Kings Come From Behind to Win In Minny

October 26th, 2010 by Jeremy Smith
Kings Celebrate

The Kings' congratulate Jon Quick after he stopped Minnesota's Antti Miettinen to preserve a 3-2 shootout win. (Photo - AP)

The Comeback Kids. 8 games into the 2010-11 season, it’s already an appropriate nickname for this Kings’ team – and tonight, as much as ever. The Kings dug themselves a hole early as Minnesota scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the game. But the Kings battled back, remained composed, and got a power play goal late in the period, to cut the Wild’s lead in half.

The second period contained some controversy as well. Dustin Brown made a hit in open ice on the Wild’s Antti Miettinen that the on ice officials ruled a dangerous hit to the head. Brown was assessed a five minute major and an automatic game misconduct. Having seen the hit on replay, Brown appeared to make shoulder to shoulder contact with Miettinen. It was stated by Versus’ TV analysts Keith Jones and Eddie Olczyk and reiterated by Brown in his postgame interview with Rich Hammond – Brown is a tenacious hitter and had he hit Miettinen in the head, he probably would’ve left the ice on a stretcher. The play will be reviewed automatically by the league, and Brown should be safe from suspension, although as inconsistent as the league has been this year (i.e. not reviewing the Erik Cole hit on Doughty), you never know.

Already without Drew Doughty – who was placed on IR retroactive to 10/21 earlier today (more on that later), and without Captain Brown the rest of the game, the Kings dictated much of the remaining tempo of the game. They kept the Wild’s league leading power play off the board tonight, and scored 2 power play goals of their own, including an Anze Kopitar 5 on 3 goal that knotted the game with under a minute remaining in the second period.

The third period and OT went scoreless. The shootout round offered up what we’ve come to expect from Anze Kopitar. Kopi is just plain slick when it comes to the shootout, and tonight was no exception – he coasted in and went forehand-backhand and beat Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom between the pads. As usual, he made it look effortless. Minnesota’s Mikko Koivu evened the shootout at one with a hard backhand that went off the cuff of Quick’s glove and in. Jack Johnson was stopped by Backstrom and Minnesota’s Matt Cullen beat Quick low stick side to give the Wild a 2-1 edge after two rounds. The Kings’ Jaret Stoll responded with a bullet that beat Backstrom, followed by a glove stop by Quick on Marek Zidlicky to take the shootout into sudden death frames. Justin Williams was stopped by Backstrom and Brent Burns shot wide to bring on a 5th round. Michal Handzus caught Backstrom committed to the pokecheck and buried it past him to give the Kings’ the lead, then Jon Quick made a great left pad save on Miettinen to clinch the win. Comeback complete.

The victory put the Kings alone atop the Pacific Division and sent Quick’s record in road shootout games to 8-1 all time.

So, the Kings head to Chicago for a Wednesday game between two of the West’s premiere teams. Kings had hoped to get Doughty back, but with his being placed on IR today, the earliest he might be available is Thursday in Dallas if he can be cleared in time. My suspicion is that Doughty will return Saturday at home against New Jersey.

In the meantime, Jake Muzzin has been recalled and will join the Kings in Chicago.

Expect to see Quick in Chicago and Bernier in Dallas this week, unless Murray decides Dallas is more important as a division foe.

6-2 and alone in the first looks good, even if it’s early.

Go Kings!

JS

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Kings Win – On and Off the Ice

October 24th, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

What a wacky hockey game. Neither team was great defensively, weird bounces were commonplace (if I had to guess, the ice in Denver wasn’t so good). Kings broke their streak of Power Plays without a goal by scoring not one but two power play goals. Alexei Ponikarovsky scored his first goal as a King. The Kings’ hero of the night was Brad Richardson, who scored his first career hat trick against his former team tonight  - including the shorthanded game-winner. Great game for Richardson tonight. The guy is pure effort, brings it every night.

