The Kings will make one lineup change tonight, with Kevin Westgarth replacing Trevor Lewis and moving into a fourth-line look with left winger Kyle Clifford and center Brad Richardson. Terry Murray cited a need for Westgarth’s physical presence against Pittsburgh, as well as some dissatisfaction with Lewis’ recent play.
Ethan Moreau goes to third-line right winger, alongside left winger Dustin Penner and center Jarret Stoll. The first two lines and defensemen will remain the same. More notes and quotes to come…
INB4, Westy is horrible, Bench Penner instead, fire Murray, Kompon can’t teach a dog to walk, etc, etc.
Now, can we have some real discussions?
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Alex Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:37 am
@Branzilla91, Move Penner to Kopi line with Brown. I have a filling those two will kick start Penner and yes i would get rid of TM at this time, because he has no idea how to coach offense.
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Branzilla91 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
@Alex, Penner and Kopi has some good chemostry last season before Kopi went down. Given, it was a very small sample size. I would be all for seeing it again, though. Brown, I might need to be a bit more sold on moving him away from Richards. Beside, I like Williams with Kopi. Interested in your reasoning on Brownie.
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Wow thats a great move! Terry Murray has officially lost his marbles.
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Djspock92 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:07 am
@albertakingsfan, No Lewis…I guaruntee a win
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tmp32 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:16 am
@albertakingsfan, You want to know why it is we can’t score goals….I’ll tell you why. It’s because our team has a Coach named Terry who seems to be more worried about guys with names like Westgarth, Richardson, Lewis and Clifford, and we have a GM who believed that these were the names and players that were ready to challenge for a cup. Throw in Moreau and Penner and this is 50% of our starting lineup. None of these guys could play for Vancouver, or San Jose, or Detroit, or Chicago, or Philadelphia. We can’t score because DL was satisfied with just Richards (who looks great). We were not just one player away. This team did not need to be revamped from the top down, it need an offensive base. DL will now and forever be able to hide behind Doughty’s contract and say that we are hamstrung from here on out, so don’t expect any further improvement through additions. And Terry will be fired by the All Star break. Mark my words.
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Steve Jensen Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:23 am
@tmp32,
You forgot to mention Simon Gagne, which is a significant upgrade to Ponikarovsky. We added to solid offense players, but we are actually missing one more solid left winger. (fill the Penner hole.) You need role players, too. The others can contribute but we are still one player away.
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Go Westie. I’m expecting good things from him tonight…
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Alex Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:39 am
@King-C, LOL
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OK, other than to fight why would he keep Clifford in over Lewis? Or, is TM worried abour Arron Asham?
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CrownLA Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
@Michael J., Clifford has been on the team half as long as lewis and has scored twice as much…plus he adds a physical presence.
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We need to stop bashing Westgarth, at least until Penner PASSES him in the scoring race…
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Crownme87 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:45 am
@Mel Powell,
Agreed!
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KC23 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
@Mel Powell, Correction” IF Penner passes him
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OK,
I like Westy, but I don’t think Lewis did or didn’t do anything to deserve to sit. He’s been playing very well.
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BobKnob Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 10:56 am
@BobKnob,
Go ahead and sit him if you need to, but don’t make up excuses about it.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 10:59 am
@BobKnob,
Isn’t that what TM does often?
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BobKnob Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:03 am
@Kingsfanone,
Yeah, bad bounces comments do seem pretty weak. But then, when you’re losing, anything you say sounds weak.
Kingsfanone Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:22 am
@BobKnob,
Doesn’t spouting excuses like its bad bounces justify to himself its not his system that is causing the scoring problem?
And he has a dissatisfaction with Lewis’ recent play. Is that to justify putting Westy in?
alan Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
@BobKnob, um Lewis sucks thats why he is on the bench that guy could not score on me on the break away. He should be glad im not the coach because his rear would be in manchester. get rid of him. You can said tm with him also
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Great, there goes the only guy with SPEED on this team. Why not take out Richardson and put in Hunter too? Then we can officially become the slowest team in hockey history…
Murray is killing this team, one game at a time.
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Djspock92 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:09 am
@KingSurfer, TM will put Lewis back in once the playoffs come around. That’s the only time you’ll see some offensive production out of him.
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KingSurfer Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
@Djspock92, “Playoffs?! Don’t talk about playoffs! You kidding me?! Playoffs?! I just hope we can win another game!”
I think management, players, and maybe now fans all assume this team will make the playoffs because they expect to. With the way things are going right now I’m with Mora.
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So I’m guessing that Quick is starting in this non conference game because he is hot right now with his 3 goals per game streak???
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albertakingsfan Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:03 am
@Rudedogg, No kidding just like when quick was the hottest goalie in the league with 3 straight shutouts he throws in bernier who allows 3, murray makes no sense!
