On Daniel and Henrik Sedin:
“They like to get the puck back to each other. When they make the first pass it’s most likely going right back to them, and then that’s what opens up the space…They’ll make any kind of pass. They’ll throw it up to the guy’s chest and catch it. They’ll do anything. It doesn’t have to be the perfect pass. They’ll just bat pucks by you and bat it right back. So it’s tough playing against them, [because] they’re always looking for each other.”
On whether Vancouver still possesses elite speed:
“Yeah, they still have the speed, for sure. Even though in the standings they aren’t doing what they have in the past, but it’s hard to do that with such a short season…They’re still a really good team, a team that we’ve got to make sure we’re really prepared for because every time they come into our building they play a hard game, so that’s what we’re expecting tomorrow. We’ve got to have a big win and outplay them pretty bad tomorrow night.”
On what the team needs to address after last night’s game:
“We’ve got to score. We had a lot of chances and I don’t think we were going to the net hard enough. I think that’s the reason why we weren’t putting any pucks by them. Also, once they got a lucky bounce off that goal off a skate, I think after that we kind of deflated as a team. I think we’ve got to go the other way. After a bad bounce you’ve got to realize you’re still doing the right things and we’ve got to get one back quick.”
On Jonathan Quick’s performance against Dallas:
“He made some big saves at some big times, especially in…the second…We minimized the shots. They really didn’t get that many shots on net, but we gave up too many high quality scoring chances, and that’s when he had to come up big. He played great for us last night, and I’m sure he will if he plays tomorrow again.”
On whether Quick’s reaction to his save on Daley’s shot indicates he has his “swagger” back:
“I don’t think Quickie ever lost his swagger. I think everyone expects him to kind of have the exact same year he did last year, and it’s pretty hard to live up to repeating a season like that. It’s not impossible, but it almost is. He played outstanding for us all season last year, and he made every single save. It was never a puck was getting by him, and that just can’t happen forever. I don’t ever think he lost his swagger, [and] I don’t ever think he’s playing poorly. I think he just wasn’t having the exact same season as he was last year, and that’s what people maybe see it as, [that] he wasn’t playing to the best of his ability.”
Jon, Was there any reason given for Mike Richards being absent from practice today???
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JonRosen Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 1:46 pm
@Deirdre, No.
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DD all the goals against Quick are your fault….
The slow season start is your fault…..
Poor D work early on….
7Mil bah!!
/sarcasm
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Mars Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 1:51 pm
@Mars, I am happy DD has stepped up his role
Mentoring an filling in the stay at home style
Muzz has been great, between DS, DD his grooming
has come along nicely. Thumbs up!
With WM and MG out, I was pretty worried, not so much now
The Kids are stepping up big time.
A stick tap to DD and Scuds for that!
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shiny Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 1:55 pm
@Mars, it’d still be nice to at least get MG back before the end of the season.
Jon, I know us fans are a pain about this, but is there any way you could find out about Greener’s status? If I had the balls (and gas money), I’d go down to Torrance tonight and ask him myself. But I have neither…
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shiny Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 1:51 pm
@Mars, LOL. I know he’s defending his goalie, especially because he’s a defenseman so he feels that pucks getting by were his fault (and they partially were…), but Quick did let in some soft goals early on. And I know he’d never say that it’s true or admit it because “you never wanna see somebody throw you teammate under the bus” (his words), BUT I do think Quick is back to being the awesome goalie he is.
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cup4kings Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 4:53 pm
@Mars, DD is still not playing to his contract. For that money, he needs to be in the Norris discussion every year. He brought it on himself with his hold out. DD wanted big boy money and held the Kings hostage going into the season. Since then, his numbers have declined every year. I realize DD scored his first goal and everyone is pumping up his play as of late, his mentorship to the young guys, but fact remains, he’s not a $7 mil/yr player. I laugh at everyone who defends him so much. DD, just like Quick, were both awful to start this year. Can’t even really argue that.
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@J-Ro, Do you have an inkling about why Mike Richards was absent from practice today???
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puck73 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 1:55 pm
@Duncanz, Mike Richards wasnt there because he has a boil on his Arse.
