November 2007 Archives
Jon Klemm, a 15-year veteran of the NHL who was part of two Stanley Cup seasons in Colorado, had the opportunity to play with many of the Kings' top prospects when he started the season in Manchester. Here are his thoughts ...
On the overall strength of the prospects: ``You look at all the kids down there and they're all working hard. There's some good young talent in Manchester and they've got some guys still in juniors who are very good. I think the future is definitely going to be bright for this organization.''
On Ted Purcell: ``He's a really talented player. He's got great hands and great vision on the ice. He's strong on the stick, tough to get the puck off of, and strong on his feet. He's going to be a good player in this league.''
On Brian Boyle: He's a big, strong guy. Once he gets in there and gets a hold of a guy, he's usually going to come out with the puck because he's so big and strong. He's maybe taken a little longer to develop because they're trying to convert him into a defenseman. You come into this league playing forward your whole life and moving to D, it's going to be a tough task to get to this level. But he's getting a lot of minutes down there and he's improving.''
On Marc-Andre Cliche: He's one of those guys who's a great defensive forward, kind of a checking forward. He reminds me of a Stephane Yelle type of player. He's a guy who can put the puck in the net when given the opportunity but, at the same time, he's tough defensively.''
On Gabe Gauthier: ``He's one of the guys who is kind of holding up the fort for us down there. He's not a big guy but he gets his nose dirty and gets into the dirty areas and finds a way to get the puck into the net. He's a good playmaker too.''
Michael Cammalleri didn't practice today but is expected to skate tomorrow morning and Crawford said he is probable for tomorrow's game against Colorado.
``I feel really good,'' Cammalleri said after getting treatment on his injured groin. ``I'm optimistic about tomorrow. We all felt there was no need to push it, and even if I was ready to go today why not give it one more day?''
Frolov, also out with a groin injury, didn't practice and Crawford ruled him out. It sounds as though he's likely to miss Monday's game against Edmonton as well.
Scott Thornton was limited in practice. Crawford said he's getting better and should be back soon, and that he's questionable for Saturday.
Jaroslav Modry was expected to return tonight from the Czech Republic, where he was visiting his ailing father, and may be available tomorrow.
``We'll see how he is,'' Crawford said. ``Obviously, it's a tough travel not to mention how emotional it has to be on Jaro. From that standpoint, we'll see how he is and have a better answer for you tomorrow.''
The team earned its already scheduled day off with the victory last night. Practice resumes tomorrow in preparation for Saturday's home game against Colorado.
It went to a shootout and O'Sullivan, Kopitar and Brown all scored. Roenick and Pavelski scored for the Sharks but Brown scored the clincher.
Overall, a very solid victory for the Kings, without both Cammalleri and Frolov. They certainly have the Sharks' number in San Jose this season.
The Sharks scored on the power play. Ozolinsh took the point shot and LaBarbera made the save, but the rebound got kicked out to Rivet. With LaBarbera out off his line, trying to grab the puck, Rivet basically fired at an empty net and scored to tie the game. There are 15 minutes remaining in regulation.
The Kings cap a strong period with a goal. Brad Stuart carried the puck into the offensive zone and fired a perfect cross-ice pass onto the stick of Patrick O'Sullivan, who tapped the puck behind Nabokov and into the net. The goal came with 2:06 remaining in the second period.
The Kings got a weird one, short-handed. Dustin Brown picked off a pass, skated in alone, drew a penalty from behind (it might have been a penalty shot) and put a shot on goal. Nabokov made the save and, anticipating the whistle, pretty much stopping playing. Anze Kopitar didn't, skated in and slapped the puck into the net. The goal came 10:35 into the second period.
Joe Thornton scores 3:58 into the game on a slap shot from just beyond the top of the right faceoff circle. Michalek was running effective traffic in front of LaBarbera.
Michael Cammalleri was a late scratch from tonight's game because of a sore groin. That means a Kevin Dallman sighting in tonight's game at San Jose...
I typically dislike commenting on rumors, because anyone can start them without naming sources and 99 percent of published rumors turn out to be exaggerated or just simply B.S. I don't know the gentleman who wrote the FoxSports.com piece about Lombardi being on the hot seat, and I'm certainly not going to question his motives or sources. And given where the Kings stand -- that would be last place in the conference -- I suppose it's fair to question whether Dean Lombardi SHOULD be on the hot seat. Any GM whose team is at the bottom of the conference is going to come under some scrutiny.
