A couple notes on today’s morning skate. Drew Doughty was once again on the ice in his yellow no-contact jersey, meaning he has yet to be cleared. I asked Terry Murray when Doughty might next see the doctor, and Murray said, “The opportunity will probably be tonight, to see the doctor at the rink. We plan on taking him with us on the road trip, kind of shooting for the end of the week here as a possibility.” The Kings play at Dallas on Thursday, at Phoenix on Saturday and at Colorado on Sunday.
Also, the Kings returned to full-team morning skates today. You might remember that, last week in Phoenix, Murray talked about holding optional skates for a while, to make sure the players weren’t worn down physically by too much on-ice activity.
MURRAY: “The concern I had, through the end of the long road trip overseas, was the fatigue factor and getting back on our West Coast time and getting our internal clock on the right time. I think the day off on Sunday was important. Talking with some of the players, they feel better, they feel like they’re back on track physically and mentally. After that, I think we’ll go to the full skates in the morning for the next little while.”
Which game does Quick play in? Dallas and Phoenix make the most sense to me, so that won’t happen.
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vplaza Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
@CB14,
Well, if JB has a shutout, he become the “hot hand”, right? The way the Kings have been playing defense, they’ll probably get another shutout. So, JB obviously gets the start in Dallas and Phoenix and Quick gets Colorado.
Silly CB14, Trix are for kids.
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Bill M. Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
@CB14, Actually, I think that is the plan exactly. That means Bernier against the Avalanche.
I think this is the secret reasoning behind Bernier’s start tonight – TM wants Bernier to have a look at an easy offense to get him comfortable for the much more important game against Colorado.
It’s brilliant strategery on a level most people aren’t looking at. And that’s why he’s the coach
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vplaza Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
@Bill M.,
Pfft, stop making sense. It’s all about riding the hot hand, don’t ya know. Forget strategy or logic.
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RH63 Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
@vplaza,
Playing the “hot hand” is the logical thing to do.
CB14 Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
@Bill M., I agree with you that that is the plan.
Brilliant strategy? Yeahhh, I’m gonna have to go ahead and uhhh disagree with you on that one. Why couldn’t Quick play Thursday and Saturday if he were to play tonight? I don’t understand that one.
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KingsFan1384 Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
@Bill M., Bill M is the for Murray is that you Bill Murray I have a shirt I got from a certain web site with your picture on it. I wonder if any of you are chivers out there.
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The Third Vopat Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
@CB14, You’d think you would start your number one in all Div games, but Colorado’s offense is looking good. I’d think Quick gets Dallas and Colorado, while Bernier gets Phoenix. I’m sure one of us will be right.
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BrokeKingsFan Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
@The Third Vopat, One thing is for sure….Jonathan will be in net
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CB14 Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
@BrokeKingsFan, In a world of second guessing and arguing who will and should start, you sir are 100% Correct.
The Third Vopat Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
@BrokeKingsFan, Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!!
So guess we will see him thursday?
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No need to rush DD back. regardless of the outcopme of these games. Get back to 100% and get ready for the long season!
I dont envy an NHL coache’s job. It must be so hard to gauge when to press the pedal to the metal and when to back off. Unfair or not, they have to take the heat and/or accolades for their decisions. There certainly is a fine line they have to walk. I guess that why they get paid the big bucks.
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joshsixfoearL Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
@tornado12, I agree, no need to rush the dude back to a such a physical atmosphere. Thus far in the season is looking like playoff hockey, way more energy, grit, hits, etc than the start of the season. Since DD is hurt, give him a break like he had last season with his concussion. Then he came back and did pretty well for us.
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DD should come back when he’s ready and not a second sooner. I figured JB would play against the Avs, but TM seem to suggest that Quick would get all western conf so I have no idea. My gut feeling though is JB would get the least important game of a back to back and that would be the Avs.
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CB14 Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
@KC23, Starting Quick all 3 games would seem odd to me.
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KC23 Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
@CB14, Agreed. Can’t help but get the sense we’re headed towards a tough week. Hope I’m wrong.
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Niko Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
@CB14, I interpreted it as he wanted to get JB in a game before the back to back next weekend. Guess we’ll see.
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I don’t care who is in net, as long as we get the win.
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Drew, take a couple more days off. we don’t want to strain anything more, its a long season.
JQ or JB or JB or JQ or ?????????
You never know what you are going to get, but if we always play the Hot Hand then the other hand gets cold. and that never leads to good things. Both of our Goal Tenders have their Pros and Cons some can stick handle and some scare us to death when they stick handle.
At the end of they day 50% of TM’s decision is probably driven by who the opponent is and the style of play that they are accustomed to and what the record of our tenders is against that team. When you have a bad practice that weighs into the other 50% of the decision.
Were just the Fans and we are there for the excitement of the game so, if we don;t get enough we get to come home and bash the choices that were made, remember if we win he was right if we lose, he obviously made the wrong choices.
remember its much more fun to WIN.
GKG
RR
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On a completely unrelated note, has anyone heard about the Insider suites, specifically the one against Detroit? I am trying to make some travel plans and was curious what time we should be there before the game and how long we should expect to stay afterwards. Also, any word about what the “extras” are going to be?
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Dominick Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
@Kramer, As we get closer a lot of us will be trying to hook up before, and after. Some of us are planning to make a whole day of it, and go to the practice facility.
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Kramer Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
@Dominick,
Sounds like a plan. I’ll just keep checking in here for the details as they become available. Any idea what time the morning skate is?
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