• 01Jul

  Not the End of the World, Kings Fans

  Hockey No Comments

  All the LA Kings fans seem to be going crazy over the idea that Ilya Kovalchuk looks like he probably won’t be in a Kings jersey next season. I’d like to remind the Kings fans that this would not be the end of the world.

  Last season, Kovalchuk wasn’t a part of the Kings organization. The Kings finished 6th in the West and made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. They won a couple of playoff games against the Canucks and looked respectable during the regular season and post season. They did all of this with the team that is still mostly together (with a few unknowns still).

  Kovalchuk is better in points per game than Kopitar (the Kings’ leading scorer), but Kopi was just out of the top 25. The Kings were in the top third of the league in scoring. Their main problem was really their goaltender. Jonathan Quick, the Kings’ number one goaltender, was only tied for 26th in the league for save percentage.

  If one of the goalies in the Kings’ system, whether it’s the one the Kings fans most seem to want to see play (Bernier) or not, the Kings could be a very powerful team next season – with or without Kovalchuk. I know Kings fans had some very rough years recently, but Dean Lombardi has been doing a good job with your team, so I have this to say:

  Kings fans… RELAX

  Tags: Anze Kopitar, Dean Lombardi, Hockey, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jonathan Bernier, Jonathan Quick, Kings, NHL

• 12Apr

  Kat’s 2010 Playoff Predictions

  Hockey No Comments

  In 2009, I went 7 for 8 in first round predictions. Somehow, I think that’s very unlikely this year. It was difficult for me to decide who I think will win a couple of the series this year, which I hope means there will be some great match-ups. Here are my predictions…

  Eastern Conference

  Capitals vs. Canadiens
  Capitals in 5 – I don’t think this will be at all challenging for the Capitals, but I think the Canadiens will win a game, hopefully at home for their fans.

  Devils vs. Flyers
  Devils in 6 – I think the Devils will take this one unless they have a completely unexpected breakdown or the Martin Brodeur of the Olympics resurfaces. It seems like Marty is determined to make everyone forget about his horrible performance in the 2010 Olympics, which will probably help the Devils, but the Flyers are still a very good team in spite of how they were playing the last couple weeks. I think they’ll bounce back and win a couple games.

  Sabres vs. Bruins
  Bruins in 6 – I know it’s not a popular choice, but I think the Bruins are going to step up and beat the Sabres. Buffalo hadn’t been doing that great in their last couple weeks and Boston may just take their winning streak into the playoffs.

  Penguins vs. Senators
  Penguins in 4 – A lot of those who know me will say I’m being too much of a fan in this prediction, but I disagree. I think that the Penguins (especially their Captain Sidney Crosby) still remember the 2007 meeting with the Senators in the playoffs. The Penguins swept the Senators when they faced the team the following year in the quarterfinals and I think they’ll do the same 2 years later.

  Western Conference

  Sharks vs. Avalanche
  Avalanche in 6 – I know everyone keeps saying the Sharks are bound to break out of their playoff slump some year, but I don’t see it happening any time soon. The one thing that makes me a bit skeptical about this pick is that (unlike recent playoff years) the Sharks went 8-1-1 in their last 10 games of the season as opposed to barely squeaking by to win the western conference title. The Avalanche have struggled at the end of the season, so if the Sharks don’t crash and burn early, they may get past the Avalanche and lose in round 2.

  Blackhawks vs. Predators
  Blackhawks in 6 – I think the Blackhawks will take the series, though it’ll be more difficult for them than it would if they had a better goalie. A team can win the Stanley Cup with an amazing defense and an okay goalie, but Huet is near the bottom out of all ranked goalies. Niemi has been doing well, but has very little experience. Of course, many new goalies (even those like Hedberg with the Pens, who had played only 9 regular season games) have great playoff runs, so I think the Blackhawks will get through the first round in spite of the goaltending questions.

