It’s starting to get repetitive, but the Kings have spent the past week playing teams on the fringes of the Western Conference playoff race, and for the most part, they’ve been taken to school. Phoenix and Calgary came into Staples Center and shut out the Kings. The Coyotes, faced with a devastating three-goal first-period deficit, rallied to win. Then, last night Colorado spanked the Kings. Granted, it was a back-to-back situation for the Kings, but that’s hardly a full explanation for being thoroughly outplayed. Recently, Darryl Sutter talked about the difficulty of sweeping a team in a season series. That’s true, but the Avalanche did it to the Kings, as they swept the four-game series — one win came in a shootout — and outscored the Kings by a combined margin of 12-5. For the Kings, getting one point in four games against the 11th-place team in the Western Conference is not exactly the road to the playoffs. Here’s how The Denver Post covered last night’s game…
LATEST NEWS- Fact vs. Fiction: Counterfeit Stanley Cup Playoffs and Kings Merchandise
- Kings' Carter breaks out with Game 2 hat trick
- Kings combining size and skill to take West lead
- Brown's toughness impresses his teammates
- Seven reasons for Kings' flawless road record
- The Key Three: May 15
- Plan Ahead for Sunday's Kings Game
- Kings' stingy defense makes Quick's job easier
- Johnson deal opened spot for Voynov
- Kings hope to keep PK streak going in Game 2
SOCIAL MEDIA
LA Kings Insider LA Kings Official
So same as it always was today right??
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Subby Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 9:54 am
@pr0cess, unfortunately
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I am so glad we didn’t get Kaberle at that one deadline. The Canadians are trying to move him now lol
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:34 am
@Subby, Canadians like to take cast offs. They did with Gomez and now Kaberle. Good luck in trying to get rid of them. They got lucky in trading Cammy.
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Re-post, Maudlin…
Dreams… Of playoffs, Cups, glory.
Ah, how they fade into the harsh sunlight of morning.
Led Zeppelin/KASHMIR
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed…
–Revealed, with the disaster that was the last four Kings games, February 16-22, 2012.
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0-3-1 so far in the 5 games before the deadline
2 shutout losses at home
3-0 1st period lead lost
Outscored 11-5
Big time of the year, and the Kings have pretty much come up short in every way. One more chance before the deadline to do something. It is an earlier start time on a Saturday though. At home. Against a poor defensive team. So…who knows what Kings team will show up.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:35 am
@KingsFan78, Well if they start playing better after the deadline it won’t matter. Not like SJ is playing any better.
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fsd1 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:41 am
@Jeff_R, Just want to say thanks dude for putting up the valient effort of being positive still on a blog that is mostly negative. I agree with you 99% of the time and just dont have the argument left in me to continually point out the fact that not all is lost and we have a damn good chance of making the playoffs and being successful….anyways, thanks.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:03 am
@fsd1, Welcome. I am positive until I know there is no hope. I see the way the kings play and for the most part we are a very good team and just need to add a couple guys who can finish. Our defense and Quick is tops in the league, we just need to lift our offense a bit. Don’t lose hope though, until they say we can’t make the playoffs be hopeful. I know it is hard but even David beat Goliath. How many Philly fans ever thought they would beat Boston being down 3 games to none. Also just wanted to say that the year Philly went to the Cup Finals after 60 games they had one point more then we do now.
KingsFan78 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:59 am
@Jeff_R, No question. Still 20 games to go. It starts on Saturday against the Hawks. There’s just no way of knowing if the Kings will show up or not. They may, they can, they have before. Fragile group of players right now though.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:05 am
@KingsFan78, Hopefully that fragile state will go away after the deadline and the infusion of the new players giving them hope.
Sell! Please sell any UFAs that aren’t in our future plans. Please open a roster spot for VV or AM to play regularly. Please move a center so Loktinov can find his role.
It’s a great year to be a seller, Kyle Quincy proves that. Adding one player is not going to fix this team with only 1/4 of a season left.
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neil Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:13 am
@Weasel, what will be worse if we lose Stoll and Mitchell and get nothing in return.We are not going to win this year and to have two assets that might not be here next season..then you need to trade both.If you are planning on resigning either one..you can trade both and then resign them in the off season.
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CL Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:16 am
@Weasel, Agreed. At the moment, it’s hard to imagine this team going further than 4 or 5 games into the playoffs if they even make it that far. It’s time to start looking toward next year…
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Weasel Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:24 am
@CL,
I really enjoyed going to the 1st round playoff games each of the last two seasons, and had so much hope in both of those series. Either Frolov scoring on that breakaway against Vancouver or the Kings just holding the 4-0 lead against San Jose and everything might be different today. But, this year’s team is just mired in a funk of blown expectations so I can’t be optimistic going in as an 8th seed (assuming that even happens) this year.
