The Kings have had plenty of scoreless periods this season, but in most of them, they’ve at least been competitive and interesting. That’s what made the second period of last night’s game so stark. After a scoreless first period, but one in which the Kings mostly controlled the pace and, arguably, didn’t give the Panthers a single quality scoring chance, the Kings all but went in the tank in the second period. Florida scored twice, on two nice individual efforts, but the Kings offered nothing in return. They recorded only three shots on goal and had more shots blocked (five) than they had reach the net. Dissatisfied with the overall effort, coach Darryl Sutter pulled goalie Jonathan Quick in favor of Jonathan Bernier, and made a series of third-period line-combination changes that would even make Terry Murray’s head spin. It wasn’t enough, as the Kings fell to 1-3-0 on the road trip. What was the key aspect of the Kings’ 2-0 loss to the Florida Panthers? I present three options at the link below, and you can vote for your choice…
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For those who enjoy the traditional game recap, it can be found by clicking here.
Not having Zus and Smyth is a huge whole and it is a big reason why our team is what it is. Can you imagine Zus playing wing on Richards line with Smyth on the other wing in front of the net!! I don’t care what you nay sayers say about Zus, the guy was a player and got stuff done and should have been re-signed (DL mistake #472) instead of paying millions to Gagne (DL mistake #498) who is made of glass and was destined from the start to go on IR. We had Smyth for another year and DL lets the lying home sick baby walk for nothing in return (DL mistake #480). Penners salary should have been dumped, waived or traded and that money should have been spent on Smyth’s contract that he agreed to!!!
Bad moves DL our team was so close and solid last year. Just keeping what we had last year (minus Penner & Simmons) and adding Richards + a healthy Kopitar would have taken this team far. DL You have taken us backwards I am sickend to say.
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puck73 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 8:26 am
@King Cobra, Yep.
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Shaibou Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 8:29 am
@King Cobra, Do you think that DL can handle the truth?
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Jgomez Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 8:32 am
@King Cobra, It is terrible when our big free agent signing is an old Gagne. We have to blame the losing stench in LA too. Good players never want to sign here, all of them have to be forced(traded) here and it sucks!
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Lake Forest Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 8:36 am
@King Cobra, Love how our hindsight is 20/20.
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King Cobra Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 8:40 am
@Lake Forest, I was saying all this last year.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, just add to it. Heard that one before?
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Lake Forest Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 8:54 am
@King Cobra, i hear you my friend. but we all knew that it wasn’t particularly DL that wanted Smyth out, it was Smyth who didnt want to be with the kings. I respect the guy, but if all this non-sense of him going to ANOTHER team and not sticking with the Oils, he can practice sucking a golf ball thru a garden hose for all i care.
So then, if all we need is a Zus/Smyth type player, then we really don’t need much. Get a guy that crashes the net and BOOM, division title is ours. We are in 7th place and 30th place in scoring. Heck if we moved up to 20 place in scoring we would be pretty much unstoppable. I still believe we have little tweeks to make to our players/system, not dumping everyone including management.
DEH Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:00 am
@King Cobra, indeed we traded away/let go our players with the best shooting percentages. All of our finishers are either on other teams or injured, aside for kopitar he carrying the offense now.
TD Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 8:46 am
@King Cobra, You make solid points about Zus and Smyth because I do believe a lack of scoring goes to how unskilled we are on playing in front of the goalie, one skill both Smyth and Zus are very good at. However, it’s not a step back becuase those guys careers are coming to a hault fast, and the Kings were looking for a top 6 forward and took a chance on Gagne. It doesn’t always work out and I’m not letting DL off the hook completely for signing Gagne, but he is proven to be a scorer, and unfortuantely injured. It is a risk and seeing who’s out there, not much.
I honestly believe this team will come around and be in it to the end for the division title. I also believe they have a good chance of making it past the first round, and face it, it can’t be any worse than the previous two first round exits.
I still like this team going forward. I believe our expectations for this year were a little pre-mature and the next five years are going to be fun in LA.
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Danny ingamells Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:23 am
@King Cobra, hey king…penner, stoll and richards do not have any chemistry. All three I am hoping to be gone at deadline. Oh you can’t get something for nothing. The kings need a dave tippet for coach. nobody of any value wants to playhere, andone player that is is not worth the investment. Dino should of stuck to his guns and not traded anyone. Now the kings are weakened. Xont give me out of the gate in the beginning eather. The kings had the flounder look early with gagne and pennerboth. The kings shuld move to kansas city and we should all become duckie fans.
