Injured reserve

Of course it is.

Any word on who'll start on Saturday?

There's only a very, very slim chance that Crawford will let that info out before Saturday night.

Some of lombardi's free agent acquisitions just blow my mind away.
What a waste of maney.
This signing isn't going to help this organization at all.
Just another McCauley, Cloutier, Wilsie, Thornton, and Dallman write off.
Maybe Handzus & Calder too.
We'll see.

Anthony needs a hug... again.

"If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy."

A little harsh aren't we. Aubin was never signed with the intent of being "the man". Just an adequate goalie for a certain role. Dallman Did fine for his role as a 6 or 7 dman too. The other ones I can't really argue with. Hanzus,Calder, Nagy are all hole fillers. You can't hate that he signed guys who can get willsie out of the top 9.

Forgive my "typo".
Meant to say money.

I disagree with Anthony. After the disaster of last years goaltenders, Aubin is insurance. Besides, he's playing better than Labarbara and Cloutier to this point.

Rich - Any inside scoop as to whether the Kings will ultimately keep Bernier with the big squad for the season?

how are you writing Calder and Handzus off already??

Despite what happened in Manchester last year, this is about winning games and as such I would have preferred to see Jason on IR and Aubin in tandem with Bernier.

Anthony is right, why couldn't Lombardi sign Drury, Briere and Gomez??

BTW: How could there be ANY doubt that Bernier starts on Sat?

anthony-

so if god forbid something were to happen to bernier and labs, you'd rather fall on cloutier than give aubin a shot. come on, aubin didnt cost much, its called insurance. plus, aubin played second best for the kings this offseason, he'll be a solid backup if called upon.

and whats wrong with handzus and calder?

I don't know if you've answered this before or not, but is Labarbera's 2 year contract a 1-way or 2-way deal?

Rich, ask Cammalleri what it felt like to lead the NHL in goals and be tied for overall points for 5 whole days. That'll go a long way in contract negotiations next time around.
Ask the same of Bernier, his stats are best in the league...for now.

Boy Anthony tell us how you really feel. I would disagree that Aubin is a waste of money. After last season's fiasco would you rather be in a position where Cloutier is clearly not ready, Barb is struggling and Bernier is our only option?

If I remember the rumor mill correctly, the Kings did go after Drury, Briere, and Gomez, and they all chose to sign elsewhere.

I watched both games over the weekend, and so far Calder & Handzus looked pretty good. Certainly better than Wilsie & Thornton would have.

As for Aubin, I think it was a good signing. Last year we got stuck with ECHL goalies because of the crazy waiver rules. This way we have insurance.

With Cloutier down in the AHL, if we have to recall him I doubt he'll get claimed because of his salary (even though the claiming team would only pay half).

I'm guessing Aubin will stay on IR until they decide to send Bernier back to juniors, or until someone else gets hurt.

Bernier may have been our best goalie so far, but he IS only 19. Lombardi won't risk keeping him up all season, unless he's just miles better then anyone else.

Remember, D.L. doesn't like rushing young players, especially goalies.

So enjoy Bernier's 9 games. It's probably all we'll see of him until next season at the earliest.

BTW, in case nobody noticed, the Kings lost Mike Weaver off waivers to Vancouver.

Paul...Weaver was with Pittsburgh, not the Kings.

Rich,
I thought most of the people who read this blog were informed Kings fans/ LGKers -- lately it seems like people reading this are wandering over from the lakers site?

Paul, Vancouver picked up Weaver from Pittsburgh not L.A.
Penguins signed him as a free agent after the 2007 season.
I'm surprised lombardi wasn't stupid enough to sign him too (more waste of money).
Maybe it was something he ate that day.
My advice, he should continue eating it.

Can anyone shed light on this? If someone claims Cloutier off of waivers, then why do the Kings have to pay half of his salary while he is playing for another team? It seems to me that if they claim him they should pick up the remainder of his salary.

can we start a thread for Anthony to complain about the money Lombardi has wasted?

Rob...that's just how it is. NHL rules for players on waivers.

I got it!

Anthony = Phil

;)

Rob, this scenario would only happen if another team claimed El Sieve on the way BACK to LA via Re-Entry Waivers. Had someone claimed him on the way down to Manchester that team would be responsible for the entire contract.

This was put in under the new CBA so teams could not "hide" players in the minors. It forces management to make crisper decisions on the roster knowing full well that they may be stuck paying a portion of a guy's salary who is no longer a member of the team.

