News coming out of St. Louis on Monday night wasn’t particularly cheery as the Blues dropped their fifth game in a row and captured just one point from a four-game homestand. The team that was two points away from the President’s Trophy a season ago and opened the 2012-13 season with a 6-0 win over Detroit has fallen from 6-1-0 to 6-5-1 in the matter of 12 days.
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Slump continues as Kings dominate Blues (+ Hitchcock video)
-Warning: contains Buffalo Springfield lyrics.
Halak suffers setback warming up, can’t play after all
-Kings assistant coach Davis Payne was quoted on his return to St. Louis, saying, “It’s a little bit strange. It’s kind of like going back to a high-school reunion. You think it’s familiar territory. But you find things have changed and life has kind of moved on.”
Hockey Guy: So much for Halak’s heroic return
-The photo of Brian Elliott that accompanies this article does an accurate job of summing up the past week for St. Louis.
Belleville News-Democrat
Blues’ ‘homestand from hell’ ends with another loss
-This article features the interesting David Backes quote that has been making its rounds: “We’ve got too many guys that are out there looking at the stat sheet wondering how many goals and assists and cookies they got, rather than taking a hit to make a play or getting run over so we can get a puck out,” Backes said. “We took our foot off the gas and it’s no one’s fault but our own.”
Elliott a surprise starter in goal after Halak aggravates injury
-The article also focuses on Ian Cole’s return against Anaheim on Saturday.
St. Louis Game Time
Kings At Blues Recap: Blues Drop Fifth In A Row 4-1 To Kings
-The Blues’ SB Nation blog condenses many of the above themes into one game recap.
I guess that’s why the call them the Blues..
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Justin Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 3:07 am
@Duncanz, lol awesome
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LA_1968 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 6:04 am
@EltonJohn, Nice.
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IceGuy Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:19 am
@Duncanz,
Hey – that’s not Buffalo Springfield!
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Lake Forest Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:48 am
@Duncanz, weak sauce.
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Michael J. Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:50 am
@ReginaldDwight,
The sun is indeed going down on them.
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Duncanz Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 10:49 am
@Capt Fantastic, Don’t Go Breaking My Carts.
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SLIM Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 6:38 pm
@Duncanz,
You stole another one from me…
This is getting boring!!
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Duncanz Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 10:18 pm
@SVELTE, Sorry dude, I didn’t notice.
Having said that I’ve been using it since their inception, or at least since the song came out, whichever came second..
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Do u guys recall that it was the game that the kings lost to Detroit in the last minutes last year that got the kings going on a winning tear. I hope it’s the same this year
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LA_1968 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 6:01 am
@Gcheng,
I was at that game last year in Detroit. That was hard to take. Man I wanted this one on Sunday as payback. Both were huge disappointments.
But yeah, Coach Sutter told Dean Lombardi after the Detroit game last year “no problem” when he asked if they could still make the playoffs.
2 days later in Chicago they had an awesome game (Quick poke check to win shootout).
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KC23 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:00 am
@Gcheng, That thought crossed my mind immediately after the Detroit game. One of the lowest points of my 44 years of being a King’s fan. I really thought there was no way we would make the playoffs. I had completely given up hope.
Strangely, the thing that gave me hope again didn’t happen on the ice at all. It was what Mitchell did and said during that same time span. Mitchell re-upped for the King’s and his reasoning was he wanted to stay on a team that had an excellent chance at winning the cup. Every King fan was no doubt saying to themselves … “SAY WHAT?” Mitchell is no dummy and it was at that moment when I read what Mitchell said that it struck me that perhaps there was more to this team than we know.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:15 am
@KC23,
Excellent post!
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rogiesbackup Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:40 pm
@Gcheng, Warning: don’t expect it to turnout the way it did last year or you’ll be even more disappointed, but having said that I hope this again marks the point the Kings turn it around. Only problem….it is no longer the same since the Kings don’t have Mitchell and Greener as their backbone for this season.
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Good job by the Kings last night securing the 2 points on the road. we all know how big a game that was, especially after losing to Detroit the way we did.
I actually thought they looked bettr against Detroit, but they were certainly good enough last night. Theyw ere strong defensively and buried there chances when they had them.
Carter once again is the Kings best forward. It’s been like that pretty much every night. I didn’t see much out of Kopi at all.