  Canucks vs. Kings
  Canucks in 6 – I’ve talked to a lot of people who think the Kings will win this one, but I have to go with the Canucks for a few reasons. First, the Canucks have a lot more playoff experience than the Kings. I don’t see them making it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but I do think they’ll get past the Kings. In 2007, I was sure the Penguins would beat the Senators and then collapse. Instead, they were out of the playoffs in 5 games. I think the Kings will win one more game than the 2007 Pens, but they don’t have much playoff experience and I think that’ll hurt them. The other issue in this match-up is the goaltending. Luongo just won the gold medal with Canada in his home arena in Vancouver. Conversely, Quick (who Terry Murray keeps reminding everyone is the “number one guy”) had never played as many games as he did this season (72). He played only 44 last season and came from college hockey, where he played fewer games. It’s been speculated that part of Nabokov’s problem in the playoffs is that he’s so tired (he played 71 games this season). If a lot of games affect a seasoned goalie the way they have Nabokov, what will it do to a goalie with a lot less experience? As if that’s not enough, the Canucks have the number one scorer in the NHL (and 3 of the top 25). All those factors add up to me thinking the Canucks will win this round and a picture similar to that of Sidney Crosby’s depressed locker room shot of captain Dustin Brown.

  Coyotes vs. Red Wings
  Red Wings in 7 – This series was the hardest series for me to pick a winner, which is why I had to predict that it’ll go to 7 games. The Red Wings have been doing so well lately (8-1-1 in their last 10 games) that I had to pick them. Until I started writing this, I was going to pick the Coyotes. I think it’ll be a great series. The Red Wings do seem to already be in playoff mode, though, and their playoff goaltending has been amazing lately (leading them to two Stanley Cup Finals in the last two years and one Cup). I don’t think the Red Wings will get as far this year, but I don’t think they’ll collapse until at least the second round. The Coyotes have been playing really well this season, but recently they’ve been good, but not great and I don’t think that’s quite enough to beat the playoff Red Wings. Would anyone have predicted that the Coyotes would have home ice advantage in this series? It’s doubtful. The Red Wings didn’t play that well overall this season, but they know how to win in the playoffs. They have a history of winning for a reason.

  Hopefully, a lot of the match-ups will be exciting this year. I think that’s all most serious hockey fans want (other than their own team winning the Cup, of course, but we can’t have that every year).

  Enjoy the playoffs!

  Tags: Avalanche, Blackhawks, Bruins, Canadiens, Canucks, Capitals, Coyotes, Devils, Dustin Brown, Evgeni Nabokov, Flyers, Hockey, Jonathan Quick, Kings, NHL, Olympics, Penguins, playoffs, Predators, Red Wings, Roberto Luongo, Sabres, Senators, Sharks, Sidney Crosby, Stanley Cup, Terry Murray

• 06Apr

  Kings and Avalanche Officially End Ducks’ Post-Season Hopes

  Uncategorized No Comments

  This year will be another without both southern California teams in the playoffs. It’ll be great for southern CA hockey to see them play in the playoffs the same year. Maybe next year it’ll happen. In spite of the fact that so many things could end the Ducks’ playoff run (and did), before the game I was having a disagreement with a friend in the press box about whether the Ducks could make it. Sure, before the Colorado/Vancouver game ended in a shootout (not long before the Kings beat the Ducks the same way), it was still possible for the Ducks to make it to the playoffs this year. Most of us knew that wouldn’t happen. I called it in October from the way they were playing and publicly predicted the Ducks missing the playoffs in November. I didn’t believe you could fail the first 30% of your season and still squeak into the playoffs. The Avalanche and Kings helped prove me right tonight.

  The West is all sewn up for those in and out of the playoffs. Exact positions have yet to be decided, but there is no question that the Flames, Blues, and Ducks are out of the playoffs and the Avalanche will be playing in them again.

  Terry Murray pulled Quick after the third goal by the Ducks and the Kings rallied to win the game 5-4 in a shootout. Kopitar and Johnson scored for the Kings after Perry scored for the Ducks, winning the shootout 2-1. Kopitar came close to ending the game in overtime, but had to go on to use his most famous shootout move to beat McElhinne and win the game for the Kings.

