Terry Murray shared his thoughts this afternoon about the Kings’ first-round playoff series against San Jose. The NHL will announce tonight, at approximately 7 p.m. Pacific time, the dates and times for the first-round playoff games. Here’s a hint, though, for the Kings’ series. San Jose’s HP Pavilion is booked for an event on Friday, so unless the NHL wants the Kings and Sharks to play on back-to-back nights, it looks as though we’re heading for a Thursday start. That’s not official, but it’s what you would call circumstantial evidence in court. Here are Murray’s thoughts on the first-round series…
MURRAY: “Well, we knew it was going to be back to Vancouver, or San Jose. I think that both teams are premier teams in the game. It’s going to be a great series, with the San Jose Sharks having one of the top lines in the game, with (Joe) Thornton. My initial thought on it is that we’ve had some good games this year. We split the series, the six games. We’ve both won in each other’s building. There’s been a pretty balanced look, when you take a look at the goals for by both teams and the way the games unfolded. There were a couple of games that were pushed to the extreme, with kind of a blowout on both sides. It’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be a very competitive first round here, and it’s going to be fun for the fans, there’s no question about that. Northern California and Southern California.”
Question: Does it mean anything different to be playing a Pacific Division team, a team that you see more often?
MURRAY: “I think, when you play a team in your division, there’s always a little bit more in there, because you are very familiar with them. It’s a very competitive game, every time in the regular season, because of the geographical rivalry. And it’s a division game, and whenever you get into the playoffs there’s always a little more intensity and it gets heated up because of the games during the regular season.”
Question: Being a former Seals player, do you have any thoughts on the third all-California playoff series?
MURRAY: “It’s going to be a great series, but certainly the game of hockey in California will benefit from it. There’s no question. Any time you have NHL teams playing like that, there’s always going to be a generation watching closely, young players who are going to follow through with their dream of wanting to become one of those guys on the ice some day. It will have an effect on the game in this state, for sure, and only a very positive one.”
Forget about past history. Create some scoring.
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puckbob Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
@18,118, besides, weren’t all but one of those games played WITH Kopi & Willy?
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I wonder if the NHL will have them play Wednesday night, and then Saturday and Sunday afternoons??? If that’s the case, it would be all NBC’s doing!
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kingrussell Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
@bmova, NBC will want Detroit or Chicago {if they make it} as their Wertern Conference series.
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PRMan Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
@bmova, Don’t kid yourself. LA is a big market, even if not quite as big as Detroit or Chicago. They would prefer LA to most other teams in the West (and certainly Canadian teams, which do poorly on TV ratings).
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therocknroll80s Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
@PRMan, What are you talking about! LA is second largest entertainment market in the world.
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PRMan Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
@therocknroll80s, Not in hockey. Look who’s on Versus the most. Those are the highest rated hockey markets. Notice in the West they always show Detroit and Chicago. That makes LA the largest of the “non-hockey” markets.
Hmmmm… if the “circumstantial evidence” is correct, that means one of the Staples Center games is probably next Wednesday which means I will, for the second year in a row, have to sell my tickets.
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mash-ola Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
@Danielle, I actually think it means something like this:
Game 1: TH 4/14 in SJS
Game 2: SA 4/16 in SJS
Game 3: TU 4/19 in LAK
Game 4: TH 4/21 in LAK
Game:5: SA 4/23 in SJS (if necessary)
Game 6: MO or TU 4/25 or 4/26 (if necessary)
Game 7: WE or TH 4/27 or 4/28 (if necessary)
Just thinking out loud…
GO KINGS GO!!!
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Poorman Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
@Danielle, It won’t be Wed., because the Clippers have their Concluding gamme. Unfortunately, I have season seats, but that
S another story at another time!
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Rich Hammond Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
The Clippers’ final game is this Wednesday, not next Wednesday. Staples is available next Wednesday.
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Poorman Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 7:09 pm
@Rich Hammond, That’s what I meant. Thanks Rich. My brain is not operating well after a few bars yesterday!!!!!
I know this is off topic, but I just finished reading an article by a Greg Wyshynski or “Puck Daddy” as they call him. It’s regarding Teemu Selanne and the 2nd fight of his career. In this article he mentions Jack Johnson as the “first catalyst”, but at about 2:39 into his own video posted, you can clearly see Teemu throwing a big elbow into Jack Johnson’s face sending his helmet slightly off. Johnson didn’t look like he was going to do anything until that incident occurred. From there it all flared out of control. Sorry Teemu, but if you want to dish it out and not take it, you should retire and start baking cookies. Everyone is tired of your whining to the refs, then you go ahead and throw an elbow…..you got what you deserved and thank you Brad Richardson for finishing off the point.
