December 2007 Archives
Crawford wouldn't yet say who was going first, but he did say LaBarbera and Aubin will each get a game in the next two.
Here's the release ...
The Los Angeles Kings have agreed to terms on a three-year entry-level contract with forward Wayne Simmonds, the club’s second-round selection (61st overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and one of three Kings prospects currently representing Canada at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championships, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today. Per club policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.
Simmonds, 19, has zero points and two penalty minutes in four games with Team Canada at this year’s World Junior Championships. The 6-1, 174-pound native of Scarborough, Ontario, also has two goals and five penalty minutes in three regular season games with Sault Ste. Marie of the Ontario Hockey League this season. Simmonds was recently traded to Sault Ste. Marie after beginning this season with Owen Sound (OHL), where he had 39 points (17-22=39) and 43 penalty minutes in 29 regular season games.
Simmonds recorded 49 points (23-26=49) and 112 penalty minutes in 66 regular season games with Owen Sound during the 2006-07 season.
Here's what Raitis Ivanans had to say about fighting Cody McLeod of Colorado on Saturday, his first fight since breaking his Cheekbone in early November: ``It wasn’t really a good fight but it feels great to be able to do that again. I’m back to myself now.''
Ivanans didn't take a hit in the fight so he has yet to see how his cheek will respond to a punch. He had surgery on a nerve in his left cheek.
``It feels more sensitive now because the nerve was numb and now it's coming back,'' Ivanans said.
The Kings played Chicago on Sunday and have the Blackhawks again at Staples Center tomorrow. Ivanans had some thoughts on Chicago forward Tuomo Ruutu.
``It makes me mad that Ruutu guy won't drop gloves,'' Ivanans said. ``He won't even take a hit. He can hit you, but he can't take a hit or drop his gloves.''
With two goals Sunday in Chicago, including the game-winner in overtime, Dustin Brown set a career high with 18 goals. And we're not even at the midway point of the season.
``You look at my goals this year and a lot of them are within five feet of the crease,'' Brown said. ``It’s just a matter of sticking around there and you’ll get rewarded type of thing. I’ve been getting a lot of goals off the rebound or bouncing off me.''
Brown, in his fourth year, scored 17 goals in 81 games last year. It's looking like the Kings were well-timed in wrapping up the 23-year-old to a six-year contract extension in late October.
``I think he’s making the natural progression players make from year to year, especially in the first four to five years,'' Crawford said. ``Now the big improvement I see in his game is he’s trying new things offensively. Some of the moves he makes one on one, we didn’t see that before. He comes down with pressure on him last night, makes a great in-tight move and puts it upstairs. That’s as nice a goal as you're going to see.''
Michael Cammalleri didn't practice Monday and won't play tomorrow, according to Crawford. It will be the fourth game he's missed with bruised ribs. Cammalleri tried to skate before the Colorado game and it, again, did not go well. He's frustrated that he's not seeing improvement.
``It's not going as good as I hoped, obviously, or I would have played this weekend,'' Cammalleri said. ``It's definitely not ready.''
``It’s just frustrating for him because he wants to be able to go out and skate and shoot and do the things he normally does, but he can’t right now,'' Crawford said. ``I’m sure it is improving, just not to the degree of quickness that he’d like to have. He’s out tomorrow. You’ll see him practice before you see him play.''
With a late, noon start. I should have notes on your favorite back-to-back winners before you leave work, if you are at work today.
Dustin Brown scores in overtime to give the Kings the win. With two goals, he took back over the team lead with 18. Kings come back from 2-0 deficit in final eight minutes. Nice effort!
with Chicago. Can they win two in a row for the first time since Oct. 27?