  Now the debate turns to where the teams will end up in the standings and what teams will face each other in the playoffs. As usual at this time, there are many possibilities there. The last few days of the season are always exciting. Kings fans are looking forward to seeing their team in the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and many of the Kings are looking forward to their first playoffs of their NHL career.

  With their playoff spots secure, many teams are having trouble coming out strong in these last games before the playoffs. Hopefully for Kings fans, tonight’s game against the Ducks will help the Kings to finish the regular season strong so they can build on that performance when the playoffs start.

  Tags: Anze Kopitar, Avalanche, Blues, Canucks, Corey Perry, Curtis McElhinney, Ducks, Erik Ersberg, Flames, Jack Johnson, Jonathan Quick, Kings, playoffs, Terry Murray

• 14Feb

  Jack Johnson Has the Right Idea

  Hockey, Olympics No Comments

  I’m not saying that Dustin Brown (husband and father of two), Jon Quick (who had been sick and probably wouldn’t have made it to the Opening Ceremonies even if he’d already planned it), Drew Doughty, Michal Handzus, or any of the other players who could have attended the Opening Ceremonies and didn’t have the wrong attitude about the Olympics and I’m not saying that they should have been at the Opening Ceremonies. I guess Jack Johnson just seems to be having more fun with the experience than the other guys. Maybe it’s just that (like me) Jack is really into the Olympics in general and would be watching as much as possible if he wasn’t there. I didn’t ask him that one.

  When asked about traveling to Vancouver and back in a short time period (and with a more difficult travel schedule than normal, since he couldn’t get one of the direct flights from LAX to Vancouver), he said “Well, it’s the Opening Ceremonies… I think it’s a no brainer… I had the opportunity. Why waste it? It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I’m fortunate enough to play in the next one, it’s in Russia, I can’t just go over and back.” At the end of this, he brings up a very good point, which I asked him about later. Most of the NHL Olympians couldn’t attend the Opening Ceremonies even if they were as interested in doing so as Jack Johnson. They either had games or were on the wrong side of the country (which is true of most NHL teams). This is why I think the NHLPA should go for broke if they end up managing to allow their players to play in the Olympics going forward and get a break that would allow every NHL player to attend the Opening Ceremonies in Russia if they so choose. I think it should be the players’ choice and Jack Johnson (who did take advantage of his opportunity to attend the Opening Ceremonies) agrees. He described the Opening Ceremonies as the “coolest experience I’ve ever had in my life – something I’ll never forget,” so it’s not surprising he thinks the other NHL players in the Olympics should have the same opportunity he had in the future.

  He’s planning to meet as many of his fellow Olympians as possible in the Olympic Village and attend as many other events as he can. I’m not sure how much free time he’ll have, since I know from the experience of John Speraw (assistant men’s volleyball coach for the gold medal winning men’s volleyball team in China) that they didn’t get much free time with all the games they played and practices, but I hope Johnson has enough free time to enjoy a few other events while he’s in Vancouver.

  Hockey fans everywhere should be happy to hear that when I asked him about the coolest experience he’s had meeting a fellow Olympian so far and who he’s had a chance to meet in his brief time with his fellow American Olympians, Johnson said, “I got to meet Shaun White. He came up and asked me to take a picture with him, which I thought was pretty cool.” He went on to say that he’d met a couple of speed skaters, bobsleders, figure skaters, and that he wants to meet as many other athletes as possible and cheer them on, since that’s part of the Olympic experience and that he knew many of the other members of Team USA would be cheering on Team USA’s ice hockey team.

  As a side note, Canada’s women’s ice hockey team makes a good argument for the mercy rule in international ice hockey competition with an 18-0 win over Slovakia. Talk about total domination. I’m looking forward to seeing their other games and hope most of them are a bit more interesting.