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FKA PakiFro Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:29 am
@Weasel,
Why did you bring up that break away? and why did you bring up that 4-0 loss? I didn’t sleep well after getting home from both those games.
Capt Jam Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:25 am
@CL,
This is not a playoff team. This not a team that wants to play playoff hockey. Take a look at the contrast between a team like PHX, which is trying to get back into the top 8, and the Kings. When PHX came out for the 2nd period the other night down by 3, they immediately took over the game from the first shift of the 2nd period. They played with desperation and tenacity and they caught the Kings ready to take the rest of the night off (penalty to Johnson on the first shift; Kopitar snoring through PK coverage). Last night, faced with a 3-0 deficit the Kings came out for the second period as if the first period never happened. No intensity. No fire. No desire.
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vinny Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:18 am
@Weasel,
gotta agree..kyle for a first..kings might be able to pick up some good picks too maybe
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Weasel Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:21 am
@Weasel,
After looking at Cap Geek:
Would love to retain Willie Mitchell, but if he doesn’t want to come back he should be a highly desired commodity for a true contender.
Jarret Stoll should also be diserable for his face-off prowess (and maybe shoot outs?).
Dustin Penner should go to any team willing to take his salary (maybe a mid round draft pick if the Kings pay some of his remaining salary?)
Even though Matt Greene is not a UFA his cap hit is 2.85M and maybe it’s time to let the young defensemen play ever night (and a 5-6 defenseman should be relatively easy to replace in the offseason)
Not sure any huge changes are otherwise needed. I STILL think the team has the talent to win and contend – this year is just one of those fluke years where nothing goes right.
I also would not trade Bernier until Quick is extended. Or in any case not until the offseason, you can’t get full value for an unproven goalie at the deadline as the contenders either have good goalies or won’t want to trust their playoff drive to a newbie. But, at the beginning of a season all the hopefuls would be in play.
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Sebastian Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:22 am
@Weasel, If Lombardi sells, he will get FIRED. weather the Kings SHOULD be sellers or not, is irrelevant…the will not sell.
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Weasel Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:27 am
@Sebastian,
Yeah, I know this to be true. But, I think DL should go anyways. Thank him for building a good young core and bring in a new GM and a new culture. Shake up the clubhouse maybe by changing Captains if needed.
But, you’re right if DL has free reign he has to buy. But I can’t help but think that will hurt the team overall.
Question of the day: Knowing everything you now know — How would you rate the Richards trade? (Not asking if the trade was good at the time – it definitely was — just asking if you knew where the team would be today do you like having Richards or would you prefer to have Schenn, Simmonds and the pick)
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FKA PakiFro Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:36 am
@Weasel,
Who do you suggest replace him? Good GMs are harder to find than coaches. Lombardi hasn’t done a bad job, but he hasn’t done a great job either. The difference between here and SJ was the offense that he was able to get for the Sharks in the form of Marleau and Nolan, (who coincidentally was acquired for an offensive D-man). Here, he’s done a wonderful job on D. I don’t necessarily see the reason to fire the guy if they miss the playoffs this year. It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying. Did anyone really honestly predict a 30 point season from Richards and Brown? He can’t be blamed for the collective snake bite that everyone has experienced. He’s managed the cap well and has left a ton of flexibility going forward…If he screws that up, then I’d be OK to fire him.
Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:40 am
@Weasel, This team doesn’t need to change much, just add some offensive punch, guys that can finish. Our defense and Quick will do the rest. We are in 8th place and only 3 points out of the Pacific lead, amazing as that is. We don’t need to change much, just add some forwards that can finish. That is the difference between losing and winning. We would of won the last 2 games if we could finish at all.
Sebastian Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:43 am
@Weasel, good question, and i would still do it again. Richards is a great player when hes on his game (has not since coming back from injury) and if you give him good wingers (has not had them all year). i think on this team Simmonds would still be a 3rd line player not producing much.
FKA PakiFro Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:49 am
@Weasel,
I would be OK with changing the captains. I’m sensing that Brown and Kopitar may be better suited as players rather than leaders. I think Johnson (if he’s not moved) would make a great leader as well as Scuds or Mitchell. I’d be OK with Richards as an alternate.
Weasel Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:51 am
FKA,
I don’t know who would be a better GM choice. But, this is professional sports and since you can’t fire the player you end up firing management.
I also know form general sports history that it is not uncommon for one man to build a team but another man comes in and wins the championship with the core already assembled.
Maybe the GM who builds a team gets too close to the players he has drafted and developed while a new guy would see them more objectively?