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fsd1 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:40 am
@Danny ingamells, Keep drinking my friend…….
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Lake Forest Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:41 am
@fsd1, radiator fluid………..please danny
King Cobra Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
@Danny ingamells, Richards is my favorite player and he is a plus for our team. I am stoked we have him. He needs players to play with, it is that simple…
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jason Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:28 am
@King Cobra, i think losing schenn and simmons was bigger
simmons- 17 goals, 15 assists in 54 games (out performing brown)
schenn- 6 goals and 3 assists in 25 games
smyth 16 goals
handzus 6 goals
I would rather have those 4 right now than what we have
stoll 5 goals
penner 5 goals
loktionov 0 goals
lewis 2 goals
hunter 2 goals
time to make a change, although while lewis, loktionov and richardson arnet producing, i wouldnt trade those three. They were starting to have real good chemistry until clifford replaced richardson
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King Cobra Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
@jason, If Simmons was still on our team he would not have 17 goals. Schenn did nothing really when he was here. If Richards was still on the Flyers playing on that line he would have more than 17 goals. I think he has like 15 with us and missed a month with injury and also has had to play with worthless line mates.
The Richards trade was one of the best things DL ever did.
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Gmo Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 10:17 am
@King Cobra,
Great points
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These forwards have either forgotten how to take the puck to the middle of the offensive zone or have been praised so much for their “forecheck” that they think they’re doing it right and coming up short because of luck.
Watch the tape. They make passes to the middle or take shots from the outside, but no one is making the opposition’s defense break down by forcing the play right in front of the goalie.
It is hard to watch.
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Jgomez Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 8:37 am
@Catcherman, Very true. The ‘point shot’ needs to take a back seat because this lack of creativity is unbelievable! Find us our Ziggy Palffy for goodness sakes!
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2 Keys…We didnt score 3 goals…..We didnt score first…..Slogan for next year…”The time is now….for a new direction”
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We are deep into the fifth year of Lombardi’s 5 year plan and look where we are.
The only real positive is we now have trading chips in the minors and can use those to get available players NOW.
Doan, Carter, Nash are all available. Iginla too.
If I was GM, I’d lock up Quick for four more years, trade Bernier for one of those four and promote one of our good goalies from down below.
How can DL not see that Stoll and Penner are through? Jeez, Simmonds has 16 goals this year and Schenn just scored a big one last night. We need scoring. I’m so sick and tired of being sick and tired of watching the Kings play a style of hockey where if we go down 2-0, it’s all over. How can we beat the Vancouvers/Detroits of the world with that style?
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bmova Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 8:57 am
@carol vadnais, We’ve beaten Vancouver twice this year!
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I didn’t watch the first period. I was at work. But I did watch the 2nd and the 3rd.
What a snooze fest. I was bored to tears. Is Kings hockey turning into basketball? The game is not decided until the last minute?
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Drew Doughty on KROQ right now.
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Stuart Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:05 am
@Howe 9, was there a lot of “obviously” and “at the end of the day” heard?
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PP Anybody? Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:12 am
@Stuart, Obviously.
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Howe 9 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:20 am
@Howe 9,
Obviously there was. But at the end of the day it is what it is.
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Stuart Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:23 am
@Howe 9, that sounds like it sums up the interview… LOL
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Once the Panthers went up 2-0, I turned the game off because I could tell the Kings wouldn’t score more than a goal. Their games are painfully boring.
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Our regular failures come down to two simple things:
1. Failure to crash the net
2. failure to score on the PP
A switch to a new offensive coordinator/coach will go a long way to correct these two problems. My main concern is this – is part of the problem with #1 that our players don’t have the willingness to make the sacrifice necessary to go to the net? I think King Cobra made some vaild points in his post above – Zus and Smyth were always going to or at the net – they put in about 30 goals between them last season, and those were all from within 2-3 feet of the net. Penner should filled that void, but the pancake pansy couldn’t fill Zus or Smytty’s jockstrap. Maybe Smytty wanted to leave because he could see where this team was going as the season came to an end last year?
We still have way more positives than negatives. We have incredible goaltending which always one of the hardest things to find and keep. We have an incredible defense, which many say it is harder to teach and convince players to play defense over offense.
