Darryl Sutter’s postgame thoughts…
(on the game…)
SUTTER: “We had a good first period and we weathered the storm in the second period, for the first seven or eight minutes. Our penalty killing was awesome and our power play scored us a big goal in the third. If you do those things, with a little bit of luck, then you have a chance to win the game.’’
(on Kopitar’s shorthanded goal…)
SUTTER: “He’s a big part of our penalty kill. We talk about trying to take advantage of it in certain situations, when they had the puck and we could be aggressive. Brownie made a really good play there.’’
(on getting a win after the disappointing loss in Detroit…)
SUTTER: “Well, we lost by one because we weren’t perfect. Detroit has an experienced team, and they know they’re never out of it. You have to be right on top of it.’’
(on the special-teams effort…)
SUTTER: “Obviously our penalty killing is at the top. A lot of times, there’s a home-road difference. Our penalty killing is right near the top, both home and road, and our power play, the last probably 15 games, is probably near the top too.’’
(on the improved puck recovery on the power play…)
SUTTER: “I think since Carter got here, we have two units that compete a little bit more for the privilege of playing on the power play.’’
(on the Kings’ hitting…)
SUTTER: “I thought Cliffy and Fraz and Jordan did a good job of trying to do that for us, and our defense, we’re trying to get them to be more assertive in that part of the game.’’
(on Voynov’s game…)
SUTTER: “We’ve been trying to work with him on the defensive part of his game, so that we can play him against higher-end players. … He’s learning. He scored a good goal. He’s got those great offensive instincts. So he’s going to do that. He’s going to play with Mitchell and he’s going to develop. He was the youngest defenseman on the ice by quite a bit tonight. He did a good job.’’
Surgical comments; the un-Lombardi.
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KC23 Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:12 pm
@JackKent Cooke, Well said.
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luc20rules Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:41 pm
@JackKent Cooke, LOL, when I hear DL go on and on. It reminds me of 2 co-workers that seem to say the same thing 5 times in slightly different ways. Its like being interogated.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:46 pm
@JackKent Cooke,
(on Doughty’s goal …)
SUTTER: “Well, it sure was about time he started using his wrists. The only person who’s seen him do that before is himself … you don’t wanna know … ”
(on Richards epic streak continuing …)
SUTTER: If he was a little more silly, he woulda got more in the way of that shot. He managed to get out of the way of that thing, and Drew doesn’t realy blame him.”
(on Richards being the best two-way centerman on the planet …)
SUTTER: “Oh did I say that [eyebrows raised, bewildered look] ? I guess I meant one-way. Take it to the bank.”
(on what you said to prepare the team so well for the game …)
SUTTER: I just told ‘em, you know, they schooled us for 5 minutes or so the other night in their place. This time just make it the first 5 minutes so we don’t get surprised at the end.
(on the continued ridiculous success of the Penalty Kill … )
SUTTER: Well, I aint holding any one player up over any other … but I always said that Kopi fella is a great one-way player. I wish he’d score 5 on 5 a bit more like he did on the shorty there.”
(on whether you actually went to medical school to be so surgical …)
SUTTER: “Not so much, but I’ve helped deliver a bunch of slimy newborn animals, so, ya know … I kinda know a thing or two.”
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JackKent Cooke Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:52 pm
@Duncanz,
Don’t stop now…
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Couple of observations from other games:
Dallas keeps playing with a nasty edge. Morrow gave an ugly knee on knee hit to Matt Cullen tonight. The risk / reward for that kind of play is in their favor this time of year. They keep taking their opponents out and they keep winning.
Boston is a mess right now. Let’s hope they don’t get it sorted out before we play them.
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I’ll be impressed if we win the next two games. So far we’re just treading water. Great game by Voynov yet again. He looks amazing.
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Jeff_R Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:32 pm
@KC23, Really the game I am most worried about in our next 5 games r the Ducks. I just hope they don’t pull a Columbus and look past the Ducks to Nashville the next night. If we beat the Ducks there is no doubt in my mind that the Run is on.
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Mikey J. Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:42 pm
@KC23, Voynov makes the Kings that much more dangerous. Like that 26:)
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Dominick Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:50 pm
@KC23, He was a -1. I’m just sayin.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:00 am
@Dominick, Then he’s headed in the right direction, apperently …. maybe he’ll end up a Blue Jacket some day … ^ ^
Just sayin’.