Who would have thought Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Scott Thornton would be the guys to get the Kings back in the win column? Aubin made 29 saves and Thornton scored the game-winner as the Kings scored three goals in the third period to beat Colorado 3-1. Derek Armstrong tied the game midway through the third period and Thornton gave the Kings the lead about a minute later. Kopitar added an empty netter, tying him with Dustin Brown for the team lead with 16 goals. And Raitis Ivanans got into his first fight since suffering the broken cheekbone Nov. 2. He battled Cody McLeod in the second period. The Kings ended their eight-game losing streak. Maybe that first time this month with consecutive days of practice was just what they needed.
He can play both defenseman to replace the injured Kevin Dallman and forward to make up for Zeiler being sent down. The 37-year-old had no points and two penalty minutes in five games for the Kings about a month ago.
Crawford spoke a little on the Kings prospects in the tournament ...
``Bernier got a shutout in his first game against the host country and obviously was the star of the game, so I’m sure everyone is pleased about that, not the least of which is our fans. The one thing that we do have is a good group of prospects that are coming. A lot are at Manchester and many of them are at the elite junior level throughout the world. We also have Oscar Moller playing for the Swedes and he’s had a great season at major juniors and is getting an opportunity, the second time he’s gone to represent his country, and is doing extremely well. We all like Oscar. We think Oscar is going to be a sure-fire NHL player. The other two players, Hickey the first rounder, playing defense for Canada, and the surprise for everyone throughout hockey has been wayne simmonds. He was picked in second round last year and is playing in a role (with Canada) where I can see him playing for us one day. He’s a robust, strong guy on the forecheck. He’s got a bit of a power game. He’s probably got that prototypical third line, kill penalties, be conscious and that great skater that seems to be so necessary in today’s game. Today’s game has taken a turn to speed and he definitely has that.''
Dean Lombardi has been in the Czech Republic watching the games.
``I’m sure that’s what he’s over there evaluating, and also evaluating the prospects on every team,'' Crawford said. ``Because, when the trades do happen, it seems people will trade prospects. So you want to have a great book on the prospects that other people have. And this world juniors tournament is the best because you see every team’s best prospects play against every other team’s best prospects with national pride also in the balance. So it’s a great evaluation tool. Plus there’s some undrafted players that I'm sure the crack scouts on the L.A. Kings are scouring.''
These past two days have marked the first time this month the Kings have been able to practice two days in a row. The Kings played 14 games in the first 26 days of December, which -- along with travel time and days off for the holidays -- created a lack of practice availability. It's made it difficult for the Kings, who have lost eight games in a row, to break out of their struggles.
``Two practices in a row,'' Crawford said. ``It’s like, wow, you get to work on facets of your game. Let’s face it, we haven’t been sharp. I think part of the reason we haven’t been sharp is because we've been trying to make corrections off video and chalk talks and stuff like that. There’s no substitute for good, hard work and practice.''
``When you’re not able to practice, there's not a lot of time to fix things or adjust or even look back at the game you played since you have to look forward to the next one,'' Patrick O'Sullivan said.
Brad Stuart said he hurt his right foot when he was hit by a shot in the Dec. 8 game against Phoenix. X-rays were negative, but the foot has been sore ever since. He took practice off Thursday but was back on the ice Friday and is expected to play this weekend.
``It's just one of those things that the more I have the skate on the more irritated (the foot) gets, so if I have the chance to give it a rest that's a good thing,'' Stuart said.
Crawford still calls him doubtful. He's going to make the trip, so there's a chance he plays. But Cammy seems unsure of what to make of his injury at this point.
``I’ll do whatever I can to try to get in the lineup,'' Cammalleri said. ``We’ll see what happens. We'll see what tomorrow brings. There's been a little bit of improvement. I've never had this before. There's certain things you've had before where you know what to expect, know the feeling and can reflect on experience to guide you. This I've never had so I'm not really sure what I’m feeling. If I feel I can help the team at all, I’ll be in the lineup.''
John Zeiler was not at practice Friday and Crawford said he has been sent down to Manchester. No word yet on who the Kings will call up. That Jon Klemm can play defense or forward probably helps his cause. Zeiler, 25, had been up with the Kings all season. The second-year player averaged eight minutes and 35 seconds of ice time over 34 games with one assist and 23 penalty minutes.
