Here’s my LAKings.com game recap for tonight, with stats, video and pictures included. Thanks for reading…
The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, before their afternoon flight to Dallas.
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well always next game 3 games left to see Kings on TV :*( that if Directtv doesnt come up with a contract that keeps FSwest so am counting down… 3 games left :*(
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Andrew: the second coming Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:15 am
@KingsFanFTW, you should switch and state that they are no longer providing the serivices they adviertised therefore you should not have to pay early deactivation fees.
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KingsFanFTW Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 5:16 am
@Andrew: the second coming, yea but too poor to move and i dont like Dish so am stuck but at least they cant take away radio plus NHL on the Fly for Highlights showing how they score :*(
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Kinger Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 1:45 am
@KingsFanFTW, Well atleast Bernier showed up because the rest of the team sure didn’t. The score would have been alot worse if it wasn’t for Bernier. Funny how the team plays for Quick but they won’t play for Bernier.
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KingsFanFTW Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 5:14 am
@Kinger, lol i know poor Bernier was rooting for him but the team thought they had a day off too.
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Kyle Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:46 am
@Kinger, He shouldn’t have been playing anyway. Murray said at the beginning of the season that he was going to play whos hot. Was three strait shutouts for quick not hot enough? There is not one other coach in the NHL that would do that. I cannot believe Terry Murray is the coach of an NHL team. Crazy.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:59 am
@Kyle,
But Kyle, Murray guaranteed Bernier on Sunday (after only two back-to-back Quick shutouts) he would start Tuesday, so that excuses it all. That changes everything and makes it a great decision. (jk)
Kinger Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
@Kyle, Hey it could be worse, we could have an American coaching the Kings.
Just got to say, Can’t wait till next game, and great job Rich!
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Only bright side from this game was JJ owned Kovalchk. Attaboy, JJ!
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Eggplant Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:03 am
@goldielocks, Yeah, that was a positive. Doesn’t take much, though. Kovalchuk is a joke.
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Hey, im promise im not too radical, and not crazy. This might be a little earlier, well it is to early to say, but im going to say it anyways..
I think Lombardi should open shop for Penner. Package him with idk, parse and DD2 and lets get someone who can show-up, and not have to worry about when and if there gonna come around. WHO? I as well as anyone knows, but there are teams out there im sure willing to make some moves as well.
And he IS better then last season, i just still don’t see them ability anymore from him. This is coming from me who thought Penner would maybe have a 35-40 goal season. I even had a dream on opening night , Penner stormed out the gates and scored a goal within the first minute. Obvious now it was a dream
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tacomakingsfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:28 am
@Michael_DD8,
Sort of agree with you there in the whole Penner situation. Problem is… Who would actually trade for him? A lot of people as well as non-kings fans thought he could help the organization in offense but look what’s happening to him. If anything, a couple decent draft picks and a prospects will do.
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Remember the “Boo” game last year against St Louis. The Kings were riding high after a 3 game road winning streak, a below average team was coming into town, and the Kings failed to show up and ended up getting booed at the end of the second period. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
This time the Kings were riding high after winning 4 straight games, a below average team was coming into town, and the Kings failed to show up, again. Only this time the Head Coach exzaggerated the players mindset. He basically said that a game against an Eastern Conference team didn’t matter as much as a game against a Western Conference team by resting his starting goalie who was playing out of this world amazing. He did this so that he could make sure Quick would be 100% for the division games, and also so that Bernier wouldn’t be rusty for when he plays in one of the conference games this weekend. All the players knew Quick didn’t need a rest, he had just had 2 games off, so they let their guard down, which they’ve done before in the same situation last year. It’s not surprising that the players took this game as seriously as their Head Coach did.
They’re very similar situations, our Head Coach should’ve noticed this and had his team prepared to play. Whether that’s by playing Quick and not adding to their mindset that’s it’s not an important game, or simply by having the Kings prepared to play this game, which they weren’t.
