Some non-Kings related news, related to Kings management… First, Kings GM Dean Lombardi is among seven NHL executives who will be in charge of selecting the players and staff for the United States’ team in the 2001 IIHF World Championships, which will be held April 29-May 15 in Slovakia. Lombardi, along with fellow GMs Brian [...]
Archive of entries posted on March 2011
Meaningless stat, or a reflection?
Many hockey followers believe that plus-minus is a flawed statistic, one that doesn’t properly reflect a player’s effectiveness, but if nothing else, it can serve as a comparative tool within a team. To that end, Jack Johnson has a minus-10 rating in his last 11 games. Over that same span, his partner, Rob Scuderi, is [...]
`Time is now’ for Oscar Moller
Oscar Moller gets his sixth, and biggest, chance to impress at the NHL level. Moller made the Kings’ roster out of training camp in 2008 and played 30 games before suffering a shoulder injury at the World Junior Championships. He returned in February and played 10 games. In 2009-10, Moller played two games in October [...]
Afternoon reading: Kopitar for Selke?
Should Anze Kopitar get some consideration for the Selke Trophy? My LAKings.com feature for this week takes a look at Kopitar’s defensive improvement since he joined the NHL. Thanks for reading… Kopitar earning Selke consideration
Wednesday practice update
Oscar Moller will indeed fill the first-line right-wing role tomorrow night against San Jose, and Terry Murray said Moller will also see some power-play time. Kyle Clifford is ready to go for tomorrow and Jonathan Quick is expected to start in goal. More notes and quotes to come…
And the winner is…
Oscar Moller has arrived and is skating in a first-line right-wing role in practice, along with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Penner. No other surprises among the group of Kings forwards… Penner-Kopitar-Moller Smyth-Handzus-Brown Ponikarovsky-Stoll-Simmonds Clifford/Lewis/Richardson/Westgarth More updates to come from practice…
Who should replace Williams?
Presumably, Oscar Moller will have arrived and been settled enough to be on the ice for practice tomorrow. Also presumably, Moller will fit into a top-six role with the Kings, but exactly where should he fit in? Perhaps more importantly, who should replace Justin Williams on the first line, alongside Anze Kopitar and Dustin Penner? [...]
Chance for a `green room experience’
Many have asked about the possibility of another blog-reader event before the end of the season. Well, thanks to the thoughts and works of Frank — whom you probably remember as the architect behind the first two successful suite events — there will be a chance for folks to get together and enjoy a game…or [...]
Schedule provides no let-up
Almost every team in the Western Conference playoff race has some sort of schedule quirk. San Jose and Phoenix both have bizarre four-day breaks within the final two weeks of the season. Chicago still has four games against Eastern Conference teams. Anaheim still has three sets of back-to-back games. Dallas closes the season with eight [...]
Still in search of some power
Special teams continues to be a mixed bag for the Kings. They have not allowed a power-play goal in 10 consecutive games — and have moved up to second in the NHL in penalty-kill efficiency — which is outstanding, but they have also failed to score a power-play goal in four consecutive games and went [...]
Time for others to step up?
The Kings have scored two regulation goals in their last three games, and now they’re without their second-leading scorer. Challenge? Yes, that’s a good word for it. Justin Williams ranks third on the team in goals (22) and assists (35) and is second with 57 points. It’s doubtful that any single player will be able [...]
Clifford in, Williams out
Just to complete the story on Justin Williams, here’s what Terry Murray said today about the possibility of Williams playing again this season. Four weeks would put Williams at April 19, which would be the range of late in the first round of the playoffs, should the Kings qualify… MURRAY: “It will be a rehab [...]
Tuesday practice update; Williams’ status
Justin Williams is expected to miss 3-4 weeks because of his shoulder injury, so theoretically he could return during the playoffs if things went well for him and the team. Terry Murray did not discuss Oscar Moller or his potential role, since Moller has not officially been called up (until paperwork is completed). In surprising [...]
Moller to replace Williams
Oscar Moller is on his way to Los Angeles to replace Justin Williams, who is expected to miss the rest of the season with a dislocated shoulder. The Kings feel that Moller’s style of play most closely matches Williams’, but it remains to be seen exactly where Moller will play. Today in practice, Kevin Westgarth [...]
Moller set to join Kings
Oscar Moller will officially be called up from Manchester of the AHL shortly. There’s not yet any update on Justin Williams, who is to be evaluated today. Hopefully an update will come after practice.
Postgame notes (March 21)
Some notes from last night’s game… – The Kings won the season series with Calgary for the first time in a decade as they beat the Flames 2-1 in a shootout on Monday night at Staples Center. – The Kings went 3-1-0 against Calgary this season, the first time since 2000-01 that they won the [...]
The view from Calgary
The Calgary Flames sit in 10th place in the Western Conference with 85 points, same as eighth-place Anaheim and ninth-place Dallas, but there’s a term that is haunting the Flames right now: games in hand. The Flames have already played 75 games, while the Ducks and Stars have played only 72. If you believe it [...]
Tonight’s game story (March 21)
Here’s my LAKings.com game story for tonight, with stats and video included. Thanks for reading… Kings beat Flames 2-1 in shootout The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo.
Murray postgame quotes
Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts… (on the game…) MURRAY: “That was a good hockey game. That was 20 guys out there, 40 guys out there, that put a heck of a performance on. That was intense, very much playoff-like, a lot of good things on both sides, from both goaltenders. Jonathan Quick made several really big [...]
Quick postgame quotes
Jonathan Quick’s postgame thoughts… (on the win…) QUICK: “It’s huge, absolutely. You look back, and we got three out of four points against two teams that we’re competing with. Obviously four would be great. Three is not bad, though. So we’ve just got to keep building. We’re doing well. We’re doing all the little things. [...]
