Kyle Clifford, who got hurt in Game 1 and has missed the last three games, skated this morning for a second consecutive day, which is a good sign. Clifford is officially listed with an upper-body injury, but the Kings are clearly following the procedure for a player attempting to return from a concussion, as Darryl Sutter indicated today, so the fact that Clifford skated on back-to-back days is a good sign. It’s not known if Clifford might be able to play in Game 5 on Sunday.
SUTTER: “It’s protocol. That’s all it is. It’s no different than what they did with Sedin or what you do with any other player. A month ago, that’s what Gagne was doing, and I don’t even know if he’s in North America now.’’
Sutter was being facetious, of course, about Gagne, but that should effectively answer any questions about Gagne. He’s not skating, and hasn’t been for at least a couple weeks. Scott Parse continues to skate — he was on the ice with Clifford this morning — but his return in the playoffs isn’t likely.
Why does the NHL only dish out punishment if someone is knocked out of the game? Aren’t we trying to prevent injuries? Someone should have at least addressed the DB situtation no comments at all show a lack of respect for the Kings and shows how embarassing the NHL is this year.
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Get well soon Red Dog!
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Osaka Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:35 pm
@Munchrat, Mike Allison?
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That is incredible that he had that much of a set back that the coach does not even know where he is. Heart breaking to say the least
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twnclick Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
@Blake, DS only cares about what is available not what might be available. He’s all about the things he can control not what he can’t control.
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TheDryer5 Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
@Blake,
Did you skip over this part? “Sutter was being facetious, of course, about Gagne”
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Duncanz Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
@TheCooler5,
stop raining on his charade..
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oh where oh where has Gagne gone? Oh where oh where can he be
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Feel bad for Gagne. Hard to believe we will see him again in a Kings uniform.
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Even though I was watching the game when Gagne was hit, it seems like forever ago and I can’t remember .. was the hit that took Gagne out clean or not? And if it wasn’t was the guy fined or suspended?
Also, the Canuck fans are now telling me that we have blown the series and that it is theirs to take. They think D. Sedin and Schnider are the second coming and with them, they will come back. I try to explain to them that better teams have not been able to do it, but they are pretty sure that the Canucks will win the series. Needless to say, ppppplease win on Sunday so I can walk around and as how their comeback is coming along! Nothing would make me happier than knocking out the Canucks on home ice! Go Kings Go!!!
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iansez Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
@aKinginVancouver, my fading memory tells me it was a clean and largely insignificant hit. You should take bets and talk plenty o smack, the ginger trilogy will be done soon..)
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twnclick Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:48 pm
@iansez, Vancouver thinks the deserve the cup so they’re lives are full of false dreams. Thats why they riot. Our dreams are realistic two guys don’t make a team and we’re the most feared team in the playoffs for a reason good defense and a great goalie. These guys can’t win 4 in a row just like we couldn’t. We will prevail and Vancouver’s false dreams will be realized once again just this time in the first round.
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EmptyTank Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:49 pm
@aKinginVancouver, Gagne got hit in a game against the Coyotes back on Dec. 26th. I don’t feel that it was a dirty hit at all. No penalty was called.
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aKinginVancouver Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
@EmptyTank, Thanks. That’s what I thought. And @iansez, I am : )
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McSorleyfan Reply:
April 20th, 2012 at 12:44 am
@aKinginVancouver, Remind them that the Kings gave the Canucks what no one else in the NHL was able to all year; a 3 game LOSING streak! Go Kings Go!