Now some of you will argue that the players have a responsibility to give it 100% regardless of who’s in net or who the opponent is, and are upset at them and not the coaches. You have every right to be. They didn’t show up tonight. It happens, they’re humans. It’s happened before and it will happen again, especially with Terry Murray as Head Coach. Ultimately it’s my opinion that Terry Murray’s decision not to play Quick had an affect on the entire teams play tonight, not just the play between the pipes, and that was a mistake.
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puck73 Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:34 am
@CB14, Very well said, thanx.
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Unimailer Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:38 am
@CB14, In a way I sort of agree with you. While watching the game, after that first disallowed goal in the first period, there was a strange sense of tension amongst the team (although I was 1200 miles away, I seemingly felt it). It’s interesting though, so much for Murray riding the hot hand. I can say I would have rode Quick till he lost, then put in Bernier. Gotta give it to the old guy, it was a gutsy play.
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kings4queens Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:38 am
@CB14,
I totally agree. But I think pulling the rug out of their win streak was a bad idea. How often does that happen? Which coaches do that? I’m guessing the answer is not the Stanley Cup winning coaches.
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Andrew: the second coming Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:45 am
@kings4queens, Exactly. Ride the hot hand you said it yourself.
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Kyle Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:51 am
@Andrew: the second coming, Yep. Murray needs to go. Players come to the Kings and join the ‘system’ and stop scoring. In fact, they stop shooting. When a coach can say that a game they just lost was an entertaining game for the fans? What? For what fans? Not the Kings fans.
Andrew: the second coming Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:45 am
@CB14, Very good post, I think you summed up everything @puck73, yourself , and I have been saying all night.
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nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 5:12 am
@CB14,
You’re certainly entitled to your opinion, but I think it’s totally ridiculous. Professional athletes worrying about a teammates shutout streak and deciding that since the coach didn’t care about the game, neither should we.
Blame whoever you want, but when Kopi turned that puck over, do you think he was deciding between taco bell and McDonalsds at the moment?, or was it..hey coach doesn’t care..take it away boys!
It’s nice to see you gave the players a pass for thier effort duer to them being human. Its gotta be the coaches fault.
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Cry Baby Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:08 am
@nykingfan, All this blame the coach stuff is so lame. I am sure all the same people blame their boss when the are late for work or screw something up at work. The players get paid a lot of money to be ready and show up to work. This one is on the players.
However, I agree it was a screwy decision not to play Quicker.
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nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:36 am
@Cry Baby,
Quicker probably was thrilled after seeing the effort given by our guys.
CB14 Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:45 am
@Cry Baby, For the record, no I don’t. If I mess up, it’s my fault. But if everyone I work with messes up, who would get the blame then? My boss! That’s how things work.
CB14 Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:43 am
@nykingfan, Even if you disagree with my opinion that the players would’ve showed up if Quick was playing, do you not see the similarities between the two game scenarios? I mean they do seem pretty similar don’t they? Or am I totally ridiculous? And I’m not saying that’s what Kopi was thinking during the game, I think he and the others felt it wasn’t as an important game, and prepared and played accordingly.
No matter what we disagree on, the effort wasn’t there last night, and that shouldn’t happen. Like it or not, when ALL the players don’t show up, it’s on the coaching staff for failing to get them prepared and ready to play the game. If it’s only a few players who failed to show up, I would’ve placed the blame on them, but it was the entire team, thus I place blame at the Coaching staff.
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nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:26 am
@CB14,
There’s enough blame to go around for everyone.
I’m not at the practices or the meeetings so it’s hard to tell if the coach did or didn’t get the guys prepared to play. the only tangible thing to show was the effort on the ice, which wasn’t there. For that I blame everyone top to bottom..equally!
I just can’t see veteran players thinking they can take a night off against a non conference opponent and thinking thats ok because there was already a built-in excuse. One thing about the guys on this club for the most part is they care for ech other and they care about the team.
I have to chalk this one up to one of those games. They happen every year to every team. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.