Here's what Crawford had to say about Zeiler: ``John Zeiler has I think got caught up in the tenseness and the complications that come from an extended period of play that a team has gone trhough. We can do something for John Zeiler, which is allow him to go down and recapture his game. He’s given us energy. We’ve been really pleased with the energy he’s given us and the hits that he’s given us, but it pretty much stops there. And there’s more of a player there in John Zeiler that we believe he’s got to continue to develop. They’re playing a lot of games right now in Manchester. It’s going to give him a good opportunity to go down and play. We can't just throw John in and say, ` John, go out there and be confident with the puck.' He needs the opportunity to feel confident with the puck. We can't give him the opportunity right now here, but we can give it to him there. If we're not going to use him here in a game then he should be playing. I believe that is the thought going into this move. Make no mistake about it, though, John is a quality guy. He’s got great character. We love his enthusiasm, his energy and the physicality he plays with. What were looking at is trying to get him to be a little more of a player with the puck and let him keep progressing.''
Quick notes with more to come ...
--John Zeiler was sent down to Manchester
--Michael Cammalleri did not practice and remains doubtful for the weekend games, but he will make the trip
--Brad Stuart was back on the ice and is expected to play
--Jean-Sebastien Aubin said he will get the start tomorrow against Colorado with Jason LaBarbera going Sunday in Chicago.
With Kevin Dallman injured and Brad Stuart banged up, the Kings will definitely bring up a defenseman from Manchester before Saturday's game at Colorado. I wrote yesterday that the Kings needed to wait until after the holiday roster freeze ended tonight, as Crawford had told us, but some of you pointed out this is false -- the Kings can make an injury call-up from Manchester at any time. It will probably come in some time today. I would think Klemm is coming back up. That would follow with Dean's philosophy on not bringing up the younger prospects this early in the season. But we'll see.
Jason LaBarbera was the last player off the ice Thursday, staying half an hour past when practice officially ended.
``I didn’t really play an awful lot last night so I decided to work extra hard today, I guess,'' LaBarbera said.
Crawford pulled LaBarbera less than 13 minutes into the game after he allowed his second goal. LaBarbera has struggled in five games since returning from a rib injury.
``I'm working on seeing the puck better, focusing more on seeing it off guys' sticks and playing my rebound a little better,'' LaBarbera said. ``Sometimes, when you miss a bit of time, little things like that get away from you.''
Crawford said LaBarbera and Jean-Sebastien Aubin would each get one game over the weekend, though he wouldn't say who would go first.
Brad Stuart sat out with a sore foot.
``His foot’s been bothering him for quite a while,'' Crawford said. ``He’s playing with some soreness. It’s allowing him to play but it’s not allowing him to practice. We hope he will go (Saturday) but we’ll see as we move along here.''
Here's what Dustin Brown had to say about his first game back after missing two games with a left shoulder injury: ``It felt pretty good. It kind of took me a little while to get into the game. You go in with an injury, you’re going to be pretty tentative -- especially an injury like this where it’s contact that’s going to hurt more than anything. I felt once I got past the first maybe 10 minutes I started being more comfortable with it and I think I had a few good hits out there, so that’s a positive that I was able to play part of my game considering how sore it is.''
Brown said the shoulder wasn't any more sore after playing, but he wakes up with it stiff and it loosens up as the day goes on. He had an ice pack on it after practice. He had a similar separation to his right shoulder in juniors and was back playing in a week, but the shoulder continued to be sore for over a month.
``It's going to be one of those things that's sore for a while,'' Brown said. ``I'll just have to deal with it.''
Michael Cammalleri didn't practice Thursday because of bruised ribs and it's sounding less likely that he will play Saturday in Colorado or Sunday in Chicago.
