While there is no case for celebration for Kings fans, there is a distinct optimism rarely found for teams that are in dead last in any professional sport. The Kings have definitely underachieved so far this season after many picked them to be a playoff team at the outset. The Kings have been in the top 5 in the Western conference in goals scored all season and boast some of the NHL's best power-play and penalty kill numbers and yet have the worst record in the NHL. Which is very puzzling because most often when teams are rebuilding offensive skill and output are the last and most difficult areas to develop. While the struggles of the Kings goaltending and defense have been well chronicled, it should be noted that in the teams recent three game winning streak goalie Jason LaBarbera has stopped 103 of 109 shots faced for a defense that has blocked 52 shots in the process. The youth of the team has really shown as they have been by far the most inconsistent and frustrating team in the NHL this season. The Kings lack size on the defensive side of the puck beyond Rob Blake and have been turning the puck over at very inopportune times so far this season. The reasons for optimism in Los Angeles though are evident as this is the first season of general manager Dean Lombardi to have all of his coaches and scouts in place. Lombardi is credited with the turnaround of the San Jose Sharks and is well respected throughout the NHL as having a great eye for talent. Lombardi believes in rebuilding from bottom up which starts with quality scouts, one on one meetings and evaluations with prospects and a process of developing young quality defenseman and goalies. While the players Lombardi has drafted on the offensive side of the puck have paid huge and instant dividends, defenseman and goalies generally take longer to develop. Perhaps the most encouraging thing for Kings fans comes in there current weakness, their youth. With such gifted offensive talents as Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Patrick O'Sullivan, Mike Cammeleri and Alexander Frolov the Kings look set on the offensive side of the puck for years to come. The defense doesnt look bad either with hickey and martinez playing well in the minors the top two defensive players selected by the kings in last years draft and who could forget mentioning Jonathan Bernier who dominated junior hockey for team canada in goal. Id say even though the team is in last place there is reason to be optimistic for kings fans.
I agree mostly with this blog. However, the Kings made some HUGE mistakes this off season.
1. Signing Handzus to that bad 4 year $16 mil contract. I like the Kings approach with Nagy and Stuart, which is given them 1-year deals to see if they pan out. Handzus has not been close to earning his $4 mil per year, and they are saddled for 3 more years. It would be highly unlikely for LA to be able to move him unless packaged with Blake.
2. Garon was easily their best goalie from last season. Now, he is playing good for Edmonton. The Kings are stuck with LaBarbera (11-16, 2.85, .911 sv%) and Aubin (5-6, 3.20, .889) versus Garon (14-10, 2.37, .918). Garon is making $300,000 more...easily worth the money.
I agree with flash on the signings that were made in the off-season. I do think Handzus will improve since he's been playing catchup all year due to injury and illness over the summer. I'm just not sure he can improve enough to merit that pay rate.
I'm hoping we can turn some of those signings into draft picks and get a look at some of our young talent with the big club very soon. And if Blake can get us something nice in return, I'd deal him in a second, especially after Chelios' comments about Blake being burned out in LA and wanting to play in Detroit. We can turn around and bring him back for a PR move farewell tour next year...and hopefully for much less than the 6 mil we were gouged for.
While I agree that it would be nice to get the young guys some playing time and possibly trade some veterans to playoff teams for prospects you must have some sort of veteran leadership on this team.....
Remember what happend to the Islanders a few years back when they had jason blake and York and a ton of young talent that all had to get traded or go somewhere else because there confidence got shot early.
Hopefully Handzus will come around because with his size he could be deadly.
Get used to the one year contracts Lombardi said in an interview that he uses free agency to fill holes at the end of a season not to try and accumulate talent, basically the kings arent going to go edmonton on everyone and pay a ton of money to another teams guy they try and draft and keep talent in house and sign journeyman free agents or guys off of injury to bridge the gap
Nice commentary, westcoastbias. Nice to see a fan care enough to post their own blog and not rely on Spector, Strachan and Chen.