CB14 Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 11:12 am
@nykingfan, Good points, I understand where you’re coming from. Just one thing from when you said, “One thing about the guys on this club for the most part is they care for each other and they care about the team.” I agree completely. That’s why i was making the assumption that they would’ve played harder to help preserve Quick’s streak. If Quick hadn’t had the streak I wouldn’t have been saying they would’ve played harder for him than for Bernier, but I do think they would’ve played better because they know how big a deal a 3 game shutout streak is and they want to keep it going. Not just because they want to win, but for Quick. Just look at the quotes after Saturdays game when he broke the record, they we’ll all thrilled for him, and would do their best in the game to keep his streak alive. That’s just human nature.
DLB Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:43 am
@nykingfan, I also agree, saying the goalie change made the players let up is…confusing.
And if that theory is true, the team has a whole lot of problems that won’t be solved by Quick.
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DLB Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:46 am
@DLB, There’s also plenty of blame to go around: players deserve it as well as coaches when a game goes that poorly, IMO.
KingsFan1384 Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:24 am
@CB14, Not only that but I see don’t see the ability to go into the locker room and turn the teams attitude around. However a game start it will finish that way due to TM’s inability to make game changes.
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vplaza Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:31 am
@CB14,
For the record, I said before the game that while I didn’t agree 100% with the decision, I understood the logic behind it.
That said, I think this team has a big problem if they decide to play better/harder for Quick and not for Bernier. The example you provided is simply pointing out that this team has a history of playing down to the competition. I’d like to hear a single player say that benching Quick made them play poorly.
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nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:40 am
@vplaza,
you won’t hear a player say it because not one of them ever thought it.
It’s like when DD was not in camp. Guys have their own issues to worry about..same thing last night. Not one player cared who was in goal.
It wouldn’t have mattered whether it was Quick, Bernier, George Vezina or a brick wall…the way we played, there was going to be a shutout, but not for our side.
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CB14 Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 11:15 am
@vplaza, It’s not a matter of playing harder for one goalie or another, it’s playing harder to help preserve Quick’s 3 game shutout streak. That’s the point I’ve been trying to say. If Quick didn’t have a 3 game shutout streak going, I wouldn’t be saying they would play harder for him than Bernier. But he does, and that’s why I did.
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Pesus Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:50 am
@CB14,
TM Basically said this game wasnt important. So the players played like its wasnt important. 2 points is 2 points last time I checked.
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nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
@Pesus,
No he didn’t.
He decided to play his backup goaltender, which every team in hockey uses at some point, against a non conference opponent and go with his #1 against conference and division opponents.
where do you get that he said the game wasn’t important?
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Many thanks Rich, for those of us King fans who live out of state. Interestingly enough (or not), I have to purchase the NHL package seeing as I live in Seattle (I feel for you Direct TV folks) in order to watch our team. On the nights the Kings play, that is pretty much my only t.v. night, so I flip through all the games before, and during intermissions. I know it’s really early, and the Kings have been playing well, it just scares me to see how slow we can be. Watching all the other teams, it is quite a contrast. It may just be our system, but seeing guys like Greene (who as much as he is a great character guy, not a big fan), Penner, Westgarth, even Scuderi (who in my opinion is awesome), they look like slugs out there. Again, it’s early, but I would almost rather see when Doughty comes back, Greene sit, and Voynov take his spot. As far as Penner, I thought he would bounce back, but even in his interview at the break, he was as timid and confused as he is on the ice. Brutal.
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tacomakingsfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:33 am
@Unimailer,
Hey a fellow washingtonian!
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Unimailer Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:42 am
@tacomakingsfan, Born in Inglewood, raised in Huntington Beach, live in Seattle. Glad to see Kings fans in the 206/253.
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Andrew: the second coming Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:52 am
@Unimailer, All of those places I have been and I have to say Seattle was very fun, and a great place to just chill! Loved it hope to go back.
