L.A.'s new `Magic'?
The play of the three-game season belongs to Anze Kopitar. On Saturday, he carried the puck down the right side, swooped to the net and drew Manny Legace off his line. But then, instead of trying to force a shot at a tough angle, Kopitar held onto it for a moment longer, passed the puck behind Legace and through the crease and onto the stick of Dustin Brown for an easy goal.
``It was basically just instinct,'' Kopitar said of the play. ``Some goalies challenge me a lot, so when I saw him come out I just held onto it. I knew Brownie would be there.''
Given his talent on plays such as that, it seemed natural to ask Kopitar if he studied goaltenders on tape, in order to learn their tendencies. Kopitar said he doesn't do any formal studying but learns from things that happen on the ice.
``They might study me too, and adjust to things that I do,'' Kopitar said. ``So I just see what a goalie does and try to do the opposite. Sometimes you just have to go and make a decision and pull the trigger. You can't think about it too much.''
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J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.
Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
@dailynews.com.
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Kopitar seems to be the first player since Palffy to possess the ability to back the opposition away from him. He also seems to have that precious ability to wait out a goalie or defender and make a play from there. Palffy was the last Kings player to do such things and Gretzky obviousy before that and that is what only the special players can and will do. He is the future of this franchise beyond any other player as far as I can see.
Does anybody have a video of the goal?
I love this site. Thanks for the great content.
On a side note, this team had better get its act together. These players are making too much money (and the fans are paying too much for beer) to continue to fail like this.
Agreed completely. Nobody is more key to this franchise then Kopitar at this moment, not Bernier and not Johnson. I think top priority for managemenet is not just the devleopment of our future, but to ensure we lock up Kopitar for years. If this means sacrificing Cammalleri or any other player, so be it. I dont see anyone with the ability to carry our team like Kopitar has shown us.
Hey Dan ... ahhhhh ...ummmm ... its the 3rd freakin' game of the season! Reeeeelaaaax! This is still a very young team and for those of us who have been King's fans for many, many years (since I was 12 in 1979), it is nice to see some potential not just for this year but for years to come.
I think a priority for the next couple years should be to find, via trade, draft or within-the Organization, a RIGHT-shooting RW for Kopitar who has talent to play at or near Kopitar's level, to complete the top line with Cammi.
Our current crop of right-shooting FWs
fall short, IMO.
Dustin B is a good player, but not a true 1st-line type.
Frolov somehow has avoided any great chemistry with Kopitar.
I wonder why?
Anyway, in the last draft,
I thought Kyle Turris could have been the guy, but alas, it was not to be.
It'd be great if Purcell were the guy, or if Wayne Simmonds scored 89 goals this year in Junior, and turned out to be "the guy".
But, one way or another, if we want to get the most out of Kopitar, we need to get a star-level talent on the right side with a RIGHT shot (oh, and Santa, a power forward would be ideal).