Training camp, Day 3

Will Visnovsky's interview be video, Rich? I heard he's hella shy. That's right. I said hella.

Rich:

Thanks for the update. Nice to hear the goaltenders are looking solid in camp.

Also like to hear Zeiler may get the 4th center spot. Was impressed by his play this past season.

Good sign with Hadzus apprectiating Armstrong.

Looks like some chemistry is starting to build. Cannot wait for the season.

Rich, do you know, or can you find out whether the pre-season games are going to be on tv/radio?
Thanks for all the updates. Every day things look brighter for the Kings and that just makes me even more excited for this season.
Go, Kings, Go!

No TV for preseason games. The preseason games in Austria won't be broadcast at all but I believe all five of the games in the U.S. are on radio.

The Handzus-Nogy-O'Sullivan line is going to be a very productive. I like the chemistry.
You got the puck-handler in Handzus, the passer in Nagy, & the sniper in O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan was very impressive at the end of the year and he was second in goal scoring at Manchester during the Calder Cup Finals.
This player is for real and I believe he's gonna have a break-through season. He just needs to get off to a good start.
Iv'e seen his shot. It's quick and very accurate. I'ts as good if not better than Camalleri's

I just heard on XM 204 that the first game in England will be broadcast on XM 205, what is the time difference between the east coast and the UK? I believe they said it would be like 9 a.m. here, does that sound right?? Has anyone else who has XM heard anything? I know for sure though it will be on XM 205.

Thanks once again Rich!

It's just nice to finally hear Patrick O'Sullivan's name without a comment about how he is on a bubble, or could be shipped to Siberia...

It's also nice to not hear Brian Willsie's name ever :)

Oops, I meant to say O'Sullivan led Manchester in goal scoring during the Calder Cup playoffs and he was second in goal scoring in the entire AHL during the playoffs.

Great news on the chemistry front. Also, nice to hear Handzus fitting right in with the media, as well as, what it sounds like to me, with the players, also.

I thought O'Sullivan looked great today, and Brady Murray looked decent. Willsie looked lost and Zeiler didn't do anything special either.
As far as goalies, I agree 100% as both JLB and Cloutier did look very good against a lot of shots and pressure. I even think Cloutier looked better than JLB today. Very pleasant surprise!

One prediction; Frolov is going to have a great season....

Great Job Rich

Yes, I think the Saturday game will be on XM 205. London is currently 5 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern, and 8 hours ahead of Los Angeles time, so the game should be on at 9am Pacific if it's broadcast live.

Thanks Paul, Boomer on XM 204 said it was going to be broadcast live. For those of you who have XM, they also said today that there will be a large number of preseason games broadcast.

XM picks up the local game broadcasts, so I would guess there's a decent chance that they would pick up the Kings' preseason games as well.

quisp said:
I expect (and will enjoy) another log-jam from 5th to 10th at the end of the year. Honestly, I think the question should be, will the Kings be a part of that log-jam. I think they will. Whether that means landing at #5 or #10, it's impossible to predict meaningfully. But I think they will be there. Wishful thinking has me guess they will be #7 and play Anaheim in the first round.

Kopitar will lead in points. Brown might give him a run for his money, if he collects assists from Kopitar and Cammy all year.
In goal? Bernier. 50 games.

Also, I predict the Kings' final point total will equal the number of goals this year by the following five players: Nagy, Handzus, O'Sullivan, Calder and Murray. i.e., if the three veterans have career years (25 goals apiece) and the rookies get 20 and 10 each, that's 105 points. If they crap out (15 goals apiece for the veterans, 10 and 5 for the rookies) that's 60 points.

Short version, if those guys are good, the team will be good. If they suck, look out below.

September 27, 2007 9:35 PM

i love to go back through the past. sorry to dig this one up quisp. take a look at some of the comments, both by rich and ANTHONY.

Indeed. I actually asked Rich to dig this up at the end of the season, to see if I was right in my little point calculator. I wasn't. In my defense, I would only point out two things:

(1) I have frequently stated that I err on the side of over-optimism. even in the comment of mine you quote (see "wishful thinking").

(2) I was right that if Nagy, Handzus, POS, Calder and Murray (!) suck, "look out below." Only POS was any good out of those five. And we hit rock bottom, sure enough.

