Monday (10/8) practice
Another long practice today, although not surprising given yesterday's off day. Crawford did a lot more barking at the players than I've seen in a while, which I'm sure is a product of Saturday's flat-footed effort.
Patrick O'Sullivan practiced today, but when he left the rink he was headed to the dentist. O'Sullivan lost three teeth when he was struck under the nose by a puck Saturday. Surprisingly, he didn't have much external bruising/swelling, but he estimated that he would need three or four hours of mouth surgery today. Also, he will have to wear a face shield -- not just a visor -- for several weeks. Players hate those things.
Speaking of masks (sort of), anyone who attends practice might notice that Jonathan Bernier practices with a different helmet than the one he wears in games. That's because Bernier doesn't like to play with a throat guard on his helmet, but he practices with one in order to prevent injuries when he faces a ton of shots.
Crawford is still pretty steamed about Saturday. When asked if he thought about making changes to the second line, he responded by saying that it was hard to tell which one was the second line, and insinuated strongly that other than Kopitar, Cammalleri and Brown, none of the other nine forwards did much. He quickly amended that and gave some praise to Frolov and O'Sullivan, but the irritation was clear.
Crawford wouldn't give his thoughts on his plan for the goaltenders going forward. He basically flat-out said that he would just be misleading us, so I actually respect his honesty on that one. He said he was pleased with Bernier's performance but also talked about how poorly the Kings fared in Dallas last year. So we'll see.
About Bernier...review of the video showed that Modry actually didn't touch the puck on the first goal, so that was just flat-out a bad goal. But Blake did deflect the puck with his skate in front of the net -- plus, he did an awful job of shielding Bernier from the shot -- so you can't blame Bernier for that one. The consensus was that it was a solid effort, definitely good enough to win had he gotten any kind of support in the final 20 minutes.
On Friday, Aubin said he felt about 95 percent healthy. After practice today he said he felt good. Then Crawford said Aubin was at about 90 percent...
More quotes and notes later, from Matt and myself. The Kings will practice in El Segundo tomorrow morning and then fly to Dallas.
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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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On the first goal, even though Modry didn't touch it, goalies find it harder to see the puck when a player puts his stick in to block a shot..........atleast thats what Don Cherry always says.
Great post, always love to read the aftermath of a crappy game. Surprised o' sullivan received such damage off of that hit, expected much less. Hopefully it won't affect his play much.
Bernier played a great game. On one of the power plays in the first period he turned away 3 quick close up chances in a row. He let the Kings get rolling and get some momentum. The team collapsed in front of him. He knows now how Labarberra felt against the Ducks last weekend.
So glad to see Crow's comments on Fro and Sully. May be he'll wise up and put them on the same line. Fro is being neutered by Armstrong and Sully by Handzus. Thats not to say Army and Zus aren't good, but they just don't really fit in scoring roles now that this team has some depth.
Rich, can you suggest this to Crawford:
Fro-Sully-Nagy/Calder
Calder/Nagy-Handzus-Willsie
Zeiler/Murray-Army-Thornton/Ivanans
pretty please? :-)
Personally, I was in favor of trading Armstrong last season when he went on a nearly ppg run centering Fro and Cammy.
Rich, any idea which players were on the receiving end of Crow's barking at today's practice? Regardless, the team deserved a tongue-lashing after blowing a two-goal lead in the final period. I wasn't at the game but it must have been terribly disheartening to be there. Maybe it'll be a wakeup call of sorts, although it seems kind of early for that...
How come no one is saying anything about Blake leaving Tkachuk alone in front and then Tkachuk scores. Blakey was -2. I'm not blaming Blake for the loss, as there were some real mistakes made, but those were really bad. Give him and Modry a rest and bring some hustlers up. Vishnovsky can run the power play.
I am curious to see how Bernier responds to such a collapse whenever he starts next. Seems like it is easier for a younger goalie to start a game when you have been playing well but starting after an ugly loss like that is a different story.