Back to work

It's unfortunate that people get jealous or whatever of the fact you get the scoop on the Kings before anyone that reports in the Hockey World.

This unrelated to your blog post here but have you heard anything from Cammy or his thoughts on the arbitration ruling? Anyway Keep up the good work Rich!

I expect huge things from Kopitar this year.
We need him to develop in to an elite Number 1 center

Hey, Rich, thanks for taking care of that jerk he's ruined more than one board. Keep up the good work and don't forget to donate blood. Go Kings!

Training camp should be a much more competitive camp this season. There's just a lot more talent in the organization than in the past. Guys like Willsie won't have a roster spot written in stone.
My 2 long shots to make the team out of camp are Harrold and Murry.

Rich,

I truely think Kopi is going to explode this year. IMO he didn't get his fair share of the rookie of the year votes. I think he is hungry and will come out and show he was not a fluke. There will not be the typical 2nd year slump with this guy. I see him posting impressive numbers.

On a side note, have you been able to get any feeling from the front office on the goal tending issue. I know they said the job is up for grabs, but would they really consider a Labs, JB tandem?

Again thanks for your work on this site, I can not wait for the end of September.

I think Anze is not only the best prospect the Kings may have ever developed, he's also going to eclipse Getzlaff and Perry soon and will lead the Kings to the promised land. I've never seen such a great young kid so strong and confident and what a great skater. He's got the extra tools to be the best of this Ovechkin/Crosby generation. I, for one, am proud to be a King fan! Jack Johnson + Anze Kopitar = Stanley Cup according to this hot hockey mama!

Does anyone think Kopitar will suffer a Sophomore slump?

Personally, I think Anze is going to improve on his point totals from last season and we should see a little more physicality from the Slovenian wunderkind. Having Zeus as a second line center should also increase his effectiveness. It's hard not getting too excited about the future with Kopitar and JMFJ, but sky's the limit!

Excellent Rich.

Kopitar is no longer a "secret" and will obviously need to elevate his game.

On the other hand, with improvements made to address depth issues on offense, hopefully some of the pressure to be "the" goal scorer will be gone and allow him to play his game more effectively.

If he stays healthy and Crawford does not abuse him with too many double shifts, I see Kopitar netting 35 goals and scoring 80-90 points.

First of all...we are truly lucky that we do have the rights to Kopitar and I forsee that he will be a King for a very long time. We are also extremely lucky that he was actually ready for the NHL this year. As we've learned from this blog, the Kings' Management and Coaching did not really expect Kopitar to play the 72 games that he did play.

One of the factors that really shows he is NHL-ready and a high caliber player, is the way that he carried himself in the last year. He began the season posting numbers that were pretty fantastic for a rookie year, plus he still remained focus on improvement and skating. I've said this before, but I truly believe that Kopitar was the leader of the team last year because of his ability to skate into the zone and create offense. The Kings were lack-luster in that category last year, and he stood up and took that role/responsibility as somewhat of a quarterback (he had 41 assists last year). I look for him to stand up and play this role again this year, however to a higher expectancy. With more quality supporting players, we could see Kopitar put up numbers comparable to Brendan Shanahan two seasons ago and Joe Sakic. We need to have him mature a little and remain at a level of modesty, but also an attitude of take charge. I do not expect him to carry the whole team on his shoulders because we won't win a cup that way, but I do expect him to play a key role. I actually think that he will post better numbers than Cammy next year. We'll see.

Also, someone wrote in that Jack Johnson + Kopitar = Stanley Cup...I would have to disagree. I think that for the Kings to win, they have to have chemistry. That was a problem in the last couple years; I felt that they lacked the kind of chemistry that would move our team to the next level. As for Johnson, I do not have as high of expectations for him. This will be his rookie year, he is not as mature as Kopitar is, and he is kind of a wild chance. Expect him to play - Definitely...but not to the level of Scott Niedermier...yet. From what I understand, Johnson has quite an ego, and I don't blame him...he's young, but he will have to control that factor and mature a bit more for him to really be effective.

Now, back to Kopitar. Like I said, he is poised to put up the numbers if a couple things can happen. One important factor: STAY HEALTHY. If Kopitar can stay focused for at least 75 games and be effective, then the numbers will come. If Crawford overplays him (which, I don't blame him, but Kopi is a sophomore, and they have tendencies to lose focus), then we could see fatigue affect his play. Another factor: DRIVE. I hear that Kopitar is one of the first ones on the ice and one of the last ones off. If his drive to keep improving remains at a level of intensity, we could actually see him break numbers closer to Kovolchuk. We need him to stay competitive. And most importantly: CONSISTANCY. He had a great season last year, but one of my complaints would be that he was not as consistant as we would have liked him to be; however, I understand his circumstance (and the rest of the team)...without a consistant goaltender (remember we had about 6 play with us last year) how can the team stay focused?

Anyway we slice it, Kopitar is a phenominal player (I will always remember his first game in the NHL and the way he sniped Giggy...coming from the right side of the net, in front of the tender with the hold, then the wrister top shelf -- poise that I would expect from a veteran like Marleau). We are truly lucky to have Anze with our organization, and let him be a King for LIFE!!

Well, I'm glad I'm not the troublemaker this time around. LOL. Permanently banned from HFBoards... how sad :)

Anyway, I'd have a hard time putting Anze Kopitar in the category of "Best Prospect The Kings Have Ever Developed" because I remember an incredibly gifted defenseman drafted from the Peterborough Petes named Larry Murphy, and if that drunken clown GM (George Maguire) hadn't pulled the trigger on that brilliant trade for Ken Houston and Brian Engblom, more people might be thinking along those Hall Of Fame lines.

That being said, I don't think a Sophomore Jinx is out of the question, but chances are good that he's going to be given every opportunity to work through any glitches he might encounter along the way. His supporting cast up front appears to be infinitely better than last season. Now, we shall see if he can handle "less" responsibility, because he will have to share time with some much better players than he had around him in 06-07.

And, yeah, personally, I'd rather have Getzlaf, but that's only because I think he brings a couple of additional dimensions to the table. Perhaps Kopitar will bring them as he gets older.

It is important to note that Kopitar is more than 2 years younger than Getzlaf and has only completed 1 year of NA hockey. Even so, playing 10 less games and with a weaker supporting cast, he outscored Getzlaf. Perhaps with more of a playmaker on his wings, Kopitar could have had more goals than Getzlaf.

Kopitar was good last season, but you could still see glimpses of even more potential than he showed last season. Will he have a sophomore jinx? I expect that his sophomore year will be much like Crosby's sophomore year - not necessarily leading the league, but improving as he gains a better understanding of the league. Kopitar is a coach's kid and seems to understand that every game and practice is just another learning experience. That will carry him much farther than what we saw in his impressive rookie year.

"Well, I'm glad I'm not the troublemaker this time around. LOL. Permanently banned from HFBoards... how sad :)"

How sad, crying on Rich's blog about something that has nothing to do with it.

Glad to see Rich back at work. This blog is great and I value Rich's input here.

With the newly-added FWs
(especially Nagy/Handzus), plus the emergence of O'Sullivan as an offensive player, will make it harder for teams to stop Kopitar by throwing their primo checking unit against him all the time.

If he plays 80 games (or close to it), KOPITAR should get 30+ goals, and around 90 points.