As noted in yesterday’s item about the Western Conference standings, the Kings are in an interesting spot. In seventh place, it’s not out of the question that they could still take a run at San Jose for the Pacific Division title. On the other hand, there are five teams below the Kings that are within six points, and if a couple of them get on a hot streak, look out. This is certainly nothing new. In recent years, the conference race has been a down-to-the-wire affair. The Kings’ first priority should be to put some distance between themselves and ninth place. Worrying about San Jose is secondary. At the start of the season, that certainly wasn’t the Kings’ thought or plan, but this is the situation they have put themselves in. The question, to Darryl Sutter, was, “Is the glass half full or half empty?” Meaning, does the team look ahead, to teams it can catch, or look behind to see which teams are catching up?
SUTTER: “I’m the `full’ guy. It can get frustrating when you look at it. (Against Calgary last week), we outchanced the other team 20-12, and you lose in the friggin shootout and you have three empty nets in overtime.
“That’s what it is. Unless you’re a team that is one of the best teams in the league, the defending Stanley Cup champions or the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago again now, Detroit. That’s a different level, based on what they’ve done and what they’re doing. So the next part is, you get in. If we can keep pressure on other teams, that makes them have to play better too. I just don’t see enough of a gap in all the teams. The three things that impact you all are schedules, injuries and officiating. So it depends on your travel within that schedule, and then good calls — or maybe you think it’s a bad call — and then injuries. Over the course of the season, you can say, `We played good against (one team) and didn’t play good against (another team),’ but those three things have a big impact. So you have to get in, and keep putting pressure on other teams.”
The most obvious empty net DS is referring to was when Penner just had to push the goalie’s arm back 6 inches with his stick. The puck was between the arm and the stick. Not covered. Still hurts as a missed opportunity.
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ponch0v Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:58 am
@LA_1968, It was close and certainly looked like he just had to knock it in, but you can’t push the goalie (or part of him) into the net to make the puck cross the line.
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Duncanz Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
@ponch0v, No, I think LA_1968 meant he ought to have played the puck much harder and stuffed it in, goalie an all. He had it on his stick but didn’t appear to thrust at it with much power.
I remember saying on the night that Pancakes was playing ‘paddy-cakes’ on that play!
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IwantTheCup Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:49 am
@LA_1968, Dustin had an opportunity as well..but it happens..moving on..
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anyone see this?
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/mike-richards-future-hip-hop-other-revelations-funny-161746796.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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Kopi Bryant Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:40 am
@FKA PakiFro, Nice seeing the guys having fun with this. Kopi the cowboy! lol
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jess Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:48 am
@FKA PakiFro, kinda funny, sort of stupid, but good to see the boys having fun.
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variable Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:50 am
@FKA PakiFro,
yeah…it was good to see the boys let down their hair a bit…
thanks for posting…
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Lake Forest Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:53 am
@FKA PakiFro, I liked the water bottle spin on dustin brown.
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CheezyPoofs Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
@Lake Forest, I laughed at this one as well.
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Kings Fan In Temecula Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:55 am
@FKA PakiFro, i got Mike richards rappin in my head and i’m ok with that :p
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lowegirl Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:56 am
@FKA PakiFro,
That was adorable. Kopi is the best.
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outsider Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
@FKA PakiFro, Kopistar!
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IwantTheCup Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
@FKA PakiFro, thanks for sharing! That was GREAT!!!!!
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Christian Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
@FKA PakiFro, HAHAHA, that was funny
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DirtWeeaZle Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
@FKA PakiFro,
Sacramento???? haha..
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In the NHL playoffs more than any other sport if you get in you have a chance to win the whole thing.
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Trade/Give away Penner. Someone from the minors would be better than him, and a lot less expensive.
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Michael J. Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:20 am
@TheAcaciaStrain,
And that would be?
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The Puck Stops Here Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
@TheAcaciaStrain, Please understand that nobody wants his $4.25M contract. I don’t get why people think you can just renig on a contract. Other teams don’t want an expensive contract for a guy who is not performing. Use common sense! What is in it for the other team?!
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sutter working his psychology….
i think most teams really are just aiming to get in, unless you have a shot at winning yr division and home-ice advantage…and the kings are definitely in that hunt, in spite of san jose having games in-hand…
in case you missed it, here are my grades through the first 50…
thanks…(!)
http://deepinsidethekings.com/2012/01/individual-player-grades-after-50-games/
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jonsey Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:39 am
@variable, Thanks, I did. But now I haven’t.
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Don’t worry about anything other than winning. You win most of the remaining games, including the head-to-heads with SJ, and we win the division, home ice in the first round and a lower seed first round opponent. GKG!!!
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Niko Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:50 am
@DesertKing, Exactly, that should be their focus. The higher they set their goals, the more success they will have. Would love to finally get out of the first round, but facing Det or Van makes it much more difficult. Sure, you could argue they will need to face them eventually, but I just want to win a damn playoff series already!!
LGMFK!!
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variable Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:51 am
@DesertKing,
those san jose games should be wars…
worlds will be colliding…
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:19 am
@DesertKing, That’s the way I see it too. Every game is a game you need to do your best to win, but it’s the next game, as soon as that one’s over, win or lose. I like that Sutter always focuses on the game immediately at hand, even five minutes after a game.
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With 3 games left against the sharks, that’s a 12 point swing. Catching them is definitely possible.
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AZ King Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:29 am
@Niko,
The problem is they still have 3 games in hand on us. We could win all 3 remaining games against the Sharks, but if they win the 3 games they still have in hand then it won’t really matter.