Shakes Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 6:02 am
@Unimailer,
Born in Minneapolish, grew up and raised in Huntington Beach, and now live in NY (okay my apartment is in NJ, but still…) !
tacomakingsfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:49 am
@Unimailer,
That’s good to hear. I lived in LA for quite a long time until I joined the military. Stationed in Lewis and everywhere else. Ever go to any of the Thunderbirds games?
Unimailer Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
@tacomakingsfan I used to go all the time, but now that they are in Kent, I haven’t been yet. I live downtown, so it was super easy to get to the Key, but now I have to commute to the games. Not a fan of commuting, pretty much why I moved away from SoCal
Just saw this quote from Dustin Brown; “With our system, we’re going to be in some tight one-goal games”. Not a good sign when your captain is admitting that your system is offensively challenged.
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Andrew: the second coming Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 1:02 am
@PP Anybody?, Well it is not really shocking, everyone knows our coach doesn’t really care for the new style of hockey of latteral movement with the puck and drawing players out of postion.
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nice summary, RICH…
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Kings didn’t really show up tonight, i’m sure this won’t be the last game that happens. Long season, I’m not concerned. They’ll get back at it on Thursday, big game against Dallas. Quick will be in net most likely, he’ll be ready.
Just hoping this Directv thing gets settled, but I guess I’ll be watching some games out at the sports bar if it doesn’t haha.
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Well atleast Bernier showed up because the rest of the team sure didn’t. The score would have been alot worse if it wasn’t for Bernier.
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puck73 Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:52 am
@Kinger, The guy is 0 and 2 and still looking like the child that he is. Quick has intangibles, like playing his best hockey in the 3rd period, overtime, and shootouts. thats something you wont find on any stat sheet.
Oh, and here is another truth for you, If we didnt have Jon Quick the last 2 seasons, we dont make the playoffs, especially last season when he went 10 and 0 in the shootout.
Right now, Quick is the most valuble player, make no mistake about it.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:05 am
@puck73, Yeah, it’s not like the game’s all on Bernier (far from it) but it’s not like he stood on his head or anything. He was a part of a bad loss…everyone was. Ride the hot hand, and maybe you get a couple awesome saves to give the team some life. Maybe they wouldn’t have won. I think they would have competed. Now, we’re gonna have to see Bernier again (I don’t think you keep him out Saturday or Sunday) and what kind of confidence does everyone have NOW?
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Tonight’s game story…pathetic.
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Piss poor effort by the guys last night.
The excuse makers can blame the coach and not playing JQ, but after watching how they played, you have to think somewhere deep in JQ’s mind, he was thanking TM!
The Kopi line couldn’t have played much worse. Penner played like he did the end of last season.
Was Stoll a scratch? Didn’t notice him all night.
When Clifford’s your best offensive player, you know the results aren’t going to be great.
Bernier was good, not great. Poor rebound control on the 1st one with no help from Penner as he appeared to be admiring the ass of the Devils player because he sure didn’t move to take him out. …the 3rd goal was a shot in a prime scoring area.
We know this team is much better. These games are going to happen over the course of 82 games…you hate to see it, but you know it can be fixed and it will be fixed!
Tough stretch coming up. I think after a game like last night, the focus will be on the task at hand come Thursday night.
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Eggplant Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:19 am
@nykingfan, Oh, now I get it. Terry Murray knew that the team would play like this. That’s why he decided to rest Quick. He did the team and Jonathan a favour, and now goes on to take all the blame from the fans.
Because he’s the hero the Kings deserves. But not the one it needs right now. And so we’ll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent gaurdian. A watchful protector. A dark knight.
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nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:29 am
@Eggplant,
I don’t understand what you’re saying?
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Eggplant Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:44 am
@nykingfan, I’m saying Terry knew all along that the team would play sub-par and there was nothing to prevent that. It was fate. And so, he decided it was his responsibility to take matters to his own hands and protect Jonathan Quick’s shutout record.
The rest of my post was a modified movie quote from The Dark Knight. I wrote the whole thing just so I could use that quote… It was supposed to be a joke which, obviously, didn’t sink in.
nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
@Eggplant ,
Dude I am slow today…sorry I get it now and it was pretty good.