``He's still sore,'' Crawford said. ``He worked out off the ice today. He's not ready to resume on ice. I would say he’s listed as doubtful for these next couple of games but we haven’t put him on the injujred list. Were hopeful he’s able to play, that’s why we haven’t put him on the injured list. It will be a day-to-day call and he’ll have the most to say on it. Mike's a pretty aware guy about his body. It’s not a big body but he’s aware of it, and he’ll tell us when he’s ready.''
Guess what was back tonight? That's right, Marc Crawford's favorite catch phrase -- stay the course!
``We had a number of opportunities and didn't get the job done and, you're right, it's a familiar refrain,'' Crawford said. ``But, at this time of year, all we can do is continue to keep persevering and continue to try to stay the course. One solace in all this hopefully is that guys learn to hate losing. There's some dejected people in our room right now. I don't think anybody's quitting. I think there's a lot of effort. What can you ask for except better excecution, and we're trying to work on that.''
But that wasn't all. We have a double stay the course!
``I hope our guys continue to be really sour about losses,'' Crawford said. ``I hope the one thing we need most -- which is a win -- comes our way and, when it does, you have to think that sort of confidence will spur us on and make these one-goal losses turn into victories. We're very close now. We're doing more things right than we are wrong, and we have to stay the course.''
Maybe he means stay the course to the first pick?
Here's what Kopitar had to say ...
``We’ve got to find a way to win hockey games because it’s definitely not fun coming to the locker room after the game. It’s getting old, the losing. The guys are frustrated and miserable.
``We’ve got to improve this. There’s 20 guys in here. If we can get one percent more out of each guy, that’s 20 percent better.’’
Neither Crawford nor Nagy seemed to think futher disciplinary action was needed against Craig Rivet for putting his stick up against Nagy's throat.
Here are Crawford's thoughts on yanking LaBarbera: ``I felt we needed a change right there. We have to get more saves than we're getting right now. We've been out-goaltended in a lot of games here lately.''
The eight-game losing streak is the worst by the Kings since they lost 11 to end the 2003-04 season.
You probably figured that out by now. I'm back from the locker room and will have some notes and quotes up as soon as I finish my gamer.
Well, the Kings failed to score on the major and then Michalek tipped in his second goal of the game. That should do it. Still 16 minutes left but ...
I think we should know in the first 2:20 of the third if the Kings will win this one. That's the time remaining on a five-minute major to Craig Rivet. After a cross check from Nagy, Rivet hit Nagy under the chin with a two-handed shove of his stick. Rivet was called for intent to injury and got a game misconduct. The Kings got some early chances in the power play but did not finish the period strong.
Frolov went around the goal and hit one off Evgeni Nabokov's pads. Rob Blake took the long rebound and scorched one with some old-school power. The power-play goal came just after the Kings had failed to convert in 42 seconds with a two-man advantage. Blake now has 479 points as a King, tying him with Jim Fox for seventh in franchise history.
It's kind of like the Dallas game, except there's no horn and the Kings aren't actually scoring. Seems like some technical difficulties. Or maybe the guy who controls it is trying to spark the team.
And LaBarbera was yanked for Aubin after Joe Pavelski scored the second goal with 7:43 left. It's looking like anyone thinking the Kings could end their seven-game losing streak forgot this game isn't in San Jose. The Kings didn't get their first power play until the final 1:44. Good news is they still have 16 seconds left when the second period starts!
Jason LaBarbera, Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Jeff Giuliano went to Brian Willsie's house for Christmas dinner. Willsie's wife, Kelly, did most of the cooking. LaBarbera made two dishes as well, one with sweet potatoes and the other with cranberries. He said he enjoys cooking.
Kevin Dallman broke his right foot when he was struck by a shot in the second period of Saturday's game at Nashville. He's hoping to be back in two weeks. He was walking around in crutches and sandles Wednesday. He needs one more scan before the doctor decides to put him in a cast or a walking boot. The Kings can't make any roster moves until after the holiday freeze ends tomorrow night at midnight eastern, but someone should be coming up from Manchester after that.
