Some notes from last night’s game…
– The Kings allowed three first-period goals and couldn’t rally, as the lost to the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 on Wednesday night at Pepsi Center.
– The Kings have a 2-6-2 record in their last 10 games.
– The Avalanche completed a sweep of the four-game season series against the Kings, as they went 4-0-0, with one of the wins coming in a shootout. The Avalanche outscored the Kings by a combined margin of 12-5. The Kings swept the Avalanche last season.
– This is the first time this season that the Kings have allowed four goals in consecutive games. Before Tuesday’s game at Phoenix, the Kings had allowed more than three regulation/overtime goals in only six of their first 59 games.
– The Kings outshot the Avalanche 33-27, including 14-11 in the second period.
– The Kings went 0-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. The Kings are 2-for-20 on the power play in their last eight games.
– The Kings fell to 12-9-8 on the road, 7-18-6 when allowing the first goal, 2-9-4 when trailing after the first period and 1-19-3 when trailing after the second period.
– The Kings have scored fewer than two goals in 25 of 61 games this season, and have a 3-15-7 record in those games.
– The Kings completed their 11th set of back-to-back games this season (four more remain). The Kings have a 3-4-4 record in the second game.
– Jonathan Quick stopped 8 of 11 shots in the first period, then was pulled in favor of Jonathan Bernier, who stopped 15 of 16 shots in the final two periods. It was the third time, in 52 starts this season, that Quick was pulled from a game. Quick has now allowed seven goals in his last three periods. He had allowed a total of six goals in his previous 13 periods.
– Dustin Brown scored the Kings’ goal, for his 15th goal and 32nd point of the season. Brown has two goals and one assist in his last two games.
– Drew Doughty had an assist, for his 21st assist and 27th point of the season. Doughty has a goal in each of his last two games.
– Mike Richards had an assist, for his 17th assist and 31st point of the season. Richards has three assists in his last two games.
– Dustin Brown recorded a team-high six shots on goal. Jack Johnson and Jordan Nolan each were credited with a team-high three hits. Willie Mitchell and Rob Scuderi each were credited with a team-high three blocked shots.
– Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time, at 22 minutes, 56 seconds, followed by Willie Mitchell, at 22:50. Anze Kopitar led all Kings forwards in ice time, at 20:51, followed by Mike Richards, at 20:19.
– The Kings won 22 of 42 faceoffs (52 percent). Mike Richards won 9 of 16 draws (56 percent). Jarret Stoll won 3 of 11 draws (27 percent). Colin Fraser won 5 of 5 draws (100 percent).
bring back Slava!
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Cruiznblue Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:20 am
@tornado12,
+1
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Gail Weber Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:27 am
@tornado12, Right on yes please do, right away we need him
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Rich, can you please tell me what the lines were to start last nights game? I don’t think they were the lines that you posted before the start…
Thanks.
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Dominick Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:23 am
@Stuart,
Even strength % on line combos
Williams-Richards-Kopi 18.3%
King-Stoll-Brown 17.54%
Richardson-Lewis-Lokti 11.7%
Clifford-Fraser-Nolan 6.43%
A lot of mix and match combos after that with 21 different foward lines combos.
Defensive combos at even strength
JJ-Mitchell 35.67%
Scuds-DD 35.09%
Greener-A-Mart 20.47%
3 different combos after that.
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Stuart Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:35 am
@Dominick, those were the ones Dom, thank you…
I really like that 2nd line, just wish it were our 3rd. Maybe sit Fraser, play DP with JW and MR and see what KC-AK-JN can muster???
just seems that 2nd line can crash/bang and possibly score some goals. Kinger had chances, DB can score without anyone assisting him (I’ve seen it happen before) and Stoll just might be spazmadic enough to play with DB and keep the pace…
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Thanks for the reminder…
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What a bunch of losers. Learn to win already.
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We are having difficult times, so it’s time to support our beloved team!
It’s easy to support them when they win, but they need your support when they lose also!
GO KINGS GO!!!
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:23 am
@Csaba Bhody, Thank you. All this doom and gloom is depressing. It is depressing enough to watch but then to come here.
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tornado12 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:27 am
@Jeff_R, but we come coming back for more! the definition of an addiction.
from wikipedia
Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity despite the negative consequences associated with it. Pleasure, enjoyment or relief from actual or perceived ailments would have originally been sought; however, over a period of time involvement with the substance or activity is needed to feel normal.Some psychology professionals and many laypeople now mean ‘addiction’ to include abnormal psychological dependency on such things as gambling, video games, food, sex, pornography, computers, internet, work, exercise, adrenaline, idolizing, watching TV or certain types of non-pornographic videos, spiritual obsession, self-injury and shopping.