This is what happens when you stick toothpicks in th eylids at 1 in the morning and force yourself to sit thru the torture of last nights game.
PP Anybody? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 11:14 am
@Eggplant, Hahaha! Nice.
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miracle.on.manchester Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 11:36 am
@Eggplant, I got it! I chuckled!
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:06 am
@nykingfan, Actually, in the interview I saw after the game, Quick seemed like he was trying not to show that he was a bit ticked off.
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nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:18 am
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
Pissed at the team efforty or pissed becuse he wasn’t playing?
We didn’t play well in any phase of the hckey game last night. JB didn’t lose this game for us and I don’t think JQ would have been able to do much to help us either.
Hard to win when you don’t score!
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
@nykingfan, In his answer about not starting Tuesday, he seemed pissed about not starting. I believe he said he thought he was going to start until Murray announced Bernier would. I don’t care about all the other hyperbole. I was responding on that point. I don’t necessarily disagree with you on the others, though I think Murray’s decision was a factor. I’ve already indicated why, and in no way do I blame Bernier.
It’s a loss and we’re going to have others over the course of the season. I’m not going to jump out of my window. What I’m really concerned about is two things:
1) My favorite player Dustin Brown. Something doesn’t seem right and obviously he seems less physical. Yesterday’s game was just screaming for someone to make a big hit, perhaps at the risk of getting out of position, to create some momentum and it never happened. I’m not looking for a fight, putting the other team on a PP is just dumb, but we needed something and we never got it
2) I find myself looking at Penner as if I’m a soccer dad to my 3rd grader. I’m looking for anything vaguely positive that he does and hoping that it’s symbolic of greater things to come. Like his between the legs pass to Kopi (i tihnk) in the offensive zone I found myself saying “yeah! you can make passes!” and then on other shifts thinking “don’t worry buddy! keep you head up!”. but honestly for a top 6 player, i haven’t really seen anything really close to a real scoring opportunity. Ethan Moreau has played much much stronger than he has.
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They’ll get’um tomorrow.
They just had a bad game and will have many more.
I dont blame JB at all, the D was just very sloppy.
We all know are D is way better than that and their
Offense needs to wake up. This one goal a game is’nt
going to cut.
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If the Kings had to have an off night I’m glad it was a night I had to work. Maybe TM could sense a bad game coming and gave Quick an extra shot at the record?
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Dominick Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:38 am
@KC23, Would be cool if that were the case, but I don’t think TM even considered that.
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vplaza Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:20 am
@KC23,
I doubt he sensed one coming, but I would guess that he felt that he needed to give Bernier ice time and a supposedly ‘weak’ opponent, from the other conference, at home made sense to start him.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:07 am
@vplaza, Weak opponent? The one that beat them by shootout last time they played?
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vplaza Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:23 am
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
By virtue of their offensive ranking and also the perception around here that this should have been an easy one. Notice I used quotes since I don’t believe there are any gimmes in this league.
What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
@vplaza,
I missed the “perception around here that this should have been an easy one,” and I don’t think the Kings’ offensive ranking is anything great. I just don’t see “easy” anywhere, including in anything anyone else said (with the exception of some off-hand comment someone made about Murray implied this game wasn’t important, which is not the same as easy.)
over coaching is the problem in sports(La Russa and Murray) that is what made Phil Jackson a great coach…
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puck73 Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 7:54 am
@neil, You mean like Bill Russell shoving Todd Worrell down my throat? Or Joe Torre shoving John Broxton down my throat ? Is that what you mean?
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neil Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:07 am
@puck73, making changes just to make changes…….
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I thought Bernier was fine last night and I agree with TM’s decision to put him in.
The Kings have scored three goals in three games. Your goalie can’t have a shutout every night. With such a great offense, the Kings should be scoring a lot more goals than they are. There are definitely a few players on offense that are not pulling their weight, especially #25, just like so many of us on here predicted.