Ivanans said he will take off the mask tonight and is free to fight for the first time since he broke his cheekbone Nov. 2 in San Jose. Coincidentally, the Kings host the Sharks tonight. He said he won't hesitate to drop his gloves because of the injury.
``It's been six weeks and it's healed up nicely, so I should be OK,'' Ivanans said.
Dustin Brown is expected to return to the lineup tonight after a two-game absence. He hurt his left shoulder during the Detroit game last Wednesday. Brown said he should be able to play normally with a few limitations.
``I can't reach out for pucks or to slow someone down,'' Brown said.
He isn't worried about making the injury worse.
``The doctor said the only way I could make it worse would be to fall back on it the same way,'' Brown said.
He got out on the ice and tried to give it ago this morning but immediately knew it wasn't going to happen.
``I tried to shoot the puck and could just tell that I wasn't going to be able to go as soon as I got out there,'' Cammalleri said. ``I'm not in much pain. It's just sore and I couldn't really do anything I would need to do on the ice.''
The injury is bruised ribs from the altercation in the first period against Nashville. Crawford said the injury was different from LaBarbera's and didn't involve any ligament strain. They are hoping to have Cammalleri back for the weekend games.
``I think it's pretty day to day,'' Cammalleri said. ``I don't think it's going to be a long thing by any means.''
Cammy is out, Brown is in, Dallman is out and Ivanans will play without the face mask. I'll expand on these to come ...
First of all, a Merry Christmas to everyone out there. Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season, in spite of the dreadful hockey you've been subjected to this month. Along those lines, since the Kings have been off for a few days, I've had a chance to reflect on how/why this season has started to swirl the drain. Some thoughts, in no particular order...
-- Yes, this is a building season for the Kings, part of the ``plan.'' But even by those standards, it's a tremendous disappointment. Making the playoffs is the goal every year, but realistically, Kings brass expected this to be at least a .500 team. They're now 11 games under .500. To break even at this point, the Kings would have to finish 28-17, or some equivalent thereof. Would you bet on that today?
-- Should Marc Crawford be fired? That's a rhetorical question. I think I know what the majority opinion is here. It probably won't happen -- at least for now -- but it's certainly a legitimate topic of discussion. Since this team is underachieving, even by its modest preseason expectations, then the coach should be examined. It's fair to question whether Crawford is the correct coach for this team. It's a young team -- Dean Lombardi disagrees with that, but it is -- and there are some fragile personalities on the team. Is Crawford's coaching style and demeanor the best fit when it comes to building a young-ish team? That's an important question.
-- There are two glaring numbers: 125 and 77.5. They are, respectively, the number of goals allowed by the Kings and the Kings' penalty-kill percentage this season. They have allowed the most goals in the NHL and have the second-worst penalty-kill percentage in the league. Injuries in goal have played a part in this, but top to bottom, this team just isn't tough enough. Not at forward and not on the blue line. Having a relatively small, skillful set of players is nice, but it must lead to a highly prolific offense. The Kings don't have one. They (usually) have an average offense, and that's not good enough to make up for defensive shortcomings. Who, on this Kings team -- with the exception of Dustin Brown -- really scares an opposing forward? Lubomir Visnovsky is a hard worker who cares deeply about winning, but he has been mostly dreadful. This should have been his season to break out, but it's gone completely the other way.
-- The Kings have totaled 13 goals in this seven-game losing streak. Secondary scoring is an issue that has never been resolved, and I still point to Michal Handzus and Ladislav Nagy. During training camp, they were two-thirds of the Kings' second line. There was a reason for that. Revisionist history aside, they were counted on to be top-six forwards when they were signed. Now, combined, they have 10 goals and 15 assists. Guys like O'Sullivan, Calder and Armstrong shouldn't have to be top-six forwards on this team, but they often are because Handzus and Nagy haven't gotten it done. And that falls on Lombardi's shoulders, along with the mostly underwhelming signings of Brad Stuart and Tom Preissing.