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562kevin Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:12 am
@KC23, I agree he played a great game. I thought he didn’t handle the puck so well against Chicago but responded tonight! Great all around game.
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rogiesbackup Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:38 am
@KC23, He is really good exploiting the WEAK side. I wish dDoughty and aMart do this more often!!!
How many more goals will the Kings score if both of them do this?
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Donald_S Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:33 am
@KC23,
I know the point Sutter was making, but Voynov is virtually the exact same age as Doughty.
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Stuart Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 8:27 am
@Donald_S, yeah but DD has about 300 NHL games under his belt… That has to age a person a little bit
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Michael_DD8 Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 9:39 am
@KC23
I wouldnt say ‘amazing’ he is defiantly playing well, and on the offensive side of things real strong. All around, he needs to pick up defensive coverage, and rely less on Mitchell to tell him where to go (will come with time). He does look very promising and already replaced JJ quite easily.
Deke'r Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
@KC23, …at times…lost his man a couple of times in the D-zone….
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Good win wbhich backs up the win in Chicago. Particularly with this week’s schedule. it’s important to keep charging and win in Anaheim, and then beat Nashville on Saturday night too. With only 12 games left it’s important to get to playoff position as soon as possible, and then hold off teams in pursuit. It will likely require 95 points to be assured of a playoff spot, and the sooner the Kings get their the better.
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Great win and we need two more points against Anaheim
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Deke'r Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
@Carol Vadnais, …we’ll need 2pts every game….
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Great game tonight and I am feeling much better. Surprise how watching a great Kings win can heal you right up. Anyway this was the 2nd game of 7 game increment out of the last 14 games.
Chicago – W – 1
Detroit – W – 2
We need to win 3 more to get to 5 wins total in the first 7. That means we can go 3-2 in the last 5 games to equal 5-2.
As for our home record we now have 18 wins and need at least 3 more wins to equal 21 in our last 6 home games.
Of course winning our last 14 games would be an amazing feat. So far so good at 2-0.
Let’s Kill them Ducks!!!! On to Anaheim on Friday.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:55 pm
@Jeff_R, Does looking ahead to the Ducks count as ‘birdwatching’ …?
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Jeff_R Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:20 am
@Duncanz, LOL. Ask Quick!!!!
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Perro Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:19 am
@Jeff_R, too early to start the debate of who starts vs the ducks and who starts vs nashville?
40YearKingsFan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 11:02 am
@Jeff_R, Glad to see the chicken soup worked its magic and you’re feeling better! We’re going to need everyboody healthy down the stretch!
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On the goalies with a back to back?
Will we see Berns against the preds?
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Jeff_R Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:28 pm
@#3 netminder, Wouldn’t surprise me if he played against the Ducks. With Sutter you never know but since he played Quick the last 2 times vs the Preds I don’t see him changing.
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KingRey Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:36 pm
@#3 netminder, Should we because of his record? Then again quicker faired well with them. It will be interesting to see who’s put in net against Nashville.
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luc20rules Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:50 pm
@KingRey, Since it is Tues, Fri, Sat, then Tue. Since Quick is playing well it could be Quick in both back to back. IMHO, I would play Bernier vs Nash. he has played extremely well against them, and Quick hasn’t proven yet that he can play 72+ regular season games and be strong in the playoffs yet. Honestly he looked alot better when getting rested in the regular season vs the Sharks than he did vs Vancouver when TM rode him hard. I know many have speculated that DL is out if we miss the playoffs, but if we ride Quick so hard that we are out in the 1st round he didn’t do us any favor by making the playoffs. Next question is if we face Nashville in the 1st round do you use Bernier in 2 or more games in the series?
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Puckn-A Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:36 am
No , you go with your #1 until the series dictates the need for a change, a 6 game sample size does not give Bernier an instant “W” , stats don’t play games.
Jeff_R Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:37 am
@luc20rules, What happened with Quick 2 years ago was a domino effect. First it was the Olympic break in which he went but didn’t play, not even sure if he even practiced. Then when he came back to start the season again his wife gave birth. Both of those caused him to not play well down the stretch but he did do so in the first 3 games against Vancouver. It wasn’t until the 3rd period of game 4 when it went downhill. I don’t believe by playing him a lot he will melt down like 2 years ago. Rinne of Nashville has played even more then Quick and he seems just fine.