I would be completely stunned if Lombardi got fired this year, even if the Kings finished in last place. AEG knew what it got when they hired Lombardi. They got a guy who was going to build from the bottom up, who was going to try to build a base and then go from there. If they didn't want that, and if they wanted a quick fix, they should have hired someone else. Lombardi's primary focus from the beginning has been to create quality, youthful depth in the organization. You saw it from the beginning, with the emphasis on draft picks and on trading for young players such as Jack Johnson and Patrick O'Sullivan. To that end, I think Lombardi has been a great success. There are more quality young players in the system than ever before, all the way down to a player such as Wayne Simmonds, who is off the radar right now.
The question is, how does that translate? Not every one of those prospects is going to turn out to be a NHL player. If you consider a talent pool of Boyle, Bernier, Cliche, Hickey, Lewis, Parse and Purcell, just to name a few, the success rate isn't going to be 100 percent in terms of all of them becoming NHL players. The real question is, how high will Lombardi's batting average be with these kids? That will be a big part of his ultimate success or failure.
The other question is, can he fill the gaps by signing established NHL players to fill out the roster? So far, I give Lombardi high marks for building up the reserve list, but I think he's been below-average in terms of free-agent signings, and that's probably being kind. I'm looking at Blake, Handzus, McCauley, Nagy, Preissing, Stuart, Thornton and Willsie, not to mention the trade for Cloutier. How many of those players to you look at and say, ``I'm sure glad he is/was a King''?
I know a Ducks comparison won't be popular here, but you have to look at what they did. They brought the kids (Getzlaf, Perry, Kunitz, Penner, etc.) along and made veteran acquisitions (Selanne, Niedermayer, Pronger, O'Donnell, Beauchemin, etc.) that panned out. If a team is going to have success, they go hand in hand. Lombardi's challenge, particularly next summer, is to make some smart veteran acquisitions. So far, I think that's been his clear weakness.
I'd be happy to hear what everyone thinks on this matter...
One thing I forgot to mention in the Jon Klemm note is that Klemm moved into Wayne Gretzky's empty locker next to Michael Cammalleri. Gretzky and the four other Kings with retired numbers have empty stalls at the Toyota Sports Center practice facility as a tribute to the team's history. Gretzky is out, at least temporarily. No word if this had anything to do with the team he coaches, Phoenix, beating the Kings twice so far this season.
Playing with a full face mask protecting his fractured cheekbone, Ivanans still played a physical game against the Ducks on Sunday. He had pounded Kent Huskins into the boards in the first period and was called for boarding. He was involved in two heated gatherings in the first period but was limited in what he could do in that situation.
``It feels all right. I can still do the same things except the fighting. I have to be patient. It's frustrating when there's scrums and stuff and you can't really go 100 percent, but that's the way it is. I'll be better in a couple of weeks.''
There was one scuffle late in the first period when Ivanans tried to come to the defense of Jack Johnson, who was hit hard into boards. A Ducks player -- I believe it might have been Todd Marchant but I'm not positive -- grabbed at Ivanans mask and pulled it up a bit before letting go.
``That's how the Ducks are -- dirty,'' Ivanans said. ``Of course it gets you mad. There's nothing I can do right now except grab a guy and say a few words.''
Jon Klemm found things a little different returning to the American Hockey League at age 37, more than 12 years after his last stint in the minor leagues.
On the bright side, the average travel time between games had shrunk from about seven hours to one or two. But the players with whom he was sharing the bus rides were nothing like he remembered.
``When I first started out, there were a lot of older guys,'' Klemm said. ``Now it's all about development, so the guys are really, really young. I was like 15, 16, 17 years older than everyone on the team. It's tough to find things in common with guys when they're that much younger. But it was fun to watch them and just remember when I was their age, how much fun they have coming to the rink and the gags and stuff like that.''
Some days he felt younger being around the other players and sometimes he felt ancient.
``A lot of those kids like to listen to the hip hop music,'' Klemm said. ``I grew up in the '80s listening to heavy metal. One time one of the coaches came in and asked if there was any music I'd like to hear in the locker room. The kids started rattling off names like Judas Priest. Then one of the young guys says The Beatles. I just shook my head. It was funny at the time.''
Klemm, a 15-year NHL veteran, won two Stanley Cups in Colorado, where he played for three years under Marc Crawford. He could have retired but he decided to sign a one-year, $500,000 contract with the Kings even if it meant he had to spend time in the minors.
