Post-game notes/quotes
A Kings representative said the team wouldn't say whether or not they put a claim in on Bryzgalov. They wouldn't usually announce a failed waiver claim anyway, but it's really a no-win situation for them to do so. If they say yes, that's going to upset the goalies. If they say no, then the fans are going to think they're not doing their job.
Cammy looked like he just had a bruise. He was upset coming into the locker room after the play but stayed at his locker and didn't seek treatment.
Though the game stories will be all about Bryzgolav, he didn't have that much of an impact on the game. The Kings never got any real chances on him that would have gotten by any NHL goalie.
The Kings were outshot in every period and didn't get a shot on goal in the third period until 10:52 in. LaBarbera said the afternoon start may have played a part.
``Those 1 p.m. games are pretty tough, I think,'' LaBarbera said. ``It's tough for everyone to get into. It's so early in the day and we're not really used to that as a team. Sometimes I think it's almost easier for a road team to deal with those games because they don’t have to deal with family, spouse, kids or anything.''
Crawford disagreed, saying the team was prepared.
``Unfortunately, we didn't have much finish tonight,'' Crawford said. ``We didn't have any finish. It was a game tonight where there wasn't a lot of offense. There wasn't a lot of offense on either side. The only real chances in the game were when they go on the 5-on-3.''
Here's what Gretzky had to say about putting Bryzgalov in the lineup a few hours after he joined the team: ``I knew it was probably going to be a tough game for him because 24 hours ago he wasn't sure where he was going to go or what team he was going to end up with. We knew it was going to be an emotional day for him but he played hard and now he'll have an opportunity to make our team better.''
It was the first time this year the Kings were shutout. At the end of the notes produced by the Kings, they remind us that the team was 5-10-4 through 19 games last year. Does that make any of you feel better?
``We treated it like one of the bigger games of the year for us,'' LaBarbera said. ``For whatever reason, we didn't play as well as we needed to. Maybe it will be good for us to get on the road. We've been home for too long, I think. It will be good for everyone to get on the road and enjoy our time away.''
If Crawford and Armstrong had twins together, they'd name them Rob Blake & Dan Cloutier
didn't phoenix have a 1 pm game too??? didn't seem to bother them.
i hate lame excuses from 'pros'
gut check time boys.
What is this obsession with Crawford playing a ZERO goal scorer on the power play.
I can't believe Armstrong played the amount of minutes he did on the PP.
We had 5 power power plays today, and all we needed was ONE _ucking goal.
Thanks Crawford.
This loss was all on you.
What is LaBarbara talking about? Home for too long? We need to get on the road and enjoy our time away? What? As a fan whose spent hundreds of dollars already this year at staples, I'm disgusted by this attitude.
At the end of the notes produced by the Kings, they remind us that the team was 5-10-4 through 19 games last year. Does that make any of you feel better?
Honestly, it does. Going by points, they've improved by 21.4%. By wins, its 60%. And considering this is the second year of a rebuild, that isn't all that bad.
They could still be better, of course. Like not mixing up the lines for no reason at all (3.6 g/gm in last 5).
The Kings really need to end this month strong to have any hope of making the playoffs.
Jim Jones, that's a cop out.
I don't feel better.
I don't feel better because Crawford keeps playing a 0 on the PP. This Armstrong strategy is a failure. Its been a failure for the last 8 games.
I don't feel better because an offensive talent like O'sullivan keeps riding the bench during the PP. And hasn't been given too many offensive assignments.
I don't feel better because the team as a whole continus to play a un-motivated game from time to time.
And finally, I don't feel better when we have one of the worse coach in the league.
I can come up with more reasons, but I don't have time. Have to go to dinner with my family.
Anybody, feel free to pick up where I left off.
The continuous minutes and PP time to Blake and Armstrong is akin to the same myopia that he exhibited in Vancouver. There is no consistency in his coaching as a result. He benches some players for playing poorly but continues to reward others that play poorly. That is akin to a boss that plays favorites, not due to merit but due to standards that are not objective and only he seems to know. This is a serious credibility issue with him and I cannot imagine that players respect that. Incidentally, he did the SAME thing in Vancouver. Artem Chubarov - heard that name? You would think he was the second coming by watching Crawford coach.