Had we won in Detroit, we probably would have let up and lost tonight. Other than for a brief spell in the second, tonight, for one of the few times this year, the Kings succeeded in keeping their feet on the opponents neck once they got ahead. Maybe the loss in Motown served a purpose.
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Osaka Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
@JackKent Cooke, These guys can’t do anything the easy way.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:11 am
@JackKent Cooke, I think you’re giving them too much credit.
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I’m looking forward to eliminating the Ducks on Friday. Stick a fork in them. Basically they have to win all their remaining games to reach 93 points. So I’ll be rooting the them tomorrow against Detroit just so we can knock them out.
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Jeff_R Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:30 pm
@LA_1968, There pretty much done already…I guess you can say they are on Life support and i guess mathematically they are still alive but no way they can make it now. Too many teams to pass and these teams play each other. They started there run too little to late and they couldn’t sustain it.
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LA_1968 Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
@LA_1968, Oh and for anyone in LA who wants to take the train to the game to dance on their grave your game ticket looks free: http://ducks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=622029&navid=DL|ANA|home
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Hey rich, do you know when the kings practice tomorrow? in town from Dallas and I wanna see If I can maybe get some autographs. Thanks.
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Rich Hammond Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
None tomorrow. Thursday at 10 a.m.
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Osaka Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:35 pm
@Rich Hammond, Hang’n with Tom Hanks Rich?
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kingsation8 Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:55 pm
@Rich Hammond, thanks rich
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I was watching Jeff Carter in the defensive zone, the guy usually has great position (the anti-Penner). His defensive play is underrated.
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KC23 Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:45 pm
@Osaka, That has crossed my mind several times since Carter joined the Kings. I kind of expected a Gagne type floater with Carter, but that’s not his game at all. He forechecks pretty well and that wrist shot is wicked. Defensively he knows he’s assignments and sticks with it pretty good. He positions himself in the defensive end perfectly for quick break outs while still maintaining defensive integrity.
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luc20rules Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:54 pm
@KC23, I know the press has always been on him in Philly, but Stevens has said that Jeff knows our system and he played it well in Philly 3 to 5 years ago. Of course they don’t play the TM system anymore, but Carter had 40+ goals seasons in Stevens variation of TMs system.
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Osaka Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:17 am
@luc20rules, I am to see they were right.
Osaka Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:14 am
@KC23, I agree, I was expecting more of a floater, he takes no short cuts and doesn’t look the leave the zone early.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:23 am
@Osaka, That was actually the 1ST thing I noticed, since he wasn’t scoring much at the beginning.
Maybe I’m way too institutionalized, but I was very encouraged to see him constantly playing ‘on the right side of the puck’ from the outset. Very responsible.
He had a slightly different role than he had at CBJ, I think, so I’m sure his +/- will look very different here to what it did there.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:25 am
@Duncanz, He *has a slightly …
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 4:51 am
@Duncanz, Agree with all the observations on Carter. Not a sniper at all by my definition. More like a pretty damn good two way player with a nose for the net and more pop on his shot than anyone on the team. Hard not to be pleased with what we see so far.
Our odds to make the Playoffs went up 8.6 to 41.8% via Sports Club Stats.
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Kings Fan South Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 8:12 am
@Jeff_R, Love that site for the fun of it. Am very surprised that Calgary still shows a better % to make playoffs than LAK. I know they are seeded higher, but realistically I don’t agree. Next two games are HUGE! Go Kings Go!
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Ok Great game tonight but now to talk about the games tomorrow affecting the Kings. We don’t play again until Friday so we have games on Wednesday and Thursday affecting us. San Jose plays Thursday night which will catch them up to us in games played. Here are tomorrows games that affect the Kings.
Vancouver Phoenix
Colorado Buffalo
Dallas Winnipeg
Hopefully we can finally have a day where there aren’t 3 point games.
So tomorrow we become Canuck fans, Sabres fans and Jets fans. GO VBW!!!!!!!!!
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KINGCANADA87 Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:59 pm
@Jeff_R, i actually see Van, Buff and the Peg winning tomorrow. Winnipeg is extremely hard to play in and they are fighting for their lives right now.