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ILLEGALSTICK33 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:59 am
@tornado12, I don’t understand why everyone is feeling so down. The season is almost over and “nodody has died” Sheeeeez!
OldKingsFan Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:15 pm
@Csaba Bhody, And when is the last time we won anything? How many division titles, conference titles, I think we support the losers quite well.
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Mike in Oregon Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:32 pm
@Csaba Bhody,
Amen. I know how OldKingsFan feels but this team still better than MANY, MANY Kings teams of the past. People should be used to this and just love on the brothas! On paper, this is a great team. Who knows what is missing. Maybe one piece and we’re off. At least up until the last few games, the defense was playoff winning quality. Offense is easier to tweak than this assuming they can recapture. Anyway, what you want? We’re over .500! It’s the LA Kings for crying out loud. This is our albatross to bear. Think Red Sox! Good post.
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Wow.
Gee, I’m glad at Staples I paid for Kings shoot twice seats so I can see miss after miss up close for two periods and then get a email from the team about next season indicating a raise in ticket prices. The best thing about the last two home games was on Saturday when we got the free McFlurry coupons; I guess they’re getting a backlog on them and needed to make some space.
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trytodethroneus Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:16 am
@Maury,
They used to give out Krispy Kreme free half dozen coupons if the score after the period
was 0-0. Much less risk now to have it for anything related to scoring a goal.
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Maury Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:20 pm
@trytodethroneus, Very true.
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Did Doughty score or did Brown score?
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Sebastian Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:12 am
@FKA PakiFro, i thought it was doughty, only heard that part on the radio cause every other station was in commerical, but im guessing they changed it, the offical box score says Brown tipped it in.
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Stuart Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:36 am
@Sebastian, at the super slo-mo speed, you can see DB’s stick flutter when the puck got to him, he def got the tip.
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Cruiznblue Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:21 am
@FKA PakiFro,
Brown got the goal.
Richards & Doughty w/ the assists.
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PLAYER MOTIVATION 2012:
29 NHL GMs to their underperforming Players:
“I need a lot more form you, and I need it right now.
Otherwise – you’re off to LA!”
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:30 am
@IceGuy, At least there underperforming players aren’t as bad as our underperforming players so it might just work out for L.A.
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Michael J. Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:33 am
@IceGuy,
Ha! My dad once threatened to traansfer a guy to Tulsa. The guy really picked it up after that meeting. True story.
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Mike in Oregon Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:33 pm
@IceGuy, Hilarious. Probably true, too.
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Other stats. Trevor Lewis recorded team high -3 in the first period. Richardson and Lewis were -6 combined. Thank you for that.
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trytodethroneus Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:20 am
@goldielocks,
Clifford would have been there with them if he hadn’t got benched.
He played 8 min, while the other two got 12 min
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:29 am
@goldielocks,
Lewis and Richardson should have been packaged in a deal for something of value before this season started as they have now proven beyond all reasonable doubt they do not have the skills to play even 4th line hockey in the NHL. My apologies to everyone who really wanted these guys to get their shot at the beginning of the season, but they’ve had their shot, they got their cup of coffee, and now I’m over it. We can’t even trade them now.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:40 am
@40YearKingsFan, Lewis and Richardson are basically the same player. Both are good at what they do, provide speed score a little and play pk. They should not both be on the team, but since they are they should not be on the same line. They just aren’t big enough, stong enough to fend off the other teams forwards, especially teamed up with Lokti. They need to be separated. Lokti would be a lot better off with King and Nolan as his wingers as they would open up space for him and he can pas the puck to one at the net and score or he can score on his own. That would be a lot better line. Richie and Lewis should be either on the 1st, 2nd or 4th line. They have shown to be more effective on the first 2 lines. Course after the deadline and trades are made things will be different.
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KingsFletch Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:59 am
@Jeff_R, You want Lewis or Richardson as top 6 forwards? lol that’s insane. I’d rather see us call up a guy with some potential than see these two losers out on the ice ever again. We’ve seen what they’re capable of, Lewis is a total bust and Richardson is a fringe NHL talent. Both guys belong in the press box or in the minors. This team is lacking such talent at the bottom 6 forward position (minus Lokti) it’s an embarrassment. Gagne needs to either come back or retire so we can move on, Loser Lewis needs to be moved on from and we need to become HUGE SELLERS at the deadline. Clean house, get picks and younger guys cuz it’s back to square one with this bunch. DL has failed and needs to be replaced, along with his old-school, defense first, play like scared little pansies in the offensive zone mentality. So pathetic i’m sick of this organization. AEG sucks
EternalOptimist Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:44 am
@goldielocks,
I’m sorry, but cherry picking stats from one game and pointing out guys who have been playing their hearts just isn’t right. On the goals that were scored last night, I don’t recall Lewis/Richardson directly turning over the puck or missing their assignments that were the cause.
