Take the poll: Who should start in goal for Kings next season?

Who the hell voted for Erik Ersberg? The guy won one game and you want him to start next season? You're nuts. And Bernier should have been on this list Jill...

I think an Ersberg/Bernier rotation sounds good

big shock.
Probably the same people that wanted to resign Jamie Lundmark after 10 games and thought Purcel was Calder material after five games.

give me a friggin break. Stop embarrassing yourselves.

Of Course you start Ersberg.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.
Hate to do this. But I have to give credit where credit is do. Lombardi must be given credit for such a find.

Seriously... Ersberg has been doing great, but to give him the starting position next year after 3 1/2 games??? come on.

Honestly, I can't believe you're feeding this irrational frenzy.

I voted for Lab. He should be given another chance with improved D next season. I mean, if we sign a couple of real defense men.

Kind of early for this survey, and certainly too early for the team to decide. The team should go with the strongest performer at next year's training camp. Cloutier should not be invited.

Oh come on. I'm as happy as anyone that Ersberg has played a strong 3 1/2 games. But it's just that...3 1/2 games. We've had this same sort of jump-to-conclusion-athon before with Bernier and countless others.

I'm looking to forward to this final month of the season to discover what degree of consistency Ersberg can bring to the net. By that same token, I'm concerned with Ron Hextall's comments about Ersberg following last night's shutout:

“His athleticism and quickness are the best aspects of his game, as well as his lateral movement. He’s not the biggest guy, so he’s got to use his athletic ability. Obviously, this gives us a chance to look at him and gives him a chance to prove something. But I can’t imagine him locking up a spot for next season in these last 14 games.”

I'm cautiously optimistic; Hextall's blatantly pessimistic. Sounds to me like he isn't too charmed by the Swede.

Let's take it easy with ersberg. It was only his 3rd pro start and although he faced 40 shots, about 30 of them hit him in the logo. The Senators had their shots and just happened to miss the net. I love the rebound control though.

The person not listed here is Jonathan Bernier. He is going to have a chip on his shoulder in training camp to be the starter. i think Labarbera will be here regardless.

It will be curious to see what we are going to do with all these goalies.

Our goalies next year that should be playing at an AHL level or higher.

Jon Quick
Erik ersberg
Jon Bernier
Jason LaBarbera
Danny Taylor
Jeff Zatkoff

That is 6 goalies for 4 spots and I'm not even counting Cloutier. Will be very interesting indeed.

You figure if Quick gets stuck in Reading again that we still have one extra guy that can be shopped on draft day. The smart money will actually be on Ersberg if he plays stellar the rest of the year. His value will never be higher. I am sure Ottawa would be interested :)

I think you really misunderstand Hextall's comments sasKing. It is what all coaches or GM's say.

You can't expect him to say that these 14 games are make or break for Ersberg for next year's team. It puts way too much pressure on a guy.

Hextall was a great goalie and unlike us, has watched ersberg play all year.

i think he gave him the proper praise and his words were spot on. Ersberg has a chance to prove himself and make an impression.

With the pessimistic Kings fans I am sure he will just be remembered 10 years from now as the guy who cost us Stamkos by playing so well at the end of a tank year....lol :)

I think at this point LaBarbara has established himself as a capable 1A goalie. If the Kings can find a decent 1B backup capable of playing 35-40 games, that would be enough of a bridge to Bernier and/or Zatkoff.

Whether Ersberg is the answer or not, I think it is a little early to make that conclusion.

Yeah I like Ersberg but I'm not going to give him the team after 3 or 4 good outings. Labs proved he can be relied upon and was excellent for long stretches. Most of his poor play resulted from playing hurt, which was better than the alternative (Aubin, Cloutier, etc.) Ersberg definitely has a future here if this keeps up, but stick with a healthy Labs.

ok .. i agree it's WAAAY too early for a poll like this ... the guy has had THREE games and all ready we're asking about starting him next season...

way way too early

and I vote yes to starting him next season

Bernier should be in the Poll.

Correcting a mistake. Zatkoff is only a junior. I am sure he will be encouraged to stay for his senior year at Miami.

Hockey fans across Canada, and parts of America would be laughing if they saw people annointing Ersberg as the second coming of George Vezina after three and a half games of NHL experience.

This is why it's embarrassing to be a hockey fan in Los Angeles.

These games are being used to determine if Erik Ersberg should even be offered a contract to return to North America next year, much less start the season as the #1 goaltender on the Kings. He wasn't all that great in Manchester this season, and that's been well documented both statistically and by the fans that have attended the games with regularity.

I agree its too early for this poll but out of the three Ersberg looks OK. Babs and Clouts are questionable. But from what we've seen earlier, BERNIER is clearly the guy. No way is Ers better the Bernier.

It would be hard to start Ersberg next year since he is UFA at the end of the season. The question should be if the Kings should re-sign him to a contract. I hope he continues to play as well as he has and agrees to a new contract but I would wait to see him play more games before even doing that.

