Where things stand

Merry Xmas Rich!

I heard rumors about Nagy & Stuart on the outs - maybe by the deadline?

Any thing on that? or what are your thoughts about that?

Guys like O'Sullivan, ... shouldn't have to be top-six forwards on this team, ...

Disagree. O'Sullivan is a future top-six forward, and the way to develop him into one is to give him real minutes on the top 2 lines now, even if he isn't quite ready for prime time for that role right this minute. Putting him on the 3rd line teaches him how to be a 3rd-liner.

Brilliant post.

Rich, you and others continue to go with this 'magician in the draft' stuff even after he takes the 17th ranked guy with the 4th pick. The future is bright? I think you should back that up with something other than Bernier and Purcell. Don't quote me hockeysfuture either cause that is a FAN site where the evals are made by FANS. Discuss, or rather, PROVE that this guy who has been HORRID at helping us in the NHL has been so great in the minors. This franchise is in TOTAL disarray.

great article, rich, thanks. and merry christmas.

i think you're right on for the most part, although i would point more toward general team defense as the most serious shortcoming so far this year. yes, they're undersized and not tough enough, but i think there are two problems that loom even larger. the first is that the team is not where it needs to be positionally. how often do the goaltenders get hung out to dry by absent defensemen and forwards? and second, the team has a real problem supporting the puck in the defensive zone. again, how often does a defenseman have to skate the puck out through traffic or battle two opposing players? too often, because the kings, as a team, do not support the puck. a defenseman battling for the puck in the corner is pretty much on his own. that same defenseman is also pretty much on his own to get the puck out of the zone. these problems then manifest themselves in turnovers at the blueline, an inability to clear the zone, being dominated down low and along the boards, poor first passes--and those in turn make it harder for the kings to gain any speed through the neutral zone. no surprise that they're living in the cellar.

again, great article and merry christmas.

Thanks for taking your time off on Christmas day to make this post Rich! It's greatly appreciated. Merry Christmas to you too.

As for the Kings. A true die-hard fan will stick with this team through thick and thin. This is the lowest point we've ever been in... and just turning off the television or not attending the games isn't going to help. When the Kings finally win the Cup, it'll be worth it. Especially, for the hardcore fans who have stuck with the team no matter what.

good thoughts rich. To add to the Handzus issue, it doesnt even look like the guy cares. i keep hearing that he 's "still getting in game shape." what does that mean? i understand he had tonsilitis or whatever, but come on, you're a pro dude.

Also, what were we all expecting from Nagy? he bounced all over the league last year, and he's always the rented player at the deadline.

Then there's the Rob Blake saga. Did we sign him to play AVP beach volleyball or NHL hockey? That guy may be the worst D-man in the NHL. Watch a clip from the nashville game on their third (or fourth) goal when the preds were on the PP. Blake took himself, and his teammates out of the play with a missed poke check. And you think he hustled back?? nope. he decided to do what he always does: guard the goal post.

And Cammy, well we see why he wanted that fat contract, so he wouldnt have to perform/work for the rest of his career. At least he gave us his 2 weeks notice at the beginning of the year when he was scoring.

Rich,
Nice column.
A couple of quibbles, though. I like the way Kopitar is playing, and the Zeiler, too.
The goaltending has been generally dreadful, with occasional flashes of competence.

Follow-up to the comments...

-- Yes, I would expect veterans to be traded if the slide continues. Yes, Stuart and Nagy are two of the obvious candidates.

-- I'm not sure if I made myself clear on O'Sullivan. He certainly has the talent to be a top-six forward, and is. What I mean is, he shouldn't HAVE to be at this stage of his career. It's great for the Kings that he is, but that pressure shouldn't have to be there.

-- Joe From Colorado...the Hockey News, early this year, ranked the Kings as the fourth-best organization in terms of prospects. I haven't seen updated rankings but I can't imagine they dropped. Three players on Team Canada for the World Juniors are Kings prospects. No other NHL team has that many. I'm not sure how much ``proof'' you want. And don't forget my overall point, which is that all of that is meaningless until that talent makes it to the NHL.

Thanks for all the hard work. I think at this point the only thing that can be done is firing Crawford. We all saw the writing on the wall when Lubo did his interview but we waited. Now we see what needs to be done. This team needs a different system and since "all" the players can't be fired let's move on. If not let's move vet's starting with Blake to a contender. He can come back and work for us next year. I am at the point where I will wait til next year to buy a ticket because this team plays worse than last years team. Sad.

christian turner, are you blind?