It’s the “core” guys (besides Quick) who are flat out not bringing their “A” game for 60 mins which is the problem.
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Stuart Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:47 am
@EternalOptimist, maybe our “core” is rotten…
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EternalOptimist Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:57 am
@Stuart,
We’ll find out how they respond in the next 20 games. If not, I expect to see major changes this offseason. IMO, Quick is the only untouchable.
goldielocks Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:55 am
@EternalOptimist,
I’ve been calling those two guys out consistently like for 2 weeks now. So I’m not cherry picking. They have had done anything offensicely and been doing the worst job in their own zone as well. They can’t even do the simple job like clearing the puck from D-zone. Watch your DVR and tell me I’m wrong.
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EternalOptimist Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:04 pm
@goldielocks,
Well, for the recent games that I have watched, I have always noticed consistent hard work from these guys. Haven’t noticed any glaring mistakes that directly lead to goals. Do you have concrete evidence beside plus/minus? They are on the 4th line which is normally expected to generate energy and chip in occasionally with a goal (which Lewis had been doing until recently).
The only glaring mistakes of missed assignments and bad clearing attempts the last few games have been from guys named Kopi, Doughty and Johnson.
goldielocks Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:42 pm
@EternalOptimist,
I’m tired of people picking up only the key mistakes players made and accusing it. Sometimes the only one play can be the factor. But when you look at the play they made before that mistake, it had been already developing like 10 seconds back. It’s always the simple play like not clearing the puck from the zone or not getting the puck deep enough. That creates the confusion in our own zone, and the oposing team takes advantage on it, starting the cycle and waiting until someone makes the mistake. You can almost feel when it’s started. If you can’t, you are not watching a whole sequence and movement.
Lewis-Lokti-Richardson line has been the worst(not the line last night) in those area. Lokti is knocked his feet off numerous times along the board because he’s not physically storong enogh. Lewis and Richardson, good hastle but can’t get the puck out of the zone or blowing the defensive coverage consistently, not supporting each other. On top of that, they can’t be any kinds of threat offensively. The puck ends up in the net, and people point out that Quick should have got that one or JJ lost his mark. But the fact is, the problem was placed long before and had been developing as secounds went by. When you see the mistake, rewind your DVR ans see where it started.
I’ve been seeing this kind of simple play caused the disaster. When they can’t get out of their own zone quickly, the confusion starts. And when that happens, it always ends up with the puck in the net or someone takes penalty. It’s been worth lately. And those guys were always in the key situation like this. Coincidence? I think not. I blamed the coach because he used this line alot but lately their TOI has been reduced. So maybe DS’s also seeing the problem. I don’t know. But if he can’t fix this problem soon, our defensive breakdown will continue.
goldielocks Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:51 pm
@EternalOptimist,
opposing, worse … sorry for the typos.
I did not see the game but just watched the highlights. What a sweet pass that Clifford put right on Statsny’s stick. Why couldn’t he do that more often, with his OWN PLAYER!
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Cruiznblue Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:22 am
@mcdangles,
And they said it was an unassisted goal…hardly the case!
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:26 am
@mcdangles, Most likely because his passes never go for goals when it comes to our own players. He wanted to know what it felt like to pass to someone who could score.
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EternalOptimist Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:55 am
@mcdangles,
But notice he was trying to help out his D by back checking in deep to help recover the puck. It shows that he cares which is what this team needs more of.
Don’t give up on him yet… he still has the potential to be an effective SOB, Steve Ott type player that every team needs.
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KingsFletch Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:01 pm
@EternalOptimist, Lol Clifford compared to Steve Ott.. i dont get it.. can’t Ott score goals sometimes too? Clifford will never score more than like 10 in a season, he sucks.
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EternalOptimist Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:09 pm
@KingsFletch,
He’s in his 2nd season and is what 21? Ott was pretty much a banger/agitator when he first started. Don’t let your emotion over the last couple games cloud your judgement. Remember how well he played in the playoffs last year? I’d like to think that is the true Clifford, not the guy from the last few games.
bmova Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:23 pm
@KingsFletch, I think Clifford misses playing with Simmonds.
Is Voynov sent down to the Monarchs? I missed out on this.
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mcdangles Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:23 am
@Christian, YES!
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pr0cess Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:23 am
@Christian, last week i think
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Lake Forest Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:27 am
@Christian, Yes.