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Jeff_R Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:08 am
@KINGCANADA87, I hope you are correct and yes playing at the Peg is mighty tough.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:32 am
@KINGCANADA87, Plus it lools like DAL had to grind a tough one out tonight in MIN.
They ought to be gasping a bit tomorrow if WIN comes out and plays for their fans.
Trouble with DALis they seem to have endless energy reserves right now.
Back from the IR, Morrow is an awesome competitor, no two ways.
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 4:58 am
@Jeff_R, The Sabres and Jets fan part I can do easily,,,, but I can’t even “drink” Vancouver pretty. I’ll just root for Phoenix to lose and try to ignore who they’re playing!
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Blade17 Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:47 am
@Jeff_R, I know I should root for the Casucks, but do I have to? Ewwwwwww…
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Puck2dahead Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 9:03 am
@Blade17, It’s life or death…so, YES!!
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Deke'r Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
@Jeff_R, …I can believe Van & Buff winning….but no way Jets beat Stars…
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Concerning the power play-since Carter’s arrival, Kompon is much less an object of schadenfreude.
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KC23 Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
@JackKent Cooke, Actully our PP started to improve the moment Nicholles starting working with the offense. Carter sure help us keep the improvement in the PP going in the right direction. Martinez has been doing a pretty good job on the 2nd team PP. Martinez’s passes are quick and decissive and he never waste time with slap shots when a hard accurate wrister is even more effective.
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JackKent Cooke Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:54 pm
@KC23,
Don’t confuse me with facts.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:02 am
@JackKent Cooke, That sure was a nice jet engine, that one, but I kind of thought it got made obsolete by the Junkers Zeitgeist ’39.
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JackKentCooke Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:25 am
@Duncanz,
Preferred the Hughes H-1 Racer.
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 5:26 am
@JackKent Cooke, My Italian is a little rusty but whatever “shadenfreude” is, i’m pretty sure Kompon is still the object of it to me!!!
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4th line > 3rd line. Simply put the 3rd line for the 4th line role, and call them 4th line. Take their TOI away, and give it to our new 3rd line. Problem solved.
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Finally!!!! Going threw games waiting for the kings to score not hoping that they do. KNOCK ON WOOD!!!
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Finally!!!! Going threw games waiting for the kings to score not hoping that they do. KNOCK ON WOOD!!!
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Big win tonight over the Wings. Got a few days to gear up for Anaheim. Love this time of year. Way to go team.
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Usually around this time they have Breakfast with the Gm or the State of the Franchise meeting for Season Seat Holders. Guess they decided not to have it this year as they know that it will mostly be them having to respond for hours as to why they raise the prices like they did. I am sure Dean will bring out all kinds of charts to explain why also.
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JackKent Cooke Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:55 pm
@Jeff_R,
He is consulting with Ross Perot.
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@Puck73 do you still think Carter makes no difference and that Voynov is not close in current play & possibly has greater upside than JJ?
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luc20rules Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:03 am
@luc20rules, I will admit though with the length of Carter & Richards contracts we can’t even begin to judge whether the trades were good or not until about half way thru their contracts what is that 5 yrs from now? But I think Carter has been exactly what we needed, and as for Richards it hard to be overly critical while his wings were in a career slumping year of unbelievable measure(30% of career yr avg) Penner & Stoll. Carter & the kid King have seemingly brought him back to be a productive playmaker if not goal scorer, and his defensive play has been business as usual.
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Jeff_R Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:05 am
@luc20rules, If we win the cup then we will know. Course that could be this year, which will turn from our most disappointing season to our most amazing season if they do win this year.
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 5:21 am
@Jeff_R, If the return on the long term investment in Richards, Carter, and Doughty is one Stanley Cup over the next 10 years, even if the other 9 years are disasters, I would call it a Huge success, as I’m sure most would.
Osaka Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:37 am
@luc20rules, Carter is doing what he was brought here to do, score. Take out his first 3 games (adjustment period) and he has 7 points in 6 games. 3 games is not much of an adjustment period either, how many games has Penner played? Is Pancakes still settling in, trying to find his game in our “system”?