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Pesus Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:10 am
@Tyler,
The goalie switch didnt lose us the game. TM’s great offensive attack did. And no matter who’s on the ice we will continue to lose tight games. If we dont win a bunch of games in the shootout like last year this team will go nowhere. Sad cuz there is alot of tallent being wasted on this team.
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Neil’s numbers…….MOST ICE TIME= VV.(23.25)…………MOST SHOT ON GOALS= Martinez.(6)….something doenst seem right with those two stats…….
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Last nights game story was as followed….
1. Lack of any offensive system that isn’t from 1980 or earlier
2. A coach who has no ability to make in game stragy changes or even call a Time Out
3. Turnovers plain and simple
4. Way to much play along the boards.
Also for everyone saying well if quick is in there we lose anyways, you don’t know what would happen if Quick was in. The game may have gone a entirely different way. So that is a mute point. The fact is that TM isn’t the coach this team needs. For those of you who said he has gotten us to the playoffs 2 years in a row now, we have also lost in the first round 2 years in a row. Tm doesn’t coach to win He coaches not to lose. Mark my words any time we fall behind this season with the system and coach we have more than 70% of those games we will lose. We can’t come back from a multi goal deficit with this system. No one wonders why we have 20+ 30+ goal scores come here and produce squat. That fingure should be pointed at 1 person TM.
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neil Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:29 am
@KingsFan1384, Simmonds…2 goals….Richardson….1 goal….Penner….25 goal scorer in career…….0 goals……ETC ETC ETC
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Alan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:13 am
@KingsFan1384, i agree tm can’t coach you could see the NJ starting to take over at the end of the 1st period and their were no adjustments made to stop that
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Alan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:23 am
@KingsFan1384, I agree 100% with you Bring is wayne to coach
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Well, I had to wait till the next day to post any thoughts. It’s not very often I get mad at what I see on the ice from my Kings, but last night was beyond frustrating. Watching the game it was clear that the nuetral zone is an issue. The Devils kept the Kings hemmed in, and it felt like the Devils nuetral zone trap was reanimated.
The Kings had some good offensive chances, but hardly played through the dots when on attack. The Devils goalie was hardly ever drawn out of position, and the lateral movement on 1 timers didn’t exist.
Bernier didn’t have much goal support, but he didn’t exactly make the saves to win it either. The decision to sit Quick was a bad one, and I’m not to happy about it. I could care less if TM promissed JB, JMFQ has a streak going that gives us a chance to win, and the idea that Quick will “possibly” burnout after only 5 strait starts is preposterous.
I do want to be suppoortive, but again this season, defense is looking decent and offense is inconsistant. I thought we’d conquered that mountain, but I’m still seeing that if a our goalie deosn’t play a perfect game, we don’t win. My problem is that we currently do have a goalie who is playing perfect.
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DesertKing Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:38 am
@Dominick,
We need a smaller mountain
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PP Anybody? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:32 am
@Dominick, Last night was a perfect example of some of the flaws inherent in our offensive “strategy”. The kings start off on attack at a disadvantage. Their breakouts are based on regroups along the boards in their own zone. They constantly wait, allowing other teams to clearly take positions in the neutral zone. They then push their “attack” along the boards instead of driving the middle. If they actually manage to gain entry into the O zone, they have already put themselves along the boards, allowing the other team to safely cover the slot area, so even if one man drives the center lane, it is effectively sealed off and that man can’t usually receive a pass and any shots taken are generally deflected back into the corners. Most successful teams entries these days, involve the puck carrier taking it through the middle, which the provides more space for wingers to come in with speed, where they then can actually also drive around the defense and come back into the middle and support the center on attack in FRONT of the goal, instead of behind it or along the boards.