I still feel we are only a couple of players (wingers) and a good offense coach away from becoming an elite team and going all of the way. Even with our offense being so poor, we are still in a good potential play-off spot. The changes I suggested are just what we need to take us to that next level. We have a plethora of defensive talent, which we should probably use to bring in the offensive players we need to balance the equation. GKG!!!
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LA_1968 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:47 am
@DesertKing, I just don’t see a coach turning Penner into anything good. He takes too many nights off and it’s not going to change. Then you have Stoll playing out of position at the wing. He says he played wing for two games in his life before this year. Both these guys are third liners. Stoll could be a second liner with some talent on wings but when you have Kopi and Richards he is a third line center. Without two quality second line wingers we just have a huge hole. Even if we get one new winger the line will still be like a three legged horse. So I’d rather keep Bernier and have a two legged horse. In the offseason there’s a chance to get two wingers. Right now we could get one at a high price. Stand pat AEG and DL. AEG needs to tell DL to not trade away assets to try to save his job right now. He could cripple us in the future by trying to make something happen at the trade deadline.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:56 am
@LA_1968,
Makes sense. I would keep JB also, and maybe try to swing a deal with some of defensemen which we are fortunate to have in both depth and quality.
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 11:32 am
@DesertKing, DK, PANCAKE PANSY, now that was funny, sad and very true, but very funny, I’ll even say that was CLASSIC.
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I’m beinging to believe that it doesn’t matter who we have on our team or who coaches because the team is cursed!
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LAK1ngs Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
@david, The curse you speak of is Jamie Kompon and his system.
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How is it that Nashville and STL are doing so well right now??? Both can realistically challenge Detroit for top spot in the Central/West.
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PP Anybody? Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:10 am
@bmova, Well, Hitchcock had this to say: “Positions don’t matter. Once we force the turnover, we cease to be position players. The guy closest to the puck is 1, the next is 2, then 3 and 4 — whether they’re forwards or defensemen. It’s risky because the D can get caught up ice. But when it works, we can create odd-man rushes from turnovers.”
Risks are something the Kings aren’t allowed to take. The Kings don’t use their team as a five man unit. The Kings play as a 3 man forward group, and as a two man pair on defense. Kings don’t trust their D to work as forwards, and don’t trust their forwards to work as defenders. True balance on offense and defense comes from playing as a FIVE MAN UNIT, being interchangeable.
The Kings will never succeed in this new era of the NHL with their outdated defensive philosophy.
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Stuart Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:14 am
@PP Anybody?, I would even take that a step further and say the Kings play a 3 man D group and a 2 man forward group…
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PP Anybody? Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:58 am
@Stuart, Yeah, you’re right
which makes it all the worse.
Other: Not involving the D in the offensive zone until the last two minutes of the game. They keep doing the same thing over and over again. Every time they allow DD or JJ to get involved in the attack at the last minute, they seem to score. So, why can’t they get it through their heads that it’s actually okay to let them get involved in the play all game long? This team might actually get out of it’s scoring doldrums if they did.
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I think that Sutter needs to demote Kopitar and the ones in the first line to the second line or third line. Pulling Quick was not an effective to make last night. He is not to blame for the Kings poor offense. Like I said before it is time for the Kings forwards and centers to own up to their mistakes and do something about them. Otherwise the Kings playoff push will become a push to prepare for next season. I agree with everyone who says that if the Kings do not make the playoffs this year DL should be fired.
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nykingfan Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:19 am
@Cesar A,
Which one of our other disgusting 3 centers should be “promoted” to the top line:
Richards and his incredible offensive output
Stoll and his goal scoring prowess and non existent playmaking ability
Lokti and his defensive defensman’s offensive numbers
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Weasel Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:34 am
@Cesar A,
I think pulling Quick was meant to embarass the team not a comment on Quick himself.
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NB22 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 11:48 am
@Cesar A,
you are joking, right? The first line is the only consistent line. You would put Richards (who latelly sucks) or Loktionov (who has 0 goals this season!) on the FIRST LINE?
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For the love of God Dean, please make a trade.
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nykingfan Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:20 am
@Bean32,
He did that last year and we were all thrilled at the time to get Penner.
I’ll pass this time around!