Blake will easily turn a contender into a bottom-feeder. The New-nhl has passed him by. He's on the ice for almost EVERY opponent goal.

And no, if we take his services next year, other than a front office role, ill vomit.

Need proof? Watch #4 tomorrow night guard the goal post and do NOTHING to help the team.

Rich,

Thanks for spending part of your hoiday with us. I have been attending Kings games since 1975 and a season seat holder since 1983; and I have to say that never have I been so utterly disappointed with this team. A season that seemed to start with such hope, that has turned into utter chaos. I cannot believe that I am watching a Laker team that has more harmony and chemistry that our beloved Kings. It will take a great turnaround to entice me to renew my seats again.

Best wishes to you and yours.

Rich, pretty much agree with you.

Scoring depth, team D, and lack of toughness are the teams weaknesses.

The worst one is the team D. Its really a shame since we finally have a good goalie.

I really think we shouldn't have traded Avery. He would basically be taking up the roles of Nagy (secondary scoring) and Zeiler (pest, and better), thereby leaving a regular spot open for guys like Moulson and Purcell.

Rich, have you talked to Dean at all about the Kings 1st rounder this season? Does he have any intentions to trade it? And if so, what kind of package would need to be coming back?

Thanks for the article Rich. But what about Calder as a leader? He seems to be one of the hardest working guys on the team and if it where me doing that every night I'd be pretty upset by the losses. So does he have it in him from what you've seen?

Thanks for the post Rich. I was going a little stir crazy without hearing or reading anything about the kings and I for one appreciate you taking time on xmas to do so.

Couple of takes:

-In regards to Handzus, obviously, he's still not fully recovered from his injury but I think he has played better and he will continue to get better. Now the question is when will be 100% or close enough that he would be a legitimate second line center?

-Nagy? I really don't have a problem with Nagy. I think he's put up decent numbers for a guy who's played 2nd and 3rd line. One thing about Nagy that I've noticed is that he always seem to have at least one good scoring chance a game.

-Blake? I can't stand this guy. I was one of those who pushed for him being captain and boy do I ever regret it. Blake makes the most obvious penalties and is a major wu*ss! However, I did like MC toying with the idea of having Blake on forward so we'll see what happens there.

-I say waive or trade Army, Thornton, Willsie, Zeiler, Preissing and call up Purcell, Boyle, Westgarth/Crosty, Murray and Petiot/Bagnall or Piskula.

Rich, I'm very optimistic about the future of this hockey club, but thank you for the pragmatic thoughts regarding the current situation. You've voiced my frustrations (and I'm sure many others) quite well.

Just remeber folks, if the Kings finish in last place overall they cannot pick any lower than 2nd overall in the upcoming draft. God, I hope we get Stamkos.

Merry Christmas, happy belated Hannukah, happy Kwanzaa, happy Festivus to Matt and Rich and all you Kings fans out there.

Should Crow be fired? I think so. Every hockey blogger talked about what a solid offseason the Kings had and all those players have to this point underperformed.

The defense on this team is a mess. Not a single d-man has looked good or even consistently average this season. Too many turnovers in the defensive zone that have led to goals or penalties. At this point, I just want to see what Hickey can bring us in the future.

Happy Holidays Rich.

Great observations.

Simply stated, we are out of the playoff picture and it.s not even January 1, 2008. Who is to blame, start with the "leaders" and coach.

Rich:

It's hard to tell if MC is the right coach for this team. He is not a defensive coach but then again it's DL fault for dumping 2 defensive defensemen in Norstrom and Miller. They have no physical presence back there like these two were.
I understand they were veterans but at least replace them with gritty type players. The league is turning back into a defensive game and this team is not built for this.
I blame DL 60% for a bad combination of players and MC 40% for not adjusting to the more defensive game.

For the record the Kings will have moved up in the THN organization prospect rankings with the play of Bernier in his first few NHL games and with the great play of Wayne Simmonds, who at the time of the draft was seen as a nobody pick. Teddy Purcell is leading the AHL in points and that surely will bump them up the list also. Whethere we get Piertrangelo, Doughty, or STAMKOS!!! I wouldn't be surprised if we move to first in those rankings.

Remember, Rich is an expert. You Joe from Colorado are nothing but a fan. Let him do his job, because he is doing a hell of a lot better than anyone else in the southland, maybe other than Dan Wood in the OC.

Merry Christmas Rich!

reading all these comments is funny.

