Crawford interview
He gives injury updates, talks about how the players handled the trade deadline, that defensive pairings will probably be fluid other than Blake-Johnson (once Blake returns) and the reasoning behind pairing Harrold with Visnovsky.
On Nagy: ``It doesn’t look real positive with him. We’ll see. He’s got neck problems. I think he’s going to see another doctor tomorrow and they’re going to decide if he needs to do something more radical or continue what he’s doing. He still has limited mobility and movement, and the procedures he’s done have not had the desired effect. We’re not looking to him being available to us unless some procedure works for him. None of the injections they’ve given him have worked, so I think they’re looking at other options now. If surgery becomes an option for him than, yeah, he will be lost for the season.''
On Blake's status: ``Rob is a professional guy and knows his body better than anyone else. He has to be the guy to decide when he’s ready to come back and help this club. We’re confident he’ll be back soon. If it’s the next game, it’s great. If not, we’ll take him when he comes back.''
On if the team will call up another forward after sending Purcell down: ``Not at the present time. We’re going to go with the 12 forwards we’ve got, and I haven’t heard otherwise.''
Other injury updates: ``Armstrong is not coming on the road trip. He tried today and there’s still too much pain for him to even be an option. They’re thinking it will be at least another week until he skates again.
``LaBarbera there is nothing new. He is going to stay back on this trip. In the interim, I think Ersberg is staying here. Dan Cloutier is starting tomorrow in Edmonton.''
On moving past the trade deadline: ``I have to compliment our guys, they’ve been terrific. There was only one game where they lost their focus. You hear about it more than anything. You hear about it from people around the room, what the banter is. There was one game where I heard a lot of stuff about people wondering whether they would be here or wouldn’t be here. But other than that, we’ve addressed it and our guys have been real professionals. That’s all you can ask for. The deadline for a team that is sellers is not a fun day for a lot of guys. We can’t lose sight of the fact that they’re humans, they have lives, they have children, and when trades are made they affect a lot of people. I think our guys have been very good with how they’ve handled things, how they’ve composed themselves and compartmentalizing their worries and anxiety. We’ve played well. We’re five games over .500 since just after Christmas.''
On defensive pairings: ``One thing I will say is I will keep Rob paired with Jack. I just think that’s a great thing for Jack. We’re in a huge developmental phase with Jack and you want him to be paired with the great defenseman and mentor that we’ve got. From that standpoint, that’s the one thing I’d like to do. I think it will be a mismatch of partners other than Rob and Jack.''
On pairing Harrold with Visnovsky, and if there is a developmental angle behind putting the similar-style players together: ``They’ve both got speed, they both have the ability to join the attack. It’s more a case of this is what we’ve got, and you have to make the best of what you got. We’d like to have Lubo with a bigger, stronger, stay-at-home defenseman. The same thing with regards to Peter. You’d like a stronger guy with him who’s reliable, but we don’t have that. We’ve got what we’ve got, so you have to make the best of that.''
Ok, so we have Petiot and Piskula in the minors, both of whom are your bigger stay at home type dmen. Am I missing something here?
Manchester is in the playoff hunt & we need them to get in & go far. So we want our best kids to stay & help. Hopefully if they do get in, Bernier would be able to join them!
Question for Matt:
Do you expect (suspect?) that the Kings will have a new coach next season?
I sure hope so.
Bobby said:
Ok, so we have Petiot and Piskula in the minors, both of whom are your bigger stay at home type dmen. Am I missing something here?
ANSWER: Yes, Bobby, what you are missing is that neither of them has particularly excelled in the AMERICAN Hockey League, which is a whole lot slower and less skilled than the NATIONAL Hockey League.
If either of them was even close to being NHL ready at this point, they'd be here, and not Jon Klemm...
I'm for Crawford coming back. Since December the Kings have been playing terrific. He's kept the young guys enthused and they've given great effort almost every night. When you're mired in last place with no hope for the playoffs it would have been easy to see most of the guys give up, but they didn't. That's a credit to the coach and their own pride as well.
I think next year with the continued development of the young players, we should be contending for a playoff spot.
I sure haven't expected the Kings will fire Crawfish, even though the fans have been calling for his head since at least the 2nd month of the season and it's starting to gain momentum again. one thing is for sure, these goofy comments are getting us nowhere. this was better than his last interview but when you read things like "Oh Nagy? He's got neck problems", the guy just seems like a total goofball. yeah, no kidding, tell us something we don't know.
I also like the apparently unintentional slight on Visnovsky... whooooops
I doubt very much crawford, lombardi, AEG or any of the players actually give a rat's ass what the "fans" think. Honestly, "L.A. Kings" fans are considered some of the least knowledgeable fans and biggest blow-hards in the league. If it wasn't for the hot women, great weather, and the beach, none of us would ever consider playing here.
i agree with nyking...keep the course. there are positive signs
Interesting comment Any-Mouse
anonymous said:
"L.A. Kings" fans are considered some of the least knowledgeable fans and biggest blow-hards in the league. If it wasn't for the hot women, great weather, and the beach, "none of us would ever consider playing here".
Anonymous
You sound like a Duck fan, get the hell off this site. You have no clue about our fan base....We out draw NJ, Islanders and the whole state of Florida, not to bad for a last place team.