Respectfully Yours: George McGuire, General Manager Los angeles Kings Hockey Club.
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shiny Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 1:58 pm
@Duncanz, it was weird seeing Penner on the 2nd line with TT… Paul was speculating MR got a rest day to take care of some nagging injuries or some maintenance stuff so… we’ll see later I guess. Hope he’s not hurt
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JonRosen Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 1:59 pm
@Duncanz, Inkling is that today’s practice wasn’t “mandatory”, and that he took a recovery day that the coaches have been liberal providing the players with in this compacted schedule.
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LA_1968 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:03 pm
@Duncanz, Coach Sutter stated the other day that the key with Richards is keeping him as fresh as possible. (Fox is wearing off on me). Hopefully, it was just to give him a boost tomorrow against Vancouver.
Earlier, you guys talked about Toffoli playing and not playing. Perhaps he wants him fresh too for tomorrow. Manch isn’t exactly the same kind of intense schedule. I thought Nolan and King, but more King, did well last night.
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shiny Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:07 pm
@LA_1968, apparently Sutter did not like what he saw from Nolan last night…
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LA_1968 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:11 pm
@shiny, I didn’t hear anything about Nolan from Sutter. Did I miss something? His 5-5 TOI was about the same as the 4th liners.
shiny Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:13 pm
@shiny, Quotes from MM on twitter w/ Sutter saying Nolan’s output this season has come nowhere close to anything he did last season. Says Nolan is struggling and he’s not playing guys for only 3 minutes a night
mrbrett7 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:21 pm
@shiny, That was said a while back Shiny.
FWIW…I agree with Sutter. Nolan’s defensive positioning has been awful. I’m fine with his offensive game, but he is out there to bang and not hurt the team. That’s his ceiling.
Drew you were doing so good sticking up for Quickie until the last few words.
Oh, and tomorrow AFTERNOON!
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Are WM and MG done for the season or is there a possibility for the playoffs?
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puck73 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:06 pm
@King Kamehameha X, You can keep asking if you like, but it will do you no good. Whenever they start skating again, trust me, Jon Rosen or KND will report it.
My own opinion? I would be surprised if either one of them played again this season. Backs and knees take not only a long time to heal, but maybe just as important, they take a long time to get back into the type of game shape you were in before the surgery.
Take a look at Dwight Howard after off season back surgery, it has taken him 3 quarters of the season to regain his elite form.
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KC23 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 3:42 pm
@King Kamehameha X, Your guess is as good as mine or anyone elses inlcuding Greene and Mitchell’s.
Just know way to know.
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In other news, based on twitter, I expect TT to draw back into the lineup tomorrow. If there wasn’t a need for depth at this point in the season, I might dare to venture he’d get sent back down.
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puck73 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:09 pm
@shiny, I hope Toffoli is back in as well for better overall balance on the team. Who do they leave off?….Thats why they call him Coach Sutter.
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shiny Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:11 pm
@puck73, sorry, I meant to say NOLAN would get sent back
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puck73 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:13 pm
@shiny, Nolan get sent down? I would be VERY surprised if that happened.
shiny Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:18 pm
@puck73, I would be surprised, too. But Sutter ain’t happy with Nolly (see above response)
KC23 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 3:44 pm
@shiny, Not a chance in heck. They are not going to expose Nolan to the waver wire unless they feel they have to and they don’t have to.
goldielocks Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:16 pm
@puck73,
I second that. But I don’t understand the constant use of King on the 3rd line though. I’d prefer Cliffy or Penner on the 3rd.
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yetiman_oc Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:41 pm
@goldielocks, +1
OT; What’s with the players safety department’s inconsistency? Nash avoids discipine … really?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9jZDEQ_a3Y&feature=player_embedded
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puck73 Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at 2:25 pm
@goldielocks, The department of safety is absolutely still a big work in progress. They are so inconsistent on handing down punishments that it makes the league seem at times second rate compared to other professional sports.
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I liked Cliffy’s breakaway shot last night at the end of the period. Very Pennerish but he did have a spot picked and got something on it.
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Go Kings Go!
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Growing up in Sweden playing on that large ice surface has not really hindered the Sedins one bit. They have adapted to the smaller ice surface nicely, right?
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