Ryan, What makes LGkers so special? A bunch of nerds who put who dream about 19 year old goalies.... Just because a guy does not know everything does not make him a bad fan...ikt probably means he has a life. Remember some of these hockey players are boys!...sicko!

what's up w/ the Calder/Handzus bashing? We haven't even finished the first month of the season and already they're being counted out. C'mon, they can't be as bad as the McCauley/Thornton deal.

i read a bruins fan forum and it was SO different from LGK.... like REAL trade talks GET CHARA KEEP BERNIER LET ALL THE FAs PLAY and itll ALL BE GOOD

waste of money? cmon nah handzus 3.5 nagy 3.5 nagy is a BACKUP scorer handzus is SICK on the 2way i loved seeing handzus in between 2 dmen in the first game both are slovakian which are both good for lubomir who loves having slovakian speaking players on his team he barely speaks english preissing is a very good QB on the Powerplay and stuart WILL score this season THINK we now have 2 SUPERB powerplay QBs we need more beef up front and a BIG dman after that cup contenders FOSHOOOOO

Rich,

My question is, is Aubin's being placed on IR an indication to you that they will just keep Bernier on for the 9 games, send him down and then reactivate Aubin?
Also, watching the forwards for the Ducks makes me realize that as much as the new NHL is about speed agility etc., size up front is still a huge factor in the NHL, and a huge factor for the Kings. Over the weekend, or at least on Saturday, we were more effective on the PP than anything else, do you think that this is because the extra room on the ice gives our smaller top 6 more room with the puck? Thoughts?

for info on which goalie will play in net, check http://www.leftwinglock.com/goalies.php it will only give you who will be in net the next day. They were right for Sat. and Sunday's games, although it was predictable. Good for you fellow fantasy hockey fans.

It has become painfully obvious that no matter what DL does, he is going to be wrong in Anthony's eyes. If DL could somehow trade Cloutier and Modry for Crosby and Ovechkin, Anthony would find something wrong and call DL an idiot for doing it.

Just the fact that he threw Calder in his first post in this thread showed the lack of intelligence he puts in his posts. Calder has been one of the better signings for the Kings this summer based on the games played so far. He had brought it all every game and does not appear to be hurt as of yet. But then, I dont possess the crystal ball that Anthony has...

"If DL could somehow trade Cloutier and Modry for Crosby and Ovechkin, Anthony would find something wrong and call DL an idiot for doing it." - Calfdemon

The "problem" with this, would be that we're trading A goalie, and a defenseman( two positions that desperatly need improvement) for two forwards(something that we have plenty of). Hence,certain people calling DL an idiot for making this trade.

Off topic - but I noticed that Phoenix is hovering around the $30M mark for this year's payroll. I believe the cap-floor is $34M. What happens if they start the season under that point? Do they get fined the extra $4M?
Anyone?

My Goodness, didn't realize that there are so many touchy & sensitive grumps out there.
I'll start toning it down a bit for all those who are so hung up on the truth.
And for the record, never stated that Calder was a bad signing. This year, so far so good. Only implied that he's not worth $2.75 Million per season.
Everybody, do some research, check out his career stats and let me know if he's worth that money.
He scored over 20 goals only twice in his career. And last year he was a Minus 31 in Philly.

We already went over this same topic with Anthony in a thread...no point in arguing with him.

As to the starter opening night. I don't think Crawford has to hint anything, it is pretty obvious by his statements regarding Bernier and the games in London it will probably be him.

Even if there is a 9 game plan I would assume they want to get him to that mark as soon as possible.

After all...if Aubin limps for a couple weeks eventually he will start to have back problems ;)

My predidctions for today's games
Redwings will beat the Ducks
Montreal over Carolina
Dallas over Colorado
Ottawa over Toronto.

Anthony,

"Calder has been a bust every year since he entered the NHL. But Lombardi throws $7 million to him anyway. He's gonna be another Brian Wilsie. Trust Me:

Quote from you in another thread and if that is not saying it is a bad signing i don't know what is.

The grump is you jumping all over these signings.

I posed to you in another thread what alternatives you would have done instead of throwing money at these guys. I still would like an answer or is it that all you can do is complain about guys who have played a total of 2 games and chalking them up to bad signings.

How about a list of good signings? Or is it too much for you to give a compliment to the organization?

mellow, lets not turn this into letsgokings.com now

Deelo,
I'm glad to see that you enjoy engaging in a debate.
But just remember we're both cheering for the same team.
I agree with Lombardi on signing Preissing & Stuart. Both should should improve our defense.
I"m skeptical on Nagy and won't pass judgment on him yet. With Handzus, I'm skeptical because of his 4 year $16 Million. Why so long and why so much. Especially with a bad knee. He should have been signed him 1 or 2 years and if it works out, his contract could be extended. (remember the McCauley failure, DL should learn from his past experience). Calder past performance doesn't warrant $2.75 a year. (look at his history).
My alternative was to make a more serious push for Drury, Brierre, or Gomez. Just sign one of them and allow our prospects Lewis, Boyle & Cliche a spot on the roster. The money DL would have saved could be used to acquire a seasoned vet at the trade deadline.
Although we may not see eye to eye on the DL decisions, we both want the same outcome.

I think the right move was not to give a ridiculous to one of those guys. 4 or 5 years from now the Rangers are going to be hamstrung by a bunch of past their prime guys with a cap number in excess of 7 million.

It is going to make it hard to sign their talented youngsters when almost 1/3 of their cap is wrapped up in 2 guys in the ealy to mid 30's in Gomez and drury.

I think it was a good pass.