I think our youth is our greatest asset and weakness, too. Every team will have veterans that come and go, many whom will fail to match expectations we as the fans have for them. What will make the difference is whether or not these young players can look beyond those veterans' shortcomings and retain the basics enough to play smart, consistent hockey. Those basics can go a long way towards maintaining a stable franchise, even if that franchise isn't lighting it up around the league. Very rare you have a core group of young players make an instant impact, such as Pittsburgh right now. More likely, they will stumble and struggle a bit and then it will be important for those veterans that have the talent to guide and mentor that can make the difference in allowing that young team to blossom.
The Kings, in my opinion, haven't really been very strong in assessing their goaltending situation. This can be seen in how we've juggled goalies such as Hrudey-Stauber, Hrudey-Dafoe, Fiset-Storr, Potvin-Storr, Garon-LaBarbera and Garon-Cloutier-Burke. (Heck, we even lost Manny Legace and Cristobal Huet during the Fiset-Storr era.) And now we're facing LaBarbera-Bernier-Aubin. The only consistency is our inconsistency and I don't see any of those tandems above sending "hi-fives" around the league. A goaltender can be the critical cornerstone for a team and I wonder what it is the L.A. franchise is looking at when they determine who to place in t
It would be nice to see these guys on TV. A three game win streak and no-TV for the Canada trip. I live in South Orange county hate the Ducks and can hardly get radio reception. We have the best broadcasting team in hocky and they have been silent this week. I hope we get to see all games next year when this group cranks it up another notch.
It sucks being a long time king fan , how many times are we sold out on the future. Our defense is #### how many fans are going to be lost just to get a first round draft pick. dump the whole defense save jack and stu and bring the kids up . cant do any worse.
I have been a Kings fan for about 20 years and I have only seen the Kings do anything one year (damn stick). Ever since then it seem that we are always rebuilding. I understand why teams need to retool things, but every year? The Ducks won the cup before the Kings and way sooner in their history. This kills me more than not making the playoffs almost every year. We seem to breed great talent but we always seem to give our talent away.
On paper we are a pretty good team but when you can't depend on your goalies it has an effect on the rest of the team. I feel that we should start there first.
One good move the Kings made in the offseason was signing ex U of Maine Ted Purcell. He has led the AHL in scoring most of the season & was just called up. Going to be a decent offensive player.
one thing no one seem to have touched on yet is crawford. i think he has completely lost this team. he was never really a good fit for this team. it's a shame that the kings were stupid enough to fire murray. murray was a really good coach. taylor never got him any players, and he pushed these guys to complete overachieve. when they finally return to playing at a level that matched the skill level of the players, murray is the one that gets fired. sadly enough murray is a really good fit for this team. he has a way with the younger players, and this team is full of them.
crawford is totally overrated. he won a cup on a colorado team that was stacked from their quebec days, plus getting roy was an absolute gift from montreal. even then he only managed to coach them to 1 cup. that team was too good to have only 1 cup under him.
I like your assessment on dave taylor, I was never thrilled with him as a general manager, we had poor drafts and often overpaid for free agents (adam deadmarsh, ziggy pallfy etc.)
Mark Crawford keeps getting looks but he needs a veteran team with his style of coaching. Im not saying its wrong, but like flash i believe its wrong for this team. We need someone like maby one of the sutter brothers someone that wont put up with #### and that will inspire this team not make them resent the coach or give up on themselves.
Is it just me or does it look like the kings give up goals in bunches, once one goal gets in the team gets overly emotional and starts to have huge lapses and feels sorry for themselves, scorers sense this like sharks smell blood.
Couldnt agree more with munoz and the goaltending examples. In the past decade weve given up Byron Dafoe, Manny Legace, Cristobal Huet, Mathew Garon, and held on to Jamie Storr, Stephane Fiset, Roman chechmanek its just ridiculous
I want to thank everybody for reading my blog and commenting, I enjoy reading all the feedback
i think your point is in line with munoz. the youth of the kings are not emotionally ready. when the going gets rough, they kind of panic. then they end up giving up goals in bunches. the worse part is that their goalies suffer from this more than other players on this team.
one thought is maybe the kings can deal blake at the trade deadline for a goalie. a perfect trade partner would be ottawa. there are rumors that ottawa is looking for d help. the team is not happy with emery and his antics of late. seems like a trade that would help both parties. emery would be the most solid goalie that the kings would have had in years.