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KC23 Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
@Niko, I looked at both of our schedules in detail. Very unlikely we’ll catch the Sharks. Good news is it is also unlikely that we’ll drop out of the race. Either Chicago or Nashville are going to falter imho. Their schedules are nasty.
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Last time a team made the playoffs finishing dead last in offense was ’88-’89 Canucks back when only 5 teams in the league missed the playoffs.
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dmoney Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
@FaceWash, The Time (to make history) Is Now.
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i don’t like reading the coach talking about excuses. bottom line is this team isn’t one of the elite teams. blame that on the management. the gm has not gotten it done. think back 5 years ago and at least two teams were crappy right along with the kings – the penguins and the blackhawks. both have SC rings now. the blackhawks had to blow up their roster and they have rebuilt AGAIN.
http://espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/story/_/id/7506923/wayne-gretzky-credits-chicago-blackhawks-fast-retool-title
kings management (aeg) need to create a winning atmosphere and mentality throughout the entire organization and that has not happened yet.
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fsd1 Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:03 am
@yetiman_oc, Not going to go into detail, but I personally think you couldn’t be farther from the truth. When this team plays to their ability and plays their system correctly they are an elite team.
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ice is nice Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:33 am
@fsd1, flashes of an elite team in 82 games is one thing, being elite April to June is a whole different animal.
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fsd1 Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
@ice is nice, said nothing about flashes, talking consistency here is all.
Sebastian Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:15 am
@yetiman_oc, what do the Hawks and Pens have in common, they hit the lottery with their draft picks (in Pitts case they literally won the draft lottery for Crosby). Pens drafted high 2 years in a row, with Malkin in 2004 #2 and Crosby in 2005 at #1, those are 2 guys you instantly built a team around. Chicago drafted Toews #3 in 2006, and Kane #1 in 2007 and that was the core of their team. Those were great draft years for leadership players. Kings best chance to build through the draft came in 07 (4th overall) 08 (2nd overall) 09 (5th overall). We all know they blew the 07 pick with Hickey, got a great Dman in Doughty, and then got Schenn who in turn brought the Kings Mike Richards. Had the 07 draft been deeper maybe Kings would be in a better spot now.
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Michael J. Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:26 am
@Sebastian,
I don’t believe that comparing the Kings with Pit and Chi is an “apples to apples” type of thing either. Had the kings had a tiny bit if luck in the 08 lottery they have Stamkos rather than Doughty. The makeup of the team would be entirely different, wouldn’t it?
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nykingfan Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
@Michael J.,
I’m not sure we would be better with Stamkos than DD. For all that Stamkos brings, they’re aiming for the #1 pick again in the draft.
To me what DD does as far as playing agasint the top lines as well as PP/Pk time, he’s a more valuable asset.
Michael J. Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
@nykingfan,
Interesting thought about who would be a more valuable asset. Nevertheless, having Stamkos up front with the Kings might help that goals per game thing that everyone is talking about.
AZ King Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:38 am
@Sebastian,
You’re talking about Thomas Hickey, the guy that leads the Monarchs in +/-, is tied for 2nd in PP goals, is 4th in SOG, and was selected to the AHL All-Star team? You know that he’s been injured almost his entire pro career right, and that this is pretty much his first full season in the pros, and you’re already calling him a waste….?
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TeamJMFJ Reply:
January 28th, 2012 at 1:55 am
@AZ King, +1
yetiman_oc Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
@Sebastian, Coulda shoulda woulda…that’s what losing organizations say. Kings were plenty pitiful enough to be getting good draft picks all along. Sometimes multiple first round picks in the same year. I heard this year we finally had that elite core yet here we are debating 3rd or 9th with a team that can’t score more than 1-2 goals a game consistently. the gm brings in is players with injury history, questionable work ethics or ties to his days in other organizations to bethe supporting cast. IMO the kings are far off from being an elite team.
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KC23 Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
@Sebastian, With Dmen (Hickey) you can’t conclude anything was blown just yet, they nearly always mature at 25 or older. Considering the way Hickey looked in pre-seasona and what he is doing this year I think you are a bit pre-mature in calling Hickey a blown pick. My guess is Hickey will be in the NHL next year and definely no later than the following year.
Greene, Scudes and Mitchell’s contract are all almost up. Doubt we’ll be keeping all of them and maybe none of them, so we’ll be glad soon enough that we have the depth at defense that we do.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:20 am
@yetiman_oc, I think he’s talking about those being the only variables out of your control, whereas what you can control is how you play.
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yetiman_oc Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, I see what you are saying but I read it like if I was a player I could point to our travel schedule or bad calls to justify the losses. Just seems like you don’t hearthe elite teams coaches/gms talking this way.
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Choralone Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
@yetiman_oc, Well, Sutter starts out by saying it’s what every team has to deal with – which invalidates it as an excuse. Players would have to deliberately misunderstand what he’s saying to take it the way you are describing.
Here is some articles that some Kingsfans posted on Quisps site. This one is on Tifolli, and gives some praise to his current progress.
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/44412-The-Hot-List-Tough-on-Toffoli.html
This one is on the Kings shooting percentage, and projected scoring based on league average.
http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1238
Really interesting stuff! So Enjoy!
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jess Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
@Dominick, Good stuff man! Thanks
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bbb7 Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
@Dominick, Cool reads, thanks for posting them. Helps me get a hockey fix during these dry days…
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Check out this video I stumbled on. Staring Kopi, Richards, doughty and greener
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3a0df2b036/the-fame-makers-with-the-los-angeles-kings
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Dominick Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 11:52 am
@KingEleven, Usually the “tongue and cheek” sruff ends up extremely “cheeky”, but that was extremely fun to watch. It was “cheeky”, but in a good way.
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