Alec Martinez’s forced sabbatical is over. Martinez was made a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game at Philadelphia after coach Terry Murray expressed some displeasure with Martinez’s defensive-zone play. Martinez will be back on the ice tonight, though, in his normal blue-line spot opposite Matt Greene, and Martinez might take on extra importance now. With Drew Doughty out of the lineup, Martinez’s puck-moving skills, point shooting and power-play ability will be even more valuable. I asked Martinez today about the type of feedback he got from the coaching staff in recent days…
MARTINEZ: “I had a little talk with Terry and a little talk with John, just about being assertive about making plays and making the right reads all the time. A lot of it was positive too, but they gave me some things to work on. I’m looking forward to getting back in the lineup and helping the team win.’’
Question: You’re still a young guy, so that type of feedback isn’t a bad thing, right?
MARTINEZ: “No, not at all. Everyone here is trying to get better, and that’s what I’m trying to do too. Any feedback (is good), and if there’s something they think needs to be corrected, I’m going to go ahead and work hard and try to fix it. I’m just trying to get better every day. I know it’s a cliche but that’s all you can do.’’
Question: Is it fair to say that, without Drew, all of the defensemen are going to have to raise their games a little?
MARTINEZ: “Yeah, for sure. Not one person is going to be able to replace Drew. He’s a heck of a hockey player, so everyone is just going to have to pick it up and, collectively, we all have to dig in and give a little more and hopefully try to replace what he brings to the table.’’
1st
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tornado12 Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
@CaliCash, actually it was a tie
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CaliCash Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
@tornado12, haha…i’ve never been first on these things…i finally was able to say “1st”.
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Dominick Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
@CaliCash, You better watch out. Stuart’s gonna have a cow.
CaliCash Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
@CaliCash,
I think it will light a fire under him!
On a side not, who’s going to tonight? I’m leaving work @ 4 to get over there from Santa Monica. Can’t wait. GO KINGS GO!!
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Jstin Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
@CaliCash, Seriously? How old are you? Stop this 1st nonsense. Nobody cares and nobody wants to read it.
Wait wait… i’m 7th! Yay!
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T Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
@Jstin, I care.
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Jstin Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
@T, and you care why? wasn’t this type of thing Rich was saying he didn’t want on this site and was going to have a new type of log in to stop?
I just don’t understand it….
Jkking Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
@Jstin, I care too
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Jstin Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
@Jkking, how about we limit this to Kings talk only? Does letting everybody knowing you were the first person to post really have anything to do with Kings? I don’t want to read through useless posts.
So it WASNT just about needing more size back there vs Philly…
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i dont get the coaches… lots of veterans making mistakes, never getting benched or publicly addressed.. martinez doesnt make any goal or game costing mistake and hes publicly talked about…
just confuses me.. last game quick made a huge save on a scuderi pass right up the middle.. game before johnson did the same thing..
i just think martinez is great and wish he would get more credit.. He could take doughtys place while hes gone in my opinion… hes a good skater and solid on D
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fsd1 Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
@jason, because you can replace a martinez with a drewiski, you cant replace a scuderi or a johnson with either one. Different skill levels.
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So, should Murray bench Matt Greene for his horrible play against Philly? Last time I checked I haven’t seen A-Mart draw 3 stupid penalties.
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AM is the one that I feel will prove tonight. I feel has been bashed a little and on this team when he comes up big he never gets respect..
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I agree with @Jason and his post above. I think maybe its the fact that he’s a younger player and has shown an ability to come back after being scratched for a game and really make his presence felt. Personally I think its only a matter of time before he is an everyday top 4 D man. This guy brings some really good tools that are only going to improve.
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tornado12 Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
@EASportsMgt, But I would classify him as an offensive, mobile, puck moving d-man. He is not going to beat out DD or JJ anytime soon. Are you implying he may be traded? OR that he changes his mold to become more stay at home? Personally, I dont see the latter happening…
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xeropoint Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
@tornado12, If I recall, Murray does like to go with Johnson and Doughty together from time to time. Throw Martinez into that mix in certain situations (given time) and you have a lot of firepower from the back end to say, make a push late in a game.
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tornado12 Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 4:21 pm
@xeropoint, I think that experiement last season was born out of desperation and injuries. It didnt work IMHO and I think it was short lived anyways. Too many times both players were caught thinking too much on the O side of the equation. Now on the PP, it is a different beast and I am all for that pairing. Clearly TM likes to have a pairing of OFD and DDF…
xeropoint Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
@tornado12, I can’t disagree with that. On a side not, I was impressed by Willie Mitchell, of all people, on the Kings PP in Philly. He got shots through, made a pretty decent cross ice pass to Gagne who set up J-dub in the slot. Random, I know.
tornado12 Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
@xeropoint, reading your post again, I understand that its a good option to have late in games if trailing by a couple goals and TM wants to push the tempo. However, one of the bones to pick I have with TM is he rarely seems to make those kind of ingame adjustments to take what the other team is giving or just go for it. He seems to have a goal to play the same way ALL the time. In between periods he may jumble the lines or if injuries, but I dont see him ever going “all in” or “going for the jugular”…just my impression, but please feel free to correct me.