Kings defense lacks quickness other than Johnson. Plus the team seems to lack confidence in their goaltending. LA won't go anywhere without solid, dependable netminding. Firing the coach isn't going to accomplish anything this season. The team is actually starting to play better lately so even if they don't make the playoffs then a high draft pick could be better in the long run than a first-round loss in April. I don't think many teams are looking for Rob Blake come deadline time. His salary is a major roadblock, and the "new" NHL isn't really suited for Blake. His game is power, not quickness and finesse. Under the new rules, he can't be as physically dominant without taking penalties. Hopefully Bernier is the real deal but goalies can take awhile to become dominant.
Great article westcoastbias0210. I have been a Kings fan since 1969 and for the first time since 1988, I feel that the Kings are moving in the right direction. You are correct in your assessment of Dean Lombardi. His position about the draft reminds me of the way the Pittsburgh Steelers built their dynasty of the 1970's. You build through the draft. I love the fact that our offense is in place, and cringe everytime the other team has an odd man rush against us. Yes Anahiem did win the cup quicker than we did. They had owners who cared to win the cup and in the past we had Jack Kent Cooke, Jerry Buss and the only owner that cared about the Kings was Bruce "Crooks" Mcnall. I am very optimistic that the 39 years of ups and downs with the Kings is headed up finally in the right direction. We have talent in the minor leagues gaining experience and in listening to Dean talk, giving the kids the opportunity to gain that experience that wil be invaluable. Yes we have had musical goaltenders in the years since Rogie Vachon, but Jonathan Bernier will be, if given the opportunity, stable for years to come. Things are looking up and before long, my forty year wait to have my team hoist the Cup will be over. Go Kings GO. Oh and by the way--- BLEEP the Ducks.
Last edited by mania16 on January 20th at 10:46 AM.
Dean Lombardi is getting way to much credit. The man is a milecontent and a complete ####.
Kings fans and all the morons on Letsgokings.com give Lombardi credit for kopitar Cammy Frolov and Brown.
Who drafted those players Oh thats right Dave Taylor and Al Murray.
Dean gets credit for Jonathan Bernier. Who deserved credit for that Oh Al Murray.
When the 06 draft came around, Dean had been on the job for exactly 9 days. He gave the old scouting staff headed by Al Murray full control of the draft.
If you look at the top 5 players on the Kings this season they were all drafted by Dave Taylor.
The 5 worse players were all brought in by Dean Lombardi
I am sorry but being a season ticket hloder for years Dean was a VERY POOR HIRE.
I hated it from day one
As for you letsgokings.com Members I know you love the team but do me a favor and learn the sport.
There is more to hockey then JMFJ What would Avery do and KillJackKill
As for Ted Percell
I am going to say 2 names'
Steve Kelly and Jamie Rivers.
Look at those players numbers in the AHL and the NHL
There is a reason this kid was not drafted.
The Kings will blow the #1 pick as well. There is another superstar forward sitting there for the pickings and good Ol Dean will take another Dman like he did last year.
good bye Steven Stamkos hello Drew Doughty
www.firelombardi.com is comming soon
Last edited by True_kings_fan on January 21st at 9:26 AM.
what do you think about the kings picking up a enforcer that can skate I fell that no team respects the kings and takes cheap shots at our young talent look at what happend with sid the kid it gave him the room to make those highlite reel moves and the team played better alltogether
all im saying is that dave taylor had 0ver 5 years to build a winner and he couldnt do anything......how many times did we make it out of the first round..... how many times did we trade away talented goalies and young players........ ive been going to kings games and following the team since i was 4 and i disagree with you on your assessment of lombardi, you may talk about drafting hickey too early but what is the kings greatest need right now, defense....... and he stockpiled picks in this years draft which is supposed to be deeper than last years so lets just give him more than a season before you judge the job hes done
When did Dave Taylor trade away a young goalkeeper other then Jamie Storr who never played another game in the NHL and Ryan Munce who is still in the ECHL at the end of his entry level contract?
The Kings never finished lower then 10th in the West whth Taylor at the helm. Mind you 3 of those seasons he set NHL records with man games lost to injury.
The Kings self destructed 2 years ago in the locker room due to SEan Avery yet at one point in that season as late as january they had the best record in the NHL
Lets see in Lombardi's 2 years.
