The Kings better get their rest now, because after the end of the All-Star break — and one home game against Columbus — they hit the road for what is, by any measure, their most difficult North American road trip of the season (nobody will forget those home games in Europe). The Kings face six games in 10 days. That’s tighter than normal for a road trip, but the scheduling makes it even more daunting.
The Kings start in St. Louis, then fly to Carolina, lose an hour on the time change, and must play the next night. Then there are two practice days before a game against Tampa Bay, one day before a game against Florida. Then the Kings fly to New York, have a practice day, then have a Saturday-afternoon game against the Islanders. Then they have to fly to Dallas and play the next night. I’m relatively certain I’ve never seen a New York-Dallas back-to-back set.
SUTTER: “I haven’t looked at that as a tough part of it. I just know that it helps us break it down. Even a six-game trip is broken down into two back-to-backs with two days in between, before Tampa and Florida. So it is broken down pretty good that way. If you just look at it like it’s a six-game, long trip, it isn’t really. It’s a tough back-to-back to start and a tough back-to-back to finish, and you get an extra day to watch the Super Bowl. A good one, a good Super Bowl.
“So that’s how I look at it. If you look at it as being really tough, then I could look at it the other way and say we haven’t been good at home. We’ve been a good road team. Even though everybody wants to look at the past 10 (games), you have to look at it over the course of the year, the home and road records. You can make changes that will probably help you on the road a little. At home, especially out here, it’s more about preparation with all the young players, with their focus and their accountability and being good competitors at home.’’
Losers quit when they’re tired. Winners quit when they’ve won. -Unknown
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..and the Football players are whining over their “tough” schedule? Wimps
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The key is you get an extra day to watch the Super Bowl.
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goldielocks Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
@Jay GoLAKings,
Can’t wait to see the wardrobe malfunction again.
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What does he mean by “especially out here,”?
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purple and gold Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 11:40 am
@pautna, more distractions cause it’s not -10 here all the time, sun and sand.
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Hockey & Rocky Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
@purple and gold, Right, can you imagine being 21 years old, making $7M a year, a pro athlete, living in the South Bay? That is A LOT of access for a young dude.
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pautna Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
@purple and gold, That’s what I kind of figured…
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KingsFan79 Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
@pautna, I believe he’s referring to the fact that, unlike most (if not all) other hockey teams, the Kings don’t practice at the actually home ice. Practice is at TSC. He made a note of the logistics with the Staples Center some time ago and, truthfully, that makes a big difference in our play at home.
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pautna Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
@KingsFan79, Yes, that makes sense. Thanks.
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Deke'r Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
@KingsFan79, ……I’ve made that point before…..it’s got to change your depth perception behind the goal…
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EmptyTank Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
@KingsFan79,
I’m not taking anything away from the argument that practicing on the game playing surface could be advantageous, but I doubt that is the case for all other teams. I don’t have any facts for the full league but I know the Schmucks hold practices at a different facility and from what I’ve seen on HBO 24/7 the past two years, those 4 teams all had a remote practice facility. Perhaps a higher percentage of teams hold their game-day morning skates at the arena but for regular practices I’m guessing most teams have a second facility.
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rogiesbackup Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
@EmptyTank, Having to deal with traffic at the worst time of the day then is the UNCOMMON denominator with the other teams that have different training facilities.
TheDryer5 Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:54 am
@EmptyTank,
Yes, most, if not all teams, have an offsite practice facility. But most teams do their morning skate at the arena. I think the visiting team is able to have their game day skate at Staples, so unless it’s a timing thing, I’m not sure why the Kings can’t.???
I won’t be watching the super bowl!.. Stupid Kyle Williams!.. Can’t stand the pats! Go kings!
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Lake Forest Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 11:49 am
@Jpizzle313, yeah, heard he is getting death threats via twitter.
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DesertKing Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
@Lake Forest,
Wow, via twitter? ooooo, that’s scary. What happened tothe good ole dyas when you just went over to someone’s house and called them out, then got beat up by that person and his whole family?
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Dominick Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
@DesertKing, Also, gone are the days of creative magazine letter cutouts from adorring fans that artistically make a life threatening, or career ending statement with creative, and tasteful integrity.
luc20rules Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
@DesertKing, Of course teens reading this are asking what are Newspapers & Magazines?
i think one of the reasons sutter was not liked that much by the calgary/canadian media is that he appears and sounds like a contrarian when asked any question that involves a simple answer…
i don’t know if it’s done on spite or just a way for him to express his disdain for all-things-media related, but since he’s been our coach, sutter has yet to acknowledge any question very enthusiastically…
honestly, this is not a big issue for me…but just very noticeable…i understand that it’s not in his job description to make nicey-nice with reporters, but when he says “If you look at it as being really tough, then I could look at it the other way and say we haven’t been good at home,” it gives an indication that no question a reporter asks him is ever the correct one…
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Hockey & Rocky Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
@variable, As long as we keep winning, I think it’s pretty funny. However, I don’t think it’s his intention. The media is looking for juicy stuff to build a story on and Sutter is looking to flatline anything they can get a hold of…and keep the focus on consistent hockey.
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Lake Forest Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
@variable, This is actually WHY I like him. he doesnt give a crap about the media, just his players and winning.
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variable Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:44 pm
@Lake Forest,
i’m indifferent to his disposition…it’s just very noticeable…
and i’m not sure it makes much of a difference to his players…
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LA_1968 Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
@variable, Answering leading questions with a roadblock can be two things. One, he doesn’t want to help a reporter gain any momentum in a story he is building. Or two, he disrespects the person asking the question so much that he refuses to agree with them, ever.
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KC23 Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
@variable, Sutter has finally found the perfect city to coach in. Sutter has no time or patience for the media and the LA media has no time or patience for hockey.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
@KC23, !
!
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 8:46 am
@KC23, Well spoken!
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I’m not sure if it is going to be public knowledge, but I would love to hear how the conditioning tests went. I’m curious to know who went up and who went down in their fitness level.
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Lake Forest Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
@Hockey & Rocky, Someone asked this in a prior post and Rich replied that it will not be public knowledge. They do not release this information.
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wavesinair Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:17 pm
@Hockey & Rocky,
Drewiskie went up.
Everyone else went down.
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Duncanz Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:20 am
@wavesinair, Seriously? Wow, we should underplay, oops I meant ‘rest’ more guys then!
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Im gonna check later, but Im pretty sure that det and pitt or van dont have to play crazy back to backs like us. NY then Dal is crazy.
I remember TM saying something about this before. Something along the lines of, you wont see det play a schedule like ours. Then he added something like, when your an elite teams you get a little favortism from the schedule makers.
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As usual, the league could give a you-know-what about us. DL needs to hire Jason Bourne and have him make a trip to Toronto, you know, just to explain things.
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Gustavo Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:34 pm
@DesertKing,
His real name is David Webb, you know?
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Lake Forest Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
@DesertKing, Maybe DL can make a letter like Dominick described above.
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rumor kings are talking with wild and may get Nittimaki
Would be nice if we could get clutterbuck.. it would almost be like having another brown.. he hits and scores
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Deke'r Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
@jason, ….so you’re sayin Berniers’ time as a King is in jepoardy?….
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Granted the trip is tight schedule-wise, but at least the toughest game is the first game and the rest are winnable, so get off to a good start and improve from there! I expect a 4-2 trip (or knowing the Sutter Kings, more likely 3-1-2.)
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Just win some damn games
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Yeah, my first response would have been that they’ve been a good road team, but those are some gruesome back-to-backs.
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