I know “it’s still early in the season” and “it’s not the end of the world” yadaya, but these problems have been with us for awhile now, and nothing has changed. I like what I see from Richards and Gagne from night tonight, but it seems more like they are just still playing the way they’ve always played, and haven’t yet fully fallen into the Kings program yet. I know Penner is everyone’s favorite whipping boy, but the guy is a 25 to 30 goal scorer, and I doubt he’ll score 8 goals this year under Terry Murray at this rate. At what point does everyone have to sacrifice what they are actually good for? It just seems that TM has only one mindset, and that he doesn’t recognize individual strengths on his team.
The saddest part about last night, was that even with a period to go, I had absolutely no feeling they’d come back and win under TM. His inability to make adjustments, or even open things up when down by three goals is very frustrating. I’m sure at this point we’ll still have another pretty good year, but games like this make it hard to actually believe this is a current cup contender, even though it should be.
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:05 am
@PP Anybody?, Concur.
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I feel bad for Bernier, this loss obviously was not his fault. Terry Murray put him in a difficult spot by starting him over the hottest goalie the Kings have had over a three game stretch. Bad games are bound to happen, and this was basically a no win situation for Bernier to be put in.
Despite all this, I continue to find the real underlying problem to be the severe lack of offense this team has displayed this season. With guys like Kopitar and Richards down the middle, I find it inexcusable that goals are still this difficult to come by. It is a byproduct of Terry Murray’s defensive minded, conservative system. It is now at the point where this system is hindering his teams ability to score goals. I understood the strategy behind changing the mindset of this team when he first got here, and making players understand their defensive responsibility. Then, that was something that this team needed. They are now past that point and Terry Murray needs to realize this and allow for his star players to create offensive opportunities. If Murray is unable to adapt to the roster he has, I truly believe he is NOT the coach to take this team to the next level and that is to go deep in the playoffs and challenge for a Cup. There has to be a reason guys like Boyle, Moulson, and Purcell have more success when they leave…
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Dominick Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:49 am
@Klong, Wasn’t his fault in Buffalo either. You do have to make the save at some point, and 23 shots is not a heavy work load for any goalie.
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Dominick Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 8:51 am
@Klong, I have simular opinions on everything else though.
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Not sure how well the PP did, but when you look at lack of offense, it definitely starts there. If your 5-5 is not creating enough offensive pressure, then your team isn’t going to draw penalties and get PP opportunities, and if you don’t capitalize onthe PP opportunities you have, then your offensive numbers go in the toilet. We were being pretty succesful with that early on with MR and Kopi applying offensive pressure and drawing penalties.
I didn’t see the game so I really can’t comment on what happened, but I can only hope our offesnive production increases and takes a little pressure off of our defense and goaltenders.
On a side note, I just spoke with DirectTV. Per the representative, they are still negotiating with FOX. For those of you (like me) who are on a contract, the cost to buy out your contract is about $20 for each month cancelled. For me it comes to around $140. If I move to another provider, I would get the special prciing for the first year of service which saves about $40-50 per month over my current DirectTV rate, thus making up the cancellation fee. I just don’t want to go through the hassle of switching, so my fingers are crossed and I am knocking on wood. Hope that info helps you other Kings fans who have DirectTV. GKG and can’t wait for tomorrow night’s game.
OUCH! damn little piece of falling sky hit me. At least they aren’t as big as what I thought they were going to be
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PP Anybody? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
@DesertKing, Same thing happened to me last year with Dish network. At the time, I thought of canceling and moving over to Direct, but I read that this same scenario was likely going to happen again with Direct, so I sucked it up and stayed with Dish. It was a rough month long stretch, but I found ways of watching games on the internet via shady ways to get me through. It eventually got worked out, much like this probably will.
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Here is what you get from the Kings coaching staff of Scary Murray, Jamie Tampon and Yawn Stevens complete crap. They did not have the team ready to play and they can’t make adjustments on the fly. If anything stops us from winning it will be that sorry group. Also there is some dead weight on the team to get rid of Penner being one of them he can’t even skate. Westtgarth and Lewis need to go also.
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nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:46 am
@Alan,
we should bring back Crawford, or did you complain about him too?