In the third period, Wayne Simmonds was assessed a five minute major and game misconduct for butt-ending Colorado’s T.J. Galiardi. None of the replays shown on TV conclusively showed a butt-end (looked like a love tap with the elbow) and there’s speculation amongst Kings’ fans that it might have been a sell job by Galiardi. Without a good camera angle, the jury’s still out. If Simmer actually did butt-end Galiardi in the nether regions, shame on him as it was unnecessary. If he didn’t, someone should give Galiardi an Oscar as he even had all 4 on ice officials – none of whom had good line of sight on the play – buying into it. We’ll see what happens. The league I’m sure will take a look at it, since butt-ending is some pretty dangerous stuff. Hopefully some better video angles will pop up on the web so we fans have a better idea of what actually transpired there.

The best news of the night though, came from off the ice. The Kings held a hashtag battle on Twitter tonight with the Avs’ fans. For every #GoKings or #GoAvs hastag that was tweeted during the game, the teams would donate $1 to their respective charities. The Kings had chosen Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as their recipient. According to the Kings’ official release:

Hashtag Battle:

Final score:
#GoKings: 29,374
#GoAvs: 13,876

The Kings were also the #1 trending topic WORLD WIDE for the majority of tonight’s game. That bested UFC, which had two fights tonight/all their fighters, and bigger than Kanye West and his short film “Runaway,” which debuted worldwide at 6 p.m., the same start time as our game.

The Kings added close to 1,000 Twitter followers during the battle

Currently, I’m waiting for Kanye West to bust into my screen with an “I’ma let you finish, but #runaway is one of the best hashtags of ALL time!”

I know I was tweeting a TON during the game, as were most of my King fan buddies. It went for a great cause and goes to show what an amazing group we Kings fans are. I’m extremely proud of Kings’ fans as a whole tonight.

More good news came today in the return of Matt Greene to the lineup. His activation meant Jake Muzzin getting sent to Manchester. I’m not sure I’m on board with this decision. Peter Harrold has always been questionable defensively, and tonight was no exception. I’d have kept Muzzin up.

Sending Muzzin down means, in turn that the Kings did NOT put Drew Doughty on Injured Reserve, which would keep him out of the lineup until minimum Thursday. There’s speculation that Dewey could return to the lineup Wednesday in Chicago. Can’t happen soon enough as Jack Johnson hasn’t responded to the pressure of being THE guy on the Kings’ blueline very well so far. I like Jack a lot, but he looks nothing like the guy we saw post-Olympics last season, although he IS a +2 right now, so perhaps I’m being too critical.

Next up for the Kings will be the Minnesota Wild on Monday. The game is on national TV (Versus), good exposure for the Kings. Minnesota is in rebuild mode but they’re not to be taken lightly as  a 6-2 drubbing of Vancouver last week shows. Would be great to see the offense work like it did tonight, but the team as a whole perform better defensively.

Kings win, Ducks and Stars lose. Money was raised for charity. All in all, a good night.

GO KINGS!

-JS

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Catching Up…

October 23rd, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

My absence here is lame, and I need to make an effort to keep up with everything that’s happening in the Kings’ Universe! Since I’ve not posted in 11 days, I’ve got some catching up to do!

Game Results:

Kings have gone 3-1 since my last post. A victory over Atlanta in the home opener, and again at home vs. Vancouver a week ago. Jon Quick was first star in both those games.

Two days ago, the Kings beat Carolina 4-3 with Jonathan Bernier in goal – who had a shaky first two periods but was huge in the 3rd to hold on to the single goal victory. Andrei Loktionov’s first career NHL goal was the game winner. Most important event of the game turned out to be a hit by Carolina’s Erik Cole on Drew Doughty. More on that later.

Last night in Phoenix, the Kings played like complete crap for 30 minutes, and then better (but still just OK) for 30. It was still enough to be in the game against the Coyotes, who needed an empty netter to win 4-2. Wayne Simmonds scored both King goals, his first two of the season, and Brayden Schenn got his first NHL point. Though I don’t like the idea of Simmer on the 4th line, he and Schenn had some nice chemistry going. If the Kings play just OK the first 30 minutes, they walk out of the near empty (6706 seats sold – hello Winnipeg!) JobIng.com Arena in Glendale with at least a point.

