By all indications, Slava Voynov is healthy and ready to play — he’s officially out with an upper-body injury but has been through several days of full-contact practice — but Darryl Sutter didn’t tip his hand in terms of when Voynov might return to the lineup. Voynov has missed the past four games, and while his replacement, Alec Martinez, had not recorded a point, the Kings also allowed a total of only five goals in those four games. So there might be a bit of a “don’t fix what isn’t broken” aspect to Sutter’s choice. Voynov, though, has 10 points and a plus-2 rating in 24 games, compared to Martinez’s two points and minus-five rating in 23 games. After practice today, Sutter was asked about Voynov’s status…
SUTTER: “He’s full-contact practice. He’s not on I.R., so anything other than that means day-to-day, right? … (Playing Voynov) will be a day-to-day decision. I haven’t had an issue with how our defense has played. We’re fortunate to have — touch wood — eight healthy guys. It’s based more on performance than putting someone in.”
And here’s what Sutter said about Martinez’s play…
SUTTER: “He’s been fine. He’s played in those teens, 14 to 17 minutes, and he has played his off side and he has done a pretty good job on the power play, getting pucks through. He’s been fine. I always like the lefty-righty (pair) thing if you have the ability to, but he’s been in on the left side and done a good job.”
Tough call, putting Voynov in means sitting someone but who? All are Dmen have been playing well. Even Tebow and Green
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AZ King Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
@408kingsfan,
The only guy he’s going to replace is Martinez, and there’s not reason to make that change right now.
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Weasel Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
@AZ King,
I think he has moved a little past Martinez on the depth chart. But, with his injury it’s given Martinez another opportunity to prove he deserves the ice time. If there’s healthy competition between the two we will all benefit. Plus the playing time will give exposure for trade value to both players.
I’d tend to prefer Voynov too, but Sutter in 6-1-3 so far, so I’d say he deserves to pick his lineup without too much flak.
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PRMan Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
@Weasel, “I’d tend to prefer Voynov too, but Sutter in 6-1-3 so far, so I’d say he deserves to pick his lineup without too much flak.”
^ This
Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
@408kingsfan, You mean Tebow, and Cupcakes?
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408kingsfan Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
@Dominick, I guess we could bench Pencakes, move Martinez to wing and leave Tebow and cupcakes alone.
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LGK Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
@408kingsfan, who is cupcakes?
Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
@LGK,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJuBjzRXVCI
LittleRhody Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
@Dominick, Dang.. this is making me hungry. We have Pencakes, Cupcakes, Dughnuts, Brownies. Follow that up with a Stoli Martini and a shot of Whiskey
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LittleRhody Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
@LittleRhody, And can’t forget (although I apparently did) KFC !!
Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
@LittleRhody, Very nice! lol
LGK Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
@LittleRhody, So who would be pancakes?
flex Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
@LittleRhody, ..scudi spaggeti spago,Also…coming soon willie hot chily…
LGK Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
@Dominick, Looooooooooooollllllll that was so funny that I near about lost my breath laughing so hard. Thanks
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How do I make myself sound like Jan Brady? “I always VOYNOV, VOYNOV, VOYNOV”
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Stuart Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 1:58 pm
@Dominick, just like that Dommer… LOL
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Duncanz Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
@Dominick, “+1, +1, +1″
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@ 2:25 p.m. Pacific Time, Terry Murray is on SiriusXM NHL Home Ice ch. 92, first interview…
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BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
…Luc Robataille is on right now.
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variable Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy,
what did he say…?
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someone stream the interview with Terry for the blogs?
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Seriously? Martinez is a better option? We’ve been “okay” with the line up so far, but way better web Voynov was in. Shop Martinez and get a permanent spot for Voynov.
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Meister König Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
@Et219, +1
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Tyfighter77 Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
@Meister König,
+1000
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Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
@Et219, Yes, lets throw away an obviously good player because at the moment he’s getting in the way of the guy I want out there.
Kings aren’t allowed to have a really good puck mover as a back up. We’re only allowed what the roster allows, and that’s Voynovs spot.
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KC23 Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
@Dominick, Throw away? No. Work a deal for a winger, absolutely .
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‘Touch Wood’…insert joke ______
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Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
@Cup B4 I Die, Did he say that in the morning?
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Sebastian Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
@Cup B4 I Die, so thats where Doughty gets it
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FKA PakiFro Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
@Sebastian,
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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Duncanz Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
@Sebastian, Stollen moment ….
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Martinez’s rel corsi 5 on 5 has been 16.4 his lat 5 games. Tops on the team. Compared to DD who’s next on that list with a 9.9 for his last 5 games that’s pretty good. His on-ice corsi 5 on 5 the last 5 games has been 22.86. DD is 2nd with 14.9. Martinez has been a fenwick animal also, and his pairing with Mitchell often yeilds positive results. Absolutely no reason to believe that we don’t play well with 1 or the other in the line up.
