Sunday practice update « LA Kings Insider

Sunday practice update

Posted by Rich Hammond on 24 April 2011, 2:05 pm

There are not expected to be any line/lineup changes for the Kings in Game 6, not surprising coming off their win last night. Up in San Jose, coach Todd McLellan told reporters that Antti Niemi will be back in goal tomorrow night. More notes and quotes to come…

Comment (RSS) | Permalink

44 Comments

Lanny McDonald's Stache says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:07 pm

Yes!!! Niemi!!

[Reply]
NoDoughty Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
@Lanny McDonald’s Stache, That SERIOUSLY surprises me!!!

[Reply]
xhockeywriter Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 11:01 pm
@Lanny McDonald’s Stache, Given this, do you guys still think Kings are being outcoached?

[Reply]
Happy Lappy says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:08 pm

I’d Love to see Niemi skate to the bench in the 1st period again!

[Reply]
Kings Fan In Temecula says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:09 pm

whats wrong with nittimaki? seems stupid from thier standpoint but ehh, might help things along on our side

[Reply]
Bluecoconuts Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
@Kings Fan In Temecula, Nothing, they invested so much money into Niemi to be their guy for years to come, I don’t think they want to ditch him and kill his confidence.

I think that was part of why Poni got scratched instead of Penner. Penner is hear next year, Poni isn’t. To bench Penner might send a message, but it also might be really bad for his confidence next year, sometimes that’s a choice you need to make. Signing Niemi to a multi-year deal and then benching him is basically throwing that money away.

[Reply]
Bluecoconuts Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
@Bluecoconuts, here* next year.

Also, that’s just my guess, I could be way off.

[Reply]
hockeykingsguy Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
@Kings Fan In Temecula, I think it’s a page out of “Murray’ way of coaching 101″

[Reply]
gmo Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
@Kings Fan In Temecula,

well its like QUICK in LA they will stick to their number one guy, the one who got them to the playoffs. ppl here in LA were asking for JB to be in net for game 5. but then again i liked what tm did and he stuck to his number one guy, JQ

GO KINGS GO

[Reply]
RobSD Reply:
April 25th, 2011 at 8:34 am
@Kings Fan In Temecula,

Temecula… I am putting together a list of fans in SD to try and organize some watch parties next year. Email me if you’re interested… and pass the word on…

robertemailone@yahoo.com

[Reply]
MR King says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:13 pm

No Niitty? No problem.

[Reply]
Happy Lappy says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:14 pm

Hey Rich, do you know if there will be drinks and or food available in our suite. I hope I get a chance to meet you, it’s been a great year for me, being in Vegas, I blog on here and feel like I’m among friends. After the loss of my wife in Oct. this site has really helped me through some rough days. Thanks for all you do.

[Reply]
408kingsfan Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
@Happy Lappy, Sorry about your wife, I am glad yourpart of our kingdom

[Reply]
Happy Lappy Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
@408kingsfan, thanks 408, I appreciate that, I will be at the suite (sweet) game, my first since ’08. I hope I can meet a lot of you crazy fanatics, lol. I was wondering if they give out name tags to the bloggers so we can identify them by their blogger names.

[Reply]
EASportsMgt Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
@Happy Lappy, sorry to hear about your wife. Glad you’re a part of the Insiders. We have done name tags for the annual event. Because of the short notice we won’t be doing name tags for this event. Maybe we can have some name rags available for people to write their own name on one. I will look into it.
No word back from the Kings about a cash bar but if its possible I will arrange for it for you guys.

blahblah Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
@Happy Lappy,

sorry to hear about your wife, lappy. my condolences. really puts things in perspective. sure, we all have those moments when we want to throw our beer glasses through the television, but it is, after all, only a game. any bit of camaraderie, even a distraction for a couple minutes, helps take that pain away a little bit.

[Reply]
Happy Lappy Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
@blahblah, much thanks, you are right about it just being a game, but it’s also a great distraction from reality.

[Reply]
lenman Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
@Happy Lappy, So sorry about your wife. Hang in there and will keep you in our prayers.

[Reply]
bill donnelly Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
@Happy Lappy, Sorry to hear about losing your wife. I have been a Kings fan since 1977-78 and do get frustrated with them at times. I think we all would like to see them bring the Stanley Cup home and we all have different ideas about how to do it. Sometimes we all get wrapped up in defending our thoughts when the most important thing is to support the Kings. But it can also be fun listening to other thoughts from people who have the same goal in mind.