  Tags: Canada, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Hockey, Jack Johnson, John Speraw, Jonathan Quick, Michal Handzus, NHL, Olympics, opening ceremonies, Shaun White, Slovakia, USA

• 05Feb

  Kings Maintain Perfect Record When Leading After 2 Periods

  Hockey No Comments

  This season, the Kings have an amazing ability to bounce back after giving up a lead – even against their southern California rival Anaheim Ducks. They’re 22-0-0 when leading after 2 periods. To make things exciting/stressful for their fans (not really… the Kings have never tried to give up a lead), the Kings have given up the lead they took into the third period in quite a few of those 21 games. The Kings don’t seem to know what’s different this season or why they refuse to give up in the third period even if they give up the lead they have going into it, but as Kopitar said, “It’s a good thing.” They may not be able to explain their success this season, but who cares? Their fans are happy and like the team they’ve supported, the Kings fans are having fun!

  The Kings tied the club record winning streak of 8 games they had in 91-92 & 72-73 last night (most recently February 18 – March 2, 1991). Jon Quick extended his career high winning streak and broke the longest winning streak in Kings goal tending history (which he’d tied Tuesday). Anze Kopitar tied his career high points in a game (4) and Jack Johnson beat his career high points in a game (also with 4).

  Did the Kings win the way they would have preferred? No. But they won. They didn’t give up when the Ducks tied the game after the Kings had a 4-1 lead. Kings fans were on the edge of their seats and certainly concerned once the Ducks made the game 4-3, but the Kings didn’t give up and let the Ducks win (or even get away with a point by getting into overtime). Though no one can explain the difference, it’s clear that the Kings are a different team now than they were last year at this time. Last season, they might have gotten a point in last night’s game or perhaps two by winning in a shootout. This season, the Kings don’t settle for just one point. They want to win. Winning games may be their job, as coach Terry Murray pointed out when asked about the winning streak, but this year the Kings (now in 4th place in the western conference – tied with Phoenix in points, but with more wins) expect to win. Winning streaks are great, but they just care about making sure they’re playing in mid-April this year for the first time in seven years.

  Tags: Anze Kopitar, career highs, Coyotes, Ducks, Jack Johnson, Jonathan Quick, Kings, playoffs, Terry Murray, winning streak

• 08Jan

  Howard Ends the Kings Winning Streak

  Hockey No Comments

  Jimmy Howard, Red Wings rookie, stopped 51 of the Kings’ 52 shots (a save percentage of 98%) as the Red Wings beat the Kings 2-1 in Staples Center tonight. Jon Quick’s save percentage of 92% is hardly bad, but the end of the game had most Kings fans leaving the building upset.

  Where did the Kings really go wrong after tying the game with less than 5 minutes to go in the 3rd? They played for the tie instead of the win. The Red Wings (having lost on Tuesday in Anaheim and being in 9th place in the standings even after their win over the Kings tonight) wanted to win more and in spite of the fact that the Kings outshot them 52-24, they deserved the win just for playing to the end of regulation. They scored both of their goals with less than 20 seconds left in the period in question. Their first goal was scored with under a second left in the first period and their game winning goal was scored at 19:42 of the 3rd period. It could be argued that either of those goals is a save a great goalie just has to make for his team. However, it’d be just as easy to argue that the players in front of Quick should play to the end of each period, which could have helped him a lot. I’m sure it was difficult for the Kings to have more shots than they’d had in one period in club history (27 in the 2nd) and not be able to score. They must have felt completely relieved when they finally got the puck past Howard. I’m sure they wish they had played a bit harder at the end of the game tonight rather than sitting back and enjoying the fact that they’d scored a goal and tied the game near the end of regulation for a bit too long. Scuderi and Kopitar did block shots for Quick, but Helm made his game winning goal look easy.

  The Kings had won their last 3 games, but they couldn’t beat Howard and the Red Wings. Howard was clearly the number one star of the game and is also listed as the top performer in the NHL today. I have to agree with that one, too. It’s early for Kings fans to worry too much about their team not making the playoffs. I still think they’ll get there, but it’s definitely not going to be the easy ride some may have anticipated earlier in the season. The Red Wings are working their way back into the top 8 of the conference slowly, but surely. They’ve had a lot of injuries this season (they’ve lost 200 man games to injury so far) and Holmstrom broke his foot this morning in practice to add to their injury list, but in spite of that they’re managing to win games. Winning at any cost is something all great dynasties have mastered. Kings fans are clearly hoping to see their team bounce back from this loss to start another winning streak on Saturday as they host the St. Louis Blues for the first time since they let Andy Murray go.

