For the fist time in a couple weeks, Terry Murray indicated that he plans to get goalie Erik Ersberg in a game sometime soon. Jonathan Quick will start tomorrow against Phoenix, and likely Thursday’s and Saturday’s games as well, but Murray said Ersberg “probably will” play sometime on the five-game road trip the Kings start a week from tomorrow. There is one set of back-to-back games, Friday at Atlanta and Saturday at Tampa Bay.
Murray was asked today if he was happy with Ersberg’s recent efforts in practice…
MURRAY: “Ersberg is bringing more intensity, pushing it at every practice, every drill. I like what I’m seeing out of his practice time right now. He had a little bit of an issue going back, even when he played in the Ranger game, with his hand, with his catching glove. He had a bone bruise that was a little bit tender. It wasn’t prohibiting him from playing, and playing well, but I’m seeing that kind on intensity, that kind of focus and hard work, in the practice drills now, that he showed me last year. He was missing that in the early part of the season.”
Injured hand, you say?
MURRAY: “The hand was fine. It was not something that was brought to my attention through him. He wants to play. You’ve got to play hurt. You’re not going to play injured, but you’re going to play with some bruises. That’s the way it is. Everybody has them at this time of the year, whether it’s the first game of the year or the 80th game, you have them.
“When I did speak with him one day out here, when we had the small group in the morning skate, I found out that he had a little bit of… He got hit on it with a shot, and he would have a five-second `ouch’ kind of a thing. But it’s fine now. I want to get him into a game. I’m not going to be standing here saying he’s not going to play. He is going to play. I want to get him in and I want him to be on top of his game when he’s ready to go.”
Murray handled that well with us reporters today, but as a coach, you can’t like to hear that your player didn’t tell you about playing while hurt. Maybe it wouldn’t influence things at all, but maybe it would. Regardless, it looks as though Ersberg will get another chance sometime in the next week.
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He previously worked at the Los Angeles Daily News, was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar.
Well, no goalie can play all 82 games, Kings need to play their backup sometime, even if they are on a winning streak. Many good teams will pick up their game a bit in support of the backup, Kings need to do the same when Ersberg is in.
It’s tough on athletes to admit to an injury particularly what appears to be a minor one, willing to suck it up instead and minimizing the pain. If players stepped up to the trainers every time they had a minor pain, the trainers would be overwhelmed! The flip side to that of course is the possibility of minimizing a potential major injury such as a hairline fracture that could worsen if left untreated.
This coach is terrible to a back-up goalies confidence.
Is he gonna behave this way when Bernier finally gets his chance in the NHL.
Hah.
Play Quick 76 games and Bernier 6 games.
Sheez.
I think a home game would do wonders for Ersberg’s confidence. Let him play in front of his fans.
Surly– I’m sure the kings fans would rip him apart if he had a bad game. its better he get his groove back on the road
That’s after the fact Paki. Right now, I would think playing in the energy and encouragement of his own building would be a good thing.
Even though I know Ersberg is one tough competitor and one very good goalie, I think that would be a great idea, PakiFro.
I believe Ersberg is an excellent goalie, but the way the coach tosses him around really seems to mess with his confidence levels. Sure he’s a “professional athlete” and such challenges in coaching arise, I think Murray could do a better job of tossing the two goaltenders up without “showcasing” Ersberg during the games. The guy seems extremely nervous, at least he did in the one game he’s played thus far.
There are a lot of different philosophies around the league about how to play two goaltenders. In the Kings’ case it seems that Murray is perhaps leaning on Quick too much. Seems that Ersberg should see some action, if for no other reason just in case Quick gets injured, he’ll be prepared…
Either send Ersberg to Manchester or play him. He needs the action either way.
TM is handling the backup goalie situation just fine.
Quick is a young guy who should be able to handle the load he’s been given. Murray seems to have the pulse of the team and if Quick is getting tired, I think he’ll know about it and adjust the scheduling.
Usually the role of the backup is to play on the road, not home games.
I have to say I’m a little surprised that everyone seems to be jumping on the Ersberg banner. He played as poorly as an NHL goalie can possibly play when he lost to the Rangers. He obviously will need to get into some games, but for right now Quick needs to play the bulk of the games and get into the kind of groove he was in last year.
My feeling about Quick/Bernier is that neither one will be backing up the other for the Kings. When the time comes, one will be here and the other will be traded for something big.
it sure as hell feels good to know that 2 of the top 5 goalies in the AHL belong to the KINGS!!! Jon Bernier and Jeff Zatkoff are killing it in Manchester. They can be the future duo of the kings if Quick flops. Ersberg will be gone to the most by the trade deadline. We still have J.F. Berube in juniors who will be up in Manchester by spring
Did you ever think we’d see the day when we have too many top quality goalies in our system?
“I have to say I’m a little surprised that everyone seems to be jumping on the Ersberg banner. He played as poorly as an NHL goalie can possibly play when he lost to the Rangers. He obviously will need to get into some games, but for right now Quick needs to play the bulk of the games and get into the kind of groove he was in last year.”
So you agree that Ersberg should be sent down to get more playing time.
That’s just it, Surly. The Staples fans have not been very “encouraging” to any goalie aside from Quick over the past half decade. Do you remember the “we want Gar-on” chants during the Cloutier days? Or the “Hu-et! Hu-et” during Choke-manek’s era? I’m confident that the Kings faitful wouldn’t hesitate to rip Ersberg apart if he had a bad home game, which would then diminish what’s left of his confidence after Terry Murray’s public “regret”.