5holer Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
@aKinginVancouver, The hit on Simon was an elbow to the jaw or lower head/helmet in the right wing half wall near the blue line. He was knocked off the puck by a Coyote Dman(not sure who, but may have been #23 Eckman-Larsen?). No penalty was called, but it was an elbow to the head which felled Gagne immediately and he scampered to the bench and down the tunnel to locker room for the last time this season. The GM meetings had not taken place yet, so the heightened attention to head hits had not yet become so imperative at that moment. For Simon it was at least his 6th concussion that we know of in NHL terms. It is exponentially harder and harder to recover from each successive concussion one sustains. The brain is not a regenerative tissue model, so healing is more a case of transferring to viable brain cells from the damaged ones…or so I have been told…I am not a medical professional, merely an avid reader of this type of injury data, what little there is around. If you think about it though, it adds up quite succinctly. The very young pros who sustain concussions usually recover in a short few weeks versus those older players who have suffered several head traumas over time usually taking much longer to recover. Perhaps a lesser ability to allocate viable brain activity to a lesser number of viable cells remaining undamaged? Plausible I would say. In any case head injuries must be dealt with emphatically by the NHL or there will be no viable barin entact players left to play this wonderful game. NHL Players must be woken up to the facts regarding the devastation of these type injuries for life threatening and life impacting permanency of the injuries. The risk is extremely great in consideration of the armor worn by the modern NHL Players today, especially since they all are in excess of 6 feet tall, largely well over 200 pounds and in perhaps the highest states of physical fitness of any athletes in sports. These are all dangerous conditions likely to produce devastating results if something serious isn’t done to stop(not fine or curb, but stop!) this out of control tactic. Brendan Shanahan may not be qualified enough at all to meet out the appropriate amount of punishment in comparison to the actual crimes committed in these acts. Certainly he is not qualified enough to stop the activity altogether, which is in the best interests of all the players and the game itself!! Perhaps the integrity of the game is at stake here. NHL may have to consider itself comparable to the “UFC” more so then to call itself a game of athletic chance?
I can say this from my own experiences personally, albeit not at the NHL level wherein I was unable to advance there physically due to the sustainment of some very serious injuries at a young age. Take it for what it is worth, but concussions are gravely serious indeed!! Not a joking matter at all here! Good luck to Simon Gagne there Mr Astute Darryl Sutter…and mind your manners from Alberta Please! Class can be a fleeting thing some days! I think so! No joke!
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Kevco Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 6:58 pm
@aKinginVancouver, I say there is a 50/50 chance the kings could blow it, when push comes to shove the kings have not been proven winners, for example last two games of ten season to win the division.
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How’s Gagner doing..Is he gonna play?
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SLIM Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:26 pm
@SLIM,
How did that ‘r’ get in there…
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Duncanz Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
@SLIM, ignoance …
Hey, where did my ‘r’ go …
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SLIM Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:45 pm
@Duncanz,
Lite’n up..Mega poster..
No..but …really…Is he gonna play [cold]…
Duncanz Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
@SLIMr,
He’s a Ham who couldn’t Helm the 2nd line if he tried.
twnclick Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
@SLIM, who’s Gagner or Gagne?
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5holer Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 6:06 pm
@SLIM, Sadly my inkling is that he may be done with hockey, much like old #28, Adam Deadmarsh. So many concussions in each of their careers. The likelihood of permanency of these injuries is calcuable at this point. The effects are seen when one cannot sustain his competition levels continuously day after day on a regular basis..i.e. the current reported state of Simon Gagne and we all know about Adam Deader and several others(Marc Savard to name one). Sidney Crosby is likely headed down that same path at the ripe old age of 25!! He too will likely diminish before all our eyes over a shorter span of time then should be typically expected. Once upon a time, the Great Mario Lemieux retired over the violence in NHL hockey way back when in the 80s and 90s, when Goons patrolled the ice! Mario’s career was ruined by some devastating injuries(back) and of course the horrible Hodgkins Disease he suffered as well. Let’s hope that the Daniel Sedins and the Sidney Crosbys of today can maintain their levels of play without further damaging head traumas in their careers, as well as in other players cases! I hope for the best for Kyle Clifford as well, at his old age of 22 no less! Be done with this stuff or it will destroy the “WWF NHL”! One should not be rewarded with such potential devastation with head injuries for merely showing such great courage to play this marvelous game of ours! Stop the insanity and make these players show some human respect for one another in this league before it is too late!
Take it or leave it!
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Fellow Insider sporting mystery lovers (B. Melrose, eat yer adirondacky heart out), I can happily report that Simon Gagne was last seen on a golf course near Buenos Aires, being handed his putter by Carlos Tevez…
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vplaza Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:40 pm
@Duncanz,
Were they listening to….Coldplay?
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iansez Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
@Duncanz, haha! After coach swears he’ll never play for team again after refusing to take a shift?
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Duncanz Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 5:01 pm
@vidpleaza, (0[&?[@¥
@Iansez,
Celeste coloured tears..
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So what happens to the $3.5M that Gagne gets paid next year? If it’s clear he’s not coming back, can the Kings pay out his contract and release him in order to clear some cap space?
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Duncanz Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
@The Buck Skates tHere,
I don’t even know if it’s still in North America still.
(Cayman Is., my guess)
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Osaka Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
@Duncanz, He is sitting next to me doing sake bombs. Boire Simon!
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Duncanz Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 6:01 pm
@’ ‘sake, He should be over here with me doing Pahrump PBR bombs.