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Someone posted in a prior thread that the Kings don’t get respect from the league and non-Kings fans…last night’s game is a prime example of why.
And I still think that the Kings look like they’re going to have a tougher time trying to hang on to a playoff spot than the Quacks are going to have in trying to move into one. I know it’s blasphemy, but the Kings are playing with no fire while the Quacks are actually scoring goals.
The only consolation is that San Jose isn’t running away with the division, so there’s an outside chance that the Kings might get past them, but right now, I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
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bbb7 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 10:48 am
@vplaza, By the end of their 8-game road trip the Ducks season will be over.
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vplaza Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
@bbb7,
I want to wish that, but they’re scoring goals and winning games. I hate the Quacks as much as the next Kings fan, but don’t let that cloud the reality that they are playing with fire recently compared to the Kings, who are holding on for dear life.
Looking at Jan-Feb so far, the Kings are 7-5-4 for 18 points. The Quacks are 11-3-2 for 24 points.
So, while I want to say that the Quacks have no chance, I think they’re playing with the desire to make the playoffs. The Kings are playing with little to no desire.
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Was at both Florida games…what a difference. The Tampa game the boys came out flying. The Florida game even though they dominated the 1st they looked flat. My biggest highlight was meeting The Hammer live in person! Sorry I couldn’t bring them more luck in sunrise.
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It just does not matter who is on the team. Lethargy is pervasive as is indicated by the 2nd and 3rd periods last night. There seemed to be little motivatiion to win. This road trip was supposed to be a panacea for the team’s woes. Instead, it is more of the same.Why no screening??? Why no crashing the net?? Shots from the point are easily blocked but those that are up close and personal are more difficult to deal with. How about forgetting “defense first” and let the guys play hockey? The’ve done it all their lives. The most discouraging is that the Quacks seem to be able to win games and will soon pass the Kings, go to the playoffs while the Kings go golfing. And soon I will be getting stuff in the mail asking me to renew my seats..for what..to see this abominatiion of hockey once again? If the Kings don’t make the playoffs this year, and go into the second round, next year will say goodbye to sold out crowds and Staples will look like the Honda Centre.empty seats.How can a team do well when all the coaches are defensive coaches and no one knows how to create an offense?? And Kompon still has a job? To whom is he relatred or, in the alternative, has the goods on? At least when I watch the game from home, I can change the channel. When I am in my seat at Staples, having left home at 5:15 for a 7:30 game, spent 20 $$$ for parking an even more for food I am stuck and get antsy. I love hocke, have wayched it for most of my life and have had the same lower bowl seats since Staples opened..will miss it if I do not renew but there is a limit to how much self-flagellation I can endure
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That 2nd period was something every coach should show their team in a “what not to do” video session
No puck possession. Poor passing in the D’zone and neutral zone. No hitting.
Poor coverage in the D zone by the forwards…particularly Penner.
I won’t blame Sutter for what’s going on right now, but I don’t see much of a difference between what he’s doing and wht TM did.
I know you all screamed for TM’s head, but I was afraid that this is how it would turn out.
We need to stop blaming the coach/GM/Kompon, etc and lay the blame where it belongs…The PLAYERS.
If you’re not going to get a consisent effort from your top 6 forwards, you can’t expect to win.
This has been going on for too long now. We can’t use the Gagne injury as an excuse because prior to his concussion, he wasn’t playing very well.
I will never be able to understand what goes thru a guy like Penner’s head.
when he wants to play, he’s very good and effective. When he doesn’t, he might very well be one of the worst players I have ever seen in my 40+ years of watching hockey. He plays with no passion, no desire, no heart. How does he look at his teammates after a game like last night knowing he did nothing to help them? Another question might be why hasn’t the leadership of the group taken him aside and let him know what he’s doing is unacceptable. Maybe they have..those type of things stay behind the locker room walls, but if so, he sure hasn’t taken their advice to heart.
He needs to be jettisoned somewhere before the deadline. You just know you can’t count on him when you need him most. Again, I’m not talking about lack of production, but lack of something else..Whatever that may be.
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LA_1968 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:54 am
@nykingfan, About the second period… it was just amazing to see the Kings dominate the first period, then just glide in the 2nd. Forget the two goals allowed, the rest of it was night and day from the first period. Obviously the change was an effort thing by the players. As for the rest of your post about Penner and the top 6, you’re on the same page as what I say a few posts down.
