The Kings face playoff elimination tonight, and so do their top minor-league team. The Manchester Monarchs lost to the Binghamton Senators 2-1 in overtime last night in Game 6 of their first-round series. Game 7 is tonight in Manchester. Last night, the Monarchs had taken a 1-0 lead 9:02 into the second period, when Justin Azevedo scored with assists from Bud Holloway and Viacheslav Voynov. Binghamton tied the game with 9:34 remaining in the third period on Bobby Butler’s goal. Holloway had a penalty shot in overtime but didn’t score and then roughly five minutes later, at the 10:01 mark, Geoff Kinrade scored for the Senators. Martin Jones stopped 43 of 45 shots in goal for the Monarchs while Robin Lehner stopped 51 of 52 shots for the Senators.
This morning, recent Kings draft picks Robert Czarnik and Jean-Francois Berube signed amateur-tryout agreements with the Monarchs, as did defenseman Shawn Germain. Czarnik, a 21-year-old forward and a third-round pick in 2008, had 77 points in 61 games this season for Plymouth of the Ontario Hockey League. Berube, a 19-year-old goalie and a fourth-round pick in 2009, had a 32-7-8 record, a 2.60 goals-against average, a .902 save percentage and five shutouts for Montreal of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Berube played three games for the Monarchs last season. Germain, 28, had 14 points in 43 games for the Ontario Reign of the ECHL this season. All three players were healthy scratches for the Monarchs last night.
Finally, congratulations to Brett Hextall, son of Kings assistant general manager Ron Hextall, who signed an entry-level contract with the Phoenix Coyotes yesterday. Hextall, a sixth-round draft pick in 2008, played three seasons as a forward at the University of North Dakota.
Start the chant “we shalllll ooooooverrrrcoooommmeeee, we shllll ooooovverrrrrrrcooooommmmeee…”
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one minor correction Rich. Czarnik and Berube did in fact sign ATO’s but Germain, a 28 year old career minor leaguer, playing previously in Ontario this season, signed a PTO (Professional Tryout.) All are there simply for depth. Praying for a win for them tonight. I love flying to New Hampshire for playoff hockey
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i want the Kings to move on this series but i dont think it will happen but it will become true if we win todays game
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I saw Czarnik in the preseason and I believed at that point he was one of ten best prospects in the organization. He’s got decent size, is a good skater and has excellent offensive insticts. He was playing center and looked uncomfortable in that position. Haven’t seen him since so I don’t know if he’s progressed.
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Come on guys, lets get the W in 60 minutes tonight. Don’t have much of a voice left after last nights game, but I’ll be cheering the best I can.
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That’s the way the NHL should do it. Games everyday. They have too much time off between games now. One travel day if you have to fly 4 hours or more. Otherwise plAy hockey every day! I hope the Monarchs move on tonight. Good experience for the boys!
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Paul M. Hedberg Reply:
April 23rd, 2011 at 12:35 pm
@Bob Smith, The 1st & 2nd rds were like that at one time.We had a late Easter one yr back in the day & gm 7s of the 2ND ROUND were that night.1st rd was only best of 5 of course.If it were up to me:Latest the WS gm 7 could be is 24 OCT.SB no later than 26 JAN.SCF gm 7 would be in the month of May.NBA can do what it wants.They don’t even start their 2nd rd til May.7 games should be played in 11 days unless multiple time zones are involved.
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Brett shouldn’t move down from North Dakota to Phoenix, but rather just make the move up north to Winnipeg and meet his teammates there.
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Big Rob in Dallas Reply:
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:45 am
@Shakes, LOL Nice one.
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Ironic if Moller sits tonight. He’s been a big part of that Manchester team all season long, was called up, and on a night when the Kings, and the Monarchs could be eliminated, he might not be on the ice for either team.
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Simarosa Reply:
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:39 am
@Dominick,
If the Monarchs had Moller, Lokti and Cliche available I highly doubt the team would be playing game 7 tonight, but unfortunately, that’s the way it goes I guess.
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holly Reply:
April 23rd, 2011 at 12:52 pm
@Simarosa, Even without them, if the Monarchs had been able to stay upright and complete a single pass last night we wouldn’t be playing a game seven tonight. The boys played like they were dead on their skates last night, I’m almost thrilled I’m studying for finals tonight instead of going to the game. Both teams are tired, that was obvious, and all the goals came off of pretty big mistakes. Hopefully they find a way to get pumped up for tonight after last night. Playing 7 games in 10 days is tough to begin with, 4 went into OT and last night’s game went for 90 minutes of play (final goal scored just over 10 minutes into the 2OT).
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Simarosa Reply:
April 23rd, 2011 at 1:04 pm
@holly,
Thank you for the information but I have been at all the games and have been a season ticket holder since day one.
holly Reply:
April 23rd, 2011 at 1:15 pm
@holly, I’m not really sure why you felt the need to respond with what you did. My family and I have had season tickets since day one as well, which has no bearing on what I posted. There are a fair amount of people on here who don’t get to see the games and I was simply adding information on why this series went to a game seven instead of being wrapped up last night. And even with Moller and without injuries, if the team played the way they did last night as a whole, they still would have lost.
geeblenob Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 12:30 am
@holly, Well I for one REALLY appreciate your updates on the Monarchs throughout the year. Like most Kings fans, I don’t get to see any Monarchs games and only get to find out about how our prospects are doing through the Monarchs website and through the updates given by fans like yourself!
nothing like the smell of an elimination game. the kings played 20 elimination games already this season. the boys will play tighter on defense tonight on the road.
for manchester, it is hard to picture Holloway mising a chance at a gwg
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Stuck at work again, bad internet here, no streaming for me…. ill have to do it on the radio. GKG! get a win tonight, we would all love to see you play another home game!
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Parse replaces Poni, Penner stays in the lineup. Hmmm???
gKg!
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friarking Reply:
April 23rd, 2011 at 12:11 pm
@LBlocal, I hope not. Parse=Passion Poni=Power Penner=Pathetic
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FiG17 Reply:
April 23rd, 2011 at 12:29 pm
@friarking,
lols.
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Met Shawn Germain several times while out in ONT; he’s good people. Hope he does well….
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Marc Nathan Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:37 am
@Alma, he’s done… as are the Monarchs.
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Schenn – MINUS FIVE, as they lose in OT. Huge collapse having been up 3 games to one. Let’s hope the Sharks can emulate.
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