  Tags: Andy Murray, Anze Kopitar, Blues, dynasty, Hockey, injuries, Jimmy Howard, Jonathan Quick, Kings, NHL, playoffs, Red Wings, Rob Scuderi, Staples Center, Tomas Holmstrom

• 30Oct

  Déjà Vu All Over Again for Kings Fans

  Hockey No Comments

  If Kings fans missed the game last night against Vancouver, they might have thought they were seeing things when they read that their team lost 2-1 in a shootout. The only difference in the simple box scores was the game in San Jose taking 3 more rounds of the shootout to end the game.

  Though he always went on to say that he liked the shootout for the fans and realized that the fans like the shootout and get excited, Terry Murray made it very clear that he hates the shootout. Many of us think it’s a bit ridiculous to decide a game by a team with a skill competition. Yes, penalty shots are exciting and the skills competition of the All Star game is always my favorite part. However, other sports don’t end team games with individual competition, why does the NHL? Could you imagine after 9 innings of baseball deciding the game in a home run competition instead of continuing to play? What about the team that loses in 22 innings getting a point for that in the standings? Didn’t think so. What about the NBA ending in a free throw competition or a game of HORSE? So why give a goaltender who’s played well enough to keep his team in the game and get them through 65 minutes of play a loss (even if it is in the separate overtime loss column)? Okay, enough of my anti-shootout rant.

  Naturally, the Kings didn’t look as good in the second night of their back to back games. I still think that teams in back to back games should be facing other teams who played the day before on their second night (which would have worked if the Canucks had played the Ducks on Wednesday instead of playing them Friday). The Canucks will have the disadvantage against the rested Ducks tonight and the Ducks will be at a disadvantage on Saturday when they play in Phoenix. Somehow, it seems it could have been coordinated a bit better.

  On the bright side for Kings fans, their team got a point for the shootout loss in both of their last two games and points in their last 6 (4-0-2) games. The Kings had two four game winning streaks in the same month for the first time since… I’m not sure when. I went back to the late 90s and couldn’t find another time when the Kings put together two winning streaks of 4 games or more in the same month. The Kings are at the head of their division and despite many reports to the contrary, when they were tied in points with the Sharks the Kings were in the lead of the division, since they’ve gotten 3 points in their 2 games with the Sharks and the Sharks have only gotten 2. They only had two four game winning streaks in their entire last season (and none longer).

  It’ll be very interesting to see the Kings play the Penguins next week. They’ve played the Sharks, but the Penguins are the defending Stanley Cup Champions and (having lost only two games so far) are clearly still at the top of their game. The Penguins haven’t been to LA since November of 2006. For some reason, they tend to come to southern California in November or December (escaping the Pennsylvania weather for a bit?). I’ve seen the Penguins play so often the last couple years in Pittsburgh that I sometimes forget how little most southern California hockey fans have seen of the Penguins. The last time the Penguins were in LA was the season where they made the playoffs for the first time in years. It was Sidney Crosby’s first trip to California in the NHL and Evgeni Malkin’s first year in the NHL. They both had fairly big nights in LA and the Kings lost in overtime (Malkin scored the OT goal). Both teams have changed quite a bit since then. The Penguins have found a coach (Dan Bylsma) who seems to know exactly how to lead a group of young superstars. Bylsma’s record in his 61 games as a coach of the Penguins is 44-13-4 (they’ve won 72% of their games, 83% since his first training camp with the team). The Kings have done well with Terry Murray’s system focusing on defense and seem to have found a goaltender (in Jon Quick) capable of making the saves to give the Kings a chance to win every night. They’ve also added a few key players to help them achieve a higher level of play. Anze Kopitar has definitely stepped up his game this season. It’s early, but Kopi’s on pace to score almost 60 goals this season and has scored 1.5 points per game so far. (He was leading the NHL in points until Alex Ovechkin passed him last night.) Next Thursday’s game should be very interesting and will certainly be the biggest test the Kings have faced so far this season.

  Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar, Canucks, Coyotes, Dan Bylsma, Ducks, Evgeni Malkin, Hockey, Jonathan Quick, Kings, NHL, penalty shots, Penguins, Sharks, shootout, Sidney Crosby, Stanley Cup, Terry Murray, winning streak

• 23Oct

  It wasn’t Pretty… (but, the Kings beat the Stars)

  Hockey No Comments

  In spite of Williams’ injury (sustained during practice), the Kings looked good at the beginning of last night’s game. Breaking up the first line that’s combined to score 35 points in the Kings’ 9 games was certainly not something Terry Murray looked forward to doing. After the game, he credited GM Dean Lombardi with the idea of putting Wayne Simmonds on the top line. Clearly, Simmonds’ goal and assist support this decision (even though the goal was scored in a 4 on 4 situation and assisted by Frolov). Alexander Frolov had two assists in the game and looked much better than he did before he sat out as a healthy scratch. Perhaps Fro got the point and will be more dedicated in the future. I wouldn’t recommend that Kings fans hold their breath for that to happen, though everyone would love to see it.

  The Kings started out very strong at Staples Center against the Stars. Anze Kopitar’s first goal was a great hard goal – a goal even Terry Murray said Kopitar would not have scored last year. Simmonds scored with a nice 4 on 4 goal at the end of the first and less than a minute later, the Stars cut the lead in half by when Neal scored his own 4 on 4 goal (unassisted). This wasn’t really a reason for the Kings fans to worry. Their team looked strong in the first period and they had every reason to think that would continue in the second period. It did.

  The Kings scored two unanswered goals in the 2nd period, extending their lead. Anze Kopitar scored his first career NHL hat trick. The 4th Kings goal is definitely a goal that Auld wanted to have back. He bobbled the puck and it still got by him. Oddly enough, Turco almost allowed a similar goal the previous night against the Ducks in Anaheim, but managed to make the save.

  A two goal lead is often said to be the most dangerous lead in hockey. Kings fans are probably thinking the three goal lead is up there on the list. By 8:30 into the 3rd period, the Stars had cut their deficit to one and they tied the game with almost 3 minutes left in the third period, sending the game into overtime.

  I’m sure most Kings fans were wondering what hit them. They’re not used to the Kings giving up leads like that against the Stars. In fact, they typically do quite the opposite where the Stars are concerned. Though they didn’t make the playoffs last season, the Kings had a winning record against the Stars, including one come from behind win. The fans don’t want to see the reverse happen in their own building – especially not when their team has shown such promise.

  Fortunately for Kings fans, Handzus scored less than a minute into overtime giving the Kings the win.

  In spite of the collapse the Kings faced in the third period (brought on mostly by a couple of soft goals allowed by Jon Quick), the team did not give up. They stuck with their game and won the game in overtime. It’s my opinion that Kopitar’s first goal isn’t the only thing that would have been a lot less likely last season. I seriously doubt the Kings of last season would have won in overtime after giving up a 3 goal lead in the third period. Most likely, they would have buckled under in the overtime period or shootout and been happy that they escaped with a point.

  This year, the guys in the locker room were definitely singing a different tune than they would have last year. They talked a lot about the fact that giving up a 3 goal lead in the third period is something they can’t do. They realize that getting two points is the most important thing, but they also know they can’t allow a team to catch up and just assume that they’ll still be able to win in overtime. The main difference is that the Kings expect to be playing in the postseason this time around. They don’t expect to go home early in April 2010. The Kings are ready for playoff hockey (which many of the Kings would be playing for the first time, not just their first time in a Kings uniform) and playoff teams can’t allow themselves to think losing a three goal lead is acceptable. Once you get to overtime, it’s anybody’s game. That’s not a risk a team that expects to win wants to take.

  Now the team heads to Phoenix for Saturday’s game for the first of many quick road trips before heading home to host Columbus on Sunday. The way Quick bounces back after the collapse in Thursday’s game will tell Kings fans a lot about what they can expect from their team this season.