VV has been the best D’man almost every game as well. I can’t believe he hasn’t even been up a full year yet. He plays with the savvy of a seasoned veteran. The only reason I get critical with him is becaue he reminds yu of a guy who’s been in the league over 5 years, not less than a year. He is an amazing talent and will continue to get better.
Great game last night by Elerbee. I was down on him after the Detroit game and especially when he had another ugly TO, but he played very well after that and the pass he made to Carts was first rate.
Bernier was good when he needed to be. The D and forwards coming back did an excellent job against the Blues offense, but when he was tested, he was ready for it.
The only negative was losing Marty for some period of time. He has really been coming into his own this year. His loss will definitely hurt. It wouldn’t be so bad if Mitchell were back, but finding him is like finding that crazy killer cop in LA.
time for Muzzin or Campbell to step up and show us what they can do.
Let’s hope last night gets us on a roll and gets us back into the Western Conf playoff battle. We know w’re a much better team than we’ve shown so far..it’s jsut a question of getting everyone to play up to their level every night.
Go Kings!
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puck73 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 7:55 am
@nykingfan, Ahhh, a cup of Kona coffee directly from The Big Island, and a morning reading from @nyKingfan after a solid victory.
Ahhh, I feel even better.
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Goring 19 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:01 am
@nykingfan, great post.
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KC23 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:05 am
@nykingfan, I DVR’ed the game despite seeing it on live TV. Went back to see what happened to Martinez. Those interested it was at the 16:20 mark of the first period. Martinez gets checked into the boards at the blue line, but the check didn’t look like anything special.
Didn’t look like a head injury. He might of got speared in the chest, or perhaps he seperated his left shoulder or even a broken coller bone. It certainly wasn’t any big time hit he took though.
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Lake Forest Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 10:32 am
@KC23, thank you. I missed it and was wondering
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Michael J. Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:07 am
@nykingfan,
Last year at camp @puck, @TA (I think) & yours truly were talking with Kozun’s dad about the Manchester team and who was most likely to make the Kings roster. He emphatically stated the Slava was a star in the making. There was no doubt in his mind and that of several Manch players that Slava was the real deal. I’m glad they were right.
Can the Kings extend his contract today?
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LOL at “Buffalo Springfield lyrics.”
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Neil Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:25 am
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, one of the all time great bands !!!
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Deke'r Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 6:07 pm
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, …..somethin happenin in here….what it is aint exactly clear…..theres a man with a puck over there….tellin me I got to beware…
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Great win last night….lets string a few together, continuing with the Blue Jackets on Friday!
Jack Johnson coming back to Staples. The Jackets beat SJ 6-2 last night, and somehow good ole JJ ended up with a -1 rating…made me laugh.
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puck73 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 7:58 am
@A Cup B4 I Died!, It is funny my friend. Guys like JJ, and TM will always be guys on this site that get doused with gas, and bloggers like me and @Jess will circle them like wild indians, flicking Ohio Blue Tips at them !!
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DesertKing Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:29 am
@puck73,
How! (TV Indian language for “hello”)
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KC23 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:13 am
@A Cup B4 I Died!, Only JJ can find a way to be a -1 during a 6 – 2 victory. That is just too funny. Watched the highlights of that Shark game. Sharks looked terrible and their back up goalie looked terrible. The Sharks are not the same team since Gomez and Burns got in the line up. Gomez -3, Burns -2 and Boyle is a team worst -4.
Watch the Sharks free fall in the standings. Neimi sucks and they haven’t a decent back up. Defense is so so. Sharks will be an early exit as usual in the playoffs.
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Huge, but I flaked out… next time you have to throw kind of ROCK instead of a small pebble.
Nevertheless I woke up and saw the second Carter’s goal. Then I was dreaming about the rest of the game. We finished it 4:0 and don’t know why, the last one was empty net goal scored by Gagne. Heh. At the end of the night (morning) I was happy for 44 an 28 scoring and moreover for 25 assisting… See you on Friday and I wanna see how the blue jackets turn black (or white), whatever. Have a great week kings m8s.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 11:03 pm
@NamidaEurope,
Hahaha! I actually posted that I was tossing pebbles at your windows! I guess ROCKS next time like you say!
Glad you woke up tho!
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Other teams that started hot like St. Louis will start faltering.
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mrbrett7 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 7:41 am
@DesertKing, **cough cough San Jose **cough cough
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puck73 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 7:59 am
@mrbrett7, Hey dude! Good to see you posting again!
