Pathetic.
Absolutely no motivation shown by the players.
One of the most boring game I've ever seen.
Today it just wasn't the coaches fault. To his credit, this might have been the first game he left the lines intact.
This was a team failure.
Best players on the ice - Johnson & Babs.

I agree. Although you are right about the coach and Johnson & Babs, you know Crawford is going to screw up the lines by next game. They were actually pretty good tonight but I would bet money they wont be the same next game. It was like the team just woke up from an all night party or something, absolutely pathetic.

Rich,

We are coming up on the 1/4 of the season ponit can you get Dean's comments on the first 1/4 and things to come. Please help, we are starting to look at the 2008 draft and it stinks.

Could be time for one of those "Ask DL" segments?

This "team" is really tough to watch. What happened to benching the underperformers to teach them a lesson? About time they begin that revolving door beginning with Blake, then Lubo, then...

Time for the accountable speeches.

Rich,

Is it me or do we not have anyone that wants to play the body in front of our own net? Most of goals of late have come with guys standing in our own crease? What the heck is going on.. Are we that undersized? I see our d-men lifting sticks but that's it. What happen to old-time hockey, where if the other team had one of there guys in your crease, he would get punished! What gives? They are hanging our goalies out to dry! I feel a trade is do for a late 20's to early 30 year old vet that is a stay at home d-man, but I know we will have to pay the price... what are your thoughts?

This team is terrible. Its starts from the owner all the way down. They cannot even make a simple breakout pass. My squirt team that I coach can at least do a simple breakout. Pathetic is the only word that comes to mind

Tim...I very much agree with you. I think, increasingly, that's where games (and Stanley Cups) are won. Too often the Kings don't have ``battle mentality,'' to steal a coaching cliche. And it's not just about winning individual games. It's about setting a tone.

It is, without question, the right time for an ``Ask Lombardi'' session. I've actually been trying for a while but I haven't seen the guy in weeks. I'm told he's been out scouting. But I'll make sure it gets done this week. Don't post the questions just yet. I'll start a new thread.

Rich, thanks for still trying to stay on top of things here in this awesome blog. An "ask Lombardi" session would most definitely be in order.
Please try to always leave at least a little bit of time for us minority Kings hockey fans.

Keep up the good work as always, and thanks once again.

Everyone has an opinion on what is wrong with the Kings and everyone has certain players, general managers or coaches who they like blame for the outcome of the games. With that said, here is mine. If players are not performing up to standards or expectations game after game it is the fault of the coach! After all it is the coach who is continuously putting them in the game instead of putting them on the bench. It is the coach who decides who wears a uniform and who wears a suit and tie. It is the coach who awards players power play time, positions on lines (forwards or defense), penalty killing and time on the ice. A player will give you what they choose to give you each game. A coach should do his job and try to motivate the players but if that is not possible he needs to take other actions even if it is benching the most senior and/or top paid players. A coach needs to recognize that just because a player was great at one time does not make him great today or provide immunity to consequence. If players are telling you directly or indirectly that part of what makes them successful is chemistry with other players, then a coach needs to find that chemistry and let it develop. A good player can be made to be a great player because of their line mates. If we are building for the future then let the chemistry build as well. If switching up lines didn’t work in the not so distance past, then why would you think it would work now? Part of the job of a coach is to find the players on your team that can and will provide leadership on and off the ice. These players should be awarded with an “A” or “C”. If these players only provide leadership off the ice or in the dressing room, then what good are they really doing? The leadership needs to be evident on the ice more than anywhere else. What good does it do to only keep it in the locker room? Although it is the GM who provides the product, it is the coach who puts it on the ice. As far as our GM goes, it is difficult to say if all his blunders outweigh his positive accomplishments. We can spend our time evaluating the talent on this team and in minors and such but you would be hard pressed to say anything other than we have some very talented players he brought in and some very inept players that he has done the same. But what you can say is that the GM is responsible for the coaching staff. So with all said, I think the responsibility rolls up hill on this and the ultimate blame is on the GM. We are doing our part in being fans and buying tickets or watching the games on TV. We deserve more than silly predictable and too often heard excuses for not getting it done. We don’t want to hear that you need top play better; we want to see you playing better. We know that you will not win every game but we don’t want to see that it is because you didn’t bring you very best game every shift night after night, home or away, back to back or with a week off. There seems to always be an excuse every few games. When will we as fans stop hearing the same old and tired excuses and start seeing something being done? Step up and do something other than mixing up the lines. Step up and do something other than benching a third line player who is was new to the team. It obviously is not sending a message to the rest of the team like you think it is. I used to enjoy going to the games even if we didn’t win because there was energy and excitement. With the exceptions of very few games, this is no longer true. We might be in a better position to something in the future on paper but if nothing gets done when things are going like this, we will end up being one of those teams with all this talent and nothing to show for it. Work ethic, consequence and reward come from the leadership of the team. We need to stop blaming the players and hold accountable the people who are accountable.