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PP Anybody? Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 10:02 am
@nykingfan, I would argue that consistency is not something the Kings players lack. They consistently don’t score, they consistently continue to play an incredibly conservative brand of hockey, and they consistently bore many of us to death.
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nykingfan Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
@PP Anybody?,
I could live with the boredom if we were winning!
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Michael J. Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 10:14 am
@nykingfan,
Thank you. I totally agree with your statement saying that it is the players who are responsible for wins and losses.
Although TM had many flaws, his demise was at the hands of many players whom have neither the talent nor consistent effort that is required to consistently win at this level. The Kings have some good players, but they don’t show all that much fire and desperation to win. they have some real hustlers who give a ton of effort, but these guys don’t have the talent to produce many goals.
The success or failure of the Kings balances on the performances of 11, 23, 3, 8, 10, 28 & 25. Most of the rest of the team is consistent and we know what we’re going to get from them. The guys I mentioned are the ones who have to make it happen.
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Ugly, just plain ugly. Could there be a deeply rooted chemistry problem somewhere in the locker room?
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for all the doughty haters i’m going to gamble and say he finishes 3rd in kings scoring ahead of richards and brown. props to him if he does and shame to dean. hes already within a few points of richards and brown.
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Weasel Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
@jason,
why would that also be shame to dean?
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The Kings never play 60 minutes. Usually 40. Whether it’s them not starting to play until the 2nd period, or only play for the first 2, or like last night… It’s never a full game.
Anyone who thinks the Kings are going to make a big move and bring in a scorer at the deadline is about as delusional as Dustin Penner at a breakfast buffet.
Brown, Kopitar, Richards, Johnson, Doughty and Quick are all staying put.
Johnson would be the first to go if any of them, but I doubt he will.
But no one in the league wants any other player the Kings have.
I’m starting to look at the season for what it really is. Let’s say they crawl in to the playoffs at either the 7th or 8th seed. They’re going to get blown away from whoever is the #1 or #2 seed. They don’t have any firepower to compete with elite teams and they certainly don’t play as a team to compensate for the lack of skilled players. There is zero chemistry among all 4 lines. They can’t make passes in the neutral zone, let alone the offensive zone.
They get it low and look immediately to throw it to the point where a defenceman is waiting to take a slap shot with no one in front of the net.
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vplaza Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:50 am
@California Royalty,
And while it looks like the Sharks are giving the Kings some glimmer of hope by only being 2 points ahead in the division, the Sharks have played four fewer games than the Kings, so might as well scratch that chance off the board. The only way this team makes the playoffs is to squeak in with the 8th spot, which means one and done again.
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California Royalty Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 10:15 am
@vplaza, I know. I’ve been following the games in hand thing for months. They’ve had atleast 3 games in hand on the Kings seriously since like November. I’ve never seen anything like it.
On the plus side, both teams play their final game of the season on the last day of the regular season. So at some point, the sharks catch up to them.
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The King’s shouldn’t make a move at the Deadline. Would it really get the team any further in the playoffs? There’s no magic bullet. Go with what we’ve got – maybe we get lucky and catch fire. Wait for the offseason to retool.
Despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, the Kings are still in the middle of the pack. Yeah, it’s a downer compared to when people were talking about us as a darkhorse Stanley Cup team, but take away the wild expectations and it could be a lot worse. Look at Anaheim this year, for instance.
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Niko Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:45 am
@Choralone,
Agreed. There isn’t a single move available that would get the Kings past the Wings or Bruins in the playoffs. Why mortgage our future to possibly advance 1 round further? These “wild expectations” have caused most to overreact, hopefully DL keeps a cool head about him.
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vplaza Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:45 am
@Choralone,
Agree that the Kings shouldn’t make a move to try and squeak into the playoffs and get bounced in the first round.
But don’t completely agree that Anaheim is worse right now. They’re only 12 points behind the Kings having played two fewer games than the Kings. They’re actually trending up with a decent 7-2-1 record in their last ten games, while the Kings are stagnant at 4-4-2. I’d almost lay money out that the Kings finish below the Quacks by the end of the season looking at how both teams are playing, one with fire and one without. And I hate the Quacks with a passion.
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BREAKING NEWS
Jordan Nolan on his way up to the big club. Hallelujah. Savior.
