Inside the box score 10/14
At some point, it just becomes counter-productive to discuss all of these dreadful losses. The worst part about it, from the Kings' perspective, is that these aren't even close losses. The Kings have now trailed at the end of 10 consecutive periods. If they could even put together ONE solid period and generate some momentum, it might get something going, but they have been unable to achieve that since London, really.
Michael Cammalleri is a one-man team at this point. That might be a bit of an overstatement, but not much. When you're looking for a second-best forward, and your eye is drawn to John Zeiler's name, that's not a good thing. And that's no disrespect toward Zeiler, but he shouldn't be the team's second-best forward.
Anze Kopitar...zero points, minus-2, three shots, seven giveaways.
Dustin Brown...zero points, minus-3, one shot, five giveaways.
Ladislav Nagy...zero points, minus-1, one shot, one giveaway.
Meanwhile, the Wings' top line dominated.
The Kings won 39 percent of their faceoffs, a disparity that particularly hurt them on the power play.
This was the first game in which the Kings didn't allow a power-play goal, but that's sort of a technicality, since Datsyuk's goal coincided with the end of a Kings penalty. It was essentially a power-play goal. And the Kings took only two minor penalties, so it's not as though they were dominant on the penalty kill. The Kings were 1 for 6 on the power play.
Jack Johnson played a very solid 23 minutes. There's one positive. Here's another...Jonathan Bernier looked much better tonight. He had no chance on two of the goals and would have needed a brilliant save to stop one. Bernier stopped 26 of 30 shots.
If anyone is interested, I'll attempt to do some sort of an analysis tomorrow, particularly in terms of where the blame should rest. Of course, everyone is encouraged to add their own input...
How soon until we hear a word from the master mind behind what we see on the ice? I'm talking about Mr. Lombardi.
Where the blame should rest? Crawford.
Rich, I would definitely be interested in hearing your take on what's really going on and why the wheels are falling off the wagon. Is there a chemistry or communication problem between Crawford and the team? How about the chemistry among the players? Are there other intangibles at play here that are contributing to the Kings' horrendous start?
You are right about Zeiler. Didn't see the game tonight, but he had five hits according to the stat summary. No doubt the Kings need that kind of gritty 4th line performance every night, but we all know this alone won't bring the team to the promised land.
With the undefeated Minnesota Wild next up on the schedule, it clearly won't get any easier for the Kings.
Thanks for your great coverage, and I look forward to your analysis soon.
Zeiler played awesome tonight all of a sudden, as did Ivanans, something I hate admitting. I'm pretty sure the physical guys were the best guys on the team tonight - basically anyone not seeing top minutes. They were the ones who consistently kept the fore check going and put the Wings on their heels.
Kinda makes you wonder what the team will look like come spring?
Crawford....what the hell, seriously
McMaster, with all due respect, Lombardi has got to go too.
I don't care what he did in San Jose. His Free agent signings all suck and I mean all of them.
Let's evaluate:
2006 free agent signings
-Rob Blake
-Alyn McCauley
-Scott Thonton
-Brian Wilsie
-Kevin Dallman
-Dan Cloutier (signed after trade)
CAN ANY KINGS FAN EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS THESE PLAYERS HAVE BROUGHT TO THIS ORGANIZATION.
Other than making the Big Bucks, what have they done. Just name ONE thing.
2007 free agent signings
-J.S aubin
-John Klemm
-Handzus
-Calder
-Nagy
-Stuart
-Preissing
So far, I haven't seen sh_t.
I wonder how many more failures he'll engage in before ownership fires him too.
Oh, almost forgot to mention his #1 screw-up, hiring Crawford.
Rich, thanks for the great run. I would for sure love to hear what you think is the cause(s) to the worst start in Kings history.
problem tonight: first passes. granted, detroit will never make that easy for you, but still--especially against a puck-possession team--it remains a game of simple priorities. 1) get the puck out of your zone every chance you get. 2) get the puck deep into your opponent's zone every chance you get. the kings did neither of those things often tonight, and i think the main cause was poor passing from the back end.
in regards to which players that Lombardi has signed, and what have they done so far? Stuart has been one of our best D-men. Probably Jack, Stuart & Modry have been our best 3 D-men so far this year. And Calder has been very solid so far in his 3rd line role.
But think what Blake, Stuart & Nagy will get us at the trade deadline or before. Probably some pretty solid young talent and draft picks.
We can only get better from here on out. At least last year the losses with close. We're getting blown out so far.
Rob Blake is downright atrocious. He's gotta go. Time to start leading by example there Mr. Captain.
Can JMFJ play 60 minutes?? At least it looks like he is trying out there?
just before the 1st period ended... i almost yelled "Hey ROB...EARN YOUR FREAKIN PAYCHECK!"
I didnt
I should have
Rob's just floating down there..no life in him...just coasting from one side to the other..while all us season ticket holders and regular purchasers alike take money out of our pockets and put it into his..
its sickening quite frankly
Well, it looks like we have tons of character but absolutely no heart.
And does Crawford have some aversion to physical play?
Can someone...anyone...HIT SOMEBODY!