So, the Kings are 4-2-0 headed into the weekend. Next game will be at Colorado Saturday at 6PM Pacific.

Player News:

The biggest Kings’ news of the week had to do with Drew Doughty being out injured after his collision with Erik Cole in the Carolina game Wednesday. While I don’t think Cole was headhunting, I do think the hit was intentionally late and dangerous, and the league’s decision not to suspend Cole was not the correct one. Doughty is out at least until next Thursday with an “upper body injury” that is believed to be a concussion. Doughty’s injury is key for the Kings. Peter Harrold played adequately on Thursday but he’s no replacement for Doughty. His presence, not only as a defender but as a puck mover from the back end, was sorely missed in Phoenix Thursday night. We can only hope that Drew gets back on the ice HEALTHY as soon as possible, and that Erik Cole gets his.

Matt Greene is cleared to play and will be in the Kings’ lineup, probably in the next game or two. It’ll be a welcome addition, but Doughty’s injury forces Greene into the top 4 when he’s best suited as a #5 guy. Greene’s heart and leadership will be a boost for the team though, without question.

Scott Parse is cleared for normal hockey activity but Terry Murray says he needs more time to be ready to get into a game.

Erik Ersberg has reached agreement with an unnamed KHL team, and has been waived by the Kings. Once Eazy clears waivers, the Kings can get his contract off the books, since technically signing in the KHL while he is under contract in LA is a breach of that contract. Wish Eazy-E the best of luck in Russia – he’s a great guy, with a great attitude who was simply the odd man out with Bernier’s promotion. In the wake of this, Martin Jones has been recalled by Manchester from Ontario of the ECHL.

Other News:

If you’re part of the twitter-verse, tomorrow night’s Kings-Colorado game will feature a hashtag battle  – with the Kings donating to charity every time #GoKings appears in a tweet. It’s for a good cause, Hockey Fights Cancer and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. DO IT! More info can be found here.

That about catches me up for now. Thanks as always for reading!

GO KINGS!

JS

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Cheer Up, Kings’ Fans

October 11th, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

While last night’s loss in Calgary was depressing, there’s one thing that will put a smile on all our faces: The Ducks are BY FAR the worst team in hockey right now. They’ve been outscored 13-2, and outshot 145-72 in three games. Anaheim is going absolutely nowhere, and Andreas Lilja – a mediocre defenseman at best, isn’t going to change that. At some point this season, the Ducks may get desperate for defense and trade one of their big gunners for a backliner. That, or they’ll simply blow the team up and stop lying to themselves about not needing to rebuild completely. Watching Anaheim struggle is almost as good as watching the Kings succeed. They’re headed for a lottery pick this season.

Kings coach Terry Murray, as expected has made some moves in regards to the lines. Rookie Andrei Loktionov, a natural center will play left wing on the top line tomorrow night, while Ryan Smyth will join Stoll and Williams on line 2. The 4th line will consist of Brad Richardson on LW along with Brayden Schenn and Kevin Westgarth. Sounds like Clifford’s days could be numbered.

Home opener is tomorrow night at Staples. See you there.

GO KINGS!

-JS

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Kings Lose In Calgary (Again)

October 11th, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

Poor performance, really only 20 minutes of good hockey in this game. Critical mistakes led to both goals. Bernier was pretty good except on the game winner, but both he, Terry Murray and Davis Drewiske – who screened him on the play, say that it was tipped so who knows.

It’s just 2 games in, but Kings’ nation is already starting to panic about 5 on 5 scoring. I sense line changes coming.

The big question is, if it doesn’t improve (and realistically there’s reason to think it will), how long does Dean wait to make a deal?

Kings have now lost 10 straight in Calgary.

Up next is the home opener vs. Atlanta. Hopefully the Kings bounce back as tonight’s game was an extremely disappointing performance against a team that on paper is far inferior.