He Brings in one of the worse classes of free agents and tried to sell them as "locker room guys" Blake Thorthon McCaley Wilsie. The later he is forced to buy one of them out and one other one can barly crack the lineup
Then he trades and gives away a valuable pick to Vancouver for Clouts. Then without even him watching a game and knowing his injury history gives him a 2 year extension.
There was a reason why Vancouver was looking for a goaltender upgrade,
Then gets less then market value for Craig Conroy and Brent Sopel
Lets Locker room killer Sean Avery come back and then trades him for less then marked value when he realizes his Mistake
Then in the front office he gives Al Murray a contract extension then 6 months later fires him for no reason so he can get the Credit for the 06 draft.
This season.
He overpaid dearly for a 3rd line center at best and gives him 4 mill a year comming off a major injury (handzus)
Gives a hugh contract Tom Prisslin who was a product of the Sens system
Brings in his old buddy Mark Stewart who has been dumped by 3 other teams in the last 2 seasons.
Gives a contract extension to one of the most hated kings in team history (Jarslov Modry)
Brings in Malconten Nagy who only plays when he wants to.
Says we need to get bigger on the blueline then drafts a kid that is not even 5-10 and under 200 pounds.
All season has complained about our blueline being poor well lets see Dean 5 out of 6 players on that blueline were brought here by you
I give Johnson a pass because he is 20
Completly Gaffs Cammys contract
Good thigs
Jack Johnson deal
Patrick O'sullivan
Kyle Calder (Family Friend)
EEh
not much else
So westcoast
before you speak check your facts I never said Taylor did not draft Kopitar anbd I have read my posts 3 times
Taylor did not sige Palffy or Deadmarsh I am sure you loved them when they were here
And When did Taylor trade a young keeper
I have all 61 trades taylor made when he was here in front of me if you want a copy
You all have good points but sometimes a team needs to nut it up and pull together. Crawford seem to not be motivating enough. But Im not in the locker room so I dont know. What I do know is what Ive seen this year .And Ive seen a team get pushed around a defense with no bite . We do good when we fight or stand up for our ran over goalie. But when you have only one guy who can or will drop the gloves....well you know. We need a Lappy thats big or an Avery type on D. Or teach Johnson how hip checks like J Wells use to. Then our goalies will stay. I do like our offense. But Im of chantin (first draft pick) Still a diehard kings and will be one tommrow
Everybody wants a quick fix without anyone taking responsibilty for how poorly the Kings are playing, not just the Players and Coaches, but the FANS as well. Everybody had high hopes for this year and nothing has happened. Don't get me wrong, we all are passionate about our KINGS. But when it comes to L.A, the fans are like the drive by media! The team does great and wins, fans buy tickets and get loud, but when they do crapy like they are now, support disappears and everyone stops going to games and rooting this team that we love on, pointing blame in every direction except at themselves.
This is a game, a business, not ####ing politics. Although I haven't agreed with some of the trades this year, some have produced and some have not. We're all frustrated with what's happening this year, but we need to stick it out with the team. Because if we don't, there's a good chance the Kings might get moved to another city. Do we want that? HELL NO!
Fireboy You are so right even when our team sucks I bet you still watch the game (thats a true fan). Hopefully the good team shows up for Red Wings game .( God I hate how good they are).
If any of you guys listened to the interview with dean lombardi last week youll understand where im coming from.
Im not content with making the 6 to 8th seed in the playoffs every year and having the team make money. I want a cup and if it means we have to be bad for a year or two while our defense and goalie mature than so be it. I would much rather suffer through a few really bad years to and make a strong 4 to 6 year run.
At the end of the day. If your at the bottom of the NHL. Then your not doing something right. The stats become pretty trival at that point. Being a Kings fan might be one of the toughest things to be. You have to stay positive every year and consistently be disappointed. At this point we are about as good as the Chicago Cubs. Honestly I accept our franchise will always be average. Woot 40 years of disappointment.
Picking Rob Blake up is only worth while for the mentoring he gives Jack Johnson. Otherwise he has been a disappointment since his return to the Kings. Not to mention most of us couldn't stand him when he left. I'd take Nordstrom over Blake all day long personally.