The real poll should be if the Kings will buy out Dan Cloutier. We all think so, but will the Kings be willing to do so. What say you?

Count me in on the ERSBERG bandwagon!

Don't sleep on Jon Bernier. Let's remember he made the team out of camp this season. He was sent back to juniors because the team IN FRONT OF HIM SUCKED. He'll probably spend the year in Manchester next season, but still, don't count him out.

11% think Cloutier, OMG what is wrong with your heads people? reinvigorated or not the guy has more holes than swiss cheese

"only his 3rd pro start "

not true, 3rd NHL start yes. just striving for accuracy. he's already been a pro before this season, and including at Manchester

"i agree it's WAAAY too early for a poll like this ... way way too early ... and I vote yes to starting him next season"

LOL

i agree... even though i voted for ersberg, i am not gonna decide until the season is long done. TOO SOON.

the vote was cast by my eternally hopeful and optimistic side.

sorry 11 people (4%) think Cloutier, that's still 9 more than Craw and DL combined. maybe Dan stuffed the ballot box...

I voted for Dan to expose the absurdity of all the people who voted for Ersberg. And to be funny. Ha!

As for Jill "feeding this irrational frenzy," I think it's hilarious. It's like, "look, mob mentality! Wind it up and watch it go..."

Great blog, great thread.

I think the real answer should be "who ever earns it next year". There certainly isn't any Kings goalie that has already earned the right to start next year. Even if Ersberg plays great the rest of the season, it's not enough. So at this time, we just can't say yet who should be starting next year.

We're all acting like DL and Crawford right now. Except Ersberg has played 3 more games then Cloutier did by the time he got his big extension. But ya, no doubt the kid has talent, I'm excited that we're getting to see him, before we just let him go. He's 25. If Bernier or Zatkoff turn out to be Franchise goalies, I think Ersberg is young and has the potential to ne the franchise #2 for many years, as well as a #1 when injuries happen. Let's see what happens. The swedish elite league is not the NHL, but it's definitely not a joke. To win goalie of the year must mean a little something, right?? I think he turns out to be solid. He will definitely need some bigger defensemen who actually have balls, to protect him in the long run.

Just thought it was funny... he took that puck in the dome last night, and after Ryan Smyth broke his stick on Babs ribs, we didn't call Ersberg up, because he was injured from taking a puck to the head.

It seems silly to include Cloutier on the poll..(did anyone vote for him and if you did...identify yourself)
I think it would have made more sense to put Bernier on their instead of clouts.

I wish he had been called up earlier in the season so
there could be a more definitive answerif he is or not the guy. I think
using Aubin and bringing
Cloutier back were a waste
of time.Cloutier never proved he deserved to come up at the AHL level. At the very least this guy could be a very serviceable
#2 guy but i think a few people here are jumping the gun.

I didn't base my opinion on how well he played in 3 1/2 games. I'm basing it on Labarbera giving up too many rebounds and Cloutier being Cloutier. Last year we threw Brust and Fukifugi in net on emergency basis and they both proved they weren't ready to play with the NHL. Ersberg has a proven that he can dominate overseas and I'm pretty sure that's one step above the AHL. Plus the kid took a zinger to the head and shook it off.

I cant believe 4 dummies actually voted for cloutier, I wonder if he visits this site and hes the one who voted for himself, because no body with a brain should vote for that loser. he is the soul reason the kings are where they are.

Anthony, I thought you were on 'let's tank the season and get Stamkos' bandwagon. I'm quite surprised to read that you're actually pulling for the Kings to win games at this point when they're so close to immortal futility.

I'm hoping we've seen Labby's last game as a King. Ersberg's play and style and toughness have shown how ill-suited Labby is for this level. If nothing else, Ersberg is showing himself to be consistent at this point, which is a characteristic that has eluded most Kings goalies for the last several years.

Maybe Ray Emery would like a little volleyball time on Blake's private beach next season. LOL.

Ersberg as #1 next season? Really??? After 4 games.

I voted for myself 15 times at least, I hope my good buddy crow will too. At this rate I'll probably get another 2 year extention at, hmm lets see at least 4 million per season? Its the least I can do for the organization to not only get them Stamkos this year, but Tavares next year!

Go Cloutier!

"I'm hoping we've seen Labby's last game as a King."

that's a little bit much - the guy's got a .910 save % on a last place team with no defense, worthy of a little respect. and the last several games were played with 2 hernias, one on each side. he's put in the time and work with the franchise to earn his contract here. I'm not #1 Labs fan by any stretch and I like Ersberg but I know that much.

15 votes for Cloutier is a little too much. I thought we were supposed to be intelligent fans.

Ersberg has played a bunch of stinkers in Manchester this year. Any hockey fan with a brain would avoid annointing him the savior of this franchise until he's played more than 3-1/2 games.

What are you guys smoking? He hasn't faced every team the Kings have played; once other teams figure him out, he'll just be average.

He's relatively short, goes to the butterfly too quickly, and shots go over his head & his glove.

Just wait...