Rich,

Like always your and Matt are doing a great job. Thank you for this blog! Can't wait until the Ask DL.

Red Light: I agree with you. The coach is responsible for what happens on the ice. He's the one that puts the players out there. The GM is suppost to create the team... So, if the coach is givin lemons he needs to make lemonade out of it, however the lemonade sure would taste a whole heck of a lot better if the lemons weren't so green and/or brown!

The last thing is the gm and coaches can only do so much, when the puck is dropped it really comes down to the 20 players that are dressed and are on the ice that night. They are professionals that have been playing hockey for most of there life. They know what it takes to win, and they know what the problem is when they don't! We need to get the players that want to play this game with the passion of winning! They want to be a LA King, and to start being responsible for there own on and off the ice.

This is absolutely Crawfords fault. Once again, the Kings are unorganized. They in no way look like a team. A terrible display of hockey. And when asked between the second and third period, Crawford sounded like he was okay with our play, commenting, "Well, we just need to keep it up. Keep it simple, and keep it deep in the zone." Is he okay that our play has produced a record of under .500, that we have lost four in a row, we haven't scored in 6 periods of play, and we haven't played 60 minutes of hockey for how many games now???!!!! We're back to last years hockey of dump and chase, scoot the puck along the boards hockey. And he's okay with that??? What's his speech in the locker room tonight, "Don't worry about the score guys, we'll be better in two to three years." The team just doesn't care. We need a leader that motivates. That doesn't appear to be Crawford. Embarrassing!!!!!!!!!!

The sky isn't falling after 2 games of being shut out. This team is still the 4th highest scoring team in the West.

Pretty impressive, especially when you consider "WE HAVEN'T SCORED IN 6 PERIODS OF PLAY!!!!!!!!"

I hate to say it but we need some fights. Im not a huge advocate of fighting but we need some passion. This team shows no passion and nothing says passion like spilling some blood. Come on Kings, Im getting sick of hearing it from Ducks fans !!!

"What happen to old-time hockey, where if the other team had one of there guys in your crease, he would get punished! What gives?"

The new league rules against punishing a guy in front of your net (Holmstrom is thankful btw) make guys do the "fronting" instead of punishing them. While the Kings D definitly needs to play better, you can't fault them for not destroying people in front of the net because they'd end up in the box.

Is the sky falling? Shesh. The Kings are going to lose games you know.

I think I have finally figured out the plot on why the Kings are playing so badly. You see there is a internal play to get the present owners so disgusted with the team that they will sell the KIngs. This can be the only reasonable explanation. The guys on the team are very good according to their stats and are being paid well. We have a world class, Stanley cup winning Coach. We have a very proven GM, so the above scenario has to be the only one that explains the present situation.

Of course for you to believe in this theory, you have to believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and The Wicked Witch of the West....

Is it just me, or does Handzus find the most inopportune (sp?) times to take penalties? I know it's a never a good time to take a penalty but last night he took one giving the Stars a three goal lead thereby sealing the win for Dallas. And in the game against Dallas last week he took a penalty leading to a goal allowing Dallas to tie up the King's comeback and almost ruining a chance for the team to win.

the sky might not be falling, but it sure is ugly.

do you see good/great teams [i.e. the wings] ever play with the lack of energy, enthusiasm, or heart that this team does more games than not?

my biggest issue is we were/are seeing quotes from players on how important these divisional games are; yet night after night we come to a gun fight with water balloons.

the other teams actually 'get it' and we just say we do.

i guess that meaningless excuse of "we just need to get away from home for a while" was just that... a meaningless excuse.