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jimrad Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:04 am
@Rudedogg, Thanks dogg – you made me lol with that right on comment.
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Meh… why not?
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Tim from the OC Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:43 am
@kevin from toronto, word!
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Wow. I thought Lewis was playing very well
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USHA#17 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:08 am
@SVIK,
He has been…but he just isn’t making anything happen. Its almost comic to think that the Kings losing streak coincides with Westgarth sitting (intended to be a joke but true nonetheless).
I was thinking that this might be a good time to bring up Loktionov…and maybe Voynov (if we can do so without losing anyone to waivers other then Hunter or Moreau).
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BobKnob Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:12 am
@USHA#17,
Of course he isn’t making anything happen. He’s playing on the 4th line with limited minutes while the rest of his team also isn’t making anything happen.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:27 am
@BobKnob,
Bingo!
wavesinair Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
@BobKnob,
I just don’t agree. While it isn’t his role to score, he certainly could do better at creating more chances as well as better puck possession. He needs to improve IMO.
Steve Jensen Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:24 am
@USHA#17,
Agree completely.
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goldielocks Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:49 am
@SVIK,
Other than PK Lewis was terrible in the last game. Only impression I have was he won faceoff once or twice when the opposing faceoff man kicked out.
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goldielocks Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:52 am
@goldielocks,
Oh, and you don’t miss the net woth clear-cut breakaways.
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KiNGS 4 LiFE Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:57 am
@goldielocks, Yea, Bob Miller has said “SHOOTS!… WIDE!” way to often this season so far.
alan Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
@SVIK, lewis can’t score you must think penner is playing well also they both stink
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Westy has played better ever since the fans gave him a bashing, before that game where he got an assist on Cliffy’s goal. The 4rth line as a whole has provided some solid forchecking. It hasn’t lead to an opening of the flood gates, but what do you expect from guys who only play 6 or 7 minnutes a night.
I never thought I’d say it, but I’m glad the pylons in the line up lately. 4rth line has been giving us exactly what we need, and is hradly the problem with the Kings offensive woes.
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BobKnob Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:06 am
@Dominick,
I thought Lewis, Moreau, Cliffy played pretty well Thursday. Some good chances. I think Lewie was the driving force, though.
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Djspock92 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:14 am
@BobKnob, When I see Lewis on the ice, I think of the old Bud Light commercials “hockey falls” and they’re picking team for their pick up game and get to Bill Clement and say “Clement Clemt, hands of cement.
Lewis can’t finish either.
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Dominick Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:25 am
@Djspock92, He’s a 4rth liner. His job is to play solid defensively, and every blue moon provide some offense. This is still for all intents and purposes, his sophmore season, and has only played 7 more games than Clifford. He’ll figure it out in time.
Djspock92 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Trevor Lewis Has played 92 games is the NHL. 4 goals, 12 assists. IN 92 GAMES!!
The Kings have a problem scoring this year. I know benching one 4th liner probably won’t make too much of a difference. I know Lewis is fast. I know Lewis is superb defensively. But sooner or later, the coaching staff, teammates and fans need to see some scoring from Lewis.
How bout baseball analogy…you have a gold glove centerfielder, has one or two errors a season, but is battling .188 and strikes out when the bases are loaded every opportunity. Do you keep him on your team?
Dominick Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
@Djspock92, No! You put him later in the rotation, and work on his batting average. Don’t place him where he’s gonna fail. Expecting improvement is OK, just realize that this is a young 2nd year career role player, not Sidney Crosby. He’ll figure it out in time.
CB14 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:19 am
@Dominick, By fans, you mean me right? LOL
I agree with you in that I don’t mind having him in there tonight. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still not a fan of his, but it’s not like Lewis has done much to impress me lately, but I do wonder if we’ll miss his PK skills. That’s the one area where he excells.
I’d still like to see Lokti called up. Send Hunter down because he’s waiver exempt and get another playmaker in the line-up.
3rd line: Penner – Lokti – Richardson
4th line: Clifford/Moreau – Stoll – Lewis/Westy
Now Penner has someone who can get him the puck, cause Stoll certainly cannot. Plus Stoll would get enough minutes on the PK and PP even with his demotion to the 4th line.
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CB14 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:23 am
@CB14, I should also say I’d like to see:
Gagne – Richards – Williams
Parse – Kopi – Brown
Or switch Parse and Penner.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:33 am
@CB14,
Those lines look pretty good to me. Do it!!
Dominick Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:35 am
@CB14,
I would love that line up becuase whenever Brown and Kopi have been together, they’ve never had a legitimate left winger who could keep up (Smyth played with Stoll mostly). If TM is going to keep the top 2 lines the same than switch their coverage. Since Kopi’s line is the only line scoring consistantly, I wouldn’t even mind switching coverages, and letting Kopi’s line go head to head against the other teams top offensive players. Let Richards line play against their best defensive match ups, and see if they start to score more.