``I'm not ready to pack it in yet,'' Klemm said. ``I still think I can play at the NHL level. It's tough to have to go down but those things are out of my control. My goal wasn't any different than any of the young guys down there. I could sit there and feel sorry for myself because I'm in a situation I didn't really want to be, but I tried to have fun, work hard and wait for a call to get up here. I got my chance now, and hopefully I can make an impression and stick around for a while.''
Klemm played forward during the Kings' game against the Ducks on Sunday. He'll move back to his usual defensive position tomorrow to replace Jaroslav Modry, who was given leave to be with his ailing father in the Czech Republic.
``I know what he's capable of,'' Crawford said. ``He's similar to the player I remember. I've always been a big fan of Jon because he works hard, is smart and competitive. It's kept him in the league a long, long time.''
Kyle Calder returned Sunday after missing eight games with a broken thumb and scored a goal off a rebound despite playing with a cast under the glove on his left hand.
``I can't move the hand very much and sometimes it feels like the puck rolls off a bit,'' Calder said. ``That will come with time. I'm getting used to a different way to hold the stick.''
Where the injury can cause problems is in taking passes or battling for the puck against the boards.
``He's a tough guy,'' Crawford said. ``A lot of stuff he's good at the hand is not affected by, like his play in front of the net and his ability to get in on the forecheck and keep pucks alive.''
Alexander Frolov, who has a groin injury, didn't practice today and won't play tomorrow at San Jose.
``He's still not at the point where he can participate in practice or a game, so he'll be out at least until the weekend,'' Crawford said. ``We thought he'd be skating by now but he's not. It's an injury where I guess the individual has to be the judge of it. We'll have to wait and see how he is (for Saturday).''
Scott Thornton didn't practice either. He's not eligible to come off the injured list yet so he couldn't play tomorrow anyway.
Marc Crawford was asked today about the Kings' penalty-killing unit, which has killed all seven of opponents' power-play chances over the last two games. Crawford said:
``We've done a good job. It starts with Jason. Jason has made good saves on the penalty kill. We've concentrated a lot more on it. I think we're doing a better job on entries and we're doing a better job on clears. Penalty killing is very much an experience-based skill. Handzus has done a good job for us there. O'Sullivan is getting more experience, as is Brown. We brought in Klemm, and he's a guy who can help us out. We've used Preissing up front a little bit more, and those defensemen have a pretty good knowledge of the positioning and sticks and closing down. It's hard work, the penalty kill, but it pays dividends. We've been better. We've won the special-teams battle in the last two (games). It helped us to win the game in San Jose and it put us in position to win the game yesterday. That's the type of team that we have. With the talent base we have, we won't overwhelm teams and have the type of depth in scoring that maybe you'll see our team have as we continue to grow. And so special teams do become important. They put you in position to be pretty good.''
Crawford was also asked, in a general sense, about taking positives from the last two games. He said:
``We played two of the top teams in our division and we played them extremely well. We were in a position yesterday to get something out of the game. We didn't get anything out of the game and obviously that's not what you want, but if you want to look at the glass being half-full, we played a very spirited game. We played well and we were right there. It just shows us, as a coaching staff, and shows the players that if they grab that extra three or four percent, or if they make one more good-habit play, it might be the difference in the game going our way. The old adage is, `You have to get close before you get better.' We're close right now. The way to get better is to keep emphasizing work, keep emphasizing team and do the things that allow you to keep your work ethic high and your team focused at a high level.''
Alexander Frolov, out with a strained groin, didn't practice today, but that's not a surprise. Marc Crawford wouldn't rule out Frolov playing Wednesday at San Jose. Here's what Crawford had to say today...
``We'll see how he is. If he's in good shape tomorrow and (doctors are) giving us clearance, we'll utilize him. We'd love to have Alexander in our lineup, because we're a better team with him than we are without him. He can do so many things and he's a quality player. We also know that part of the reason that we're holding him back right now is that we want his injury to have time to heal. That's what we're continuing to monitor on a day-to-day basis. We'll test it again tomorrow, off the ice. If we feel, on Wednesday morning, like he's ready to try it out, maybe we'll try it out. If not, he won't play. That will be a decision that's made right near the end.''