  Tags: Alex Auld, Anze Kopitar, Blue Jackets, Coyotes, Hockey, Jonathan Quick, Justin Williams, Kings, Marty Turco, Michal Handzus, NHL, playoffs, Staples Center, Stars, Terry Murray, Wayne Simmonds

• 14Sep

  Playoff Bound?

  Hockey No Comments

  Since the Kings have their first preseason game after only two days of training camp, the beginning of training camp meant very long days for the coaching staff of the Kings. Eight hours on skates without a lot of time between sessions for the three groups of players – that’s a long day. Terry Murray said they restructured training camp because of the early preseason game and got rid of the Rogie Cup (the competition between training camp teams in their scrimmages at the beginning of training camp), since there wouldn’t be time to play enough games to determine a winner. With the first game so early, the Kings need the practice time to get into game form.

  One of the nicest things for Kings fans this year is probably that they have a clear number one goalie (Jonathan Quick) who has proven the ability to stop the puck and give the Kings a chance to win every game he plays. When it became clear that Jason LaBarbera (last year’s number one goalie at this point of the season) wasn’t working out for the Kings and Jonathan Quick was brought up to the NHL, coach Terry Murray refused to name a number one goalie. Murray had to do this on a regular basis, since some members of the media seemed determined to have him name a number one. Clearly, Quick did a lot to prove himself to Murray and the fans last season and he is the clear number one. As Murray said at the end of the first day of training camp, “Our number one goaltender is Quick. He’s the guy.” He continued by saying that “There’s no gray area in that for me. Right at the start of training camp – it’s his to lose; it’s his to keep.” Murray made it clear that Quick is the guy in goal this year for the Kings as far as he’s concerned.

  Though everyone knows it’s easier to come into a position when no one is expecting much and your team is already so close to the bottom of the standings, Jonathan Quick did play very well for the Kings last year. It’s clear that the players and coaches have confidence in Quick to give the Kings a chance to win every game he plays, which is really all a team can ask of their goaltender. Many players have talked about how being able to trust your goalie can help a team play better. That’s why most of the best teams have great goaltenders. Kings fans are definitely hoping that Quick will be able to be the goalie to lead their team into the playoffs for the first time in years.

  The focus of the players this year is clearly on getting to the playoffs. Those really paying attention at training camp probably noticed the shirts some of the players were wearing under their practice jerseys. They say “Only Reason We’re Here” on the back. Though the meaning of this seems pretty clear, a couple of the players were asked about the shirts and said that what we suspected is definitely the reason they’re here. The Kings want to be in the playoffs this year. They’re tired of having long summer breaks and going home in the beginning of April. They want to be in the playoffs, not watch them. When I asked goaltender Erik Ersberg if he’d watched any of the playoffs, he said he didn’t and “I want to watch it from the ice.” Clearly, that’s how every player wants to see the playoffs and it’s a good attitude for the Kings to have. They’re ready to move forward and believe they will be playing in the postseason this time.

  Rob Scuderi, who won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, is one of the new Kings at training camp. When asked about the mood at the Kings camp, he said, “It’s a real nice attitude. It’s really not that different from where I came from. Maybe we have a little more experience in Pittsburgh, but it’s the same type of feel. The guys are hungry to do more, they’re hungry to win.” Scuderi went on to say that it’s a good feeling and that it’s clear that the team wants to win and they want to win now. They’re sick of waiting. So are their fans. The Kings are ready to play postseason hockey. Their fans are more than ready to start watching playoff hockey live again from their seats in Staples Center. They haven’t been able to do that since 2002 and 7 years without a playoff run is a long time for fans who continue to go to support their team in spite of the outcome.

  Will the Kings be in the playoffs in 2010? Only time will tell, but the players and coaches clearly believe they can make it and most of the members of the media seem to agree. The main disagreement seems to be on where they’ll finish (6th? 8th?) and how far they’ll get in the playoffs. Some seem to believe the Kings will get out of the first round. Personally, I think it’ll go more like the Penguins’ first run in the playoffs with most of their current group (out in 5 games), but even that will be a huge step up and a much needed playoff experience for the young Kings team.