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fsd1 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:43 am
@Kingo, Heard where?
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Niko Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:46 am
@Kingo, Another Center? So Lokti down?
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Stuart Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:47 am
@Niko, don’t worry about that, he’ll play out of position.
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Stuart Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:47 am
@Kingo, hopefully his excitement will carry over to the other slumping, unispired, professionals…
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Why does it seem like The Kings organiztion is a graveyard for hockey talent? For GM’s to coaches and the players. Forwards that come in from other teams start off FANTASTIC. Then by the middle or the end of the season we all want them traded or sent packing. Young players with SCORING talent get shipped out and turn into VERY productive assests for other hockey teams.
I don’t get it? I think Everyone including myself was looking forward to last nights game. The playoff race combined with the Idea that there might be some kind of physical altercations between two teams with some history was very exciting. Then The puck dropped and it only took about 5 to 10 minutes for me to see that this was going to be “ONE OF THOSE GAMES”.
The kinda KING game where everything thing we thought was going to happen DIDN”T! No passion no pride no fighting NOTHING!!! They faked it a lil bit in the first. The they went silent. Just like many games before. Not even a FRICKEN scrum or a face wash for the guy who injured one of our best players!! NADA! Maybe two solid hits the whole game?? The graveyard is calling…..
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Stuart Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 10:17 am
@ILLEGALSTICK33, I don’t even know what to say other than I agree…
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This road trip was the easy one against very beatable opponets. It’s only going to get harder as the season grinds to an end. I hope the Kings have it in them to finish strong and secure a playoff spot, but looking at our remaining schedule, it’s not going to be easy at all. IMO, DL needs to get us some help scoring to have a realistic chance.
Sat Feb 11, 2012 Kings Islanders
Sun Feb 12, 2012 Kings Stars
Thu Feb 16, 2012 Coyotes Kings
Sat Feb 18, 2012 Flames Kings
Tue Feb 21, 2012 Kings Coyotes
Wed Feb 22, 2012 Kings Avalanche
Sat Feb 25, 2012 Blackhawks Kings
Mon Feb 27, 2012 Kings Predators
Tue Feb 28, 2012 Kings Wild
March 2012
Sat Mar 3, 2012 Ducks Kings
Tue Mar 6, 2012 Kings Predators
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Thu Mar 8, 2012 Kings Blue Jackets
Fri Mar 9, 2012 Kings Red Wings
Sun Mar 11, 2012 Kings Blackhawks
Tue Mar 13, 2012 Red Wings Kings
Fri Mar 16, 2012 Kings Ducks
Sat Mar 17, 2012 Predators Kings
Tue Mar 20, 2012 Sharks Kings
Thu Mar 22, 2012 Blues Kings
Sat Mar 24, 2012 Bruins Kings
Mon Mar 26, 2012 Kings Canucks
Wed Mar 28, 2012 Kings Flames
Fri Mar 30, 2012 Kings Oilers
Sat Mar 31, 2012 Kings Wild
April 2012
Mon Apr 2, 2012 Oilers Kings
Thu Apr 5, 2012 Sharks Kings
Sat Apr 7, 2012 Kings Sharks
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I seem to always vote “other” in Rich’s polls. It’s not a matter of which period was worse in this game than in others. It’s that they do not sustain their effort for three periods like a real winner does.They seem to do worst against backup goalies Too often everything is the opposite of what it should be. On many King power plays, it looks like the other team is on the power play. It’s been said a zillion times, but the only consistent good thing they have is Quick, and that isn’t enough.
I read a very in-depth profile of Philip Anschutz recently. He isn’t cheap in the miserly way; he spends a lot of money to make money, but he’s careful. The trouble is that the big profits are in n all his arenas and other real-estate and entertainment ventures, not in what an individual team like the Kings does. He’s filthy rich with all his other businesses even if he didn’t own a single arena or team. It’s a two-way puzzle. He’s so rich that whether the Kings win the Stanley Cup or lose every game doesn’t affect him. On the other hand, you’d think an owner with so much money would toss a few million (play money to him_ into pepping up a major-sport team that plays in Staples.
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number 6 Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 10:52 am
@Royal Throne,
they’re spending near the salary cap…… though they would do well to up the quotient significantly on their scouting which has been ok… but certainly not what I’d call outstanding.
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Other: travel and too much practice.
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