Kanpai, Gagne …..
KA BO_O_O_O_O_O_OMMMMMMMMM !!!!!!!!!
(sorry Rich)
Kissmyblarneystones Reply:
April 20th, 2012 at 12:24 am
@Duncanz,
LMMFAO!! Dude!!! You are out there!
Osaka Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 5:08 pm
@The Puck Stops Here, If he is on long term IR that 3.5 doesn’t count against the cap. The Kings could have gone over his 3.5 this year.
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iggy99 Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 11:53 pm
@Osaka, theyll likely toll his contract… in the chance he doesnt get healthy he’ll have a year away to get healthy then re-evaluate his situation. that money wont count against the cap either while allowing us to retain his rights
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I think the guys deserve one more game with the same lineup before any change are made. Clifford is a solid 4th liner but if you ask me the three guys on the 4th line last were fantastic!
If the Kings lose on Sunday then I would be up for some changes. The second and the third line need some tweaking. Carter has been a no show since his arrival to the Kings. Yes he has a few goals and one nice skate pass assist but for the kind of reputation the guy has I’m not impressed.
Maybe swap him with Willy and see if he can park his ass in front of the net for Kopi to feed him. He Doesn’t really have any 1 V 1 moves or even a decent slap shot. He needs to camp in front of the net and let Kopi feed him.
My worst fear is a Seventh game because if it gets to that point that means Bernier is in net and the Casucks will have full confidence and the Kings will be playing from a bad position.
Please oooohhhhhh Please take these suckas out on Sunday!!!
GKG
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4tee Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
@ILLEGALSTICK33, The 4th line looked great but in my opinion DS conceded the game by playing them so much in the 3rd. Nobody assumed they would score even if they were playing well. It seemed to me a way to try to wake up the top 6 (especially Richards) for game 5. I hope it works.
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paige Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
@ILLEGALSTICK33, i have to admit that carter hasn’t impressed me all that much either although i was dying for him to be great. In the last few games, both he and richards have made some sloppy plays, and they get beat to the puck a lot, particularly Carter, who is supposed to be fast. i wonder if his injury has been a major factor.
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Niko Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 6:25 pm
@paige, These few days off will be good for him
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Looks like I will be watching game 5 from Kaiserslautern. It would be decent of the NHL to let me know what time I have to set my alarm for in order to see it live on Game Center.
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5holer Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 6:16 pm
@370455VinSD, Sorry guy, but silly you…you should know by now that it is all about the TV Schedules…The $Money factions run the NHL! No one is concerned for us paying customers, the avid frothing at the mouth hockey fans of North America! Forget such none sense, its what’s up with the Wonderful World of NBC First and Foremost!! If you are on another continent or another planet for that matter, just DVR it and watch it in a vacuum somewhere in a locked up room away from all media sources!! I got nothing else for ya! That Kaiserslautern sounds like a Pub in BC…somewhere way out in the outback of BC!! LOL! Ya Vol! Cheers Burgermeister!
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BluLiner Reply:
April 20th, 2012 at 8:16 am
@370455VinSD, same from Munchen.
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Stuart Reply:
April 20th, 2012 at 8:22 am
@BluLiner, say hi to Baron von Munchausen for me! I love that guy
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The Canadian media won’t even discuss the fact that we don’t have Gagne as if he was never on our roster but they want to talk about D. Sedin and how much this series would’ve been different if he was playing the whole time.
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ILLEGALSTICK33 Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 5:08 pm
@KOHO, I wanted to puke last night with all the comments coming from the broadcast crew. The canucks look this the canucks look like that. The canucks have their smiles back. Kessler is much better now that D. Sedin is back. GO BLOW IT OUT YOUR BACKSIDE!
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luc20rules Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
@ILLEGALSTICK33, Weren’t you listening that to me appeared to be the side they had microphoned up.
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letswinthecup2012 Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
@ILLEGALSTICK33, Agreed.. Those guys were a disgrace.
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Duncanz Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
@BOHO
Gagne but not forgotten … at least by us..
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Wishing and hoping for Clifford to return to action soon. Kyle’s got the makings of playing on our second line! Go Kings Go!!! And Good Luck to all the Kingsmen!!!
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5holer Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 6:31 pm
@andy, Lets just hope he is ready when he does return to action! Not a joking matter with head injuries…head = brain, and they don’t heal up much either!! Best Wishes to Clifford, he is a great kid from fine Canadian Family!!
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