Carter and Richards both have long term contracts that “had” no trade clauses on them but both NTC’s were voided when they were traded before the NTC could kick in. So even though the contracts are long either would be easy to move since their cap hits are so low. I mean Hemsky with his career high 23 goals signed a 5Mil extension this season. 5 years from now that is 3rd line player money.
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 5:30 am
@Osaka, Astute observations and an informative post!
luc20rules Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:30 pm
@Osaka, Agreed the Cap Hit is the same argument I used for the last 4 months as to why Carter was a good risk as soon as Columbus started very poorly. I also said Parise & Nash weren’t moving this season and Carter would be the best talent moved during the season. Although, I am not sure about the NTC being waived because he was traded after all he was traded from Philly and the NTC was still in affect for Columbus if they kept him. I know it was a concern for Columbus as I remember that being on of the main reason they wanted to move him.
VV still concerns me. He barely played against Zetterbergs line, and Mitchell is being paired with Green, or Scuds more to cover. We gave up JJ, and DD is taking a beating on these blogs for his coverages, while VV is being lauded as the hero.
How long are we gonna keep easing VV along before we let him just cover JJ’s old spot? I think it’s the right move by Sutter, but it’s not lookin good for DD lately?
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luc20rules Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:08 am
@Dominick, The Greene – Mitchell D pair has been around in the 3rd period while tied or nursing a lead has been around since Mitchell was aquired at the start of last season. JJ only got shifts to spell the Greene, Mitchell, Scuds, & DD or if one got a penalty.
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goldielocks Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:01 am
@luc20rules,
Please explain how JJ got more than 20 minutes TOI every game then. Greene’s TOI was around 14 minutes when JJ played but now it’s up to 20 minutes. Interesting stat is that VV played more than 20 minutes on every losing game. And for every winning game, VV got less TOI.
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Blade17 Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:52 am
@goldielocks, JJ got PP time, Greene did/does not
luc20rules Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:07 pm
@goldielocks, Kings commited 5 penalties PK time for Greene. As for VV getting more minutes in losses do you play Defensive Dmen when losing or put in Offensive Dmen to try and score goals? I would think Greene, Scuds, and Mitchell would average more ice time in wins with larger minutes in the 3rd period, while DD, Voynov, and Martinez would average more time in losses as they are double shifted trying to get the game tied.
The game at Detroit VV was a +1, DD -3, & Scuds -4. If Voynov played another 2 minutes that one may have been a win. IMHO he got minutes in that game because of his skating verse Detroits elite skaters.
Osaka Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:09 am
@Dominick, Hmmmmm $816,000 Vs. $7,000,000
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Dominick Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:31 am
@Osaka, what does that got to do with anything? DD and VV are the same age, and DD has played 3 full seasons, and VV has pplayed 5 months.
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Osaka Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:55 am
@Dominick, It means the expectations are a little different there eh. DD wanted to be paid like one of the best then he better handle the responsibility. If DD was making the money JJ is making we could afford DD, JJ, and Carter. Wasn’t that one of the arguments last summer why DD shouldn’t be given the bank? The increased pressure or responsibility.
No matter how much VV is shielded the Kings are 6-3 since the trade VV has 5 points in the 9 games and is a +5. DD has 3 points is a minus 2 , JJ has 4 points and is a +1.
DLB Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 8:47 am
@Osaka, I don’t get how “no matter how much VV is shielded” is discarded in the debate when it has a direct relation to the plus minus results. If Voynov is kept away from game breaking players like Zetterberg, while Doughty is taking the brunt of it, it helps a hell of a lot to cushion his stat lines. Doughty is also taking on extra penalty killing.
Their situations are starkly different.
Dominick Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:04 am
@Osaka, Well, lets just leave things the way they are then and stick our fingers in our ears and say “la la la la”.
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Dominick Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:12 am
@Osaka, Also, JJ is a plus 2.
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Dominick Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:26 am
@Osaka, That comment bugged me.
Your comparing JJ’s game to VV’s and justifying the comparison. JJ plays more minutes against every top opponent Columbus plays, in all situations, VV does not do this for the Kings, and plays sheltered minutes in JJ’s spot. Of course VV’s gonna have solid numbers, but it doesn’t hide the fact he isn’t there yet defensively, except to you.
I’m perfectly fine with the trade, but your comparison is awful.