Sometimes I feel as though I'm the only one who feels this way. Perhaps I am. But I can't get past the feeling that the signings of Handzus and Nagy have been profound disappointments. In September, I saw them as two-thirds of a potential strong second line, perhaps with Frolov or O'Sullivan on the other wing. They were supposed to have great chemistry together. Has anyone seen it yet?
Handzus, who got a four-year, $16-million contract, has one goal and three assists in 23 games. Nagy, who got a one-year, $3.75-million contract, has four goals and seven assists in 20 games. Not awful, but he has the potential to be a 20-goal scorer. As for Handzus, I understand that he's still getting stronger after ACL surgery, and I believe he has played much better in his last few games.
I have a hard time believing, though, that the Kings are paying Handzus $4 million a year because he's a valuable two-way, third- or fourth-line player. And I have a harder time believing they're pleased with Nagy, especially since Marc Crawford made him a healthy scratch Sunday. I asked Crawford about this duo and here's what he said:
``Handzus has always been regarded, by us, as a good two-way player and a guy that would, often times, match up against the top player, as he did yesterday against Getzlaf and like he did in San Jose against Thornton. Getzlaf scored the one goal, a very hard-working goal by them. There was no mistake made; they just made a good play. They got the puck to the net and he got his stick on the tip and we were in position all over the ice. So you have to give them that. Good players are going to score and they're going to get opportunities. The other one was a 4-on-4 play and they got a break. Vis fell. I think that Handzus is really picking up his game. We're starting to see him do what he was brought here for and he's getting more and more comfortable playing for us and how we're utilizing him.''
OK. How about Nagy?
``Well, Nagy didn't play yesterday, so it's hard to have an impact on the game when you're in the press box. From that standpoint, he was the odd guy out. As we say to players, `You should always be concerned when you're not playing,' but there's not much you can do about it. All you can do is come here and practice hard and be ready for your next opportunity. He most likely will be in the game against San Jose and we're looking for him to respond as well as he did the last time he was sat out. I'm not sitting guys out to elicit a response. I'm sitting him out because I thought the other people gave us the best opportunity to win yesterday's game.''
As I posted before, the players received a memo today titled, ``Key Factors Late Game With Lead.'' When asked about it after practice, Marc Crawford was none too happy and said, ``There's nothing to it. You shouldn't have seen it.'' But then, pressed a bit to share his thoughts on the topic, Crawford opened up a bit.
``We're always trying to do the right things,'' Crawford said. ``We're trying to, again, keep guiding our players to continually give themselves the best chance to win games. The way that you win games is to have good habits. You have things that you want teams to do with the lead and you have things you want them to do without the lead as well. It's advancing the puck, protecting the puck, making good plays, making sure plays and working hard. It's a lot of cliches. It's not very exciting and it doesn't make for very good copy but it does win games.''
It's worth noting that among all of the things the Kings are doing wrong, goaltending is rarely mentioned these days. For the most part, Jason LaBarbera has been solid, and when I pointed out to him that the team's goaltending hasn't come under fire lately, he deadpanned, ``Well, that's good.'' On a serious note though, I asked him if he was able to separate his own play from the team's fortunes.
``I feel pretty good about my game,'' LaBarbera said. ``It's hard to get too excited about it, because obviously the results aren't there. It's frustrating when you feel like you've played well and you still lose, but that goes with the territory. My job is to keep the puck out of the net as much as possible. I feel good about the way I've been playing, but the results aren't there. That's the frustrating part.''
I asked LaBarbera about what he believes needs to turn around.
``We're not doing enough of the little things for the whole 60 minutes,'' LaBarbera said. ``Against the teams we've been playing, some of the top teams in the league, you can't do that. We're right there with them, but we have to play a complete game.
``It's a mindset, I think. It's about confidence and believing in each other and doing the things that we need to do in order to get wins. Obviously -- and it's not an excuse or anything -- but those teams have a little bit more experience in tight games and in the playoffs than we do. But I guess that's how you gain experience, is by going through these kind of things. We just need to learn from them. Obviously it's frustrating when you lose these games, but if you don't learn from them and get better from them, that's the worst part.''
A day after he made a critical error in the Kings' loss to the Ducks, defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky was still walking around with his head hung low. Visnovsky tripped and fell down in the third period, which sparked a 2-on-1 break that led to Ryan Getzlaf's game-tying goal. The Ducks went on to win 3-2.