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Kings x Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
@Mike C, He’s teemu for pete’s sake. He’s a hall of famer and the greatest Finn to ever play the game. He gets special treatment cause he’s pretty.
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PRMan Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
@Mike C, That looked like a completely clean cold shoulder to me…
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fsd1 Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
@PRMan, look again if you mean teemu, it was the elbow
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A Wednesday game? Frak. I hope it’s at 7PM or later.
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As a long long time Kings fan believe it or not the Kings have a rather strong history of upsetting or coming very close to upsetting highly favored teams in the first round.
Oilers with Gretzky (Miricle on Manchester). Oilers first year without Gretzky and the Flames the very next year, Detroit with our miricle 3 goal come back win game and Dead beating them in game 6 OT. Dam near beat the Espo and Orr Boston Bruins in their hay day.
Besides the Kings have to beat SJ. There aren’t enough bridges to jump off of for So Calif fans to have the Giants become world champs and the Sharks to beat the Kings all within a year.
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pnm Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
@KC23, Big difference being, those Kings teams had scoring, guys who could finish. Unfortunately, we have neither at the moment. We’re going to need some serious divine intervention…
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fsd1 Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
@pnm, but they also had no defense
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KC23 Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
@pnm, Williams will be back and that means Westgarth is out. Williams for Westgarth is a HUGE difference and he is a finisher … and likely to make Penner look something better than a living pilon on ice.
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CUP4LA Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 6:08 pm
@pnm, I agree. We will have to play flawless defense and win every game 2-1 in OT.
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1st round exit….. Again…..
Sad
I hope that I’m wrong…
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centericeman Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
@C. Marshall, I agree:
Will be the first one to admit I was wrong.
but looking at San Jose offense and what we are putting on the ice for scoring, San Jose has to be a prohivative favorite.
But, they play the game for a reason, upsets happen!!
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Lvhatrick Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
How bout some positive energy???
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RoyalPain Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 6:56 pm
@Lvhatrick, Our motto is: ‘Aim low – avoid disappointment.’
I hope they start on Thursday. As much as I want this to get started, the extra day can be helpful.
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pnm Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
@JB, Agreed. If anything, for Williams. And maybe they could watch tape of some other team’s power play.
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Central Coast King Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 9:17 pm
@pnm, HA,HA,Ha, Classic
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I’ll be rooting for the Wild tonight. I want Vancouver to pull Chicago in the first round.
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Kings x Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
@KC23, Yes!
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I wish they were still the seals because we could cull them for their fur and for being cute…but apparently the seals have been consumed by the great whites…they would still make some very good steaks for the grill however…the kings need to bring it like there’s no tomorrow because…there isn’t.
The only good thing about playing the sharks is that they have always been emotionally fragile, which means if the kings can come out hard and fast and destroy their confidence we might have a chance….
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So TM you’re not going to say that:
A.) No shootout to fall back on anymore and…
B.) “We need to ge our powerplay in order” ??? Dude??
The only thing that would give us hope is if we suddenly developed a strong PP system. It’s common sense, which apparently is not so common with kings management.
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fsd1 Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
@jess, what point would it make for him to say anything? Think maybe he doesn’t know or the players don’t?
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jess Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
@fsd1, well if you understand as I do -my point is soooooooo obvious then why didn’t this realization come about weeks even months ago?
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jess Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
@fsd1, Good Point, never saw Scotty Bowmen skate for his Wings to get cups either.. Well stated.
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KC23 Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
@jess, Might as well blame TM for not saying we need oxygen to breath.
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jess Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
@KC23, I do KC because if we didn’t have oxygen to breath he still wouldn’t call a spade a spade… My point exactly thank you for making it for me. TM will tell you we need to play a full 60 but what is that? That is not coaching… And what about shifting lines around instead of addressing practical issues? No I will never forgive TM for this home and home Ducks loss –ever!
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fsd1 Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
@jess, at some point in time, actually always it is the players responsibility to execute, I have never seen TM skate on the ice during a game.
Player-X Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 7:18 am
@jess, This is hilarious, you are actually blaming Murray for NOT changing lines around…Tough to take you seriously, and you are usually negative, anyway. It is what it is, the guys are young, and Murray got us into the playoffs two years in a row.
jess Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
@Player-X,
I think you mis-understood what I posted to KC23: “And what about shifting lines around instead of addressing practical issues?” Now does that say I blame TM for NOT switching lines around enough? Quite the opposite. This is the whole foundation of your response to me which was completely wrong. So maybe you can’t take me seriously because you have difficulty comprehending what you read?
Murray’s system may have barely gotten us into the first round, but I believe DL can take credit for that too for placing this team in a strong position by acquiring and cultivating top talent. My posts by the way are never critical of the players or DL.
