Inside the box score 10/6

Rich, I was at the game tonight and left with both hopes for the team and a little disapointment.

I thought that the Kings played well through the first two periods, but the 3rd was a disaster. The problem as I saw it was that our boys didn't hit anytbody in the 3rd period. Had we come out checking in that 3rd period to protect the 2 goal lead, we would have won.

More checking, taking responsibility to keep a lead going into the 3rd would have made all the difference. If the season is going this way, let's have Bernier play his 9 games and then back to Lewiston.

this...was not a good bounce back for me from the cubs game earlier.

at least brown had a good game, even if both goals were put on a tee for him.

On the brighter side..just got back from a Seattle Thunderbirds game. Hickey was solid. Nice PP goal on a point shot, every pass was tape to tape and he took the body and played solid positioning hockey on defence.

TWENTY-ONE giveaways tonight by the Kings. That's horrible. No team is going to win games with that many giveaways.

If the Kings expect to take it to the next level they can't lose games this way. Typical of this franchise, they play for less than 60 minutes and it costs them. This time however, it was the veterans that let them down.

Clearly, Blake shouldn't be on the ice. If he's not healthy (hip), he should sit until he is, if he is healthy, he's an overpaid escort service.

Modry is taking up a spot where Peter Harrold or Patrick Hersley could be. They couldn't be any worse. Modry is a walking turnover.

And is anyone else going to score goals on this team other than the #1 line? Sure glad Kopitar showed up tonite, or the Blues shut the Kings out.

Crawford should make Derek Armstrong write him an essay on the topic "Compare and Contrast the penalty box in Los Angeles with the penalty box in Manchester." Maybe a little field trip for him to Manchester is in order so he he can do the research for his paper.

I'd say Johnson had a pretty decent game. He made a few mistakes, which is to be expected, but also made a couple of very heady plays.
And come on, Rich! There should be no debate over any of the goals; all three of them (in the 3rd) were deflections, and even that first long-range goal appears to have been tipped (by Modry, I believe, though I'm uncertain). Bernier was solid again, spectacular at times, and should stay here. Period. He's no longer a Jr. A goalie. The guy's a pro.
It seemed to me that we simply ran out of gas. It'd be nice to see Army do something worthwhile, and also to see Thornton and Ivanans in the lineup together. Thornton is hardly a liability, and would've surely brought more to the game than Brady Murray (who was invisible, again. . .what's the deal? I love the story, that's great & all, but is this guy truly ready for the NHL? no way! He should be in Manchester).
I'm sure we'll turn in a more solid performance next time out.

1. If Nagy was brought in as an offensively gifted forward, someone forgot to tell him that. He looks like a 3rd line role player.

2. If Derek Armstrong and Dan Cloutier had a child together, it would be Jaroslov Modry.

3. Anze Kopitar is a Hockey God. MVP of this game for the Kings.

4. Brown has hands of stone. Rich could have scored those 2 goals. The important ones he missed the net by 12 feet.

5. Is Kariya dead? I don't remember if he got up.

6. God I hate Modry. I hate him with a passion that I almost cannot put into words.

7. Cammy plays with such poise and confidence, not just in the offensive zone, but also defensively. It will be fun seeing him get better. There are 50 goals in this guy.

8. I hate Crawford's lines. Anybody can put Kopitar & Cammy together. You want 3 scoring lines or just a bunch of incompatible players after the first line? Get Sully into the 2nd line.

9. Get Jack paired with Preissing. He isn't going to learn a thing or develop with Modry.

10. Last but not least, I am still very impressed by Bernier. He was solid. The team around him broke down. 3 of those goals were all but unsaveable. I love this kid.

Zad, its no use trying to reason with crawford. He thinks his formula is fool proof. We as fans are forced to watch games like this, and accept it.
In three games Frolov, Nagy, Armstrong, O'Sullivan, Calder, Visnovsky have ZERO goals. Hanzus has an empty net. Big wow.
It's unacceptable for this coach to continue to engage this sort of formula.
It's a failure and so is he. Everybody sees it but him.
Now watch Kevin and the others give me $hit for having an opinion.

I thought that the neverending parade to the penalty box by both teams in the 2nd period really hurt the Kings. Playing 4-on-3 or even 4-on-4 takes its toll on the players because of all the open ice and the extra skating. I have to think that while the Kings won't make an excuse of it, the special teams time and the opening in London both took its toll on the Kings and their performance showed it in the 3rd period.

@Anthony

Yes, because us offering a counter-argument must mean that we hate you for having an opinion... That is a pretty childish veil to hide behind.

I agree that the line combinations have been lackluster, but it is pretty inept to declare Crawford a failure after three games... Considering he is a Stanley Cup winning coach I would tend to give him a little respect. It is not like the lines have gone untweaked, it is his job to try different line combinations and he is.

Either way, I would trust his opinion a lot more over yours. If you believe our peon opinions are so vastly superior to his then why don't you go out and move up the ranks with your vast hockey knowledge and take the coaching job yourself.

Until then I am going to wait a few more days before I go running around crying anarchy and claiming to know what others are thinking.

Watching this game reminded me of watching the Kings last year. Play well for 30 minutes, disappear for 30 minutes, lose the game.

Ok, I'll be the first "bad guy" to broach the subject:

Should the Kings start thinking about sending Jack Johnson to the AHL?

I know he's only 20 and is a rookie, but I'm tired of seeing him make mistake after mistake after mistake.