Not saying DD isn’t worth his $7M per year (although he wan’t THIS year), but DL is married to DD, he had to pay him. A different GM who didn’t have his reputation tied to DD might have had more options (again, not saying DD was a bad deal – just saying that DL really had little choice but to give in)
Weasel Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:53 am
@Jeff,
I agree with you about the needed just a couple of changes. I just don’t think trying to buy at the deadline is going to provide those pieces. But selling now will get the resources or provide the cap space to acquire those pieces in the offseason.
Barry's Mullet Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:54 am
@Weasel, Richards is a great player. I would love to have Simmonds back but what we gave up will be an after thought IFFFF we can get into the playoffs and make a serious run. Maybe it won’t happen this year but we didn’t rent Richards for one season either.
I see three big holes to fill. IF Gagne comes back, maybe we only have one or two, but I’m not counting on that. We need to push the Richardson’s, Lewis’s, Fraser’s, Nolan’s, Clifford’s, down to the bottom 3, Manchester or the press box. When that happens we will have a very good team.
??? – Kopi – Williams
King – Richards – Brown
??? – Lokti – ???
Clifford – Lewis – Nolan
Richardson
Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:58 am
@FKA PakiFro, I agree with you 100%. The thing is it isn’t that easy to upgrade a team as it used to be. With the Salary Cap and the fact that teams are so evenly match and pretty much in the rece for most of the season, it is really hard to make trades. Since the Salary Cap came into effect there hasn’t been that many trades during a season, cept at trade deadline. Everybody says that Dean with our scoring troubles should of made changes earlier on, well that is easier said then done. You look at what Dean has brought in here in the case of Wingers it was the best he could do, with no trades able to make and no ufa’s coming Penner and Williams was the best at the time. Also bring in the fact that a lot of the guys that Dean would of gone after has been locked up for many years. Like Nash for instance. Nash would of been a player Dean would of gone after had he become a UFA, but he chose to sign a long term deal instead. It isn’t that easy to upgrade your team by trade or ufa, so it leads to the draft. That is why he drafted defenseman so much so that he would build up the depth and then use that in trade for offensive help.
Of course, it’s just the Kings’ sad luck that the Blackhawks ended their spiral just in time for their next visit to L.A. Saturday could be ugly if the Kings don’t hold to their form of recent years of elevating their play for better opponents and (as we’ve just seen over the last week-plus) tanking against lower, more tenacious and desperate opponents.
It’s kinda interesting to see that out of the remaining 21 games, only 8 are against teams in a playoff spot as of today. Of course, that’s likely to change over the next week if ANA gets back on track again tonight and overtakes L.A. It’ll be a fitting way to summarize and end the Dean Lombardi era.
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IceGuy Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:39 am
@Capt Jam,
Funny thing. Paul Stastny identifies the Kings problem for the Denver Post:
“From start to finish, we played our game and we didn’t sit back after we got up 3-0,” Stastny said. “We just kept playing and made it 4-0. Even at 4-1, we just kept attacking. … With big points at stake, sometimes you sit back and play a little defensive, which we didn’t.”
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:43 am
@IceGuy, The kings didn’t really play defensive. They had a lot of scoring chances they just couldn’t bury them. It wasn’t like Colorado played great defensively. Plus they didn’t make it so Varlamov couldn’t see, he saw everything except for Drew’s goal. The Kings could of easily scored 3 or 4 more last night, but they lack finish and net presence.
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Carter and Nash, for JJ, Bernier and Kopitar…….if you cant score on a breakway, we can ship you packing to Columbus for guys who can score.
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The Kings are winning… in my dreams… literally.
I had a dream last night I turned off the game and found out later the Kings came back and won in the last second of the game.
I wonder what Lombardi dreamed about…
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Weasel Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:28 am
@wavesinair,
For the first time in three seasons I turned off the game and didn’t come back to check the score again.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:44 am
@wavesinair, Lombardi is dreaming about Scoring. Hopefully his dreams come true Monday.
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As a long time Kings fan I am flabergasted at the lack of effort and attention to detail from the Kings in the last two games. It almost seems as if they have given up on the season. While the group in the room may be close and a bunch of really good people, it is time to set off a bomb in the room and make some major changes. Else I fear the team is going nowhere.
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Weasel Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:53 am
@I’m Sufferin,
Snake bit and they know it.
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Kings suck!!!! No more season tickets for me!!!! N they raise the price on them oh hell no!!!!
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@wavesinair, unemployment?
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I wonder if we could trade Dustin Penner to Edmonton for Colton Teubert and a first round pick
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California Royalty Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:45 am
@Press Box Scratch, Hahahahaha
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Michael J. Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:02 am
@Press Box Scratch,
Would Colorado take Richardson back for a 2nd round pick?