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Is anyone else TIRED of seeing JMFJ blow coverage in the D Zone and have it turn into another goal? Well last night we were treated to it twice…… TRADE JMFJ and we wont have to watch Quick get burned so often.
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The only stat that counts… Kings on pace for 88 points… not good enough for the playoffs!
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:28 am
@16,005, Never know this season it just might be good enough. Last I checked I think 91 was where it was, as 8th seed. By April that could go down to 88.
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Gail Weber Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:30 am
@16,005, We the fans will save lots of money then maybe the Kings players want us to save money? Trying to figure it out?
Go Kings Go?
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The game ID# advanced stat info for the last game is 20898
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responsible D Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:00 pm
@Dominick, I’m not familiar with this, how does one use this number to get advanced stats? NHL.com or somewhere else?
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Dominick Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:24 pm
@responsible D, timeonice.com posts them for every game. Everygame has an ID#. Here is a few links to make it a little easier, but check out timeonice’s website to figure it out.
http://www.timeonice.com/H2H1112.html?GameNumber=20838
http://timeonice.com/shots1112.php?gamenumber=20838
The H2H gives the % on who they matched up with, and the shots differentials give the fenwick, and corsi at even strength to tell how shots pan out during that players time on the ice. Hope this helps, and if you need help breaking it down, feel free to ask questions. behindthenet.com is also extremely helpful.
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Dominick Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:44 pm
@responsible D, Should add that to use the link, simply change the part on the link that has the number “20838″, and replace it with the number “20898″ to change the info to the Kings game.
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trade JJ and bring back slava to play with doughty…GET CARTER!!!
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bmova Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:25 pm
@tellmeY, DD and VV are both right-hand shots; you can’t pair them together. DD with Scuds and VV with Mitchell. That’s beside the point. For whatever, I’m still not a fan of trading JJ.
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Brian Engblom nailed it last night when he said last year the Kings were bigger up front with Zeus and Simmonds and could cycle the puck all night long and keep the puck out of our zone. We weren’t exactly a scoring machine, but at least we were able to wear down the other team and score a few more goals.
I think this makes the point that its not always about going out and getting a super star /sniper. Add Richards and subtract Zeus and Simmonds and its really a wash without any wingers to pound the opposition and score goals It didn’t help that Penner was a total bust and Gagne has missed so many games. You couldn’t predict this and the team just doesn’t have enough depth up front to overcome those two big holes. Nolan and King look like they will be solid NHL players someday but no way they replace a Gagne or Penner. Say what you want about Penner but you could pencil him in for 20 – 25 goals which he obviously hasn’t come close too. Add him to the list of players who just came to LA to enjoy the weather. I’m willing to trade him away for a bag up pucks and we will owe them if we can find a team in the Russian league, preferably one that plays in Siberia to take him off our hands.
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VanKingsFan Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:48 am
@Barry’s Mullet, Love this post. I think it hits the nail on the head. We replaced cycling forwards (you forgot Ryan Smyth too) with faster more skilled forwards. But we didn’t change the game plan! Our game plan is not suited to the players as much as it was last year.
Starting to really not like the Sutter hiring. They had a slight spark for the first 10 games but now we just look stagnant again.
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Newf Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:53 am
@VanKingsFan, while they’ve still done a bit better with Sutter coaching, i still don’t think he’s the proper coach for this team. We need a coach that can handle talent and has a creative offensive mind to him. i keep getting comments from my friends about ‘wtf is up with your team?? so much talent and yet they can’t score…’
same old same old.
something needs to be done 3 weeks ago. not much we can do but hurry up and wait for either
a) the season to be over and we miss the playoffs
b) DL to pull the trigger (finally) on a trade and shake up this team
c) the team to turn it around and smarten up.
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Barry's Mullet Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:29 pm
@VanKingsFan, You can almost guarantee after a coaching change you are going to get a nice bump in effort and enthusiasm, but you can never truly hide any glaring weaknesses. Penner is useless. Gagne has been hurt. The team is built around defense and solid goaltending and transitioning this team to a more offensive structure will take time as we have witnessed over these last couple of months (especially the last two games)
I think the whole coaching thing is a red haring. TM was solid, one of the better Kings coaches we’ve ever had, especially when you consider how young this team was and how you deal with teaching young players to play the right way. Say what you want about TM, he taught Kopi to play the entire 200′ of ice and now he is one of best two way players in the game. But like the majority of coaches in sports their message gets worn out after 3 years and it was time to bring in a fresh voice. The best coaches in this league can’t change this team overnight. Hopefully DL will make a few changes and that’s enough to propel us into the playoffs where I believe NO team will want to play us and our defensive style of hockey…lets hope!