``It was a bad night for me,'' Visnovsky said. ``We went in 2-on-2 and then I tried to jump and I kicked the ice and I go down. They go 2-on-1 and they score a goal.''
I've been around Visnovsky, on and off, since he broke in with the Kings, and it's pretty clear that he's putting a lot of pressure on himself. He no doubt feels the need to live up to the big contract extension he signed last summer, and he's had a rough go of it so far. In 22 games, he has one goal and a minus-11 rating. Normally one of the most easy-going and light-hearted guys, Visnovsky isn't smiling much these days.
``No more mistakes,'' Visnovsky said as he shook his head slowly.
Just a couple quick notes, from the parking lot of the training facility...
-- Distributed to the players today was a paper titled ``Key Factors Late Game With Lead,'' which detailed some of the factors that the coaches believe the players need to improve. Crawford was not happy that the papers were still sitting around by the time the media came in to the locker room, and he didn't want to discuss the topic. I'm not sure how he thought we WEREN'T going to see them.
-- Jaroslav Modry has gone back to the Czech Republic to visit his father, who is seriously ill. The Kings will give Modry as much time as he needs.
-- In Modry's absence, Klemm went back to defense and Nagy skated with Handzus and Moulson for most of the practice. Afterward, Crawford indicated that Nagy will be back in the lineup tomorrow.
I'll have more updates later, as soon as I get someplace that has something better than a tenuous wireless connection!
2-1 lead midway through the third and they get no points out of it.
The Kings have been right with the Ducks in three games over the past two weeks but haven't been able to pull them out at the end. Maybe that's just the difference between a young team trying to learn how to win and a Stanley Cup champion that knows how to win.
``Getting out to a lead is great but then it seems like we're just trying to hang on,'' Michael Cammalleri said. ``That's not a successful way to play. We want to be a team that goes for the jugular. That's why they're a championship team. That's the way we want to play.''
The Kings were outshot 23-13 after the first period. The Ducks dominated on faceoffs 38-21.
``They played harder in the third and they got the win again,'' Rob Blake said. ``I didn't think we battled hard enough in the third to pull out the victory like we did last night.''
Crawford talked about the team needing more of an edge late in the game to pull out these wins.
``If we're going to beat that team, we've got to make sure we get down in the dirt with them,'' Crawford said. ``We've got to make sure we finish checks and make sure we do the things that they do so effectively in order to play nasty against them.''
That was one of the reasons the Kings brought up the veteran Klemm. Here's what Crawford had to say on him: ``We knew we needed a bigger body in the lineup. Jon really helps us killing penalties. I thought he did a great job on the penalty kill tonight. He's good on being physical, finishing checks. I thought he played very well for us.''
On benching Nagy, Crawford said: ``He has to be better than he has been. We could have taken out a couple of other guys but he drew the short straw tonight.''
The Kings practice tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. then again on Tuesday before playing another game in San Jose on Wednesday.
No penalties for the Kings in the second but they only got one power play. Each team had a breakaway chance fail midway through the period. The Kings were outshot 15-8.
2-0 Kings after one. After killing three penalties to keep it scoreless, the Kings scored when Cammalleri skated down the ice and fed Calder in front for a one-timer with 5:01 left in the period. Then Dustin Brown added his 10th goal of the season on the power play, knocking through the rebound of a Blake slap shot on his second attempt with 29.2 seconds to go. Ivanans is playing physical despite his fractured cheekbone. He got a boarding call early in the game when he checked Kent Huskins. Ivanans and Pronger would definitely be going at it tonight if not for the injury.
Nagy is a healthy scratch. Klemm is playing at forward.
Here are the offensive lines ...
O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown
Calder-Armstrong-Cammalleri
Moulson-Handzus-Klemm
Ivanans-Zeiler-Willsie
Jon Klemm called up from Manchester. Hmmm, this doesn't help with their forward injuries because he's a defenseman. It's not bringing one of the team's bright prospects up since he's 37. Perhaps it's to add some toughness to the team? Klemm was one of Dean's offseason acquisitions. He was on the 96 and 2001 Stanley Cup-winning Avalanche teams.
Kyle Calder and Raitis Ivanans have been activated and will play tonight. Scott Thornton is on the injured list with a ``bruised sternum.'' Remember also that Alexander Frolov is out tonight with a strained groin.
Crawford said Calder would be a game-time decision but that he was ``very optimistic'' about Ivanans playing. ``They looked good today,'' Crawford said. ``If they look like that tomorrow, there's a very good chance they will play.''