Go Kings

JS

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Kings Open Season With Shootout Victory vs. Canucks

October 10th, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

During the second period of Saturday night’s season opening contest between the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks, Kings star centerman Anze Kopitar was on the ice on all fours, blood gushing from his mouth, searching for his teeth. He had been hit by Canucks’ center Manny Malhotra on a follow through of a clearing attempt – and bloodied badly. Umpteen stitches and a missing (albeit already false) tooth later, Kopitar helped get the last laugh.

It was billed as the game of the night, and it didn’t disappoint. The Kings and Canucks battled for 60 minutes are were unable to decide a victor in that span. It took overtime, and two rounds of a shootout to accomplish that.

Vancouver got on the board first with a power play goal from Christian Ehrhoff that was a bit of a lucky bounce. Willie Mitchell went down to try to block Daniel Sedin’s pass, and in doing so directed it right to Ehrhoff, who was able to chip the puck past a helpless Jon Quick. That would be the only goal Quick would surrender all night, and a lucky one at that.

The Kings got even with 4:05 remaining in regulation time on the power play when Dustin Brown fired a shot at the net. Michal Handzus redirected the shot into the pads of Roberto Luongo and Justin Williams collected the rebound and buried it.

Kings controlled the play for the majority of overtime, including a power play in which they were in the Vancouver zone for the entire two minutes. Luongo came up with some big saves, but Jaret Stoll needs to work on his accuracy big time. Memo to Terry Murray – at the end of the next practice, lock Stolli on the ice with about 300 pucks and don’t let him leave until he can hit the net with 4 out of every 5. Stoll has perhaps the teams’ hardest shot, but if you can’t hit the net, what good does it do?

The Kings put Vancouver out of their misery quickly in the shootout. After Quick robbed Mason Raymond with a stretch of the right pad, Kopitar came in and froze Luongo with a fake shot before going backhand and burying it high. Luongo didn’t know what hit him. The Canucks’ Ryan Kesler was stopped by Quick, setting up Jack Johnson – Mr. Automatic in shootouts, with a chance to win the game. Johnson skated in and beat Luongo low to the stick side – game over, Kings win.

Gary Bettman in the NHL’s offices will look at the score and with his feeble “more scoring is better” mind, probably assume – quite incorrectly – that the game must’ve been boring. How wrong he would be. Both teams played well defensively, but there were long stretched of end to end action, and throughout the game, goaltending was spectacular at both ends.

The two best King forwards on the ice tonight were Justin Williams and Brayden Schenn. Williams is skating like a man possessed right now, and if he is able to maintain and stay healthy, he may get close to 30 goals this season. Schenn played a great game – in my opinion he did not look like a rookie center. He filled in nicely on the top line while Kopitar was being stitched up in the locker room. If I’m Terry Murray, I’m already thinking about flip flopping Schenn for Stoll on the second line.

Drew Doughty had a good game for any other defenseman in the league, but he still looks to be a bit short of what we know he’s capable of. Jack Johnson was awesome. Has anyone on the team’s stock risen more since the Olympics? Mitchell looked great and other than his seemingly standing around on the Vancouver PP goal, Scuderi was his usual solid self. Jack Muzzin didn’t stand out for bad reasons, and was I thought considerably better than Drewiske – who seemed to be turning the puck over a lot tonight.

Quick was outstanding in goal. His retro brown pads and Rogie Vachon tribute mask look very sharp. From a distance on TV, it almost looked like he was wearing the real thing. Of all the vintage tribute masks I’ve seen, Quick’s may be the best. Definitely a good start to the season for Quicker.

So, on to Calgary tomorrow night. Jonathan Bernier will start in goal for the Kings per Terry Murray, as it’s a back to back situation. The Flames are a much different team than they were last time the Kings saw them. Here’s to hoping the improved Kings, and the arguably regressed Flames, will play to a different result than most in recent memory, as King victories over them, especially in Calgary have been rare.

Game starts at 5PM Pacific.

Go Kings!