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Osaka Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
@Dominick, Really, a guy plays less minuets but produces more offense. That is his role, to provide offense.
Mikey J. Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:11 am
@Dominick, Your right, he still has a long way to go, but got to like his hockey smarts with the puck. It will be interesting to see how he does as things keep tightening up.
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Dominick Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:26 am
@Mikey J., I’m counting on him developing into that #3 spot. I would like to see him take some harder defensive zone coverages to get him ready for the playoffs. There’s gonna come a time when we’re gonna get an injury during a game to another D, and he’s not gonna be ready to handle a 200lbs forward along the boards in the defensive zone with the game on the line.
Offensively though, the Kids a no brainer.
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Mikey J. Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:55 am
@Dominick, Positioning is key for him. One step ahead.
40YearKingsFan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 6:03 am
@Dominick, Good reality check on VV and I don’t really even see where there’s a debate. I think acquiring Carter was the right move to make but the idea that somehow we’re better defensively having dealt JJ simply doesn’t hold water IMO. Today,,,, JJ is a far more reliable Dman than VV as he should be based on development and experience. That’s not a knock on Voynov or his potential, it’s just a realistic take on where things stand today.
crashin'da net Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 8:47 am
@Dominick, VV had a very smart stick yesterday separating the puck from the shooter. Technique can oversome size on most all ocassions.
goldielocks Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:25 am
@Dominick,
Sounds like Sutter doesn’t trust VV’s defensive play yet. He never uses VV for the PK unless DD takes a penalty. If I have big physical guys, I would use them against VV or A-mart. The physial aspect JJ brings will never be covered with those guys or DD by himself. Pretty good for 190 lbs guy though. But at the end of the day, size does matter when the game gets more intense and physical.
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Osaka Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:58 am
@goldielocks, It isn’t him, not many coaches put any defenseman with 42 game experience in those situations.
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 5:49 am
@Osaka, Therein lies the point.
DLB Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 8:38 am
@Dominick, this is exactly right — we have to realize that Doughty’s already tough job got even tougher when JJ left. Long term the swap will work out, I think. He needs experience like any rookie. But Voynov is undoubtedly being sheltered.
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luc20rules Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:14 pm
@DLB, If your getting 7mil/yr shouldn’t your job be tough? Shouldn’t your responsibilities increase? The only thing I would add is why not help DD out by putting Mitchell with DD, and Scuds with Voynov. I think that would make the top D pair stronger, but what would really make a difference is if DD stops just going hyper aggressive at center ice and the ozone. Thats when we have a Forward back where he should be creating a bad situation.
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So is the carter trade paying dividends yet? Let me know once we win the cup!
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Jeff_R Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:06 am
@Secret Squirrel, Is that an Oxymoron?
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:21 am
@Jeff_R, It is certainly a squirrely question, at the very least!
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Deke'r Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
@Jeff_R, ..I do believe part of that word applies…
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The Wild West, 5 teams separated by 1 point!
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Jeff_R Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:07 am
@Osaka, Just think how it would be had Nashville not blown the lead the night before allowing Phoenix to tie and go to OT.
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Great game at Staples, tonight and just like I said my son wore his green Ontario jersery and they won, and for Sat night same thing and hopefully the jersery can still be lucky for them since its St Pats day and all should be real special. Three wins with jersery and counting.
Night men and boys
Go Kings Go!
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Osaka Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:01 am
@Gail Weisman, That jersey doesn’t come off your son’s back until June!
Oh, tell him thanks.
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Gail Weber Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 6:16 am
@Osaka, Will do thanks cannot believe after
he got jersery from me after we bid and won
jersery at the LA Kings booster club Ontario
reign game he liked it and said he would wear
it to all home games they have not lost
yet hoping our good fortune and luck will
continue so no way is he going to game
without it for sure so thanks again and this
out of all my jersery he said he would wear funny.
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That game was a blast. I didn’t even mind all those red-clad fans too much, because I got to witness their defeat and hear the lamentations of their women first hand.
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That was a complete hockey they plaed last night.
I had a good feeling going into the game that they woiuld channel the anger of losing to Detroit last week and turn it around on the Wings and they did just that!
One player who’s struggled lately had a real good game..Scuderi!
He made some really nice defensive plays and wasn’t out of position all night. He was on the ice for the last goal against, but it wasn’t his fault at all. He had his man tied up.