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pr0cess Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:53 am
@Barry’s Mullet, I think the lynchpin to all this is A:penner is a complete wash B:Gags going down really screwed up the Cemistry of what that line was doing.. Its just a shame that the rest of the team cant figure it out
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:55 am
@Barry’s Mullet, You’re right. Zeus, Simmer, Pony, and Smyth were all first rate cycle guys. That game bores the hell out of me, but we’re trying to play it now with players who don’t necessarily excel at it. Penner was never a cycle kind of player, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a wicked shot and the ability to score a lot of goals but in our system he’s just excess baggage. I don’t think Richards is well suited to the way we play either and i’m sure I’ll get ripped for that, but hey just look at the numbers and the results.
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EternalOptimist Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:26 pm
@Barry’s Mullet,
Then the fault here falls solely on DL who should have hired a new coach to implement a different system for this revamped team. He’s worked with TM for a long time and should have known that the system he employs wouldn’t work with this new group.
Hitchcock would have been a better choice than Sutter, but we waited too long to let TM go.
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Mike in Oregon Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:43 pm
@Barry’s Mullet, Very astute observation. Zeus way underrated and Simmonds was real spark plug the Kings could use right now (not to mention 22 goals). I know sticking up for Lombardi is not popular now but personally, I don’t know what more Dean Lombardi could have done, as the team looked sick in camp (on paper). Obviously, no GM is perfect, but he’s certainly the best we’ve had, and it’s clear he cannot do whatever he wants or have the trust and autonomy like GM’s from NY, Philly, Detroit who ALWAYS figure out how to mount winning teams for their fans. He’s also much more clever on drafting as opposed to trading players, I think, and trading could really have helped us three weeks ago. But, he’s a good hockey guy and we could do a lot worse (and probably will). Penner is such a disappointment. I figured in contract year he would be crazy motivated but he seems to be on drugs or OD LA lifestyle. Anyway, enjoyed your post.
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Just some thoughts on the +- stat. People often refer to it as a worthless or misleading statistic, tho I dont understand their logic. Yes, it’s distorted by matchups, and so for forwards (and to a lesser extent, defensemen) who play on a checking unit it can skew to the minus and it IS difficult comparing players on different teams because it reflects on the team strength as well as individual strength.
All that considered, it’s pretty clear that Johnson is the worst Kings defender (of the starters). Try this: rank the D men (in terms of their defensive abilities only) in your mind, but leave JJ out for the moment.
My list:
Mitchell
Scuderi
Doughty
Greene
Drewiske
Voynov
Martinez
..which matches up decently with their actual +-s:
Mitchell +2
Scuderi -1
Doughty 0
Greene -2
Drewiske 0
Voynov +4
Martinez -7
Perhaps VV is better than my impression of him. But my point is, the dedicated fans here who have watched all 61 games this season would likely have a list similar to mine, and our impressions pretty much match with reality. So how, then, to place JJ? Despite the feelings of Jim Fox that he has improved tremendously this season, his +- of -12 would rank him at the bottom, or just above Martinez. And the past few seasons have been the same.
He just isnt good defensively, and offensively he is, in my opinion, not as good nor will be as good as VV. So use him to trade for a good young forward and let’s balance this team better.
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KingsFanFTW Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:13 pm
@bbb7, VV is good and i agree shouldnt sent back down but the real fact that even with VV in the lineup the Kings still have problems scoring goals..
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LA_1968 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:37 pm
@bbb7, Interesting analysis. I think it’s pretty good. To me the problem with JJ’s D are lapses. I know they count A goal against is a goal against. The problem with developing a guy with concentration lapses is that it’s hard to change their spots.
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The stat that still amazes me is that the Kings defnse is tied for 3rd in the entire league in offense, with Vanvouver. For a team that is ranked 30th in offense, it’s amazing that anyone can even complain about a single Kings defenseman.
Not only are they tops in offense, but their top 5 in the league defensively. They carry a 1/4 of the Kings total offense which is higher than any other team out there, and yet the perception is that our defenseman suck.
For those who make that claim, or feel the only way to get offense is to delete from that area to shore up our forwards, I would ask that you think about what your saying when you think about breaking up the best NHL defense in the game right now.
Same goes for our goaltending, and even though the last couple of games have yielded 4 goals against each, the Kings have allowed 4 goals in a game at a smaller rate than any team in the league, so it doesn’t happen that often.
I’m still pissed, BUT, at least I know who’s not to blame.
