After their practice in Vancouver today, the Canucks announced that Daniel Sedin, who has been out because of a concussion, would not travel with the team to Los Angeles. That would put Sedin out for tomorrow’s Game 3, and his status for the rest of the series is also in doubt, according to some reports. That certainly didn’t lead to any back-slapping or high-fiving around El Segundo today. It seemed clear that Darryl Sutter had a clear message to the Kings after their win last night, the message being, “You haven’t won anything.’’ To a man, the Kings talked today about the “reset button’’ and not taking things for granted despite a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Immediately after last night’s game, Sutter rattled off a laundry list of things that the Kings needed to improve. Whether that message sunk in with the players will be determined tomorrow. If nothing else, they were at least listening, because in individuals sessions with the media today, players talked at length about needing to be better. The Kings have dominated the special-teams battle, but a team can’t count on that every game. In 5-on-5 play, the Canucks have actually outscored the Kings 4-2. Not surprisingly, even strength play was a bit topic of discussion today. Here’s a sampling of the thoughts, from Drew Doughty, Jarret Stoll, Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards and Sutter…
DOUGHTY: “We’ve got a lot of ways to get better there. I felt like we were making too many turnovers, or getting a lot of shots blocked last game. We were giving some of their key guys, like Kesler and Sedin, too much room. When you’re giving those two guys room, they’re going to make plays and goals are going to be going in the net. So we need to make sure we’re closing faster on them and getting more pucks in deep and having more puck-possession time, because if we have the puck more than them, obviously they wouldn’t be creating the chances they were.’’
STOLL: “In Game 2, they took it to us a little bit, 5-on-5. Our special teams obviously have been good, and they’re a big part of why we’re up two-nothing, along with Quickie. We’ve got to be better. I’m sure they’re saying the same things, but we know we can put together a better full 60-minute game. Five-on-five, special teams, all those things go into it.’’
KOPITAR: “We just have to be aggressive and create turnovers. Usually off of turnovers, chances come, and we want to make sure that when they do come, we want to bury them. There’s not a whole lot of chances out there, and when they do come, you want to bury them.’’
RICHARDS: “We know we have to play better. They controlled most of the game last night. They played well. Quickie had to make some big saves, and we probably relied on him too much last night. We’re at home right now, where we feel comfortable. We have to go in with confidence, but know that we have to play better. … I thought we turned too many pucks over last night, and gave them too many opportunities, which allowed them to play in our zone a whole lot.’’
SUTTER: “The bottom line is, with the way the game is played now, it’s how much you have the puck. You’re not going to dominate that part of the game, but you try, in 5-on-5, to have the puck as much as possible. With that is protecting it, or fighting for it and battling for it. It’s something that we can be a lot better at.’’
GKG!!
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Good mentality boys. Don’t get complacent!
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rogiesbackup Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
@josh, Yup, bear in mind that if there are any teams that can come back from a 2-0 deficit, Vancouver is one of them!!
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Thanks for the report Rich.
I agree. The Kings didn’t play their best in Game 2. I hope they keep the pressure on and turn it up a notch. We really need to win a home playoff game before any of us can be comfortable.
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The Richard’s line needs to improve on their -2 from Friday night.
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FM3 Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
@Michael J., The one goal was a weird deflection that went to the slot, out to the point and someone left all alone in front of Quick. D’s fault on that. The last one was Richards trying to glove a shot down that went directly onto a member of the Canadian Diving Team’s stick. But, would like to see a few 5-5 goals coming from Carter/Richards/King to help elevate their confidence.
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jofa6000 Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 11:30 pm
@FM3, LOL @ a member of the Canadian Diving Team’s stick. Good call.
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The team is buying into the system and the coaches comments completely. These guys are focused and are on the same page. Fantastic to see and DS is the one that has made it happen. He is keeping these guys hungry and prepared. Gotta love it
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TripleNickel Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 3:47 pm
@FM3, +1
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Assyrian King Reply:
April 15th, 2012 at 1:20 am
@FM3, Agree, love the comment from DS telling them “You haven’t won anything yet”.
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Thomas and his Bees go down 2-1 to Caps.