-JS

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What to Expect From the 2010-11 Los Angeles Kings

October 8th, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

As I sit here writing this, it’s t-minus 48 hours and counting until the Kings’ 2010-11 season. Clifford, Loktionov, Lewis, Schenn and Westgarth have made the team up to this point. Expectations are high in Los Angeles. With that, it’s time for me to make my predictions for the Kings’ upcoming season.

FORWARDS

Gone is the enigmatic Alexander Frolov, who heads to the NY Rangers as a free agent. Gone are Fredrik Modin and Jeff Halpern. Only notable loss of that group might be Frolov, who was enigmatic at best in LA in 7 seasons. At times Frolov sparkled and looked as if he were ready to take over the entire league. Many nights his effort seemed lackluster. In the end, you knew last season was likely to be his final one in LA. Replacing him is former Maple Leaf and Penguin Alexei Ponikarovsky, a perennial 20 goal scorer who is an upgrade in his own end of the ice from Frolov. Poni will be a perfect fit on the third line with Handzus and Simmonds.

There’s been an infusion of new blood into the Kings’ lineup up front. 2009 first round pick Brayden Schenn is in the opening night lineup, as is 2009 second round pick Kyle Clifford. Fellow rookie Kevin Westgarth joins them on the 4th line. All of the aforementioned players had great camps – and my guy feeling is, if Schenn performs well and Jaret Stoll fails to be effective on the second line, Schenn may find himself sandwiched between Justin Williams and whomever the second line LW is sooner than you think.

The Kings retain all three players from last season’s top line, who was the best line in hockey for the first third of the 2009-10 season. Coach Terry Murray decided to swap Justin Williams for Captain Dustin Brown, and the trio looked great together during preseason. Terry Murray is implementing a new breakout style, designed to eliminate the dumping and chasing that the Kings have done under Murray the past two seasons. It should increase the creativity level. I expect to see Kopitar break the 40 goal barrier, and for Dustin Brown and Ryan Smyth to increase their point totals by crashing the net. Brown will get close to the 30 goal mark and Smyth will net 20-25.

The second line is a probably the teams’ biggest question mark. Jaret Stoll has been an effective role player for the Kings, but he is better suited to the 3rd or 4th lines. Since the Kings at present lack a true #2 center, Stoll starts with the job by default. Stoll has potential to net 20 goals. Justin Williams looks better than he ever has as a King and if he stays healthy, should score 20-25 goals. Left Wing is the big question here. Scott Parse is expected to be poised for a breakout year, but an injury in camp has him on IR to begin the season. Brad Richardson will be the team’s second line LW to begin the season. Richardson I love as a player. He is all heart, all hustle. Defensively responsible. He scored a ton of goals in junior hockey, but he has yet to show that kind of skill consistently at the NHL level. It is not a stretch to say that Dean Lombardi has to be looking for an available scoring wing. Ryan Malone is the name that’s been thrown about, and he’d be the perfect addition to this Kings’ team. If neither Richardson nor Parse steps up, expect to see a similar deal made.

The Kings’ third line is quite possibly the NHL’s best. Ponikarovsky along with Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds make a formidable checking unit, but each of those players is a potential 20+ goal scorer. Simmonds is incredibly dynamic, and I believe is poised for a season somewhere around 25 goals. Terry Murray is notorious at this point for playing musical lines – and with his work ethic and two-way skill, Simmonds will get at least a handful of games on the top line at some point this season.

You can lament the fact that the Kings didn’t land a big time scoring winger, but you can also argue as I will, that they didn’t need one. I think a complimentary left wing that can put up 25+ goals, like the aforementioned Ryan Malone, would be a perfect fit. The intriguing thing will be watching Schenn and Clifford – do they stay with the big club all season, or will they be returned to junior before they hit the 10 game mark? Where do Loktionov and Lewis fit in?

The Kings will be fine up front provided either 1. Parse/Richardson prove effective or 2. a LW is acquired via trade for the second line. The top line will be one of the league’s best. The third line may be the league’s best “checking” unit, with a side of skill. The 4th line will be young but it’s a good way to teach the kids the defensive play required for this system. Clifford has decent hands and we know Schenn and Loktionov in particular have skill.