TM? Absolutely.. He squanders opportunities with poor decision making and time will prove my point. TM’s “System” is not geared for winning playoff hockey. It is geared for squeaking by. So TM will have to adjust with major offensive tweaks and I don’t see him doing that anytime soon. He is too stuborn and if something proves it doesn’t work, he will ignore the results and try the same thing again.
A perfect example: Last year he made the decision to go with JQ into the playoffs 100% despite the poor results. I never blamed JQ ever, I blamed TM because it was his management decision to start him over and over. This year, we have a spectacular goaltending tandem which is the envy of the entire NHL and switching them each game proved to put up numbers and produce results. It is not always about how an individual goaltender performs, but also how the team plays in front of them. TM stopped doing that and went 100% JQ too early. Especially with two forwards down that was one of our key sources of strength.
So here we go again..
If your hard up for hockey I found a link to the video feed in about an hour for the Mississauga St. Michaels Major’s second round playoff series for the memorial cup with Maxim Kitsyn leading the team with 4 post season goals….we can only hope he sticks in North America http://www.rogerstv.com/page.aspx?lid=14&rid=51
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Slim Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
@Ravens, It’s not free is it?
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Ravens Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 5:53 pm
@Slim, Hmmm,, maybe not
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Bench the heartless wonder that we wasted 2 picks and Tuebert for. Dustin Penner played like he doesn’t care one bit. You are playing to get into the Stanley Cup Finals and you looked like you are playing a pre season game…One can only hope that if you do play in the playoffs that you show up…Wake up man…you are playing in the NHL for the Stanley Cup.
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puck73 Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
@KNGFAN004, He had 10 shots on goal last night, not bad for a guy that doesnt give a damn.
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TiredOfIt Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
@puck73, Agreed. I was the first to bash Penner up until last night. He played with heart and did everything he could, it looked like. I think he will show more once the playoffs start, I hope
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KNGFAN004 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
@puck73, ONE GAME IN 20…last I heard we play an entire season…82 games not pick the one game you decide to show up. Email me after the first series and let me know if he plays the whole series.
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If we can get our PP on track (aka – ignore Kompon’s strategy and just let the boys play it as they see it), then we have a chance, especially if JW comes back (even at 80%, he is better offensively than mst of our other offensive players).GKG!
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KC23 Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
@DesertKing, Please stop insulting the word “strategy”. It deserves better.
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rontheking Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:07 pm
@KC23,
I say strategy needs a plan….
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DesertKing Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
@KC23,
When you put it that way, you are right!
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Scott Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
@KC23, How about Strategery?
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If there’s some flexibility in the scheduling, let’s see if we can talk the NHL into delaying Game 1 until, say, September, when Kopitar might be ready.
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We match up very well against the fish. Our D-, when playing ‘The System’ can shut them down. The games will all be close and it is going to take SOMEONE, I do not care who, to stand up and LEAD this team. Put them on his shoulders, and carry the offense for us to advance and get the Cup this year. SOMEONE is going to have to sacrifice their body and get real grimy to score goals and do it EACH GAME.
Here’s a good poll question:
Who on the current Kings Roster is most likely to be the one to step up offensively in the playoffs this season. There also needs to be a choice for ‘Nobody’.
I’d love to see the results….
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kingsfaninSB Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
@Cynic, dustin brown. but with quick in net we have a chance every game, usually
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ta Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
@Cynic, My guess is JW. He has the most heart. I only hope that he’s @ least 80% and doesn’t hurt it more.
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goldielocks Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
@Cynic, Brownie. And his line mates get benefit from his play.
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KC23 Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
@Cynic, We matched up well with Kopitar, now … not so much.
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Ravens Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
@KC23, I think some of our scoring is going to have to come from the third line so I’m thinking it’s someone from that line
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rontheking Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
@Cynic,
The only hope for the kings is to put their big boy boots on, come out physical and punish the boneless ones in order to get them off their game applying pressure and pain. The kings cannot win by out-skilling the fishy…
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Shotongoal Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
@Cynic,one of the blueliners, Doughty, Johnson or Martinez.
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TiredOfIt Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
@Cynic, I know this is hypocritcal, but I have to say Penner, the dark horse. I think he’s been laying low and will make me, and a lot of fans, eat crow.
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jess Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 7:45 pm
@Cynic, brown, every time….
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Central Coast King Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 9:26 pm
@jess, Would love to JW but I feel it’s Brownie all the way.
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Dave's a Killer Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 10:01 am
@Cynic, Who on the King’s roster scares the Sharks? Nobody.
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 10:04 am
@Dave’s a Killer, I don’t think anyone on the Kings is “scared” of anyone either.