If they stay the same, then
Parse-Richards-Brown
Gagne-Kopitar-Williams
CabbagesAndKings Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:57 am
@CB14, I love those lines. If Murray is serious about making the 3rd line more of a scoring threat (like he said), then there is no reason to not have Lokti centering it. I also agree that Williams and Brown should switch — as neither seem to be playing up to potential.
wavesinair Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:45 am
@Dominick,
Agreed, which is exactly why I’d like to see a scrapper like Fraser in the middle of the 4th. It would be a really nasty line…
Cliffy/Fraser/Westy
Yeah opposition? Whatcha gonna do about it?
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Westgarth isn’t that good, but have seen him make a handfull of good plays.
I think he’s a lot better than Raitis Ivanans was. lol
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Kwvin Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:55 am
@KiNGS 4 LiFE, Did you really lol?
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KiNGS 4 LiFE Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
@Kwvin, lol yea, like three.
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Actually, Lewis has not impressed this year, he can’t seem to find the net with any consistency, however, he’s still a good PK guy. TM is just tinkering with everything because he can’t really make the big adjustments, like creating a more creative offensive scheme.
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Puckn-A Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:34 am
@Happy Lappy, He definitely has not played like a first round draft pick, you can find speedy penalty killers in the 3rd through 7th rounds.
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Happy Lappy Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
@Puckn-A, Who said anything about his being a great first round pick? So, what is your point, Westy is more of a contributor to the team?
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Puckn-A Reply:
November 6th, 2011 at 11:10 am
@Happy Lappy, My point is sitting him 1 game is not going to hurt the team.
wavesinair Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:37 am
@Happy Lappy,
I mentioned at the beginning of the season that I really wanted to see Lewis create more chances and show some offensive ability.
Then yesterday, I was talking to a friend saying how Lewis isn’t playing as well as I think he should, but that he is flying under the radar because higher profile guys are struggling. Guess not! LOL.
I would really like to see Fraser get a crack at that 4th line center position. If only they would ever activate the guy….
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Grinders R Us
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Lewis and Richardson are too similar…..Bring Lotki up and move Richardson to a wing and try and trade Lewis…..
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wavesinair Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:39 am
@neil, Lokti will never play a 4th line center role. Waaayyyyy too skilled.
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Who cares who is in the line up. The bottom line is we need to score goals. If Westie can create a chance for his line mates to score then TM looks like a genius. If we score 3 goals tonight we should win.
I think we match up well against Pitt. even if they don’t have their stars in the lineup. Pens find ways to win without their top two players. A testament to coaching? Maybe. Ultimately the onus is on the players on the ice. A few tweaks here and there during the game helps. Calling timeouts when appropriate is on the coach. Assessing player personnel during special teams is also key.
We can hash, and over analyze why we are not scoring goals. Based on comments from players and coaches, no one can explain it entirely. It is what it is.
Obviously this season has not lived up to anyones’ expectations. Maybe if we lower our expectations we won’t be such a sorry lot. Just a thought.
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Good change here. You always need that fast skating, soft handed, potent scoring, shot mentality minded forward on your 4th line. Oh… wait… never mind….
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Djspock92 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:33 am
@DesertKing, No, the Kings need goals. You can’t score, you can’t win. Lewis is not a finisher.
It was a sad day when Loki was sent down during the preseason. He is a playmaker, he can fInish, he can win faceoffs. Lewis can do none of the above.
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wavesinair Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:40 am
@Djspock92, Lokti can’t play a 4th line role. It’s not his game and we need a checking line. That’s part of the game.
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OK, so our 3rd line consists of:
A big, bulky guy who has put lead weights in his skates for some reason
A fast, somewhat defensively responsible face-off machine, who can’t hit the net
A hard-hitting but slow 4th line winger
And our 4th line is pretty much the same.
Go Kopi & Richards!
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KiNGS 4 LiFE Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:38 am
@Eggplant, Don’t forget Simon Gagne, he has 19-G and 23-A against the Penguins.
42 decent points.
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Eggplant Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
@KiNGS 4 LiFE, I’d love to see Simon put up some points on the board. I was referring to the lines in general even though I only said the centers’ names.
My point was, our bottom six doesn’t look like it’s going to score and it’s about time Kopi and Richards got it going.
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I like Moreau’s game, but he’s better on the left. Lewis can play right, so If it were up to me, I would of sat Moreau, and placed Lewis on the 3rd line right wing. That is kinda where I thought he was going to play anyways during the summer, and Richardson would be the 4rth line center.
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wavesinair Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:41 am
@Dominick, I hate Richardson as a 4th line centerman. Much better winger IMO.
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Dominick Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
@wavesinair, Richardson is better on faceoffs, and can be just as effective at center as Lewis with only 7 to 9 minutes a game. That was the thinking going into the season, but it never materialized.
