Ersberg in control
Here's the first part of Don Fulton's report from practice today:
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The knock on goalie Jason LaBarbera was rebound control. Too many times opposition shots were turned into excellent scoring opportunities - often times opposition goals - because of LaBarbera's inability to glove or smother a shot to thwart the chance and force a face off (not that taking a face off in the defensive zone is necessarily a good thing, but more on that later).
Enter rookie goalie Erik Ersberg.
It's been well-documented that Ersberg's emergence as the latest "Kings goalie of the future" has been a welcome surprise in an otherwise immensely disappointing season, and it has been his calm demeanor and reliable rebound control that has been especially appreciated by fans and teammates alike.
"To use an analogy, he plays like a sponge," laughed defenseman Rob Blake. "When a shot does find its way to the goal, it's usually sucked in to him and he covers it up."
Ersberg, who started both games on the recent two game road trip, going 1-1, allowing just three goals on 67 shots, admits that controlling rebounds is a strong and important aspect of his game.
"It's (controlling rebounds) something I've worked on very hard this year here and down in Manchester," Ersberg said. "I have guys shooting lots of pucks at me in practice from the blue line and I work on covering it up. I just follow the puck with my eyes everywhere it goes and never lose sight of it."
A small goalie at 6-feet even and 183-pounds, Ersberg looks even younger than his 26 years, but looks can be deceiving. His ability to make key saves in key moments look relatively easy has Ersberg's defensemen relaxing a bit more near the goal mouth.
"Rebound control is even more important now because of how the game is played," Blake added. "You used to be able to track the shot and tie up the guy in front of the net and you didn't get the interference calls, but now they call it. You have to be able to react to the shot and when there are fewer rebounds, or if the puck is pushed into the corners it is cleaner in front of the net."
Controlling rebounds or not, NHL life is still a new frontier for the Swedish-born Ersberg, who is happy to be here, and would like to become a permanent fixture.
"Things are going pretty well for me in the games that I've played. I really can't complain," he said. "I'm just going to play it one game at a time and I am just glad for every game I get. I'm having fun."
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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.
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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
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Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
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note that the Kings media folks and other sources have listed him at 5 feet 11 which is probably a little more accurate.
I don't really consider 6 feet smallish... just average. maybe because I'm 6 foot, or perhaps it's true that he's not as wide as some goalies. at any rate, he plays bigger than his size which is worth praise. I know big (tall) goaltenders are the trend because they can cover the top of the net with more ease when down in the butterfly, but he seems to have no problem even when his mask doesn't make the save for him. again I'll use Potvin for a comparison since they're roughly the same size and a similar style.
I have to agree that barbs plays loose and doesn't ever seem to be in control when hes playing. Im sure that is reflected by his inability to control rebounds. (maybe thats why he has to work so hard and gets dehydrated all the time) in contrast, ersberg, seems to never be out of position and doesn't seem to panic very often. Good signs from a young goaltender. He has a long way to go, but my initial impression of him is that he could be better than barbs. again, lets hold out on annointing him until after the opposing teams have played against him a couple times.
My only complaint is that he is too small to cover the corners of the net. He'll have to work at that if he wants to be a true all-star goaltender. I think it was the game against the Blues that a player (Tkachuk?) walked into the front of the net, EE went down, and he (the skater) wristed near-side top-shelf with ease. Granted, there was no defense, but I think there is still need for some improvement with higher shots. Overall, though, EE is surprisingly calming. Great job Erik!
i'm on board... i don't see us doing anything to improve our goal tending situation from anywhere but within the organization during the off season.
that said my hope is that there is a lot of effort put into working with EE to get him ready for next season...
wait, does he even have a contract beyond july 1???
no need for clouts to see another second of NHL time here... he's not happy we're not happy... buh-bye danny.
Give the kid some better D and he'll be even better in there.
Let's keep trying/supporting him until he lets us down (I hope he doesn't)
I'm officially done with clouts. I said when he came back that we should support him. He had two really good games plus his game against Vancouver was good too. But after reading his crap I'm back to trying to trade him for a couple cases of Gatorade. He had his chance, failed and then cried about being treated poorly. He'll I don't make 3.1 M and I will pay for the 1st class upgrade sometimes.
He's an RFA and needs an extension (1 year?). Let's not pull another Cloutier please. 1 year is enough for now.
I know Erik, he is from my hometown, and he would never do a Clout, I promise you.. If he dont succeed in the NHL he will return home and play for his old swedish team..