We should also get rid of Kopi, Richards, DD, JJ, JQ the whole bunch. let’s bring in the Winnipeg Jets roster and play with those guys.
Stevens too, ha? Our D, PK, and goals against suck. you’re right. Dump him too. that’s why we can’t win.
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Alan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:56 am
@nykingfan, I liked Crawford he has won it all has he not. Never said to get rid of any of the players you had below. Sounds like you like TM thats fine. I’m just saying I don’t.
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nykingfan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:15 am
@Alan,
that’s ok man
I just think he’s been the most successful coach we’ve had here. He has a really good team, but a lot of the credit for making them a good team goes to him as well.
TM’s not perfect..there’s no perfect coach anywhere. I doubt we can get Al Arbour or Scotty Bowman back in their prime.
I like the position that he and the front office have put this team in.
LIke it or not, the worst decision for last night was not starting Quick. You don’t mess with the mojo, magic, streak….it messes with players minds..the ARE superstitious and are energized by intangibles. Think it’s crazy?..then talk to Wayne Gretzky, who wore the same old jock strap for decades (as per his book)…he didn’t want to mess with the mojo. Whether we think superstition or mojo is real or not doesn’t matter…the players do and it gives them that intangible belief and “compete” that makes them believe and fight for it. Last night, Terry took it away from the team. I tried to get on board with the logic, but logic is meaningless when it comes to streaks…hot hands..etc. Remember how the energy left the building in ’93 when McSorley got called for the famous curved stick penalty? Don’t we all admit that even though Quick is still defending his shutout steak…it doesn’t FEEL quite the same? Terry has done some good stuff…but learn the lesson and don’t eff with the Juju’s!
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Alan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:38 am
@MB Kings Fan, agree mojo is for real
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:50 am
@MB Kings Fan, Yup, it’s nothing on Bernier, but the facts are the facts, and that little thing got in their heads. They might have lost anyway (as they did before) but they practically didn’t show up.
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Please tell me this practice is not “optional”
I wonder how these lines will be looking vs Dallas. We all know TM gonna be doing some swapping…
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My $0.02, just opinion, calm down people.
@Alan, right on. @nykingFan get real.
TM and coaching staff decisions before the game and during game are at fault.
Not having this talented team ready for NJ is a lame excuse. Knowing they
lost 2 straight, knowing we beat them in NJ and they want to beat us badly,
knowing JQ should have started, knowing all of this, how did TM & staff not
prepare the team for a better output. 18,118 fans wasted money (thx TM)
Yes TM’s system is in question for goal scoring, and yes I do not think TM
is the answer to get the best out of our group compared to other coaches, and
yes his system is way to conservative for the new NHL. I watched other games
and teams last night too, CBJ with no wins beats DET with a good effort and
the list goes on. It seems I always have a bad feeling when TM makes any decisions
when the Kings are on a roll. He manages to always mess it up.
Line combos are my number one concern for this team if we keep the lame boring TM
system in tact. Here is what it should be below. By the way, no other coaches
around the league would have even had Penner here for the season, he would have been
waived last year.
Penner (waive goodbye), Parse not going to make it, Westgarth (waste)
Hunter not going to make it. Colin Fraser could be decent (will we ever know?) no.
Bernier (use sparingly)
KINGS LINEUP
Brown-Kopitar-Williams
(Brown gives grit to the line, chemistry before)
Gagne-Richards-Clifford
(Richards needs Gagne, Clifford adds grit, deserves a chance)
Moreau-Stoll-Richardson
(Moreau is the cog on this line)
Loktionov-Lewis-Toffoli
(This would be my fast young guns line) works if TM dumps his loser system.
Mitchell-Voynov/DD
Scuderi-Johnson
Martinez-Greene
Quick
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KingsGuy Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 10:57 am
@Kings Fan Since72 (real), Didn’t we lost to NJ in SO? ^ your post says we won… ^
The only point on your post I agree with is, 1st line combo.
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Alan Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 11:14 am
@Kings Fan Since72 (real), i agree
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