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tornado12 Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
@Dominick, somebody please explain to me what this means! In english please
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Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
@tornado12, Their possession stats, and a way to keep track of shots generated at the net (wether they actually make it on goal, or not. They are kept in a metric that measure the effeincy of the team when that player is on the ice, and quantifies it into a statistic that can be compared to other players around the league.
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tornado12 Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
@Dominick, thx dude
Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
@tornado12, Corsi, and fenwick can also be used to track the effeciency of their teammates play when their paired with them, and how they do with certain pairings during games. It will also keep track of the effeiency of the other team against the Kings to show where weaknesses are with pairings, and match ups, and show where the players are in relation to the league average.
1 day we’ll go over these metric measurements in detail together.
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Can’t wait to see Voynov out there again
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Maybe were just playing Amart more to showcase him for possible trade partners
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Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
@Meister König, Maybe.
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Sebastian Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:36 pm
@Meister König, No….The GM does not tell the coach who to play and the coach does not tell the GM who to trade. If you want to see a showcase, watch the price is right.
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Deke'r Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
@Sebastian, LOL!!
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Michael J. Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
@Meister König,
There is no such thing as “showcasing” players in the NHL.
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I’m gonna laugh if VV is out there the next game, and all this “VV deserves it” stuff is just an over reaction. Sutter hasn’t even said VV won’t play, just that it is a gameday decision.
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Token Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
@Dominick, The important thing is that VV is in LA, picking up $10k per game instead of $800 riding the bus in New England.
That how we lost Holloway.
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Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:58 pm
@Token, I agree.
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tornado12 Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
@Token, evry time someone mentions the cowboy i get chills
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Stuart Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
@Token, does he still take that rake for being a healthy scratch?
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Token Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
@Stuart, Yup. Pine and ice pay the same.
KC23 Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
@Dominick, My 2 + 2 = 4 calculation says DS is a traditionalist and traditionalist don’t have players lose jobs to injury.
Voynov will play.
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AZ King Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
@KC23,
Exactly! Martinez should have gotten back his spot after he came back from his injury.
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No problems with our “D” right now. No matter who we put in we can rest assure that the job will get done. We all know what our problems are. If we don’t score more, it will be a stuggle game after game. We seem to be picking it up. It’s sort of like our nations economy… It’s getting better, but at a very slow pace. If we can find some sort of groove , right before the All Star break then things will look a bit brighter for us. If we still stuggle, teams will look to score on us first and play good “D” to beat us. We all know we must score more. Knowing is much different than doing. Last game we broke hard towards the net and did very well. Keep doing that and our goal scoring will get better. Plant some pancakes in the net. Let’s see if that works. Go Kings!!! Let’s get these two points from Dallas. We need to keep winning. It’s going to be tough, but with Coach Sutter at the helm we are in good hands. Long live the Kings!!!!
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Terry Murray coming up on nhl home ice
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Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
@number 6, Link?
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Dont have a problem with Martinez but a team that has problems scoring should put in a guy like Voynov unless he is a liability which he has not been…..
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Dominick Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
@David H, The Kings had a problem scoring, even when VV was in the line up. They will still have that problem when he returns because the problem isn’t the play of either of those 2. There is a much deeper problem then just switching 1 D-man for another.
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AZ King Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
@David H,
Yeah they sure were piling up those goals with Voynov in the line up.
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tornado12 Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 3:43 pm
@AZ King, haven’t exactly been piling up the goals with out him either. last game was an aberration compared to the whole season my friend.
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I don’t have a problem with either player. AMart is playing closer to how he played last year and Voynov is playing well, albeit not as well as he did offensively when he was first called up.
I honestly don’t see a tremendous delta between the two as far as overall contribution to the team when they are on the ice. One has a little more impact on the offensive side while one has more upside on the defensive and puck moving side.
Neither of them are entitled to a spot, IMHO. And having one in there instead of the other does NOT hurt this team. We should all be thankful that we have two good defensemen to put in there in case someone goes down.
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That’s good. Give Martinez another game or two and the last 6 before the break to a healthy Voynov. See who DS likes better.
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Marty is playing well and deserves to stay in the lineup
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This isn’t peewee league. The better player plays.That’s Voynov, unless Martinez beats him out. In fact maybe one of the vets should go…might bring more.
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Alex Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 10:45 am
@Royal Throne, Excellent point, enough sad.
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Slava Voynov is going to be one of the premier defensemen in the NHL. Even now, in his first year in the league, he is probably the second best defenseman on the Kings. His ability to see the ice is Bourquish.
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