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wavesinair Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
@Dominick,
Hmm, what do you mean, “that was the thinking going into the season?” As far as I know, Lewis was slotted for that role from day 1.
Not a great start for Richie either, but his potential is above the 4th line. He can and does score. Sticking him in C4 just kills his numbers. Plus, you have to have bigger guy in that position. Lewis fits the bill. Fraser fits it better.
Dominick Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
@wavesinair,
Gann Matsuda did some interviews with Lewis, and Terry Murray during the summer. In 1 of the interviews Lewis directly spoke about being moved to the right side this season, and what adjustments he would have to make. TM mentioned the same thing, but when camp started, Lewis was at center, and has been all season so far.
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Dominick Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
@wavesinair, I thought it would be to give Lokti a space, but that never happened either.
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Doesn’t matter what line changes are made, as long as TM is coach this team is going nowhere quick.
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So this is TMs answer to the team’s scoring drought. Well either it will show his genius or true insanity.
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TM says that changing lines affects the chemistry….then changes two(50%)lines…..
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Kingsfanone Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:35 am
@neil,
What TM says and what he does are different. What does that say about him?
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wavesinair Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:42 am
@neil,
Ahh! But remember, he said….maybe!
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Also If you were going to make that change…..wouldnt you do it in practice yesterday????
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Kingsfanone Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:38 am
@neil,
Now why would you want any chemistry to develop?
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KiNGS 4 LiFE Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 11:42 am
@Kingsfanone, lol
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For all those who think Lewis has played good…please define good?
Kings are 1-3-1 over their last 5 and are NOT producing enough offense. Lewis has how many points? Richardson has how many points playing as a top 9 forward? How many Lewis’s can you have on one team?
TM is damned if he does or doesn’t. You don’t make wholesale changes when you have a winning record and we are one month into the season. You tinker with things until they work and when they stop working you tinker with them again…that’s sports!
Pen’s are a physical team…why would you not put Westy in?
Its easy to blame the coach(s) Last year TM was solid. Kompon was horrible becasue the power play sucked. This year the Kings PP is doing well…is that all due to good or bad coaching?
Lets get real people. Gagne & Richards are a huge upgrade. How about we give them more than 12 games before we fire anyone or make any trades we will only regret.
Its all about the players performing. In hockey, chemistry is everything! Lets see where we are at after 40 games. Trust me, if the Kings are still struggling in January, DL will have made changes by then.
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CabbagesAndKings Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
@Barry’s Mullet, Bravo.
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BobKnob Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
@Barry’s Mullet,
Despite having 1 point so far, I would say Richardson has been playing pretty well this season.
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fsd1 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
@Barry’s Mullet, double bravo!
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TM is running out of excuses and line combos, this team is way to skilled to play the 80′s Washington Capitals hug the boards dump & chase offensive system. We need to use the first 2 lines skill to our advantage, we don’t need them to play like 3rd liners. TM’s system does not work in the Pacific, Dave Tippett has a crap team and his winning % dwarf’s TM’s.
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you know, i was gonna say what a confidence builder it would be if we would put the Pens down tonight. Now, I think we have even less chance. Westy, please don’t fight (think offense) and please assist w/ another 4th line goal.
Come on Kings! Let’s kick some butt! Help your Dmen out. Dmen, keep it in their zone!
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Good to see tm making changes necessary to improve the offence.
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Lewis was drafted mid first round 2006. Six picks behind J. Bernier and five picks ahead of Claude Giroux. The expectations were considerably higher for him.
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When you have a top 6 like we do you have to wonder why we are not scoring….maybe it’s because we have a defensive coach as our head coach…keep TM for defense and move in an offensive rich head coach…we have a pretty good 3rd and 4th line….in light of playing Pittsburgh do as they did…get a bylsma and win the cup in the same season.
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fsd1 Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
@Joe Cossack, doubt it.
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Naturally when you’re looking for offense, the right choice is to insert a guy with 0 career NHL goals.
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I expect we’ll see very little of Line 4 tonight. Stoll line has dump and hope written all over it. Stoll would have to skate figure 8′s around Moreau and Penner for those two to keep up with him. Ride the top 2 lines hard all night – there’s your offensive adjustment.
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it must be because he had a breakaway on the pk instead of playing defense
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hipcheck Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
@The Batman, Yup….nothing murray hates worse the a player who creates chances.
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Wonder who takes Lewis’ place on the penalty kill?
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Top 6 aren’t scoring so lets punish Lewis.
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Penguins have three solid enforcers in MacIntyre, Engelland & Asham that could have run amuck tonight with only Clifford to keep them in check ? I like the Westgarth play. Maybe he can show some life & passion to a bunch of guys who need it. Just maybe a big fight may get this team fired up.
GO WESTY !
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