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Mikey Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:57 am
@Dominick,
I firmly believe people think that our D is bad by comparing them to other teams D. We can’t score on them, but they could score on us, then their D is better than ours.. Right? Wrong! Our forwards are costing us games
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Dominick Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:01 pm
@Mikey, Winning, and losing is all anyone see’s. If the other teams winning, their defenseman must be better. All I’m sayin is, if your gonna point your finger, at least consider how good our D really is compared to the rest of the league.
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snbrdsummit Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:59 am
@Dominick,
But if our defense can’t keep the other team to 1 goal or less, how are we going to win???
Hahahaha!!! =P
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Newf Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:03 pm
@Dominick, yep that’s my thoughts. you can’t fault these guys for not playing well in their own end. like the guys said in the COL game last night, everyone in the league is aware of how well LA is defensively because of how well TM engrained it into them.
our only, and i mean ONLY problem is scoring. everyone now has such a defense first mentality i think it’s costing them in the offensive zone.
there was also the mention of Kovalchuk in NJ and how people said that he wouldn’t fit in there because he’s so offensive minded. guess what? kovi is now playing on the PK in NJ and has become a defensive minded player as well as someone who can still score. it’s all about balance.
our guys have the defense stuff down pat. what we need is for someone to give them some tips offensively. sure bernie nicholls is there doing a little bit but it’s not really enough.
how about firing kompon and hiring nicholls?
while you’re at it deno, bring in jeff carter to play with mike richards.
a long shot would be to get parise who is already familiar with a defense first system, but i think he’s off the market til the off season if they can’t work out a deal.
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Alanj21 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:06 pm
@Dominick, Agreed. We have one of the best goaltending duo’s in the league (finally) so naturally everyone dismisses Bernier. One of the best defensive cores, so naturally we want to trade away defense.
The two areas that are the least to blame, seem to get the most credit for our demise this season.
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Dominick Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:14 pm
@Alanj21, Forwards have scored less than 100 goals so far this season. The absolute lowest total anywhere. Defensemen for the Kings have scored the 3rd highest anywhere.
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FKA PakiFro Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:21 pm
@Dominick,
Wow. That truly is amazing. If just one guy could get on a tare like Richards was on earlier this year, that might just be enough.
snbrdsummit Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 1:57 pm
@Dominick,
Well, offensive player production goes without saying. Especially, when you consider that our total goals scored ranks less than most teams’ offensive player production.
If I were coach for a day, my first order of business is to get some value out of Penner. Here’s an easy and straight-forward solution. Penner is now a goalie screen. That’s his new position.
He doesn’t wanna skate? Now he doesn’t have to. Stand your fat pancake eating arse in front of the goal and redirect shots on goal and pick up garbage around the goal. There! I just added 10 goals over the next 20 games.
Stay tuned for other simple solutions that are going overlooked.
MindGeyser Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:28 pm
@Dominick, Part of that is the system and coaching staff that require forwards to play a lot more D, thinking that the offense will come from turnovers on D.
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KingsFan78 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:37 pm
@Dominick, If the Kings had just 10-15 more goals, they would be fine. 10-15 more goals, in 60 games, shouldn’t be impossible. There can’t be anything the Kings are doing that is so defensive, or so outdated offensively, that they couldn’t have just 10-15 more goals. That’s 1 more goals for every forward. All of them have certainly had chances to score 1 more goal. Even if you take out the guys that normally don’t score(like Westgarth), the difference should be easily made up by any number of players. That could be an average of 2 more goals for 7 forwards. Even if you take out Gagne because of injury, there are 7 other forwards that could each put the puck in the net an additional 2 times in 60 games.
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bbb7 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:42 pm
@KingsFan78, Yes, the problem isnt immense, but the rest of the league is ‘on to’ the Kings offense and defends it to near perfection, knowing all the pressure will come from outside and up top. So they force out, clog up the shooting lanes from the point, and the Kings get 30+ shots, only 4 of which are ever difficult. I cant believe EVERY ONE of the Kings forwards are all having career-worst shooting seasons at once WITHOUT the shot quality having dropped. The offensive system MUST change.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:51 pm
@bbb7, Our guys won’t go into the slot/scoring areas or to the net, net presence. Once they get that back they will score more. They did that against Phoenix and they scored 4 goals. They did it once last night and got a goal. They got to do it consistently.
purple and gold Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:58 pm
@bbb7, I doesn’t help that more than half of the shots go wide.
Mike in Oregon Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:49 pm
@Dominick, Always enjoy your posts. In many ways, though, the hockey was much more entertaining with less D and more goals. Amazing that Bernie Nichols, Robitaille, Simmer, etc, were ever Kings! Most were lousy teams in those days, but very entertaining. This is frustrating stuff we are watching now. Torture.
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Pominville and Stafford? I say think bigger DL! Oh and don’t hesitate to trade Brown, either. He’d be lucky if he was a A on another team. no knock on his game, but he’s no C and a good bait.