Calder said he would wear a cast under the glove of his left hand to protect the broken thumb. He wasn't wearing a cast sitting at his locker after practice so I could see that the thumb kind of looks like Frankenstein's head with the stitches. It's also still swollen about 50 percent more than its usual size.
``There's some limitations in what I can and can't do with the way I shoot and a couple things like that, so I'll have to figure out how to work around it,'' Calder said.
Frolov pulled his right groin when he stepped on a puck during the third period of the second game against the Ducks last Thursday. Over the past week, he played in games but did not practice. By taking practice off, he would feel better at the beginning of games but as the games wore on his groin would bother him more and more.
His left groin had bothered him entering the season.
``I probably played one or two games completely healthy and then I step on the puck and it happens with the other leg,'' Frolov said. ``It's always bad when you have to miss games with an injury. I don't like it. That's why I tried to keep playing. But I think it's sometimes better to take a few games off and get back in the lineup healthy.''
Frolov doesn't think this injury is as bad as the last one, which he said felt much deeper. Crawford talked about giving Frolov seven to 10 days off, meaning he could come back Wednesday at San Jose or next Saturday against Colorado.
Some good, some bad...
-- Alexander Frolov will be out for at least the next two games with a strained groin. You probably remember his strained groin from the end of training camp. Well, this is the other one. It's always something, isn't it? So they will shut him down for a few days, perhaps even a week's worth of games, and see how it goes.
-- Scott Thornton is also out, with a bruised sternum. He left the game in the first period Wednesday and did not return.
-- On the positive side, both Raitis Ivanans and Kyle Calder might be available for tomorrow's game. And when a coach says they ``might'' be available, that means you can most likely count on seeing them out there.
-- I'm sure it hasn't escaped notice here that the Washington Capitals, with the worst record in the NHL, fired their coach today. Bruce Boudreau, former coach of the Manchester Monarchs, has been hired.
Matt will have more-detailed practice notes and quotes later.
One of the least-inspiring efforts in recent memory, in my opinion. The Kings had a chance to get something going after Moulson's goal in the latter part of the third period, but then did little of note over the game's final 45 minutes. If my numbers are correct, the Kings were in first place in the Pacific Division after beating the Sharks on Nov. 2. Now, on Nov. 21, they're in last place. They're also tied with Edmonton for last place in the Western Conference. Ouch.
Scott Thornton took only four shifts in the first period and did not play after that.
An early Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the United States!
Lubomir Visnovsky tried to carry the puck out of his zone and got stripped. Shane Doen picked it up, skated in alone on LaBarbera and tucked the puck into the net with 9:11 remaining in the third period.
Once again, a very uninspired effort, for the most part, by the Kings. LaBarbera has stopped 27 of 31 shots.
Nothing is going right for the Kings. Visnovsky had a decent chance to clear the puck, but it went off his skate, then his stick, then into the air. Kapanen swung at it and might even have made contact before the puck hit the ice. It looked stoppable but LaBarbera might have been screened a bit. Not sure. The goal game 6:46 into the second period.
Dustin Brown is back on the ice.
Once again, LaBarbera got burned by a wide shot that ended up on an opponent's stick behind him. This time, York picked up the puck off the boards and tucked it into the net before LaBarbera could get back. The even-strength goal came 2:37 into the second period.
More importantly for the Kings, Dustin Brown took a shot off his left foot/ankle. He appeared to be in significant pain as he left the ice but has not left the bench.
That's right, a goal, after 138 minutes, 26 seconds. When a team is in a slump, the best thing to do is just throw pucks at the net. That's what Matt Moulson did, from the left boards just on the edge of the faceoff circle, and the puck snuck past Bryzgalov. Frolov appeared to be running some moderate traffic in front. The goal came with 4:53 remaining in the period, and now the Kings are on the power play.
A point shot from Michalek went wide, but LaBarbera didn't get a piece of it. York and Stuart were battling behind LaBarbera, over his right shoulder, and York managed to knock it in the net. There was a lengthy video review to determine whether York kicked in the puck or not. The goal came 9:50 into the first period. And the shutout streak continues...
Here's how the Kings skated in the first few minutes...