Crow's gotta go.
Guys...just because it's called the 'Checking' line doesn't mean it's the only line that should throw body checks! They were our best line tonight. Sad.
Bench Blake.
I didn't see as many line changes tonight and they only scored 4. So many ways to explain or blow off that comment, I won't even start.
What is Willsie doing here? Is he still rooming with Anze?
Can anyone on this team make a stick to stick pass? Can at least half the pass be 'Look' instead of 'No-Look' passes?
Dean Lombardi: Are you willing to lose your job over Marc Crawford? Forget about how much you guys like talking hockey. This coach is NOT going to take us to where we need to be. Don't tell me it was YOUR first choice to pick up Dan Cloutier, but that went on YOUR head. This team looks WORSE than the 5 teams from 94-99 COMBINED after the cup run! With who we picked up, it shouldn't. Hell, I'll coach this team and get a better result..and if money's an issue, I'll take a salary in the high 5 figures. My motto for the team will be 'Passion, Precision, Power' in that order. Why? Because we don't have any of these now. If you don't have the balls to hire me, then at least get somebody with a pair. For the record, I actually get what you're doing. It's not popular, but I get it. The problem is, this team has enough talent to make the playoffs, it's just not being led down that 'course'.
Damn I'm pissed. By the way Crow....don't massage me with that 'Our fans have been patient' BS. you've been here all of 15 months or so. I've been dealing with this BS for 27 years. Either be honest or go home.
I don't know what you see in Zeiler, but he's atrocious, and doesn't belong on the ice in a line-up of a decent NHL team... oh, wait... Yeah he made one nice offensive play in the first, but he's a freaking liability out there. He tries to play like Avery, only he has about 3% of Avery's ability. I thought the team took a positive step in getting rid of Avery, so it's completely pointless to me to have a hapless Avery wannabe in the line-up.
Brown had another horrible game. I've pretty much given up on him. Can we please start giving O'Sullivan Brown's minutes and assignments?
Best players on the ice were O'Sullivan and Johnson.
Same here Rich, looking forward to your take on all of this. Frankly, we were all excited about the free agent signings but so far they haven't worked out like we'd hoped, gross understatement. Yes, maybe it takes time for a team to gel but this is different, the team has no fire, no motivation. The team is essentially playing like their leader in the locker room and on the ice. One thing about past Kings teams, their captains lead by example. Blake isn't getting the job done, neither is Crow. Personally, I believe a shuffle is in order, give Cammy the "C". He's one of the few still hustling, still trying to make the "system" work (hard to believe he's leading the league in scoring, then again maybe not). Stuart and Calder have looked good also, there it really starts to tail off. Time will tell. Dave Lewis is a possibility, at least he's experienced and a proven winner. He's also a former King. Our choices may be limited at this point but just how much longer can the Kings be allowed to continue to play like this? Any imput or opinion you can provide Rich would be greatly appreciated. Thx!
Rich, be honest with us (as you always are): The talent level this season looks improved (at least on TV) from last year's debacle. Is it the coaching that is not working on this group of players? The Kings look disorganized and disinterested most of the time. Is it time for a change behind the bench? There is no fire in this group.
As for Lombardi, time to change things up, eh? A couple of trades might do the trick, just to shake the cobwebs out of the players' minds!
I gave up my season tickets 5 years ago because I no longer bought into the "plan" theory. But at least I still watched almost every game on TV. Now, I am close to not even watching games on the TV because it is a frustrating waste of my time to see no improvement, no effort, no heart, no fight, and nobody not in uniform seemingly caring what is being fed to us fans who have waited so patiently for some signs that there is a direction being followed. Even Luc Robitaille (during an intermission TV interview) went with the company line. Kudos to Cammy for standing up and telling it like it is!
Zeiler one of the better players? Are you kidding me. Everytime he and Ivanans take the ice, I cross my fingers that they don't put the puck in their own net.
Couldn't agree more with ya Moondoggie-Cammi deserves the C.
I guess Deano is not the genius we thought he was...It time for him to go. Tired of hearing the same old line, "We are sacrificing now, to have a great future" 40 years of rebuilding, when will this future arrive. I have one question to all frustrated Kings fans, Which will come first playoffs for the Kings or LA LIVE being completely done? Sad to say when LA LIVE will be done in 2010, it would be 8 yrs since this team made the playoffs. Thanks AEG. Maybe Beckham can lace up the skates.
I always knew hunting season was in October! Seriously though, enough of this kid Bernier. He gives up seven goals on Friday, and he's right back in there on Sunday? Poor Jason LaBarbera was stuck in Manchester last year because the Kings were afraid to recall him, for fear of losing him. All he did was lead the Monarchs to the fewest goals allowed in the AHL last year! Now it appears that the Kings are afraid to play LaBarbera. Bernier is clearly the Kings goalie of the future, but let him hone his craft in the Minors for another year or two. If LaBarbera can't cut it as the number one goalie, I seriously suggest that the Kings acquire someone (Bryzgalov) via a trade. Yes it will cost them some of their precious young talent (Frolov), but they have to resolve this dilemna ASAP.