I think it's time to send him to Manchester where the level of play will be more appropriate to his current development and let Dallman or Klemm play.

As for Armstrong, it doesn't surprise me to see him play like he left his brain in his locker. Pretty typical effort from him. I don't understand what some of you guys see in him.

Bernier played just like the rest of the team. Great for the first half of the game, mediocre for the last. At this point, we need a goalie who will be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Someone who will stand on his head to keep us in games when the team goes into a funk in front of him.

Bernier will probably be that guy in a few years. He's not that guy now.

I'm not saying send him back to juniors yet, but if I were the Kings management last night, I'd have had my first thoughts of doubt about him.

Finally, did anyone see Thornton during the pre-game intros? He was NOT a happy camper. Does anyone besides me smell a trade?

I still don't understand why you'd give a guy an A, then not play him.

Kevin, I respect your opinion.
After all we're both pulling for the same team. But let me remark on Crawford's Stanley Cup. Back then, he was coaching a stacked team. The avalanchehad had Forsberg, Sakic, Patrick Roy, Claude Lemiex, Ray Bourque, Adam Foote, even Rob Blake all in their prime.
That team could have had a "transient coach" lead them to a cup.
Don't give this coach more props than what he actually deserves.
I hope he does things different next game. Because what he's doing so far isn't working.

I might be chiming in here a bit too late but I will anyways.

I didn't think the Kings looked very solid during the first period. There were a couple of scrambles in the defensive zone which could have very easily wound up in the net if not for Bernier. He looked terrific. Defensively this team needs to improve. Also I watched the game on tv and it doesn't look like that first goal on Bernier was deflected, I'm not sure how he let that one in. And yes Modry had too many turnovers.

Crawford has Johnson with Modry. The analysis can stop there. Modry, a lazy and soft defenseman who does not use his size and cannot read the play.

What is Johnson, a 20 year old defenseman with good offensive skills and size going to learn from that?

Are we so stacked with defenseman that Johnson's development is irrelevant this season?

We are trying to develop our youth. Last year, we put Kopitar in a position to develop. This year, we do the same with Johnson. Get him on a line with Preissing or perhaps even better, Visnovsky. You want a better mentor in game situations and based on PLAY (not talk) than Visnovsky on this team? It's not there.

Everyone is welcome to post their opinions. But please don't post a variation of the same thing under multiple names. It's embarrassing.

@anthony

I hope so too or, at least, him pushing to develop more chemistry. I agree with you that the Avalanche were well endowed the year Crawford won, as is most Stanley Cup winning teams, he still has 8 playoff runs between the Nordiques, Avalanche, and Canucks. They all had decent players but were not as stacked. I would still give him several more games before I start declaring his incompetency. I am not saying the guy is a hockey god, just that he knows how to make the playoffs more often than not and should not be discredited so fast with such a young and gelling team.

Granted Kevin,
We'll see what happens in Dallas.

Paul,

Thank you! I thought I was the only one here who doesn't get what the big deal is with Army. In my opinion, respecting a player such as Armstrong shows the kind of mediocrity the fans of this franchise is getting used to. And Modry, ha! don't even get me started with that guy.

That 3rd period was terrible. We deserved the outcome. THe team breakdown was embarrasing

Tough to watch what happened to LA last night. No, it wasn't Bernier's fault, our defense abandoned him in the 3rd. Tough for anyone to stop the action he had to face without any help. Blake looks like he's hurting; most of his shots seemed soft, not the rockets we're used to seeing. He's not doing much hiting like he used to. Brownie looked terrifie, great hands, what a grinder, he didn't quit all night. Watching that first line was a joy, that is until the 3rd period when the entire team decided not to show. The worst of this is, the Kings lost to a team they had outplayed for the first two periods and whom they are clearly a better team. Give Andy Murray credit for having St. Louis play for sixty minutes instead of 40, boy do I wish we still had him. One thing you could always count on about Andy, he always had his teams prepared. The difference last night was that the Blues showed up for the 3rd period, the Kings didn't. And, with the exception of Stuart, what happened to our new free agents? One other thing, go easy on Brady Murray; he was about the only player hustling in the 3rd, playing like he was still trying to make the team. Yea, I watched the team show up in their SUV's before the game, the problem is they played like they hadn't earned them.

Hey Anthony, if you are going to comment, make sure you get your facts correct. When Crawford won the Stanley Cup(1996) he has neither Bourque nor Blake on his team, even though he had a stacked team.

If this is going to be another brutal year, I want to see more of the kids called up from manchester. Boyle, Harrold, Hersley, Petiot and Piskula. I would like to see Zeiler banished to manchester forever. Start bringing up the offensive forwards too.

And for the love of God please send Bernier back to juniors, no need to sacrifice him while the rest of the team tries to get their $^!# together.

Rich,
Maybe it was the fact that I was totally sober but I found the constant marketing bombardment irritating. If I see another advert for "The Seeker" movie, I'm going to vomit! I understand its part of the sports biz especially here in LA but every time there's a stoppage of play??? I walked out of Staples feeling brainwashed. Being a season seat holder I don't know if I can take it for 39 more games. Anyone else get that?

As far as the Kings go, Its early so I'll reserve judgment...for now. There are definaite positives but also some concers.
One thing I'll point out, JMFJ was replaced Saturday night's line up by newcomer "Hack Johnson".
Lets hope JACK makes his return.