DEFENSE

This is not even arguably the team’s strong point. With a top 5 of Drew Doughty, Willie Mitchell, Rob Scuderi, Jack Johnson and Matt Greene the Kings have the Pacific Division’s best defensive corps by a country mile. Doughty is already the league’s premier defenseman entering only his 3rd season in the NHL. Johnson, since the Olympic break last season, has played like a man possessed. And both Drew and Jack are only going to get better. That’s a scary proposition for the rest of the league. Scuderi and Mitchell are two of the league’s elite shut down guys, and Matt Greene is a good a third pair D-man as you will see on any team.

The X-factor will be the #6 spot. Davis Drewiske seems to have it sewn up for the moment, but Drewiske is a shadow of the player he was before last season’s shoulder injury. He looks to lack confidence and hasn’t played the same game. He can be a solid NHL regular if he can get back to the level of play he showed early last season. If not, runs the risk of being a healthy scratch often.

Paired with Drewiske on opening night will be rookie Jake Muzzin. The 21 year old had a solid camp and impressed the Kings’ staff. He deserved to make the team based on what the saw, and he had to outperform 2007 first round pick Thomas Hickey to get there. Muzzin has a chance to jump Drewiske (and by default Peter Harrold) as the Kings’ #6 guy while Matt Greene is out injured for the first 3-4 weeks of the season. If he doesn’t impress, he will spend the rest of the season in Manchester. I don’t know what to expect of Muzzin in all honesty, but the kid works hard and looked good in two preseason games I saw him in.

Waiting in the wings too, are Hickey and the currently injured Viatcheslav Voynov.

GOALTENDERS

This season’s goaltending outlook may be the best it’s EVER been for the Kings’ franchise. Certainly the best since the days of Rogie Vachon. The two headed monster of Jon Quick and Jonathan Bernier make for the best tandem in the division. You could argue that Phoenix’s Ilya Bryzgalov is a better number one than Quicker is, and you might be right, but his backup is Jason LaBarbera. The Sharks have a couple guys who haven’t really ever established themselves as #1 goalies anywhere in Niemi and Nittymaki. Hiller isn’t going to save the Ducks behind that defense and Kari Lehtonen will be on IR by December. The Kings’, simply put, have the best goaltending tandem in the division, and it’s not even close.

Quick is number one for now – and Terry Murray said he expects him to play somewhere in the 55-60 game range. If that holds true, we’ll see Bernier 22-27 games, a nice sample size. If Quick hits a rut, Bernier is capable of spelling him – possibly even outperforming him. Who the guy is heading into this years playoffs will depend a lot on how each responds to the circumstances they’ve been given. In Manchester 3 seasons ago, Bernier pushed Quick to get better, and Quick ended up the Kings’ surprise #1 by that season’s end. Now, Bernier has graduated to the NHL full time, and both are under contract for the next 3 seasons. At some point, the Kings’ brass will have to decide which of these two talented young keepers is in it for the long haul. For now it’s slight advantage Quick, but I think the two headed monster will be more balanced than people think. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bernier get 30 games or more if he’s giving the team the best chance to win for a stretch – Murray has shown a propensity in the past for riding the hot hand. Either way, if healthy competition gets the best out of both guys, it’s a win-win situation in LA. Don’t forget too, Jeff Zatkoff and Martin Jones in the minors. While Ersberg’s assignment to Manchester has relegated Jones to Ontario of the ECHL, if Ersberg finds a suitor in Europe, Jones will be sharing the load with Zatkoff in Manchester. The Kings have never been so deep in goal. It’s a quality problem to have.

PREDICTION TIME

Last season the Kings finished with 102 points, 3rd in the Pacific division behind San Jose and Phoenix. This season, the Kings’ young stars are a year more experienced, and the veteran additions of Mitchell and Ponikarovsky will help to give the club some battle tested experience. I still believe Dean Lombardi will pull the trigger on another left wing before the 20 game mark as well.