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FM3 Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
@Duncanz, PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGY
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Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:10 pm
@FM3, “Three weeks!”
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CB14 Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 3:49 pm
@Duncanz, OT games are a joy to watch so long as your team isn’t involved in it. Otherwise it’s nail biting time.
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Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
@CB14, I like both those teams.
However I am slowly changing my mind as, after today’s game, I am no longer able to able to form an appropriate salute for Martin Havlat in the Conference Finals..
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The stilted lobbying by the CBC/HNiC/NBCS buffoons– especially Jim Hughson but eventually Keith Jones echoing Hughson (oddly the clownish Mike Milbury pretty much stayed away from it) may have succeeded in getting Brown’s hat trick goal reassigned to Stoll, but the physical evidence indicates the Vancouver scorers had it right in the first place.
Aside from the essentially mathematical evidence, the assignment of a scorer on that play could only be a matter of personal ‘feeling’. To wit:
What happened to the puck beneath Luongo’s pads could not be directly knowable to Stoll, Luongo, or Brown, and is not in itself an event captured on any video replay that was shown. So who scored the goal? Enter the only two useful witnesses– two basic principles of classical mathematical physics, linear and angular momentum.
1.) Stoll chops the puck on a downward vector into Luongo’s lower pads/skates.
2.) The puck is then not seen until 1 or 2 tenths of a second* after Brown pokes at it.
3.) The puck emerges on a well-defined linear vector, directly crossing the goal line.
(* a perfectly predictable interval if Brown’s jab has contacted the puck)
Why was the puck not moving along _that_ vector with _that_ momentum until Brown’s jab at it? The obvious answer is provided by the physical principle known as conservation of angular momentum. If the puck’s vector, whether directly off of Stoll’s stick or subsequently off of Luongo’s equipment, brings it into contact with the ice on an edge while also having a rotation, it’s motion will be governed by it’s angular momentum (picture something with gyroscopic motion, like a spinning top). But this rotationally controlled motion is clearly not the motion of the puck immediately after Brown’s poke at it.
The only alternate explanation for the change of vector, would be Luongo kicking the puck in himself (and thus it would be Stoll’s goal), but video shows that not to be the case, Luongs skates appear to be set when the puck emerges from between them.
I place the probability that it was Brown’s goal, and thus a hat trick, conservatively at something greater than 95 percent.
Does it really matter? Yes, in that truth always matters and in that Brown is so underappreciated in certain small but dogmatic circles. Players don’t often score hat tricks in playoff games, when one does, he ought to get credit for it. Brown’s been the best player in this series (excepting, perhaps, Quick), and one of the best league-wide through the early SC tournament. Brown posted his second career hat trick against Luongo, but unfortunately, the official record now erroneously denies it.
Beyond that– wonderfully entertaining visit to Vancouver for all Kings fans! I had commented on another site yesterday that Trevor Lewis was due the goal-scoring spotlight. Predicting a Lewis goal is not a high probability affair, so he made me look like a seer with that nice wrap around.
Vancouver is a solid road competitor and will almost certainly bring it all to game three. Expect the W’s to be harder to come by. Expect CBC/HNiC/NBCS game coverage to continue to stink. Hughson fawns embarrassing at Luongo’s feet, as though he was the divine spawn of all the greatest Canadian netminders, while alternately referring the Quick, the rightful recipient of the Vezina Trophy, as “the Kings goalie.”
A small slice of Hughson’s ineptitude, in case you missed it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/14/dustin-brown-goal-confuses-cbc-jim-hughson-video_n_1425774.html
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Kozak Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
@wes, A Lombardi-esque explanation
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Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
@Kojak, I’m suitably vexed about them vectors.
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Sdgolfer Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
@wes, I’m sure the only people who care who got credit for that goal are outside the Kings locker room.
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wes Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
@Sdgolfer, True. The only problem was that attention-deficit Hughson strangely cared way too much.
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Happy Lappy Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
@wes, ah, what’s your vector, Victor? I was hoping you could go into more detail on that goal.