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“It will have an effect on the game in this state, for sure, and only a very positive one.”
when i read this i thought, ‘what effect will YOU have on the game with your quacky line combinations’?
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Your Grounded!!
–But Dad, it’s Shark Week!!
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TiredOfIt Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 7:08 pm
@jess, Yaaaaaaaaaa!!!
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So is Clifford ok? I just watched the video and realized how badly he got hammered.
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Thinking positively.
Dustin Brown had more goals than Dany Heatley this year.
Justin Williams might be coming back.
Jonathan Quick might just be the best kept secret in the West.
We still have the Mean Greene Machine.
Ponikarovsky is supposed to score 20 goals. That’s why we got him. Maybe the other 15 are for the playoffs.
Handzus has proven to hold his own defensively.
We might just want to use our top lines to shut down their top lines and hope Simmonds and company can score goals with impunity.
Vlasic is no Johnson.
Boyle is no Doughty.
The Kings are due for some goals simply because of Murphy’s Law or something.
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 10:05 am
@jonsey, 100% agree.
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As much as I love the Kings and as much as I will be rooting for them,I am having a tough time believing we can win even one game against the Guppies. Our OT mindset has got to change. We can no longer sit back and wait for the shootout. Did we even win any games ths season in OT? I cannot recall a single one..
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The Kings CAN do it. They won’t, but it’s possible.
Here’s why.
Most the games this season between the Sharks and Kings, all offense has been neutralized, for both teams. It’s been close checking, tactical battles, and if the Sharks ever got the leg up, it was by finishing their chances better (Setoguchi hitting the corner from the high slot, etc), when the Kings couldn’t finish. Neither team really got very many high quality scoring chances. The Sharks just finished better in their wins. In their losses or shootout losses, the Kings matched them.
Finishing will still be a huge issue for the Kings. But, the Sharks biggest advantage against everyone in the NHL this season has been their size advantage, and that is one advantage which is neutralized vs the Kings, as the Kings are also very big.
So, basically, this is what needs to happen. Drew Doughty needs to be a man on a mission. He needs to register 6-10 hits per game. LA is one of the few teams with at least the POTENTIAL to outmuscle the Sharks, and they need to. Jack Johnson needs to do the same with his big body. Same with Willie Mitchell. San Jose has Doug Murray on their blueline, one big hitter. But Boyle, Vlasic, Demers, Wallin, they don’t go for big hits very often. Whereas we have Doughty, Johnson, Mitchell, AND Greene, all capable of delivering mass, massive hits. I don’t expect Doughty and JJ WILL do it, because they just seem shy about it, and for whatever reason even the Chara’s of the world don’t register 6-10 hits per game, even though they have plenty of opportunity to do so (in other words, NHL players always let up where say, players at the world juniors, wouldn’t).
But, we do have that potential to hit them a lot, and if DD and JJ in particular just go on rampages, that’s one advantage.
2nd, we need DD and JJ to also rush the puck a ton. They have Dan Boyle (and Demers), but DD and JJ should be our biggest advantage in this series, if they can really bring it, be all over the place, skate the puck up the ice, play aggressive.
Beyond that, it’s just beating SJ at their own game. Their game is size, but we are as big as them. Instead of them dumping it in constantly and pinning us below our net, do that to them. Play the same tight-checking, tactical, neutralizing style as we did against them most games this season, and FINISH. Also, if we take more penalties than they do, that’s a killer. You have to stay out the box to an extreme degree, as in, two minors or less each game, three on a bad night. You get to 4 penalties against them and it’s almost an auto-loss. They actually are a really shit team 5 on 5, so keep it 5 on 5, and with our superior D and a roster full of two-way forwards who know how to check, it should be feasible that we win the series the same way those NJ cup teams won their series.
Also, Byfuglien made a mockery of SJ last postseason just by standing in front of the net. If the coaches could just work with Penner, show him how to use his big body effectively, he could singlehandedly create that extra goal in those tight games that we lack the speed and finesse to create… with speed and finesse. There will be no room to make pretty plays most of the time, but if he can just figure out how to be effective in front of the net, we can just throw pucks there and he can tip them in or cash in on the rebounds.
So hey, ever since losing Kopi, I always considered us the team every other team would hope to play in the 1st round, maybe with Phoenix being in there too. We and the Coyotes definitely seemed like the easiest matchups. I still feel that way, that SJ is very lucky to have drawn us, and that we’re definitely an easier out than Nashville, Chicago, or Anaheim (given they’re healthy).
However, even though I don’t think we’ll win, because I don’t think Murray knows how to get the best out of the key players (JJ, DD, Penner, etc), I do think there IS a way for LA to win… they just won’t do it.
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