The Kings of 2010-11 will improve their 5 on 5 scoring while being dominant in 5 on 5 goals-against. The power play, with Doughty and Johnson on the point, will be deadly. Schenn and Clifford, in particular, will be key contributors. Kopitar scores 40+ and gets close to the 100 point mark. Brown gets close to 30 goals, as does Justin Williams. Simmonds and Smyth hit 25. Jack Johnson finishes with a plus rating (finally). Quick and Bernier could both win more than 20 games for the only the second time in Kings’ history (Hrudey and Berthiaume, 1990-91).

By comparison with the rest of the division, the Kings only look slightly short in the firepower department with their current roster to San Jose. Even if Lombardi doesn’t acquire another wing, this Kings’ team will put plenty of pucks in the opposing nets. Defensively, the Kings are superior to every other team in the division – San Jose is their closest competition there and it’s still not even close. Phoenix lost their best defenseman – their top 2 are Jovanovski and Derek Morris. Really? Yes, really. Dallas is in flux defensively. Anaheim might be the worst defensive team in the entire NHL. The Kings goaltending duo, as previously mentioned trumps every other in the division. What am I getting at?

The Kings have the Pacific Division for the taking this season. Dean Lombardi has drafted smart, and has brought in key free agents and trade acquisitions -even if they aren’t superstars – to bolster the developing young core. I believe at least one more move gets made this season as well. I believe this team has what it takes to make a deep playoff run. And this is just the beginning of the window, too.

My predicted order of finish for the division:

1. Kings

2. San jose

3. Phoenix

4. Dallas

5. Anaheim

Dallas is really a grab bag, they will battle Anaheim for the division cellar all year. If the Stars are a complete disaster, you might be able to flip flop 4/5 here, but I refuse to give Anaheim much credit.

Division win puts the Kings at #3 headed into the playoffs. Conference Finals anyone? I see it happening.

Of course, it’s all speculation until the puck drops, isn’t it.

44 hours and counting. Hockey’s back, folks.

GO KINGS!

-JS

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Kings Extend Bernier, Waive Two

October 5th, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

Today was light on news in the Kings’ world with no team practice, but we did all get a reason to smile with the news that the Kings have signed Jonathan Bernier to a 2 year contract extension, cap hit of $1.25 million. Bernier would’ve become a Restricted Free Agent. Now he and fellow goalie Jon Quick are both not due for Restricted Free Agency for three seasons (Quick signed a 3 year extension last season that’s effective starting this year). Gives the Kings’ time to figure out whose job it will be for the long haul. I’ve said it before – the two headed monster of Quick and Bernier will turn heads this year – and give the Kings perhaps the conference’s best goaltending tandem.

Speaking of goalies, as expected Erik Ersberg was placed on waivers today. There were rumors circulating on twitter earlier than Nashville had put in a claim but Preds’ coach Barry Trots later said there was no truth to that. We’ll see if anyone claims Eazy-E by 9AM tomorrow. He would be a good fit for a lot of teams, but sadly there isn’t a lot of need. Best of luck to Erik wherever he ends up.

The other waiver move, that came as kind of a surprise, was Rich Clune. Clune was expected by many to make the team this season, and expected to play a big role on the Kings’ 4th line as an energy player and agitator. Interesting decision, but it likely points to Kyle Clifford earning a roster spot at least for 9 games. Clune will be missed here should he be claimed, but in reality he is a replaceable commodity.

The surprise for me was Trevor Lewis not being waived. Though he has had two strong games this preseason, he’s a former first round pick who is essentially at his age vying for a 4th line spot. I don’t see Lewis ever cracking the top 9 in LA, and he’s not really a tradeable asset. Obviously Dean, Hex, Terry and company see something there that I don’t. That’s why they make the big bucks and I just blog!

Hopefully we will have some news regarding the fate of Schenn, Loktionov, Clifford, etc as early as Tuesday.

Go Kings!

JS

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Doesn’t Mean Squat

October 4th, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

Kings ice a lineup that’s mostly prospect laden, Ducks ice essentially what will be their NHL roster this season. Still took a questionable too many men on the ice call for Teemu “I’m invisible unless it’s the power play!” Selanne to get the power play winner in OT.