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ILLEGALSTICK33 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:28 pm
@Nikko, “no knock on his game, but he’s no C and a good bait.” Uhhh Id say thats a knock. DB is our captain and should be. There isn’t one player on this current roster more deserving. Name him? Maybe quick but I’m not sure how that would work for this group. MR? He’s tuff as nails but DB has been playing as hard and no one I mean NO ONE on the kings roster can actually hit like DB. He can change the game with one hit. He’s not a 1st line winger. DL needs to step up and fill that spot!
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Just saw that Kingsvision posted the entire MR episode of NHL 36. Made it 5 minutes in then DL’s mug appeared on camera. Stopped watching, clicked away.
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I hope its a long bumpy flight home with lots of turbulence and stale peanuts
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Somewhere Terry Murray is smiling right now at least knowing it wasn’t him.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:20 pm
@flutie16,
Maybe. He is still on his nationwide elevator tour – “Fake cherrywod paneling, slightly worn oak rail, brushed aluminum button panel, yes, all good – Queensryche elevator music?! WTF!. Elevators in Detroit are the worst!”
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:43 pm
@DesertKing, Operation Mindcrime or silent Lucidity?
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snbrdsummit Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 1:40 pm
@flutie16,
I’m gonna disagree. It was Murray. It just so happens that it was also Lombardi, Kompon, and maybe a few others. We replaced with another (slightly better) version of Terry Murray.
Like Dominick said, “We didn’t address the problem”. We tried to fix a scoring problem with someone who specializes in defense.
I fully believe that Sutter is an improvement over Murray. Just not the improvement we needed. I’ll reserve my final judgment for the off-season. In my mind, anything short of a complete firing of the assistant coaching staff will be highly suspect behavior.
Having said that, I still think that Hynes or Granato would have been the guys to right the ship. I’m a little saddened that they weren’t given the consideration that Sutter was.
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@tellmeY,
To everyone still banging on about bringing in Carter: A) He has a horrible contract B) Mike Milbury said last night that Carter was essentially a very similar problem to Penner, and he dissed Penner completely C) Last year everyone was so stoked to get Penner. Guess what. That didn’t work out to well.
Oh, and I suppose I should ad D) which is that if you really believe getting Carter would turn the Kings around then either you haven’t been watching hockey for very long or you’re hoping that he could be the answer, because everyone is grasping for them this year…..
And if you want E) .. E) would be that three years ago (?) everyone wanted Heatley. Well SJ got him instead and he didn’t work out too well there, after scoring 5 goals in 30+ playoff games.
Really, just because a big name is out there that the Kings have to get every one of them. There are far more interesting players who get less press or not such sexy names who would benefit the Kings far more than Carter.
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KingsFanFTW Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:21 pm
@number 6, no trade going to turn this season around
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flutie16 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Bottom line is they need anybody and Columbus probably asking and arm and a leg for whoever. They know the Kings need help badly. And I wouldn’t listen to anything Milbury says- he’s an ass anyway. It’s all about the East, just like all the Versus announcers. None of them even know how to pronounce Loktionov’s name correctly either. You hear that guy butcher it last night
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Newf Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:23 pm
@flutie16, i found the COL announcers much much better than the PHX ones…i’m surprised those guys have a job. and Nash even played in the league…brutal.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:26 pm
@number 6,
Penner isn’t a problem, he is a skating example of “Final Destination.” He has dragged down and destroyed all of his linemates and I have a suspicion that maybe he is the cause of the lack of chemistry in the locker room leading to lack of effort. Greene, Stoll, Fraser all knew him in Edmonton, and Greena and Stoll spoke up for him coming to the Kings. Notice that Smyth left immediately after Penner gets here, knowing what a cancer he actually is. Imagine that Stoll, greene and Fraser are supporting Penner and hoping he copmes around, while the rest of the team is tired of his uselessness and just want him gone? Now you have a divided team, and Penner’s presence is driving that wedge deeper as time goes on and he continues to be useless. That is just a theory, but it will probably be the sotryline in the next (and first) novel I write, entitled “Who Kiled Puck Robin?” Coming soon in Kindle and paperback. Does anyonoe know if Fabio still does bookcovers?