[Reply]
Happy Lappy Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
@bill donnelly, what’s the old saying, opinion are like …holes, everybody has one, lol. There are so many different ideas on what we need or how to change the lines. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that TM has just about gone through the line senario available, lol.

[Reply]
Slim Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
@Happy Lappy,
Much prefer a Happy Lappy than
a Saddy Lappy..Been a pleasure posting with ya,,

[Reply]
Happy Lappy Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
@Slim, you too, I have enjoyed our conversations and fabulous insights into the game of hockey. LOL

[Reply]
CB14 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 9:23 pm
@Happy Lappy, Sorry to hear about your wife. You are among friends on here. Always enjoy reading your comments, they are always like your name, Happy!

[Reply]
ocKINGhb says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:16 pm

Neimi great news.
Any word a thortons cross check into browns throat?

[Reply]
NoDoughty Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
@ocKINGhb, yeah, the word is….NO word……what else did you expect, when the Air Demer’s hit was deemed non suspension worthy?

[Reply]
Eric says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:21 pm

I really like the fourth line of Penner-Stoll-Westgarth. There actually seems to be some chemistry developing between the three.

I’m glad that since Westgarth has been given a chance to actually play, he’s silenced those who continuously put him down and Murray for playing him…

[Reply]
rontheking Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
@Eric,

Westgarth has gotten consistently better all year, and he made a great pass for a goal.

Having said that, he also took what could have been a very costly holding penalty. I would still rather see Poni in for Westgarth. Poni’s the same size, but hits harder, skates faster, plays better defense, and makes many more plays–goals and assists. Sitting him out in favor of W. makes no sense at all to me.

[Reply]
Eric Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
@rontheking,

Westgarth- 2 assists, +3, 6:39 average ice time

Ponikarovski- 1 goal, +1, 10:10 average ice time.

Poni takes shifts off, and he doesn’t do anything with all the aforementioned skills he supposedly has. Poni is garbage, face it.

[Reply]
rontheking Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
@Eric,

Well, Westy also has 14 penalty minutes, and Poni has zero–he has a plus-one as you said, while Penner has a -3–if Poni’s garbage then what’s Penner? I guess there’s no way of knowing how things may have been different in the last game with Poni–it’s all conjecture. One thing we can be pretty certain of: Poni’s gone at the end of this year….
McDonalds says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:23 pm

I think McLellan is making the right decision. Other than that one save on drew last night, niittymaki hasn’t done anything great to warrant him userping niemi. Niemi’s only trully bad game was game 3

[Reply]
GOKINGSGO says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:26 pm

Niemi had a bad first period .. i don’t think we should underestimate his experience and talent. that being said GO KINGS GO

[Reply]
SaveByCechmanek says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:33 pm

Just make sure we give Niemi a steady dose of Clifford-Richardson-Simmonds!!

[Reply]
variable says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:36 pm

i’m actually feeling like it would be a major disappointment if we don’t go to a game 7 – no matter who the sharks goalie is….

it cannot be underestimated the meteoric rise of kyle clifford and the impact he’s had in these playoffs thus far…he reminds me of his teammate, doughty, as he also is displaying his knack for instinctively reading the play right and executing accordingly…i know drew has had an uneven playoff so far…but he does have that unteachable ability to know where a play is going and what a play’s potential can be…i’m starting to see that same skill in cliffy…he has energized his line mates, richardson and simmonds, who are now playing up to their respective potentials by his aggressively efficient play on both ends of the ice…

quick has been our mvp in the playoffs thus far simply because of the individual impact of the goalie position…you do live and die by yr goalie in the playoffs…and much of quick’s inflated g.a.a. is due impart to what might be described as the kings defense having episodes of alzheimer’s for periods at a time…

but cliffy has been the most consistent offensive player – period…and his line, along with quick, has brought the kings home for a game 6….

optimism is in the air…time to breathe it in…at least, for one more game…

go kings go…(back to san jose for game 7..!)

[Reply]
KC23 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
@variable, I actually think its been Richardson who has energized that line. Playing with the slow Zues really seem to handcuff Simmond’s play especially. With Richardson’s speed and neutral ice play it really has given Simmonds and Clifford a burst of energy they seem to be lacking during the regular season.