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Itchy Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
@wes,
Hey, next time your dynamics teacher asks you to do vector mechanics for engineers on a hockey goal, let them know that goalies rough up the ice in their crease so they have a better coefficient of friction (holy cow, I know big words too) for going side to side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQEKUcSEbjw
Somebody should let Newton know that his laws are being violated…
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wes Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:40 pm
@Itchy, no violation of classical physics in that cool video, just a blurry example of the conservation of angular momentum, although jim hughson might have another explanation
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Itchy Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
@wes,
I think you missed the point of my post. You can’t transfer simple text book examples to a real sports event… all kinds of weird things that aren’t included in your formulas happen. What tanh theta would you use for the pit in the crease on that Quick save? There is no formula for that so you can’t model it in a physics or statics or dynamics problem.
Not to mention a hockey blog isn’t really the audience for science talk… just use scattered logic, complain about the refs and try to blend in.
Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
@Scratchy,
” Advantage: HOCKEY! “
Itchy Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
@Duncanz doesn’t tell lies; it’s impossible to argue against HOCKEY! logic.
Dilapidus Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 11:02 pm
Somebody buy Itchy a beer. That was fantastic.
rogiesbackup Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
@wes, In his defense, bMiller wasn’t sure himself. The puck is wedge behind the middle vertical beam preventing it from bouncing/sliding around inside the net. I too was confused but I new ahead of miller because I see the ref pointing at it.
As far as your explanation of the Stoll goal, it’s also plausible that Luongo change the vector himself NOT by his skates but by his pants as he is sliding back himself.
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wes Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:48 pm
@rogiesbackup, bMiller needs no defense. oh that we could have been watching bMiller call the game. my apparently tedious post would have been unnecessary.
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crashin'da net Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
@wes, ALL plausible theories, I grant. ALL lead to one outcome – a goal. And that’s ALL I need to know.
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vplaza Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
@wes,
I wanna know…when do the coulombs come into play?
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McDonalds Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
@wes,
I can’t believe i read all that, and after watching the goal again, i come to the definite conclusion that it was in fact Stoll’s goal
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Serious Question for any random Insider with an interest in ‘Corsi’ & ‘Fenwick’ no.s
What do the stats bear out in terms of how badly we are being beaten 5-on-5 here?
The alarm bells gave been sounded, and I for one am alarmed.
So are the numbers being “contumacious”, or are they playing into what the people are saying about the team’s plight in this ever so slightly important aspect of the game?
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King Charles of Salt Lake Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
@Duncanz, Dude are you going to get us some tickets to a playoff game I’ll pay my part. Let’s go Bro. Maybe we can also pick up… What the hell am I thinking!!!
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Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
@King Salty of Lake Charles,
Mate! After my treatment of you in this morning’s thread I’m surprised (and grateful) you ‘ve returned
Hey, I am super keen but I fear my own resources may not even be as widespread as your own.
HOWEVER, if anything jumps out of the woodwork perchance, I’ll be straight on the Greyhound from Pahrump here, and it’ll be you, me, and a mystery guest, in like the dickens!
1st beer’s on me, mate! (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th are ……. going to have you asking me to help find your wallet!)
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@Michael J., switch king and penner.
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rogiesbackup Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
@brownie for president, Wait on that…….Penner plays better where he is at. King is due for another goal. I think his average is one goal for every 5 games. It was just Penner’s MOMENT that third period.
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This is a very good Kings team and they’re playing very well. The rest of the NHL is starting to glance over. Great job so far, and it appears that their minds are right where they should be, on the very next drop of the puck. After all these years of following these guys it’s a terrifying thought to be excited. We fans need to stay grounded too. All I can say is believe and GKG!!!
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Off topic for anyone whos interested that punk Burrows was taunting Richards after he got leveled in game 1. Kinda funny what he did, but man do I dislike that guy, heres the link to the story…..
http://vansunsportsblogs.com/2012/04/13/video-alex-burrows-taunts-mike-richards-alleged-affinity-for-partying/
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Ari Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:08 pm
@CrownJewels, Crazy!