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DesertKing Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:27 am
@mrbrett7,
**chooooke***gag***choke**** Oh look, a shark hairball!
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The most intriguing stats;
The Kings blocked 100 shots this season, the lowest in the league. And the last season, the Kings had 969 block shots, second fewest in the league. The Devils had 928.
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MK Ultra Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 7:56 am
@goldielocks, Shot blocking is lame and makes for boring hockey.
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JonRosen Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:37 am
@goldielocks, It would be good to see that ranking rise, but keep in mind that the Kings are allowing the second-fewest shots in the league, so their total blocks are going to be low as well.
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goldielocks Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:05 am
@JonRosen,
Yes. That’s exactly my point. Teams that depend on block shot so much don’t cut it. So I’m not worried about that number at all. Just wanted to prove our defensive system is one of the best without shot-blocking.
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Wilmonde Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:11 am
@goldielocks, The Kings don’t need to block too many shots because they actually play defense.
Teams like NYR, who claim to be great defensively, do not actually play D, allowing the other teams to set up and take all the shots they want, using their star players to take a puck to the face and hopefully get up in time to allow a counterattack.
The Kings will actually play defense, generally funneling attackers to the outside with the goal of keeping their faces into the boards, not allowing them to set up, or take any shots.
In my opinion, I would rather have the other team taking less shots, with the majority of those being low percentage shots, than to have my star players flopping around on the ice to get hit by a frozen hunk of rubber.
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Munchrat Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:22 am
@Wilmonde, +1
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KC23 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:16 am
@goldielocks, On defense the King’s wingers play high above the hash marks on the strong side, even on the PP. This gives the defense and F3 forward very little time and space to get a shot off.
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Hey bandwagoneer Sancho, you missed a great game. GO KINGS GO!!!
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puck73 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:00 am
@Forum Gold, OMG, where has that guy been?! lol
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Bailey'sCrown Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:58 am
@Forum Gold, Forum Gold was right-on about “the Marshmallows” being hot in St. Louis!!!
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Glad to heat DS explain the line changes…..now i understand it better..Big question now will be Bernier or Quick….Iam guessing Quick…he is our #1 goalie..right???
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Canadian King Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:31 am
@Neil, It better be Bernier in a condenscened, shortened season we need to play the hot hand.
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puck73 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:32 am
@Neil, @poorman called me last night convinced that Bernier is the reason we won last night. This guy just never learns does he? I had to explain to him that JB is the backup, and he did what The Kings expected from him…a solid performance.
Although there arent many, there are still a FEW that question The mental toughness of Quick. How someone can do that after what he has done for this team after the past 3 seasons is beyond me.
And you know, like the rest of this team…JQ will come thru again when we need him.
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KC23 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:21 am
@Neil, Unless Quick is hurting, it’ll be Quick. Too long between starts for a starting goal tender for it not to be Quick. Bernier was okay, but he didn’t get all that much pressure either. Benching Quick for a goal tender that has asked to be traded and almost certainly will, I’m not feeling it. We’ll see.
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I think the weak goal Quick let in against the Red Wings will tighten up his game. The goal reminded me a bit of the goal that he let in from the red line last year in the playoffs. At least I hope so!
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St. Louis better stop and notice what’s going down. What is “going down” is the realization that they played way over their heads last year.
Last night it was men vs. boys, just like in the playoffs.
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KC23 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:22 am
@Michael J., I agree. Wouldn’t surprise me to see them fall out of the playoffs eventually. Without Halek they are very average.
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I would like to see DS go with the ‘hot hand’ method of choosing netminders.
Quick has shown flashes of last season’s form but has yet to give us 60 straight minutes of it. Bernier was very good last night.
Nobody seems to care or remember that JB has dominated the opposition at every level of the game. IMNSHO, there is not a huge difference in ability between the two stoppers.
As long as JB is on the bench, he is of absolute ZERO value to this team. Giving him PT only can make us a better team.
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puck73 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:28 am
@Munchrat, You never know. JB might get the call friday at Staples vs Columbus, but there is NO WAY IN HELL he is playing sunday at Chicago.
In a way, this situation reminds me of what is going on in New Jersey. Moose Hedberg is a very good veteran goaltender, and each time he has been called upon, he usually plays very well, in fact, could start elsewhere. That being said…He couldnt catty Martin Brodeurs jock right now, even though Marty is over 40.