Being a King fan - watch more on TV than getting out to the games. Kings defense is more the problem than the goaltending. Didn't LaBarbara lead the league with the fewest goals against last year in the minors? I know that's the minors, but I'm sure he had a good defense in front of him to do that well. The future success of the King is DEFENSE! Developed or FA.
i live in o.c. and i cant stand duck fans. i always have and will always be a kings fan. anaheim has a great team and burke has done a great job for them, but what it comes down to is ownership. the ducks owners want to win the cup and the kings owners could care less about the kings or the fans. we will be back on top soon, but not soon enough. I have a good question for you mighty dork fans... who was the team you rooted for before the ducks were around....oh it was the kings.... sell outs...
I agree with all of you. The problem is how do they fix it. It is aparent that D is a big prob. Altough Blake does some good he is to old and slow, so they need to make a move about that(and yes I would take Matty over Blake any day) another issue that need s to be adressed is a second & third line, we have one line and that doesn't cut it. I think that conditioning is a prob. dont they look slow at the end of the games most of the time. I also think that they should bring up the youngins and see what they can do, at least forwards. Look at the teams that are at the top every year, they believe in their farm systems and lets thier young players play, why? because they believe in them
Last edited by fireboy33 on January 22nd at 6:24 PM.
The kings have great talent. Being a souther californian they still make money. The problem is the coaching of Mark Crawford. He brought some of his boys from Vancouver and they didnt work out to good. Then the staff goes and hires players and they turn into a bust deal. For example, picking Calder up from the Wings. They could have done better than that. They should have made some kind of trade for Bryzgalov. That could have worked in their favor.
My first Kings game was 1969. As Crash78 said, anyone else who has been a fan that long stands proudly with Cubs fans, Clippers fans, and all the other franchises that give "close but no cigar" its utter futility. I'm always optimistic until the Kings are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but let's face it: except for a few shining years in the early '90s, and the Year of Pain that was 1974, the Kings have been rebuilding for about 40 years. Their history is filled with paying outrageous amounts of money to past-their-prime has-beens with marquee value, or shedding future stars so other teams can win cups with them. I, too, wish Andy Murray had been retained. He was a miracle worker. Crawford has kept his job when better men in other NHL cities have lost theirs. I agree with the posters who have suggested a few patient losing years that build confidence in the young guys and lead to future solid years. But when all is said and done, I'll keep listening on the internet and cheering them on into the wee hours of central time...Cheers from San Antonio!
Last edited by SanAntonioKingsFan on January 22nd at 8:40 PM.
Just watched the Kings-Wings and just felt terrible for these kids. They actually looked great offensively in the first, but it did appear to me that they struggle in their transition to defense and there seems to be a tentativeness while in their own zone. While playing defense they seem to be a bit too cautious, afraid to give up the goal. That seems to lend itself to one's playing on their heels. It was a tough loss and although I don't think the score reflected the actual closeness of the game, that's the difference for a team that plays with confidence and can capitalize on another team's mishaps. Detroit worked them like a surgeon, skillful and precise. But, the Kings could take a lot away from this game. This is one of those losses that can almost be positive. Probably one of the few losses I've seen that I wasn't disgusted and frustrated at the end.
This was the first meeting between the teams since Chelios' told a Detroit radio station last week the following about Kings captain Rob Blake: "He's in a situation there where there's just no light at the end of the tunnel and he's lost his drive right now. I've been there. I talked to him last time we played him, and he would love to come here."
I realize this is Chelios speaking for Blake, not Blake's actual words, but i####uy can't get up for his team, maybe he shouldn't be playing for his team. Seems to me anyone not happy playing in the NHL should be sent to the AHL so they remember what a privilege it is. Could the Monarchs do much worse? Or is this the Pepsi Max talking?
Die hard passionate fan who loves the Dodgers, Lakers, Kings, Raiders and Bruins. I call home the beautiful city of long beach, where i can surf snowboard and swim all I want. I lifeguard in the summertime and currently go to school to be a firefighter. Other than sports my second passion is cars I love to purchase old beat up cars and double there value with a little elbow grease. Dad and i worked on a 66 el camino as a kid and now im hooked.