Always wondered what kind of smack talk is really going on
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This is what I was talking about earlier. This team is not gloating about being up 2 games. The boys are looking for ways to get better. This is all We can ask for. Sutter was the right move back in December. To way Murray could rally the troops. Not that Murray was all that bad. Our “D” is one of the best in the league. I do give credit to TM for instilling this tough minded “D” I know many of you are down on the guy, but he does have a part in what we are seeing on the ice. So too TM… Nod of the head and a clap clap!!! Funny how life seems a little easier to manage when the Kings win. I must be careful of not speaking for all fans. Someone pointed out that I speak to much for US all. My hope is not to offend anybody on this blog site. But over the years I KNOW I have. We all won’t get along. We are people and that’s just the way it is. I remember getting beat up once just for the way I walked. So we are all different. But just like in life we all need a place to feel safe and call home, hopefully we can make this blog site a home for Kings fans. All the negativity after a loss Is needed for what I don’t know and it’s not my place to know. But when your ready for your team to march towards Stanley’s Cup you get a bit passionate. These games are hard to watch because I want the boys to win so damn bad. It hurts to see them get scored against and I don’t want them to lose any game. I doubt they will go 16-0, but damn it I’m rootin for it!!!
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puck73 Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:41 pm
@King Charles of Salt Lake, I knew it…You got moderated didnt you?
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rogiesbackup Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
@King Charles of Salt Lake, I don’t believe ANY team will gloat after ANY win until it’s the big one!
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Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
@King Charles of Salt Lake, [*Legal Disclaimer: We have never met before and neither have our friends or relatives
Now … Great post, old chap! Your submissions are the best on the blog – especially the part about how @purge knows nothing about quality coaching!
BUT, if you would REALLY like to know the accurate projections for the Kings’ future fortunes in these here playoffs, I suggest you wait till 3:30am and the figures will magically appear under the last topic of the (previous) day! I’m going to check myself tonight to see if the Kings are going to win the Stanley Cup or not – and whose mom is going to help them!
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I hope Mike Richards is okay following the hit on him by Booth. Richards looked a little daze after that. I wonder if there is information on Richards health.
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CrownJewels Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
@rogiesbackup, I think hes fine like he said after game one its the playoffs you give a hit you take a hit…..he probably had to ice that hand after trying to glove that shot though lol…bet he wishes he didnt try that probably hurt and it resulted in a goal.
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rogiesbackup Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:38 pm
@CrownJewels, Such a competitor he is, I still believe he will not divulge any symptoms of concussion to the Kings staff.
I’ve never really payed much attention to him or any players on the east coast until recently when I viewed a bunch of highlights from youtube. Man, he is INTENSE!! Watching him on the Kings, I can’t tell he is creative in what he can do, but physical intensity too??!!!!
Gagne as well played a physical type of game. I really hope these guys, continue to perform.
I wonder if concussion can be totally eradicated or is something you will always have once you get it??
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Great job guys happy to see guys not satisifed we play okay last night but need to play even better tomorrow night to go up 3-0. have every bit of faith were going far this year much different mentality thanks to suter. GO KINGS GO
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OT. How does a guy like Hayward get theses national announcing gigs?
The guy is unprofessional with his obvious bias(especially against the Kings).
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Pili Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
@Sdgolfer, I’m in Missouri and I’d gladly pay plenty to get the King’s feed with Bob & Foxy. The NBC announcers are like an extra opponent. Oh well, time to score another shortie.
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Sdgolfer Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
@Pili, I agree. Although I was referring to him doing the Rangers/Sens game on right now.
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Jeff_R Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
@Sdgolfer, He did Versus games previously the last few years so I am not surprised he is doing games, especially with the Ducks not in the playoffs.
puck73 Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:45 pm
@Sdgolfer, There is absolutely no reason for bashing Brian Hayward now. His team is out of the playoffs. There is absolutely no reason for that kind of animosity towards him, just be bigger then him and move on.
DY Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
@Sdgolfer, Hazy is just a terrible color analyst. One step away from Pierre McGuirre, who is the worst IMO.
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jess Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
@Sdgolfer,
Hey was just wondering, did you take down your Terry Murray posters yet?
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lvkingaholic Reply:
April 15th, 2012 at 11:04 am
@jess, which one’s…… the stone face or the stone face………
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All of what DS and each of the players say is nice and dandy….But one has to get a chuckle out of the mindset the Cannots are probably having right now.