But id throw a party if i heard nagy was traded for as little as a 5th round pick or hell even some ridiculous conditional pick. one beautiful pass from frolov a game that he ef's up on does not qualify as a scoring chance for nagy in my book.

If you're going to assess L.A.'s picks last year on pre-draft rankings, don't overlook that L.A. snagged Moller (projected 1st round and also playing in the upcoming WJC) in the second, Rowat (projected 2nd) in the 5th, and pulled Simmonds from off radar (can't remember him on any pre-draft lists i saw). The consensus heading into the draft was that beyond the top 3 (kane, turris, van riemsdyk) the rest of the top 30 were seen as going anywhere. Hickey going at 4 was a surprise but not a shock. Personally, i didn't like it because i was hoping they'd pick another player, but i don't think it was regarded as a poor pick by those, like myself, familiar with last years groups of draftees.

Someone mentioned on another post the kings should have taken cherepanov. Cherepanov was seen as a risky pick due to issues with the russian transfer agreement and his high ranking heading into the draft was questioned by many- As late as december, he was in the mid 20's and only shot up to the top after a good showing at the WJC. Over 10 other teams past on him after the kings did.

One other thing- Taylor and his scouts deserve a load of credit for the strength of the kings prospect pool currently. Lomardi really only has the 07 draft (and his college signings) to his name- the 06 draft was done with Taylor's scouts and reports.

One last thing- Purcell and Boyle are 1 and 2 in rookie scoring in the AHL. Boyle's third in scoring by defenceman, right behind Peter Harrold.

"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."

It takes years to build depth like the kings have now- Lomardi hasn't turned it around (Dave Taylor's the one who did that); rather, he seems to be keeping it going in the right direction.

Thanks for another well-written, well-thought out post Rich.

I have no answers I only watch the results, its much less stressful that way.

Thanks Rich for a great article.
You hit all the points dead-on.
Every time I read a post about the Kings making a mistake in picking Hickey, I have to laugh. Who really cares where he was ranked? Was Tom Brady ranked as the #1 QB when he came out? Once they're picked, rankings mean absolute jack-sh**. It's what they do from this point on that counts. The kid is 18 and is playing for Team Canada at the WJC. How many other 18 year old defensemen are playing there?

I also agree that Handzus and Nagy have been major disappointments. The play of Handzus has been better recently, but still not close to what we were expecting when we signed him. Nagy has been an absolute joke. The guy is supposed to be a goal scorer. His production has been that of a 3rd line checking foward...without the checking.
At least the trading season is upon us. The hope is that DL can rid as many of the veterans on the team as possible. I just can't see many teams wanting the type of players we have.
Rich your point regarding Sully is correct. He should have been given the time to ease into the role of a top 6 foward, but because of the play of the above mentioned players, he's been forced to be a top 6 foward, PK and PP player. Maybe in the long run it will be a good thing for him, but the vets on this team should be ashamed of themselves that their poor, apathetic play has forced Sully to do pretty much everything.

I'm still confident in the future of this club and will give DL the chance to show me that my confidence is justified. Right now, there is nothing that can be done to save this years version of the Kings and because of that it's strike 1 DL!

First merry xmas rich and thanks for all the indept storys on this site. First I think that MC must go - I was happy when we got him but now I think its time for him to. He is not gething the best out of the players, he is juggling lines way to much and often that the players dont get that chemistry they need. Second I will trade Stuart - he is the only defensman we will get anything for and bring up Boyle to play with Preissing.
I think Handzus has played very well, he and sully has been very good on pk even that we are on the bottom of the statistic. Nagy knows his time is up its just a matter of time before he is gone if he suddenly put up some goals. We have to go back to basic when it comes to defense - get the puck out of the zone its the first priority, we dont need any fancy play in our zone and the d must start to throw some bodies around in a smart way. There is a player we need to keep and thats army - he is a team guy and he should have been our captain this season.
rumours says the the players are done with MC
Hopefully 2008 will be better for us kings faans and I would like to wish all u fans a happy New Year from Norway.

To comment about the firing of Crawford: Anybody remember the Quebec Nordiques? I remember when they were the bottom feeders of the league for years. Who was their coach thru all of that? Marc Crawford. I would be very happy to have their end result even if it is two more years of losing.

Remember the average player hits his prime at around 28. Most of our boys are below that magic number. Kopitar, Sully, Brown, Cammi and Fro will be studs in a few more years

I am hoping that Blake's poor play is due to his hip. Look at Cloutier and where he's at.

Nagy has under performed where ever he has played. He's a take the money and slack type of player. He was a mistake by DL. I seem to remember that Nagy always played well against us when he was with Coyotes. Maybe this aided to the mistake of signing him.