Its part of the reason why we are always having such close games. This team’s system is designed to win games 2-1 or 3-2. When was the last game we won by over 3 goals (that wasnt an empty netter)?
xeropoint Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
@tornado12, That’s certainly the rub with Murray. I think it’s slightly overblown, though. All a coach can really do during a game is try and get preferred match ups, roll fewer lines or call a timeout. I don’t think there’s anyone out there who has a different “system” or “strategy” for playing style that kicks in over certain circumstances. I think it’s more about personell and what they’re made of than what a coach might or might not do.
Not to say I don’t have any bones to pick with the old man. Don’t get me started on the revolving dartboard of discipline or his icy, cliche strewn interviews…
tornado12 Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
@xeropoint, LOL, i think anyone who has experience reading TM’s interviews could fill in for him in any given question…valid points all. RE- WM, I have liked his shot since he got here. It is def a bomb when he gets a chance to wind up. In a pinch, I could see his usefulness on PP, but getting it off with the high tempo/pressure PK systems most teams run nowadays is tough.
AM will be traded. Why? because it’s all part of DL and TM’s plan to have all of our puck moving blueliners have repeated initials
DD
JJ
VV
Yeah. I just unlocked the secret to winning cups. Defensive alliteration. I know, I know, I just blew everyones minds!
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jmsalsa Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
@Bill M.,
mind. blown.
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xeropoint Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 4:07 pm
@Bill M., How are you NOT running an NHL team right now… wait a minute, is that you Ken Holland?
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Dominick Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
@Bill M., If we get an SS a lot of people are gonna be pissed. lol
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rumpa#19 Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
@Dominick, Sheldon Souray, Scott Stevens out of retirement……..
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xeropoint Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
@Dominick, Hickey should absolutely look into getting his first name changed to Harry. Guarenteed 2nd pairing!
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BlueStang Reply:
October 19th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
@xeropoint, Should AM change his first name to Mickey, MM?
I’m really pleased with Martinez. He’s looking like a really solid two-way defenseman. Last year he put up a respectable 18 points in 60 games and was a +11. I think that’s pretty good for a rookie with limited minutes. Although I don’t think you can compare his +/- to our top four D-men since they draw more difficult matchups, it’s still a good sign and I think he has potential to be a second pair D-man.
As many have mentioned over the last year or so, it sure is nice to have this depth. I remember when I used to cringe when we’d put young Monarchs players into the lineup. Now I usually feel a sense of excitement and hope.
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I still find it odd that a guy like Martinez gets benched and critiqued over some minute deficiency in his play, yet JJ and DD at times make huge mistakes and don’t get the same mind games played on them. Umm, okay I guess.
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I must have missed his mistakes, I thought he did good the last few games.
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Expectations are obviously higher than they used to be within the LAK coaching staff and within the LAK fan base as well. Seems like most of the players are wearing targets on their backs these days. Apart from Greene being a bit slow (still brings a physically nasty streak, though), the Kings defense is very solid and very deep, this puts Murray (who hates defensive mistakes maybe as much as he hates stupid penalties) in a position to be discriminating and heavy-handed with much of his D corps. DD, JJ, Mitchell, and Scuderi seem to get ‘passes’ on their defensive mistakes (DD because he’s DD, JJ because he’s an athletic beast, WM and RS because they make so many amazing defensive plays that it’s tough to hold mistakes against them). The rest of the defensemen had better perform in machine-like manner or Murray can, and will, tap someone else. For the most part, it’s a good problem to have.
It would be nice to see more offensive results from guys not named Kopitar or Williams, and an ability to put away an opponent in regulation 60– by putting more than 2 pucks behind the opposing goalie.
Don’t know what to expect tonight. St Louis has had some kind of a voodoo hex on the Kings for most of the past 45 years (the 1998 playoff debacle is a fitting poster child for 5 decades of Kings-Blues).
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I’d say as a third pair defensemen Martinez is a real blessing. Now if Voynov outplays him even better. (Don’t trade either one!)
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rumpa#19 Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
@Weasel, Muzzin is ready,Hickey maybe, VV we’ll get a look tonight. Not that I forgot DD2.
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Cool, we need Martinez playing PP minutes. His defensive game is average but he can jump up and make plays.
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Communication…. At least Martinez isnt wondering why he was benched. From the outside Murray seems to communicate really well with his players…esp. the young ones.Many times in sports you hear about older coaches not relating or getting thru to young players…this doenst seem to be the case with the Kings….TM may not make in game adjustments(my daily comment about TM)but I will give him props for communicating with his players GKG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I said it was the right effort, wrong reads. Don’t any of the players read this blog? Could of saved him a trip to the principles office
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rumpa#19 Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 5:09 pm
@Dominick, LOL!!!
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Martinez plays great, I don’t know why people talk about trading him here. We pay him peanuts (relatively) and he has a rocket shot and plays responsibly the other way. Whats not to like?
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Murray should healthy scratch himself when he gets out coached.
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Had a feeling poor dzone play might have been a factor. It seems he’s been pretty good but we can’t study his play from watching on the tube. I wonder if he has the potential to a top four dman one day.
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I like the way that Martinez jumps up in to the offensive play but knows when to get back on D. He is young but plays older than he is.
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