No chance for chemistry. I don't mind juggling the lines but he does it to such an extent that I wonder if he really believes there is some "magical" line that will cause a victory. The most upsetting aspect of this is he does this with successful lines. Is there any doubt that Kopitar, Cammy and Brown have played well together? Wasn't Nagy playing well on the number 2 line and then he immediately changed his partners?
3. Why does he insist on playing right handed shots on the right side and left handed ones on the left side. For goodness sake, on the PP, Lubo goes on the right side.
One would think Crawford and Armstrong share a room together.
I agree with anthony about Armstrong. I can only assume things will change once Calder gets healthy.
Our best line tonight was anything involving Zeiler and Thornton. That sucks. Nobody was skating in the neutral zone, they couldn't make respectable passes, they handled the puck like crap, and they missed the net more than they hit the thing. I was shocked at the number of bad plays by Brown and Blake seems to be frightened of shooting. Labarbera was outstanding tonight and all we needed was a single lousy goal to to pay him back.
Oh agree about Armstrong. I'd love him on the 4th line. Not because I think he sucks, but because his game is more suited there.
Question regarding D --Along with Lubo, maybe not liking Crows system (if he has one, other then screwing up lines.)?????
Rich and Matt - don't you think the Kings would be well-served to call up some hungry, hard-working young forwards from Manchester to "push" the veterans who are not producing? And wouldn't a game or two on the inactive list perhaps light a fire under Blake's you-know-what?
if we were playing with heart and or effort while losing, i wouldn't have a complaint.
however, we can't seem to do either for sixty minutes and some nights not even twenty.
i hate seeing Lubo on the wrong side during the PP too. i wouldn't care if Blake was scoring or contributing. as i say this i think we were 8th in the league on the PP entering todays game.
Crow seems to run his team like a union shop; with seniority taking priority to hard work.
Can some please remind me why Lubo got a 6 year deal?
Why isn't Blake sent down to Manchester to find his game?
Why doesn't Crawford believe in line chemistry, seems no one knew where anyone else was today.
The sadest moment was when Blake and Lubo were in the box when the goal was scored. Or was it the most telling moment?
I vote the team changes its name to the L.A. Jokers. Their first punch line would be; did you hear about the time the game was early in the day and the Kings forgot to show up?
Can some please remind me why Lubo got a 6 year deal?
Why isn't Blake sent down to Manchester to find his game?
Why doesn't Crawford believe in line chemistry, seems no one knew where anyone else was today.
The sadest moment was when Blake and Lubo were in the box when the goal was scored. Or was it the most telling moment?
I vote the team changes its name to the L.A. Jokers. Their first punch line would be; did you hear about the time the game was early in the day and the Kings forgot to show up?
Sorry for the repeat but I don't want to be Anonymous ...
I agree that Crawford is making bad decisions on which players he pairs-up. But my overall concern is that the Kings do not have enough skill and talent on their current roster. Honestly, you have to look at this team and admit that they have only ONE forward line. Admittedly, it is a line (Kopi/Cammi/Brown) that 80% of the teams in this league would die for. But there are no other real LINES on this team. There are a couple of very talented players (Frolov, O’Sullivan) but no line that works against other teams on a regular basis. Has anyone else noticed the amount of pucks bouncing off sticks after passes? Or the sheer lack of physical play? Zeiler is a joke. Half his ice time is spent on his knees. Are you telling me there is no one in Manchester that can bring the same energy, yet from someone who is NHL strong?
And don’t even get me started on the whole Union thing (jack handy.) Seniority is what brings down formerly great companies like Ford and GM. Kings aren’t even a Yugo yet. Please.
"Unfortunately, we didn't have much finish tonight," Crawford said. "We didn't have any finish. It was a game tonight where there wasn't a lot of offense."