Frolov is having a horrible year. He also can't find chemistry with anyone. This could be because Crow won't keep the lines the same for more than a period.

Handzeus. He is slowly coming around. I think next year he'll be 100% and will be much better. I can't say he'll score 30 goals but he should contribute more

Some toughness should return once Ivanans can take a punch with out breaking his face. Zeiler is effective in my mind and he's got to be better than Avery in the locker room.

The bottom line is that we have a solid core. I think Crow deserves time to right the ship. I've been a fan since the 88-89 playoffs versus Edmonton when we were down 3-1 and came back to win so I've seen my share of failure. However, I am an optimist

Happy holidays to all!

Big Rob in Dallas

Rich!

Welcome back!

Your post was a cool christmas gift. Never expected to see something new up here on today of all days, so, thank you!

Rich
Teh question will be if Blake will wave his NTC? Could you see DL signing him to an extension?
It will be interesting when the likes of Harold, Boyle and Purcell get called up? Especially Harold as he is slightly older and we will need to see if his game is good enough for the NHL.

I look at the standings and I see Phoenix 1 game over 500 when they were supposed to be terrible this year and I still can't get over the fact that the Kings didn't think that they needed to upgrade their goaltending when they had the chance. They talk about Labarbara like he is the second coming of Terry Sawchuk, and while he has probably been adequate at best, they have nothing to back him up when he gets hurt and they go into this slide. YOU ALWAYS IMPROVE THE GOALTENDING SITUATION WHEN YOU CAN. Phoenix got Bryzgalov and we can see the results. This is not hindsight on my part because I posted to this point when it went down. With this along with the disastrous free agent signings we are exactly where we should be. We have been getting fed this "future" stuff for far too long. Lombardi has screwed this up big time.

Seems everything stated here is very true, but I have noticed that no one has pointed out that Marc Crawford must have had an epiphany in the last game. He realized that he needed big guys in front of the net. That he needed big guys fighting in the corners. What did he do? He moved Blake from the D spot to a winger. This means that Crawford is starting to figure it out. Course getting a guy to play a forward, who's whole life was playing a D is kinda interesting. But it is a natural progression for a coach who loves to try and over power the opposition in their end by "activating" one of his two Defense men. Which of course usually ends up on a out numbered attack when the other side gets the puck back.

Lot has been said about our lack luster defense. But no one talks about our sad offence. Seems the only time the Kings have any sustained time in the opponent's end is when they are playing a team worse that the Kings are (can that be?). Seems they can only dump in and hope to pick up the puck for a one shot deal. You know the theory that if you play longer in the opponent's zone more the less you have to worry about the D.... may help the defensive core.

One can only hope Crawford can see the writing on the wall and maybe let the lines stay together to form some kind of chemistry which this team is sadly lacking.

I don't know if this paste will come though, but you gotta check this sick move by Stamkos on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad4zGlYUy7Y&feature=related

Big Rob in Dallas - you are factually incorrect about Crawford's coaching record. He first season with the Quebec Nordiques was '94-'95, and he led them to a 30-13-5 record and a Northeast Division Championship.

As far as the Nordiques' history, they actually made the playoffs in '93 and were rather successful through most of the 80's.

Interesting tidbit - Upon entering the WHL, the Nordiques only moved to Quebec after a deal for an arena forced ownership to change hands, as the franchise was originally awarded to the San Francisco Sharks.

FYI- wjc feed for today's canada game from TSN can be found here for those outside of canada:

http://www.channelsurfing.net/

scroll down to IIHF logo

It starts at ~10:30 A.M.

-J

Can we please move on from the Bryzgalov situation? The Kings were not going to be able to get him at the time he was on waivers. AND anyone who thinks Burke was willing to take a pick from the KIngs for him in a trade is kidding himself. At the time the Kings and Ducks were pretty close in points.

For those of you like Bob Weinstein who don't seem to understand the Bryzgalov situation... Yes, you are probably right, the Kings should do whatever they can to upgrade the goaltending situation because LaBarbara is not a legit #1.

Having said that... The Kings had ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER OF GETTING BRYZGALOV!!! Burke would have NEVER traded him to the Kings!! Also, the Kings had NO CHANCE to pick up Bryzgalov through wavers because Phoenix had a worse record and they have first right of refusal. Phoenix took him before the Kings ever had a chance to take him!!

Now move on from Bryzgalov, end of story!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is Dustin Brown and M. Cammi playing tonight go Kings!!!