Cammalleri-Kopitar-Brown
Armstrong-O'Sullivan-Frolov
Nagy-Handzus-Willsie
Moulson-Thornton-Zeiler
Blake-Visnovsky
Stuart-Preissing
Modry-Johnson
LaBarbera
Here's the final part of the Lombardi interview. In this part, he goes a little more in-depth about the process of building the team and how he thinks things are going, long term...
--------------------
Q: It seems like what the public wants to know is, as you're in the process of building the organization, are things progressing the way you had hoped, or have their been some setbacks along the way?
LOMBARDI: You have to be careful how you answer this, because your team has to be accountable. When you have a player like...last year, Kopitar comes in and obviously shows enormous potential. Then you have a player like Jack Johnson on the back last year. He's already a player. He's not making highlight films but he's doing a lot of good things. So that's a step forward. What we're trying to accomplish here, it's building two things. It's building the team and the reserve list.
Another thing you can look at is a kid like Purcell in the minors, leading the minors in scoring as a first-year player. The fact that we had such a big decision on Bernier at such an early stage. That's why, when you ask me if we're on schedule, where have we had a setback? I don't know. Brown signs for six years, at hopefully for a reasonable number. Moulson, we'll see how he pans out, but that's one we didn't expect. Zeiler is Zeiler. There's a structural thing that has to be worked on, as well as the team that you see immediately. Those guys are coming along fine. Even the kids that went back to junior...Simmonds is the most sought-after kid in the Ontario league right now. Every team that's a contender wants him. So these are positive things. I'm trying to think of where we've had a setback in terms of that side of it.
Now, that being said, I think we're back to where we were at the front end of this conversation. That doesn't answer for us losing or for us searching for an identity. So if you ask me, `Are you happy with that?' No. `Are you happy with some of the other things you're seeing?' Yeah. Hickey is playing 30 minutes (per game) in Seattle right now, wearing a captain's letter. That's why, in the stage where I am, you have to spend three weeks on the road, in the trenches with your scouts, because that's an area that I very fiercely believe in, and I wanted to put in the work. That's going to pay off down the road. Parts of it, I'm very happy with the way they're progressing. Other parts, no.
Q: Looking at it down the road, how does the roster fill itself in? You talked about not wanting to add six or seven free agents every year, but how do you keep that from being a cycle that repeats itself? Do you try to ease the young guys in, the way you're doing with Johnson and Moulson now, for example?
LOMBARDI: Yes. And eventually you get to the point where you've got a team that's now a group with upside. If you can play in the league with upside... You're right. It's almost a piece at a time. And you've got to be careful with the guys in the minors. They've got to be trained properly. So, you've already seen a little. Zeiler...OK. O'Sullivan...OK. Those are young guys who hopefully can find a role on the team. And eventually you get to the point where you don't have to do that anymore. That's where you're trying to go.
But in the meantime, you're juggling two balls at once. We do this exercise (in the office) all the time. It's trying to fill the boxes [roster spots]. The more boxes you can get filled... Like, you still didn't know, coming into this year, if Johnson could play in the league. Well now, next year there's a top-four (defenseman) box that you can fill with him. That's a guy we can grow with. Even down to your role players like Zeiler. He's had some ups and downs but I think he understands what he's got to do. We didn't have our own role players from within the system. Now, with him and maybe Moulson and maybe (O'Sullivan), four of our bottom six, arguably, come from within the system and they're young players.
The problem is, if you start rushing kids, that's not good either. It's not fair to them and then you're throwing them out the door, like what happened with the Islanders 10 or 15 years ago. They had all those kids and they were ready to start winning, and then you get down on the kids and you trade them all. You can't do that. Like I've said, when you're not as active in free agency, you're probably headed to where that nucleus is coming together. Not to say that you're not going to be involved in some way, every year, but I'm talking about those holes (on the roster). You don't want to go in with so many holes. Let's say (O'Sullivan) solidifies a role, with Zeiler, (Ivanans), Johnson... that's four more than you had last year. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of the other guys will be ready by the end of the season or whatever.
Q: Then maybe next year it's Purcell and Harrold and a couple others...
LOMBARDI: Yeah, and eventually... We're not a young team. And to get there, there's a process. Now, going back to your original question, if we had some guys who had performed up to expectations, I think we'd be in a better situation currently. We should be there and we're not. And that goes back to what you're saying about some of the free agents who have not performed like we thought they should have been able to. Then again, it's still a little early.
Q: The last question is about a style of play, or maybe a lack of toughness on the team. Looking at the Ducks last year, w