Memo to Bernier myopians….BERNIER IS A BACKUP ON THIS TEAM ! GET IT THRU YOUR THICK SKULLS !
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DesertKing Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:29 am
@puck73,
That Kona coffee has got you FIRED UP!
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Munchrat Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 10:01 am
@puck73, Ease off the java, dude! You must be spending too much time hanging out with Phil Sykes!
You are reading WAY more into my post than I put in it.
I am in no way a Bernier myopian. I NEVER said he is the savior, or that he is or should be our #1.
What I AM saying is that there is no reason not to play JB more, and plenty of good reasons to give him more ice time. The least of those reasons being to increase his potential trade value. AND that a little healthy competition will not hurt JQ at all.
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puck73 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 10:04 am
@Munchrat, Friends ?
Munchrat Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 11:45 am
@puck73, BFF
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KC23 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:28 am
@Munchrat, JB has never dominated in the NHL really, but never given a chance to play a lot either. His NHL career stats are 2.5 gaa and a .909 save percentage … that’s very average and far from dominating.
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Munchrat Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 10:04 am
@KC23, not yet, but I believe that when he does get his chance, he will be a top performer at his psotition.
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rogiesbackup Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 8:49 pm
@Munchrat, Also keep in mind that many pundits gave Biron a lot of credit in relieving Lundquist so that he is healthy and mentally fresh to play good enough to win the Vezina.
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When can we expect an update on Martinez?
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Think how we’d be reacting if we had a 5 game losing streak…I can understand the angst in the Blues perspective. I thought the game was more about what the Kings did, and less about what the Blues did (or didn’t, actually). Glad to see Penner get a good game in, and be rewarded with the point off an assist. Who do you guys think is going to start the next game in goal? The odds have to be with Quick, right? Here’s an article about last night’s game, some observations about Bernier and a discussion of the surprising way Sutter distributes ice time on specialty teams. http://holdthepoint.com/2013/02/11/2-11-2013-kings-at-blues-blues-come-un-hitched-again/
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KC23 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:48 am
@PlayerXatHoldThePoint, Well done on the break down of ice time. Great read.
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PlayerXatHoldThePoint Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 5:11 pm
@KC23, Thanks KC, hope to see ya there often. Work in progress right now, but I’m out there…
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KJ Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:45 pm
@PlayerXatHoldThePoint, great article…thanks!
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@JonRosen
So when can we expect that video of Bob at karaoke?
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Kings are only 5 pts out of the 5th playoff spot with a game in hand over every team infront of them except Phoenix which we have 2 games in hand.
Yet Craig Button has us missing the playoffs. What a tool.
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puck73 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:54 am
@KC23, Button talks like he has a paper A__Hole.
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Lake Forest Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 10:58 am
@puck73, muahahahahahahahahahah
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Michael J. Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 9:56 am
@KC23,
Exactly. Should the Kings win friday night they will be 1 point (yes, one point) out of a playoff spot with what… 36 games remaining????
Sometimes I wonder if Button and Pierre frequent this blog pseudonymously…
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KC23 Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 10:19 am
@Michael J., He should come to this blog because nearly everyone here knows twice as much about the Kings as he seems to. Guy does not do his home work. Fakes it consistantely.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 10:46 am
@KC23,
1/5th of the season down, 4/5th’s to go. If I remember correctly, he-who-is-named-after-a-fastening-device-affixed-to-the-front-of-my-pants didn’t pick us to win last year either.
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Robert R Reply:
February 12th, 2013 at 3:20 pm
@KC23, He should button it, and fast.
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Good to see the team scratch a win out, Good to see berney help the team out. Maybe quicks sits a few
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Looks like we’re going to watch the game on Friday at Staples. Hope they bring it like they did last night.
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As Hitch stated about playoff loss against the Kings, ‘We are not the team made for falling behind’, gaps opened up after they trailing. Maybe it’s time to change your playing style and the system? Oh, and embellishment like your captain displayed last night, is the sign that the team is digging a hole even deeper. Good luck with the rest of the season.
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I predict Hitchcock will be fired before the season is over if they keep playing like that did during the next few weeks.
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You guys agree we’ve got too many defense men wanting to score goals? You guys concerned? Even Scuds is going in deep. This might open up too many chances for the opponent. Even Ellerby got involve in the rush, and now Muzzing is probably going to replace AMART.
I guess as long as they take pride in playing defense FIRST, and are winning I guess I don’t mind.
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