LaBarbera ready to carry load
The Kings rotated starting goalies for the past four games. With Jason LaBarbera getting healthier and the games spread out for the rest of the month -- the Kings play back-to-back games just once -- there's an opportunity for LaBarbera to get back to being the workhorse.
``They’re good enough now where I don’t have to worry about them,'' LaBarbera said of his ribs, which kept him out two weeks early in December. ``There was a play last night where I was covering the puck and there was a guy in front of me. I kind of pushed him and I felt it a little bit but it wasn’t bad. In the back of my head, it let me know that they're fine.''
LaBarbera has said in the past that he prefers to be on the ice a lot. It helps him get in a rhythm.
Crawford has a history of going with the hot hand. That's not Aubin, who he yanked early in the second period of last night's game. If LaBarbera plays well, I could see him going every game the rest of the month except perhaps taking off one of the back-to-back Jan. 18-19 in Calgary and Vancouver.
``Nobody knows for sure but I think he is showing signs of being at the point now where he can play a little bit more often,'' Crawford said.
6 Comments
Leave a comment
About the bloggers
J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.
Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
@dailynews.com.
Copyright Notice |
Privacy Policy |
Information |
Subscriber Services |
Site Map |
RSS 
MNG Corporate Site Map | Newspaper Media Kit
MNG Corporate Site Map | Newspaper Media Kit
| For more local Southern California News: | Copyright ©2011 |
| Los Angeles Newspaper Group |
At some point I think we should just say that if Barbs is healthy he should be the #1 goalie and we should all just move on. I mean if Kelly Hrudey was pulled every time he gave up 3 goals we'd be seeing a lot more of Mario Gosselin. If you're a goalie who's worried about not making mistakes b/c not only will it hurt your game but it could hurt your job certainty, it's not an environment conducive to success.
Kings should just name Barbs the starter, get a good goalie over the off-season and have that person be the solution until Bernier or J.Quick come into their own.
And by the way, isn't Dion Phaneuf a free agent after this year? He would be a monster to get (maybe use some of Blakey's freed cap space)
I think most of Blake's money is already called for between Kopitar and Johnson.
Shakey, I so agree with the Barb comments...what is Crawfish thinking..Aubin is good for spot start at best. Live and die with Barb and we will know what he good for next year, although I get the feeling what you see is what you get. Its the defense that is poor when looking at the season as a whole.
Shakes, Phaneuf is an RFA, meaning its unlikely he's leaving Calgary. I'm kind of hoping to land someone like Wade Redden or Mike Commodore on D.
Shakes, Phaneuf is an RFA, meaning its unlikely he's leaving Calgary. I'm kind of hoping to land someone like Wade Redden or Mike Commodore on D.
Shakes-
Phaneuf-JJ
Lubo-Bagnall
Hickey-Piskula
in the near future would be pretty NICE eh??!