-- Is the future bright? It certainly seems so, although the operative word there is ``seems.’’ Nobody will know for certain until these guys start playing in the NHL. Jonathan Bernier is the golden child right now, but young goalies are famously unstable. Will Ted Purcell’s scoring touch translate to the NHL? It’s accurate to say that the depth of young talent in the organization is better than it has ever been. Lombardi turned that around very quickly and deserves great praise for it. He works the draft perhaps better than any GM in the NHL. But now, we’re going to see what his batting average is. How many of these prospects will become bona-fide NHL players? That will be the true litmus test of Lombardi’s reign.
-- I look around the locker room at times and think, who are the leaders? Rob Blake is highly respected, but he’s not an emotional, in-your-face captain. Scott Thornton isn’t even a full-time player. Visnovsky isn’t performing well. Michael Cammalleri has taken major strides in this area, but he’s still developing as a leader. Who else is there? When I think of stand-up, we’re-not-going-to-take-this-crap-anymore guys, Jack Johnson is near the top of the list, and he hasn’t even played a full season in the NHL. He's 20 years old. Lombardi talks about not creating a culture of losing, but in order for this team to make some strides, more guys need to be flat-out angry about losing. Luc Robitaille was like this. Even Sean Avery, for all his faults, hated to lose. He often lashed out in inappropriate ways, but at least he sparked some emotion.
So, there you go. There's no easy way to turn any of this around. It's more about attitude than skill, so we'll see if the Kings come out of this holiday break with any type of new attitude. Once again, Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone, and thanks for the continued interest and support this year.
The Kings are taking Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off for the holidays. They won't get back on the ice until the morning skate before Wednesday's game against San Jose.
Seventh consecutive loss. Sully scored his second of the game to get the Kings back within one midway through the period. The Kings had some decent chances after that but couldn't tie it up. Jason Arnott had a hat trick for Nashville, which broke its own five-game losing streak. Sully now has nine goals, three of which he got on this road trip.
In small first-period scrap and hasn't returned since. I'm taking away his enforcer status.
Sully scored short-handed for the Kings' other goal. Can the Kings salvage anything on this road trip?
Already losers of six in a row, it only took two and a half minutes for the Kings to fall behind on a pretty 2-on-1. The Kings have seven defensemen active. It's too bad they can't have them all on the ice at once. Cammy got into a scrap behind the net protecting Kopitar. I think I'm going to call Cammy the team enforcer from now on.
Columbus scored less than a minute into the third period. The Kings were outshot 15-10 in the first period after outplaying the Blue Jackets in the first two periods. Frolov led the team with 26:11 on the ice. I guess that's a good sign for his health. Sixth consecutive loss for the Kings.
The Kings had a goal disallowed in the first period because of interference in the crease, then at the end of the second period LaBarbera had the puck covered up and Jiri Novotny came in and poked it in. That goal was allowed. I guess those are the sort of things that go against you when you're struggling. Michael Cammalleri broke his seven-game scoring drought for the Kings goal.
on FSN West. As you know, Dustin Brown is out with a shoulder injury and Nagy is back. The Kings just can't seem to get fully healthy. Brown leads the team with 16 goals. Jason LaBarbera is in net, his third start in a row since coming back from the ribs injury. I'd venture to guess that Aubin starts in Nashville tomorrow. Columbus is 14-13-6 with 34 points, tied with Chicago for third in the Central Division. The Kings are 12-21-2 with 26 points, the worst total in the NHL, and are on a five-game losing streak. Columbus also is struggling of late, losing four of its past five. Rick Nash leads the Blue Jackets with 18 goals and 13 assists. In the previous matchup between the teams this season, the Kings lost 4-1 at Staples Center on Halloween night. Jason Chimera scored twice for Columbus in that one. Kyle Calder scored the lone Kings goal, though that was also the game he broke his thumb.