Since, as previously discussed, there was no video, there really isn’t much to analyze, except that the Kings’ B-team essentially came from two goals down to tie it in the third against the lineup the Ducks’ will likely have on the ice opening day. Lots of character. Based on reading some comments online from attendees of the game and comments Nick and Daryl made on the radio broadcast, most of the kids save Drewiske and Harrold played very well. The hockey illiterate Duck fans probably think they’ve conquered the world for beating the Kings’ B-team tonight. From the sounds of the radio feed, there were only a couple hundred of them there anyway. Can’t say I blame them, I wouldn’t want to be at Honda Center either!

Some observations solely based on hearsay (your results may vary):

  • Justin Williams appears to be back in a big way. Hopefully he can stay healthy.
  • The battle for roster spot between Schenn, Loktionov, Lewis, et all is an extremely close race.
  • Drewiske has simply not been the same player since he returned from injury last season. We’ve seen what the kid is capable of, but he’s gotta shake whatever is stopping him between the ears. Hopefully that happens soon. At this point, if it’s opening night, I’m dressing Muzzin for the third pair and making Drewiske a healthy scratch.
  • The power play was absolutely terrible tonight, going 0 for 8.
  • If Scott Parse doesn’t recover in time to start the season, Dean Lombardi should think about picking up the phone and finding out what it would take to pry Ryan Malone away from Tampa. He’d be a perfect fit for this Kings’ team and he’s battle tested. Having a Malone/Smyth/Ponikarovsky at LW on the first three lines would be outstanding as long as the asking price for Malone isn’t too high – and provided he’d waive his no trade clause to come to LA. Given that Tampa’s in rebuild mode and the Kings are primed for contention, the latter part of that equation should be a no brainer.
  • Where does Peter Harrold fit in on this Kings’ team? He’s versatile enough to play both as a 4th line wing and on D, but he’s not particularly stellar in either place. He’s a great team guy but I have a feeling he might be one of the players cut this week.

I’ll have some more commentary on tomorrow’s expected roster cuts when they happen, and of course, a season preview in the next several days.

It’s that time again folks. The 2010-11 regular season opens for the Kings next Saturday night in Vancouver.

Go Kings!

JS

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Bernier Wins the Job

October 3rd, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

No surprise, Terry Murray told Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider today that Jonathan Bernier has won the #2 job in LA. He is slated to play the full 60 minutes of the team’s final preseason game in Anaheim tonight. Tonight’s game was due to be streamed live by Fox Sports Net West but according to Hammond, the Ducks’ organization had them kill plans to stream. Is it just me, or does it sound like the Ducks are afraid of getting humiliated by a lineup mostly consisting of kids? Typical of that organization, who is either completely out of touch with the fact that they’ve never had a majority among Southern California hockey fans, and never will; that or they know it and don’t want to use up their bandwidth essentially streaming the game for Kings’ fans. Classy all the way Anaheim! Luckily we have Nick & Daryl on Radio for the game.

So topic back on the table becomes “What do we do with Ersberg?”. The team elected not to put him on waivers today. It’s hard to believe he would get much playing time in Manchester with the Kings vested interest in developing Jeff Zatkoff and Martin Jones. Purely speculation, but I think the coaching staff and organization had to have known this was coming. With Minnesota’s signing of Jose Theodore for 1 year, $1.1 million, one has to wonder why Dean Lombardi couldn’t have dealt the cheaper – and better – Ersberg to the Wild for a pick. Theodore at $1.1 million is a waste for Minnesota, who has a number one goalie in Backstrom who will play 60+ games. Water under the bridge now. There look to be few options at the NHL level for Ersberg at this point. Europe seems to be his likely destination – my guess is his agent is talking to teams over there as we speak.

At any rate, Ersberg has been a good soldier for the Kings’ organization. His personality and work ethic will be missed. I hope the best for him, wherever his next gig may be (unless it’s in Anaheim of course).

Kings face off against the Quack pack at that cesspool known as Honda Center in less than 3 hours.

Go Kings!

JS

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