  ———-

  As a side note, I’m sure many of you were as curious as I about why Rob Scuderi was absent with the Penguins visited the White House last week. Scuderi explained that his daughter Kate’s 2nd birthday had to come first. He said, “Disneyland did take precedent over the President for probably the first time in history.” I’m sure President Obama would understand. Not surprisingly, Rob also said, “I would have liked to have gone, but it was an awful lot of flying for one day and I wasn’t going to miss my daughter’s birthday.” It sounds like he’s one father who has his priorities in order where his family and his team are concerned (anyone who watched the playoffs last year noticed how Scuderi is willing to sacrifice himself to block shots to make sure his team succeeds).

  Tags: Barak Obama, Disneyland, Erik Ersberg, Hockey, Jason LaBarbera, Jonathan Quick, Kings, NHL, Penguins, playoffs, preseason, Rob Scuderi, Terry Murray, training camp

• 13Jan

  Lightning Strike Again in Southern California

  Hockey No Comments

  The Lightning may have only won 13 games this season (fewer than any team in the Western Conference) and be ranked 12th in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve done well in southern California. They beat the Ducks 4-3 Friday night and beat the Kings 3-1 last night. In last night’s game, the Lightning scored two goals in 41 seconds at the end of the 1st period to give them a 2-0 lead. They went ahead 3-0 at 5:48 when Vincent Lecavalier scored his 17th goal of the season. At that point, Murray did what I would have done at the beginning of the 2nd period – he put Jonathan Quick in goal. Though Quick stopped all 15 shots he faced, the damage had been done and the Kings only scored one goal against Lightning goaltender Mike Smith.

  Ryan Malone scored goals 98 and 99 of his NHL career on Friday in Anaheim, but didn’t get the hat trick in Anaheim or a goal in LA, so he’s still in search of his 100th goal. Maybe he’ll get that in San Jose on Wednesday.

  This was only the second game I’ve seen Stamkos play live. I’ve watched the Lightning quite a bit on TV (to see Stamkos, the ex-Penguins on the roster, and to see if they’re going to perform pretty much as I expected this year – horribly), but I’ve only seen Stamkos play in two games live. Unfortunately, he did not play against Anaheim (he was benched due to the new conditioning program he’s doing). From what I’ve seen, it really doesn’t seem like he was ready for the NHL yet. It seems that he was rushed and pushed to be ready, since he was the number one draft pick. Perhaps they should have done what the Ducks did with Bobby Ryan (selected 2nd behind Sidney Crosby in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft). Ryan had played in a couple NHL games, but was essentially kept in the minor leagues until November 16, 2008. Since then, Ryan has had a couple games where he didn’t look great, but has been amazing overall. Ryan’s got 26 points in 26 games (putting him in 4th place for all NHL rookies in points, though he’s played 10+ games fewer than the top 3 rookies). He’s also scored a hat trick, has a +/- rating of 11, & has 32 hits. Stamkos (who has played in 41 of the Lightning’s 42 games) has only 15 points (tying him for 14th among rookies).

  Clearly, the Ducks are a better team than the Lightning, which many will argue helps Ryan. Stamkos doesn’t measure up when compared with comparable team. The Blues have one fewer point than the Lightning (and have played one less game). Patrick Berglund of the Blues is tied for 2nd among rookies with 27 points in 36 of the Blues’ 41 games. Though I haven’t seen Stamkos play enough in person and television coverage can’t show you everyone on the ice most of the time, I still think it’s possible that he was rushed into the NHL and might have done better as a rookie in the 2009-10 season.

  Oddly enough, I’ve seen the Lightning play in 3 games live (against the Penguins in December and their two games in southern California this month). They’ve got a perfect record when I’m in the building. Perhaps I should ask them if they’d like to take me to some of the arenas around the league I haven’t seen yet.

  Tags: Blues, Bobby Ryan, Ducks, Hockey, Jonathan Quick, Kings, Lightning, Mike Smith, NHL, Patrick Berglund, Penguins, rookies, Ryan Malone, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, Terry Murray, Vincent Lecavalier

« Previous Entries