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:33 pm
@DesertKing, Hmmm didn’t think about that, but you might not be far off. Fabio LOL.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:29 pm
@number 6, Carter is nothing like Penner or Heatley. Yes Carter’s contract is long but it is a very manageable 5.2 million. He has averaged over 30 goals the last 4 years prior to this year. Any part of his bad character would go away as he will be with his best friend Richards, good friend in Gags and Williams and his ex head coach Stevens. This is the perfect place for him to be, plus he will be out of the hell hole known as Columbus (talking about the team not the city.) Carter didn’t sign an 11 yr contract to be in Columbus and he and Richards wouldn’t of signed long term if they known they be traded. It actually works well for the Kings as there will be no contract squabbles and Carter will be content here. Whatever problems happened in Philly were overblown. I can understand why he was upset at being traded to Columbus and his discontent there. However he hasn’t really said much publicly about that and just went out and played and even though he has had injuries he hasn’t had a bad season with the limited amount of time played. He had a hat trick against SJ. As for Millbury you gonna go by what he says a failed GM who ruined the Islanders? I would be a lot more apprehensive hiring Millbury as GM then I would ever be in having Carter on the Kings.
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:40 pm
@Jeff_R, I would agree on all your points but we need more than Carter, and we do NEED a change there are no guarantees that we will get Parise in the summer and you are right Millbury is a pompous a@@.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:44 pm
@LVKINGS88, I agree if we get Carter we also need 1 or 2 other forwards. I do think we have a good shot at Parise better then any other UFA. However it would be best if Dean can get this team into the playoffs and make some noise there. I think that better can sway Parise then anything else.
EternalOptimist Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 1:12 pm
@number 6,
I agree on the contract, but I would dismiss Milbury’s opinions since the guy is usually talking out of his arse.
The main reason that I would make this trade is to reunite Carter with Richards which is a proven dynamic offensive combo. IMO, having these 2 guys on the same line is exactly the boost that this team needs.
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At this point theres only two trades that will make a difference.
1. Lombardi + Kompon + Sutter and a pair of shiny skates for Jagr.
2. Lewis + Richardson & Penner for a large pizza with extra cheese!
I thought the new line combos against Phoenix gave us some offensive fire power. Then TM took over Sutter’s body and made him change things up against the AV’s. WTF? Cursed I tell ya! Cursed!
GKG!
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@number 6, I agree. The problem with the Kings as an organization is we dont have any up-and-coming skilled forwards who can blend in with our high-priced established players to make a good team that fits under the cap. If ALL your skilled players are making $4-5+ million you arent going to have a good future. So it makes little sense to trade for yet ANOTHER expensive, impossible-to-move forward, especially with Quick’s contract coming due soon. Pare out the unskilled 3rd liners after the season, trade a D and a D prospect or two, dump UFA’s like Penner and Stoll for picks at the trade deadline and get a couple of young wingers with upside.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:47 pm
@bbb7, Toffoli and Kitsyn aren’t good up and coming forwards? You can even put Kozun, Vey and Weal as possible but Toffoli and Kitsyn are top 2.
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EternalOptimist Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 1:39 pm
@bbb7,
Unfortunately, the going rate for any above average player is 4-5 mil. So you’re going to have at least 4 players on the top 2 lines making at least this much. The problem is we haven’t spent the money wisely this year (Penner and Gagne).
Trading for Carter makes sense since Penner will be gone after this year and we will be shipping some contracts to Columbus. I would consider Carter a significant upgrade from Penner assuming that he can stay healthy.
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Power Plays win/lose games. We lost soooooo many this year. And I don’t care about only percentages but the # of opportunities as well. We create penalties but cannot capitalize. It’s common knowledge.
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Don Cherry is all we need
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I haven’t seen anyone call for this yet, so I will start it now.
RON HEXTALL FOR GM!!!!!
New blood in the office. Do not get a recycled GM! The guy has done a great job recruiting, understands the game and is great in a room. It’s going to happen eventually. He WILL be a GM one day, might as well be for us.
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Dominick Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:05 pm
@snbrdsummit,
I think Hextall would make a great GM. He is being groomed, and if not here, someone will do it. If DL was replaced, he would be my most logical choice. The owners would have to lay down some ground rules though.
1. No more disproportionate defensive concentration. This includes system, prospects, trades, and UFA’s.
2. Balance must be the ultimate goal, with a clear plan to look historically at successful offensive, and defensive schemes in order to achieve that balance. Look at what works, and don’t hold to an ideal, or a philosophy simply out of principles.
3. Balance with percieved future needs at the draft, not over stocking positions with top picks, for positions that are already full. More concentration on scoring, not defensive prowess. Defense can be taught, but being a natural scorer doesn’t grow on tree’s.
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snbrdsummit Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:38 pm
@Dominick,
Agreed. I hear Anschutz is a fan and watches games so hopefully he would make an effort to follow your recommendations. However, Leiweke is too busy paying attention to his NFL dynasty to care much about what’s going on with their 3rd tier income stream.
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