[Reply]
rontheking Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
@variable,

Clifford has been amazing! He gives me great hope for the future….

[Reply]
CMaldo says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:42 pm

Nemo has been awesome for the Kings! This is good news indeed, if he keeps his .250 save percentage in this game, we should do well

[Reply]
Cortex949 says:

April 24, 2011 at 3:05 pm

So I’m at work and a potential client came in wearing a sharks hat… I literally had immediate hostility towards him hahah, nothing was acted on obviously but I immediately hated his face. Just like any guy who goes out with your ex is automatically an a-hole. I wanted to run to my office and get my bobble heads. Odd how this goes, I didn’t really have any feelings towards the sharks before this series.

[Reply]
Castaic Kings Fan says:

April 24, 2011 at 3:19 pm

I’m really enjoying this series. I became a Kings fan this year so I personally haven’t experienced any previous series but this one has shown a lot to me about the playoffs. The frustration at seeing your team in game 1 outplay the Sharks but still lose. The extreme enjoyment at shutting out the Sharks in game 2. Being at Staples Center for game 3 and going through the extreme highs and lows while losing your voice (still gone today). To game 4, watching your team go 3-1 in the series and hearing friends and fans saying the Kings are done. To game 5, watching them take the lead then play the way they’re good at: locking down the opposing team (with the amazing play of Quick as the backbone of course.) and seeing the Kings won’t go down without a fight. Now I wish I had a time machine to jump to Game 6 and watch the Kings play their system and push the series to Game 7. I’m already happy, seeing the Kings make the critics eat crow at saying they won’t score enough (we have outscored te Sharks), Quick isn’t as good as Niemi (they ate more than crow on that) and that it’ll be Sharks in 5 (wrong again). We’ve already proven them wrong in all those so why not the big one (the Sharks will go to Round 2), and if the Kings play their system and keep up the offensive intensity Clifford has been showing each and every shift, no doubt in my mind, I don’t just believe, I know.

That said: LET’S GO KINGS!

PS: Anyone love the rivalry this is building between LA and San Jose?

[Reply]
KC23 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
@Castaic Kings Fan, Welcome to the King family. You a new hockey fan? You’ll be glad you became a hockey fan. When I was very young I grew up a Dodger/Laker/Ram fan, but at 12 years old my mom took me to a hockey game and I was hooked for life.

[Reply]
Castaic Kings Fan Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
@KC23, Ya new hockey fan. Funny thing is though: I can’t stand the Dodgers/Lakers haha. My favorite football and basketball teams are from Florida: the Buccaneers and Heat (though I don’t follow basketball really, too much whining for me). I’m enjoying hockey more than anything, the fans are like no other sport fans, rivalries are stronger as well. Thanks for the welcoming, here’s to the Kings!

[Reply]
Castaic Kings Fan Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
@KC23, Oh baseball… Angels? Don’t really care for that one either, even though I played throughout my youth lol

[Reply]
Capt Jam says:

April 24, 2011 at 3:21 pm

Looks like George Lopez, I mean, Todd McLellan is banking on Niemi being motivated to rebound from a poor performance with a shutdown effort such as Quick’s. Fortunately for him and the gups, they have one more game to gamble with than we do. The Kings should have far more motivation and zip tomorrow night.

[Reply]
Jeff says:

April 24, 2011 at 3:32 pm

To get to Niemi you have to do it early, as the Kings did in games 2,3,5. Also it is important to get the lead, score first. He gets rattled if that happens. Our cycle and getting guys to the net is important, make it so he can’t see the puck or deflect shots. If San Jose scores first or gets some kind of lead, he is very tough to beat as the game goes on, as he gets stronger as the game goes on (game 4). SO for the Kings to be successful, as they have all series, they need to dominate the first period, then keep that up for 60 minutes especially defensively, if they get the lead. No getting into a track meet with San Jose.

[Reply]
jonsey says:

April 24, 2011 at 4:21 pm

Niemi won a Cup. He’s better than he appears. Like Quick is better than his two previous games. I sure hope the Kings can bring this to seven with the lineup they have. Need more from Handzus Brown Williams (even though he is obviously hurting). Williams gave us hope in game #1, let’s see some in game #6.

[Reply]