It must be eating them alive knowing that if the Kings need a goal in a hurry all they need is for Willie Mitchell to take a penalty so Dustin Brown can score a shortie, lol
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rogiesbackup Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
@Gustavo, Vancouver Cannots!!!! I LOVE IT!!! LMAO
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Does anyone have an updated record for how well the Kings have done under Sutter?
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Gmo Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:53 pm
@Kinglers55,
All I kn
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Vlasic aka Pickles, pickled the puck into his own net. Blues 1-0.
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goldielocks Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
@Jeff_R,
We had 3 deflected own goals also. Scuderi, Greene, Brown. I hope it’s never going to happen again.
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Jeff_R Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
@goldielocks, This wasn’t deflected. The puck was shot and went through Niemi stopping at the goal line. Vlasic went to knock it out of the way and instead knocked it into the net. Very embarrassing. Kinda like Dan Boyle did 2 years ago against Colorado.
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goldielocks Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
@Jeff_R,
Yup. It was embarrassing. Quick almost scored the own goal when he backhanded the puck though. That was really close.
Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
@Jeff_R, LoL, “pickled” – - – He must be playing on the wrong channel though or else he would have “KNIFED” it, “SHOVELLED” it, or “FIRED” it “IN OFF THE PIPE” …
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PurpleBlacknGold Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:21 pm
@Duncanz, I especially like it when the puck “skitters” wide into the corner…
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Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
@PurpleBlacknGold, YES !!!! It happened 28 times today – and all in the very same game!
The ice at that rink really needs fixing!
rogiesbackup Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 7:26 pm
@Jeff_R, J. Edourd Vlasic and Brian Bickell. bMiller doing play by play and I was thinking same lines as you.
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VanCOO-COO Cannots!!!
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I thought the Richards line was having trouble breaking out of our own zone. They turned the puck over too much. Hopefully we can clean up our turnovers and control the game tomorrow. GO KINGS BABY!
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Masages, Sleep, and video review. Penner up to the second, King down to the third, Westy in for Lokti hitting anything blue CLEANLY. And if Carter TQR (That Quick Release) doen’t produce in game 3 AND start playing a two way game, Let King replace TQR in the 4th. He has proved squat on this team yet.
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Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
@crashin’da net, Now you’ve gone and reminded me how much I’ve missed ‘HOTS’
” 30 seconds left, Kings on the power play, 1 – nothing down, Williams carries it across the blue line, passes to Kopitar, Kopitar takes it round behind the goal, passes it back to the point and it …. HOPS OVER THE STICK!!!! ….. ” [HOTS]
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that’s “He has HAS NOT proved squat on this team yet.”
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Can some Kings fans wear girls bathing suits and hold a sign Diving Team, like that picture posted on another thread? That would get some air time for sure.
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Duncanz Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
@Jack,
@SVELTE has some reputedly nice hips …
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Jack Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
@Duncanz, lol..!
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SLIM Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 5:56 pm
@Duncanz,
Why thank you…You devil you…
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Wow DS has the boys mentally ready, I like it. yes boys be humble and keep working hard, we are up 2-0 but have ways to go
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kingrussell Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
@Gmo, Exactly. Sutter knows what he’s doing.
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I think DS is a master at playing mind games, constantly, both with his own team and the Cannots, through the media. I honestly don’t love the storyline that Vancouver is besting us on the 5-5… everyone is spouting that line today, from the Kings to the Cannots to both coaches. I don’t want Vancouver to think they’re better than us at much of anything, no less what we spend the bulk of the game doing, which is skating 5 on 5. Vancouver will collapse on themselves when they fully realize that the Kings are simply the better team (right now, at least). If they have hope that we’re scared of them, they will find their sea legs– as much as we hate them, they are still a dang talented team and know how to win LOTS of games.
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Yeah they outscored us 4-2 with one being an uncalled interference. The rest were deflections off point shots, far better than 2 seasons ago when they were bang-bang one-timers or uncontested shots from the slot.
When we have 5 on the ice [pp, even-strength] we’re good. PK or 4 on 4 not so good.
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