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In the famous words of Nick Van Exel….Cancun, Cancun!
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I am pretty sure Kings are no longer in the race for Nash.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:46 am
@Subby, At this rate just bring in guys who can finish, don’t care who they are.
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Stuart Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:03 am
@Subby, at this point, we’re not in the running for Nick Rash…
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This is the little bubble of info for Quick on Yahoo! Fantasy.
“Quick will be between the pipes Tuesday against the Coyotes, according to LA Kings Insider.
Recommendation: The fact that Quick has a 1.87 GAA on the season and that he also has a losing record (24-16-10) should be an embarrassment to Quick’s teammates.
(Rotowire.com)
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Send Richardson and Lewis down or away. Sit Clifford. Put Penner back in and bring up some from Manchester untill DL fill those spots. Penner didn’t do good but never got -3 in one period. You’ve got to get rid of those who are not only performing but hurting the team. Those two and Lokti are not NHL caliber. Plain and simple.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:11 am
@goldielocks, Richie needs to be traded and Lewis needs to go to the 4th line. Clifford should also go to the 4th line. Put King and Nolan with Lokti and our 1st and 2nd line will be built by who ever comes in the trade deadline. Just need to band aid it until Monday and when the new players can get here. Penner can play his last game as a King on Saturday.
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vinny Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:27 am
@goldielocks,
previous to the phoenix game, lokti’s been great and i think sayin he’s not nhl caliber is a little much..
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:49 am
@vinny, I think his anger at Lewis and Richie (which I agree with) has also lent to his misguided anger at Lokti. I happen to think that Lokti has played well and unfortunately is saddled with Lewis and Richardson so that is affecting his offense and defense.
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vinny Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:30 pm
@Jeff_R,
makes sense, and im usually happy with his game too, but i thought that after the first in phoenix, he wasnt quite as good as normal..and then last night i only saw the first period, which was pretty ugly for all
At the trade deadline, I’m hoping someone wants a stay-in-the-penalty box defenseman like Matt Greene.
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I think JQ has lost all chance for the Vezina via the last two poor performances (by both him and his teammates) and that’s a shame. Is he being played too much? Lots of bloggers here say, “he’s young, he can handle the workload,” and perhaps that’s true, but for what it’s worth, of the nine teams whose #1 goalies have played 50 games or more so far, only four are currently in playoff positions.
Anderson, Ott(*in) (56 out of 62 games)
Hiller, Ana (54 of 60)
Rinne, Nash(*in) (54 of 60)
Price, Mont (53 of 61)
Quick, LA (*in…just)(52 of 61)
Kiprusoff, Calg (52 of 60)
Pavelec, Winn (51 of 62)
Ward, Car (51 of 60)
Fleury, Pitt (*in) (51 of 60)
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:13 am
@bbb7, Awards are based on an entire season not 2 games. If Quick gets back to his normal p;ay starting Saturday nobody will remember his last 2 games.
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Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:15 am
@Jeff_R, Plus that list shows that Sutter isn’t the only one that plays his #1 goalie a lot. All those goalies are either in a playoff spot, just out of it or Hiller has gotten way back in it after being way out of it.
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bbb7 Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:32 am
@Jeff_R, If you count Carolina and Montreal and the Ducks as ‘just out’ of the playoffs, then 28 of the 30 teams fit that definition.
I think it says something about goalie management that many of the top goalies (either by acclamation or by stats this season) are NOT on that list, aka Lundquist, Thomas, Elliott, Halak, Howard, Rask, Smith, etc. Yes, some have missed time due to injuries but I dont think the best coaches ride their #1 as much as Sutter has.
Jeff_R Reply:
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:45 am
@bb7, Alot of those players aren’t as young as Quick is either. Broduer regularly played 70+ games when he was younger.
While the Ducks are closer to the playoffs Carolina and Montreal are a little ways back.
Interesting quotes from the Denver Post article. The difference in Captain’s philosophy, Stastny talking about attack philosophy, not backing off, and Brown talking about wake up calls. His wake up call quote should have been said 15 games ago!
From start to finish, we played our game and we didn’t sit back after we got up 3-0,” Stastny said. “We just kept playing and made it 4-0. Even at 4-1, we just kept attacking. … With big points at stake, sometimes you sit back and play a little defensive, which we didn’t.”
The Kings, who lost to Phoenix 5-4 in a shootout on Tuesday, are on a 0-2-1 skid.
“At this point of the year, we can’t dwell,” said L.A. captain Dustin Brown, who had the Kings’ goal. “I think we had a wake-up call tonight. Our attitude as a team needs to change, and it needs to change quickly.”
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