Matt and/or Rich: Any chance one of you can ask some probing questions of Crawford regarding his constant shuffling of the lines? What's his expectations regarding the constant change-ups?
Just for the record..
LaBarbera played very strongly today (37 saves on 38 shots with LOTS of action in our end), and the loss was obviously not in any way his fault.
Bryzhgalov got the glory (and the W), but Labs played just as well today or better, IMO.
If we get some offense today, we win.
Didn't happen.
Where is the "O"?
Jack Handy....You took the words right out of my mouth, almost exactly, word for word....
Anthony....Go easy on Crow, he gives good headache.....
The Kings have two good lines and a decent 3rd line. The problem is Sully, he needs to be centering the 2nd line; he made Fro and Nagy much better players and they're already pretty good in their own right. He's both a scorer and a playmaker. Notice what happened to him when he got shifted down to 3rd; it took the fire right out of his game. A demotion?? For what? He was playing well on the second line which, by the the way was the last of the Kings 4 game winning streak. To put someone up there with 0 goals who is basically a 4th line center is incomprehensible. And Babs, please give us a break. The Yotes didn't seen to have any problem finding the net. Getting on the road? Are things really that bad at home?? Is this the same team that scored 5 goals in the 3rd against Dallas???
Derek Armstrong IS on the fourth line... and the third... and the second... and the first... That's the problem. Crawford has the Farmer John Tennis Balls up his a55, and he spits them out and sends out 3948 line combinations over the course of the game. It's really getting frustrating. In this new age of satellite television and radio, we get to see all 30 NHL teams on demand, and I have not seen a coach with a worse case of ADD than Marc Crawford. Stop it already. Ask the forwards, "Who do you feel most comfortable playing with," and try to sort this mess out. Matt Moulson can go back to Manchester knowing he played on 17 different lines in the 3 weeks he played here. Michal Handzus can collect his zillion dollar paycheck knowing that he's playing with John Zeiler and Scott Thornton for most of the game, but then in the 3rd period, he gets a look with almost every other forward on the team. Patrick O'Sullivan... don't get me started. Poor guy. He has no idea who he's gonna be playing with from second to second. It's as if Crawford thinks it's funny to watch these guys try to develop chemistry within 3 seconds of their being thrown onto the ice together.
Crawford, I tire of your act. The Kool Aid isn't worth drinking. You've sold a couple of teams a bill of goods, and it's time for you to go into the CBC broadcast booth, or something more suited to your crunchy hair.
Raise your hand if:
You think the book on Lubo is to pressure him hard cause the guy with him is skating poorly and he will not carry the puck. Now teams know it isn't so hard to knock him off his game and he gets pressure everywhere on the ice. Every line and pairing has been futzed with this year...except...yeah, Lubo/ Blake.
You think that this was one of those games when Frolov disappears. Transparent. Gretz's office: behind the net. Yzerman's: between the circles. Fro's: 15 or 20 feet of leftwing boards with his back to the net. And that never materialized yesterday.
You think it's funny the game was up and down and fairly wide open and the guys on the bench. Thought it was a real tight game. The Kings were pitiful in the checking realm.
Crawford got out-coached again. This time by one of, if not the most challenged coaches in the league. Time to pull the pin. A couple of weeks ago the team looked like it might've turned a corner. The blind squirrel found a nut, now he's back to finding rabbit turds and calling them cashews.
If you think that our skill guys were really hampered by the TERRIBLE bouncy flouncy ice. The equivalent an upset in football when the rains come down beginning to end and the underdog wins 7-0. Levels the playing field, takes away weapons, makes for boring hockey.
Blame the super-pressure placed on the Staples with hockey and 2 basketball teams.
Here's the scary part: ``We treated it like one of the bigger games of the year for us,'' LaBarbera said.
Sure hope we don't have any more of those "bigger games". No way that this team makes the playoffs when they play like this in the clutch (and I'd add the ducks games to that). I blame our lack of leadership. This is where a tough guy would come in handy to get everyone back into it. Blake and Thornton don't appear to do anything to get the guys motivated to skate hard. Crawford certainly doesn't seem able to do so.