Rich, I have a feeling you didn't REALLY put in writing what you REALLY wanted to say.

Lombardi has failed for 2 years.

He failed miserably with Cloutier and McCauley

He failed not so miserably with Thornton and Blake.

He failed with Nagy, Hadzus, Prissing and the abominable Stuart... while passing on Smyth and Hannan.

His trades have been average to above average.

Trading Avery for Cliche hasn't really worked out.

Trading Norstrom at 4.2 million then signing Stuart for 3.75 hasn't really worked out and it looks like Dallas will net us the 26th pick

Trading Belanger and Gleason for JMFJ looks good in the FUTURE but JMFJ is no better than Gleason right now. Belanger was a UFA but he was a defensive specialist... something the Kings had to pay 4 million a year for 4 years in Handzus.

Trading Demitra for O'Sullivan and Lewis looks like this will be his only saving grace.

Trading Conroy and Sopel for draft picks gives him 1.5 in the saving grace dept.

His coaching choice, at the time, seemed like a great move... now? Not so much... although someone pointed out that Crows record here is atually better than what he did in Vancouver. Is this right?

Yes, his drafting is legendary, but by the time our young studs are ready to play, Cammy will be long gone and Lubo will be 38.

It just seems to be a never ending cycle of "wait until 3 years from now" and I'm pretty sick of it.

The Kings organ-eye-zation is quickly making me not want to watch hockey anymore and find other things to do with my time rather than waste it year after year after year on mediocre hockey.

Oh, and happy holidays.

Bernier with 40 saves and a shut out. Hickey looked strong.

i watched the game bernier is just so mellow in net he doesnt flop around like babs or aubin. he makes the tough saves look so easy which is a sign of a good goalie. also hickey was the best d-man on the ice tonite even the commentators were saying that.

I think the main problem on this team has to do with the system the Kings play. Enough with the stupid dump and chase game. Puck posession is the way to go. I am tired of seeing the kings dump the puck in and chase it around to try to get it back, mor oftne than not, losing it and having to recover...while most teams against us play a puck posession game...

This points to the coach in my opinion. Rich, the next time you get a chance, can you see if DL/management sees this as a possible solution? I am thinking basic common knowledge here. That a puck possession type of game reduces the amount of time the other team has the puck, which reduces offensive chances and relieves some of the pressure on our goalies. It would also seem to fit more with Crawfords' push to "activate a d-man" inb the offensive plays...just my thoughts.

That Crwaford needs to switch to a puck posession game and utilize the skills that our players naturally have, rather than expecting them to play a dump and chase game where they'd benefit ONLY if they were a bigger, more physical team...or he needs to go and a coach with that type of style should be brought in...

FYI - The anonymous comment about the dump and chase vs the puck possession was my comment. had trouble signing in... :)

JAB

My apologies for being incorrect about the Nordiques. I've been watching a lot of vintage games on the NHL Network and he was the coach for the games I watched. I admit that I didn't look anything up.

Did anyone catch the replay Kings/Oilers game 5 in 1982? Man, there was so much space out there I could have had a great game!

Bernier and Hickey were very very good today. I wish I knew how Moller was making out.

Great post, Rich!

ps. One of these days could you or Matt make a point of focusing on Frolov? He seems to have vanished into the ether, and is playing like the gunshy setup-man. I havent seen a game for a week or so, so I have no idea if he's injured or who he's playing with or what.

Thanks and Merry Christmas

wow i'm very suprise with this team...i wasn't sure if they where a playoff team or not, but i sure thought they would be playing a lot better then last years team....to me it's the vets you can point the figure at...out side of Modry..yeah you wouldn't think that, but he's the only d-man that has a plus in the +/- department...if it wasn't for the young players on this team the kings might be 20 games below zero.

willsie one goal
armstrong two goals
fro 4 goals in 26 games
blake two goals a minus 10
lubo two goals & team worse -14
stuart -12
handzus only 10 points

LET'S BRING UP SOME KIDS THAT CAN PLAY! if the kings are rebuild then lets get ride of some of these vets aren't helping the team...i would support and understand being 11 below .500 with are up and coming young guns then a team with vets that aren;t doing nothing but eating up the salary...

Rich:

You should point out that Lombardi thought about trading a number 1 for Vokoun and didn't pull the trigger. He's having another stellar year on a poor Florida team with an outstanding save percentage. Does DL regret not making this move? He just can't seem to find the correct goaltender (sans Bernier) no matter what he does!