@kinginsaltlake, True: 6 points back of the guppies, 5 points back from the dogs.
Also true: two games in hand on both teams. That’s four points in play here. It’s closer than you think.
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puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:03 am
@kinginsaltlake, You still coming out for the Phoenix game dude?
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One wish (other then making the playoffs)…..can we have one easy win???? Please !!!!!!
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Hats off to all of the Kings fans at the game last night. It seemded that half the people in attendance were wearing Kings jerseys. When they showed Kings fans and Sucks fans on the scoreboards, the Kings fans received the louder applause. The group in either 404, 405 or 406 were outstanding. Game was really entertaining, but some things did stand out:
1. We started really slow (or maybe Anaheim started really fast and figured they needed to put us away quickly since they were shorthanded).
2. Sturm and DD2 looked really rusty and were constantly out of sync with what was going on
3. Quick was the man. He faced numerous breakaways aand 2 on 1′s and stopped them all.
4. It is a joy to watch Scuderi and how he positions himself on the ice. Can’t tell you how many times it looked like the Sucks had a breakaway or 2 on 1 developing and then Scuds would be there to shut it down.
5. TM has definitely told the defense to step up on their offense. Of course this cost us some of the above mentioned breakaway and 2 on 1 opportunities, but with JQ in goal we were in good shape.
6. The referees must have had an early flight last night because they didn’t call anything. Neither team played really well and you can’t tell me that both teams played a penalty free game (except for Westy’s roughing call).
7. TM needs to run more breakaway practice. Both Westy and Simmonds had the Sucks goalie dead to rights and couldn’t finish it.
8. JW was everywhere and constantly stirring things up and Kopi was more aggressive last night.
9. Our team has some problems, but so does everyone else right now, thus the log jam in our division and conference. The East sucks, so whoever in the West fixes their problems best will win the Cup, which means we have a good shot at it.
Even though the game was pretty sloppy, we came out with the 2 points, the Sucks got no points, we moved to 6th, we have a big game tonight at home and can’t wait to be at the game this Saturday against the Avs. It was great to be a Kings fan in Anaheim last night. GKG!
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Michael J. Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:56 am
@DesertKing,
I think the Anaheim really came out flying and caught the Kings a bit off guard. They probably knew that their best shot to win was throw everything at the kings in the first ten minutes and take an early lead.
I thought Sturm looked OK. He was in the right place at the right time on the backe end to clear the puck out of danger a couple times. He was far from ‘invisible” as others have suggested.
The key is that the Kings won. Two big games coming up to close out the week.
GKG!
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DD2 performed just as I anticited, slow and uneffective, a constant liability while on the ice. TM has to scratch him from here on out.
How about that power move by TLewis??? That brought me off my seat!!! That’s exactly the kinds of plays AK needs to make. Suprise the D every now and then and instead of taking it around and feeding the point EVERYTIME cut hard to the net every once in awhile!! Great move TL, way to show that you have a pair!
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mrbrett7 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:22 am
@Stuart, haha…I said the SAME exact thing after Lewis made that move!
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Looks like the Quacks got Ellis today. Afraid of Emery’s play I guess.
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mrbrett7 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:22 am
@Kings Fan Vancouver, WA, Dan Ellis?
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cjms Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:50 am
@mrbrett7, Yeah, the mouthy one.
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mrbrett7 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:00 am
@cjms, hahahahahahahaha…I just LOL when you said that…
Ducks just traded Curtis mcelhenney to Tampa for Ellis!!!!! Man they take losing to us seriously.
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puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:41 am
@Deaderhead28, Agree, but it should also tell you that they dont have depth in goal like the Kings do.
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mrbrett7 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:02 am
@puck73, Whoa…who stole your account?
I didn’t need this trade to tell me that, however, what this tells us is Hiller is most likely done, for the year. The Ducks are most likely done, for the year. You now have Ellis, and Emery, who has seen NHL rubber in 2 years with NOTHING behind them.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:12 am
@mrbrett7, I presume more will happen.
puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:54 am
@mrbrett7, Ya know, I get the impression from you that you think that I dont know much about hockey, or for that matter a lot about anything else. Tell ya what, at the next Rich Hammond event I hope we can meet and have long discussions about hockey, Politics, food, music, hollywood, theatre…then we will see what your impression is then….
Kingsfanone Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:56 am
@puck73,
Actually it says they are afraid Hiller may not be back for quite some time.
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puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:09 am
@Kingsfanone, Hey dude, when am I gonna see you and Phil at the next Kings game ?
Kingsfanone Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:16 am
@puck73
We’ll be at March 17 game. Hope to see you too! If you go we’ll meet up cuz I have a nice pic of you looking out from the suite at the Hammond suite game.
Kingme20 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:15 am
@Deaderhead28,
Looking back, I’m so glad that Quick didn’t go to the All-Star game. That could have been him instead of Hiller getting his bell rung and then flying back with a concussion.
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Just saw the Clifford fight. That was over before it got really started. He definitely rocked Chipura to begin with and it was no contest after that. Gotta credit Chipura for getting back up and not backing down.
I’ll take any type of win over the Quacks.
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Id it jusT me or is green our worst d. It just looks like hes slow out there and hes getting beat to the puck. Thats how the ducks scoreed their first goal. Forcheck then pass to the point. I think we should keep drewiski and send down green for martinez.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:36 am
@eli1526,
Both gals were on deflections in front of the net where Quick couldn’t see the puck. Most teams will let those guys shoot from the point all day, as long as we keep the front of the net clear for the goalie to see whatis happening. I don’t think yo can blame Greene for that goal. The Defense actually played pretty well and when the Sucks tried to turn it up in the last 6 mimutes after Mitchell scored (did I just say that Mitchell scored? yeah , I did, and it was pretty cool to be there to see it and watch all the Sucks fans start crying), the defense was able to weather the storm and protect the lead (unlike after our first goal). Greene is doing just fine IMHO.
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BrokeKingsFan Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:39 am
@eli1526, I think its just you!
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Why DL is so slow we should have a top 6F by now
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fsd1 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:38 am
@MOSH, yawn
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I am so sick and tired of the negativity toward Dustin Brown. This guy has gone through a very long and I’m sure frustrating period the last two months and is still third in scoring. He works hard, plays hard and hits hard. Before the “C” or after the “C”, since some of you want him stripped of that, Dustin Brown will be Dustin Brown and his work ethic will never change. He’s shown that over his seven years with this organization. So he’s not a scorer like Stamkos, neither is Kopi @ $6.8 million a year. It’s his character and his dedication that I admire. Maybe some of you should read the Community section on the Kings website and get a grip. Hey DL, put this guy up on the trading block, teams will be breaking down your door.
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puck73 Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:14 am
@JD, I like Dustin as well. I think he is the type of player that will help out trmendously come playoff time because you know he will go balls out !
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nykingfan Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:31 am
@JD,
Couldn’t agree with you more.
He does so many things to help a hockey team win..not just scoring goals. Every single team in the NHL would knock DL’s door down to get a shot at this guy.
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