The only negative I took from last night was Penner doing his invisible man imitation again.
What is wrong withhim that he can’t play hard every night? Forget the fact that he’s a butcher around the net with the puck, but at least give the effort.
I thought Stoll and Lewis played hard, but you need all 3 guys to be going..Penner wasn’t holding up his end of the bargain…AGAIN!
5 out of the last 6 games the Kings have looked really good. Just keep taking care of your own business and the rest will take care of itself.
Go Kings!
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 6:23 am
@nykingfan, I can’t explain Penner but I don’t believe the lack of effort thing for several reasons. I don’t believe that if Sutter even got a sniff of “lack of effort” whoever it was would even sit on the bench again. Sutter seems a pretty perceptive dude to me. Although the Penner situation is puzzling to me on many fronts, I’d love to see the guy back at about 25% of his current pay to see what he could do after an offseason and then a full preseason under Sutter. Sutter is said to get the best out of players and the stats say Penner is capable of some serious production if someone can bring out the best in him.
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nykingfan Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:18 am
@40YearKingsFan,
He was previously benched for lack of effort by sutter and came back to play several good games. He just seems to have disappeared again.
I don’t want him back at any cost including for free.
If he brought even one redeeming quality to the team I can understand, but his lack of production, hustle, quality of play makes me never want tos ee him in a Kings uniform again.
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rick Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:56 am
@nykingfan, Totally agree. He has been horrible since Day One. Lazy and overrated. We will be the latest fan base thrilled to get rid of him. I think he will get one more shot somewhere to see if he can turn it around, and if not that will be the end of his NHL career. Somewhere, an IHOP has a seat with his name on it…..
dodgervern Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 11:39 am
@nykingfan,
Yow will change your tune if he slaps in a couple of goals which will be huge cause every goal is huge now.You will find penner in the offensive zone keeping pucks alive and IN the ozone as well as making some pretty good passes to other teamates.He can’t be blamed for their inability to score off his passes[Stoll]
I think his points would go up if he would crash the net a bit more and if someone could get him the puck in this area.He’s a big dude!
dodgervern Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 11:28 am
@40YearKingsFan,
Good observation about coach/player relationship and the rest of the players seem to react to Penner well.A good coach brings out the best in each player and then they begin to believe they really are that good and raise their self expectations and become that good.Problem with Penner is that Lombardi brought him in from edmonton I believe where he was scoring a lot more for whatever reason and expected to plug him in and save our butts last year.I don’t think he has the mental makeup to be the center of attention and to expect him to score at the same pace was another talent evaluation failure of the Kings staff and not Penners.I believe he is a lot better and WILL score some big goals for the Kings this year.How about looking at the tapes of his previous goals and finding out where his offense came from-i.e.in front of the net ,outside ,rebounds?Kings are coming together and he will find his spot-I hope.GKG!!
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Am I being to critical if I raise an eyebrow a la DS and point out Detroit played WITHOUT their best two players? I’m happy we won, but it sounded like a closer game than it should have been until Voynov scored.
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Gustavo Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:07 am
@Gustavo,
*Too*, not *to*
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Jack Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 8:56 am
@Gustavo, honestly, Detroit even without those players is still a very good team…
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Sutter is so L.A. now…he said…”awesome” !!!!!
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Great game by all. Glad we got the win (for personal reasons, one of my close friends is a wongs fan).
GKG.
Rich, you are turning into a celebrity with all your TV appearances during the games!
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Stuart Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 8:43 am
@Lake Forest, where is that Wongs team from?
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If the Kings take care of business and go on a winning streak for the next week or so, then they will move up in the standings. All this score board watching would not be an issue if the Kings go on a winning streak in the next week or so. Good effort Kings last night!
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Slava was an absolute beast…offensively and defensively…he threw a few really good checks along the boards in the second period. When do we finally get to see Penner sit out. He brings nothing to the table. The guy is a waste of space. To be that big and to be thrown around like every defenseman in the league does? He’s slow and doesn’t try…he lacks heart. let’s step up a TV so he can sit at IHOP and sign autographs instead of playing the likes of Richardson or even Westgarth.
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Deke'r Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
@KNGFAN004, ….beast?…not so much…still a little shaky on D….
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