(I must have been especially impressed with Murray that day in camp!)

quisp - i was just having a laugh. hopefully their will be plenty of opportunity for me to be wrong in a bunch of stuff i said this month.

it is fun to read some of the articles and comments with the benefits of hindsight, too. plus, people get mad when i take up the current threads with my posting.

i like reading your posts and agree that it really comes down to, "we'll see." there's no way to know what will happen. i just get frustrated with the management and especially ownership because this is the NHL and i feel they are cheap. the nhl should be the best hockey in the world, and to me the management and ownership are acting like its a developmental league. i really feel Big Phil has no respect for what they players do. did dean lombardi ever play? does he know what kind of talent it takes to score goals like cammalleri? especially at his size? i think some of the money sounds ridiculous, but 10 years ago bobby holik was being offered tens of millions. back when philipe boucher signed with dallas, it was thought he was overpaid at about 2 1/2 million. we're not paying in that area for gauthier and calder who've contributed 0 and little respectively. i just don't get why a multi-billionaire does business this way and thinks the fans should support it.

i read a quote that said when big phil bought this team, he said, 'can't we get that jagr guy?' Well, he could have, he just had to be willing to spend. anything can happen if you're willing to spend the money and give it a go. people point to the failure of the kings to "buy" a cup. They nearly did win, but it faltered because 'that's sports.' the rangers were able to do it with a ton of 'bought' players. same with carolina and the ducks. the kings could be contenders tomorrow if aeg really wanted to be. if they weren't hell bent on making sports profitable, they'd be able to make the galaxy winners overrnight. but they like salary structures and salary caps too much. sports teams are not guaranteed to be profitable, they're supposed to guarantee that they're trying to win.

cheers

quisp - this is the future outlook for Martinez written during this offseason.

Martinez signed an entry level contract with Los Angeles during the 2008 offseason. With some patient development, Martinez might emerge as a mobile offensive defenseman for Manchester and Los Angeles in a few years. With several open positions on the blueline in Los Angeles entering training camp, Martinez has a very good opportunity to earn an NHL job to start the season and might be looked to as an injury call-up during the season.

Not trying to whip a dead horse, but it projects him with los angeles, "in a few years." He may work out this season, perhaps out of need, but the accomplishments in college are partly due to his age i'm assuming. we'll see. he could turn out to be the second coming of hobey baker trophy winner rob blake. ha. just havin a laugh.

it seems peter harrold was signed originally by Taylor. is that correct? do you think he's more of a lock to play this season than Martinez?

There are essentially three categories of prospect: ready to jump in, ready in a few years, and project. Boyle, Purcell and Moulson would be examples of "ready to jump in." Doughty we hope is ready to jump in, but maybe not. Hickey probably not. Martinez, being (I think) two or three years older than Hickey, is slightly more "ready." Of course, you never know whether a prospect will be on schedule, ahead or behind. I thought Martinez, in comparison to Doughty, Teubert and Bagnall, looked physically mature enough to challenge this fall, on a par with Doughty (in terms of physical maturity, or -- to put it another way -- in terms of not looking like he should be playing midgets). A season in Manchester would probably do him good. And if the Kings acquire a wily, left-handed offensive-minded defenseman, Martinez probably will not make it. But he might. Someone will grab that #7 spot. Martinez, Bagnall, Harrold, they all have a shot at it. Piskula, too, I reckon. And I wouldn't count out the possibility of some unsigned vets being given camp invitations.

Cristobal -

To answer your Peter Harrold question, I will continue the Hockey's Future cut-and-paste party:

"Harrold continues to sit on the cusp of making the NHL squad full time. He excelled in Manchester this season [2007-2008], second among all defensemen in scoring, and was a midseason call-up to Los Angeles for a handful of games. The veteran depth on the blueline in Los Angeles [!!] forced Harrold back to the minor leagues. Despite spending nearly half the season in Los Angeles, Harrold finished as the leading scoring defenseman for Manchester with nearly a point per game average.

While some deem Harrold as a defensive defenseman, he has shown to be almost equally adept on offensive as well. Harrold possesses excellent leadership qualities [Quisp notes: a DL type player!] and is a player who leads by example.

Harrold is a tireless worker who is dependable and very skilled at both ends of the ice. He can play in any type of situation. Two attributes that have made Harrold a great defenseman are his great on-ice vision and awareness. His decision-making is one of his best characteristics. Harrold has a keen sense of not only knowing when to jump up into the play, but also doing so without it being at the expense of his defensive responsibilities. He is an outstanding skater who transitions remarkably well. He possesses excellent puck skills, demonstrating the ability to make beautiful tape-to-tape passes as well as great patience with the puck.

Likely just a depth defenseman for the organization, he has the work ethic to sneak up and steal a 4th-7th spot as a defenseman that can move and distribute the puck from the blue line. He stands to gain the most by the recent exodus of veteran defensemen from the Los Angeles roster as Harrold is the lead contender to fill one of the many available spots for 2008-09."

It's possible PH was one of Taylor's last signings before the axe fell. I don't know, but it sounds about right.

I do think, as you say, that he's more of a lock to make the team than Martinez. He's been quietly lying in wait for a couple of seasons. I do think he'll play the full year with the big club. And I'm looking forward to seeing him get some real icetime.

Probably the fact that I like Harrold and Martinez is one of the reasons I'm not overly freaked out by this year's defense.