Forum answers V
The resumption of the open forum questions. Good questions all around...I'm still working my way through them. Of course, I know everyone just wants to worry about silly rumors (please, don't bother with the comments), but oh well... Here's the next set of answers:
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Question: With the current players, do the Kings need a coach that teaches or keeping competitve?
Answer: The simple answer, as you said, is ``both.'' And they can find that, but the main focus is on finding a ``teacher.'' I really believe that should have been the focus from the beginning, since Lombardi had to know that, at some point, he was going to have a young lineup. It seemed fairly clear that Marc Crawford's style wouldn't fit a team like that. So now they will look for a coach who can better relate to young players.
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Question: Since Dean has been GM of the Kings, he's preached the need for offensive, puck moving defencemen in the 'new NHL'. Signing Preissing, Modry, extending Lubo, drafting Hickey, etc. This year he seems to have changed his philosophy quite a bit with the acquisition of Greene, Gauthier, and Tuebert. Why did it take Dean 2 years to figure this out? Why do you think he's changed his philosophy over the past year? Is the answer as simple as it just wasn't working? Or is there more to it?
Answer: It's a good question, and I think the answer is probably that it's just part of the building process. You can't build an entire roster at once, so I'm not sure that it was a change of philosophy as much as it was ``stage one'' and ``stage two'' of trying to build a defensive unit. Because even within those examples you give, there are exceptions. He got the guys you mentioned last year, but he also drafted a guy like Martinez. This year, he acquired the guys you talked about but he also drafted a major puck-mover in Drew Doughty. So more than likely, it's probably a matter of getting guys when you can. Last year, more puck-movers were out there. This year, they focused on more of the ``physical'' guys.
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Question: Who would you like to see as the next head coach of the Kings?
Answer: Jim Fox. This way I know the locker-room area would always have a full stash of trail mix. In all seriousness, it doesn't really matter to me. Someone who likes to talk to the media and returns phone calls. That's all I'm looking for.
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Question: I have a question (finally thought of one I can't find anywhere): for the Kings this season, is there any chance that we might see a few more games on FSN West or even Prime Ticket? last season was a really hard one from a viewership standpoint, with so many random games not being shown on TV. are they going to improve the back to back situation at all? it seemed like when the Kings did a home-and-home with a close opponent, be it San Jose or Phoenix they wouldn't show the road game because it was too much work.
Answer: FSN did 65 games last season. If my memory is correct, that's a few below what they've done over the past few years. I'd have to check on that. I'm not sure if it will ever improve to the point that the Kings get all 82 games on TV. They would probably have to become a NHL juggernaut and be a huge draw in L.A. It seems as though every year, there's one major trip that gets skipped, plus a couple handfuls of random games. Sometimes it's schedule conflicts, particularly on the weekends, but in this era of HD you'd think they could find a way to get all the games on TV. It's a good question. I'll post the TV schedule for next season as soon as I get it.
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Question: As much as I'd like to see one of the kids take a shot in net, I agree their long term development will be better off playing every game in the AHL or ECHL. What percentage of games do you think the Kings would want them to play if one of them made the big club? The one name that no one seems to be talking about is Emery. What are your thoughts on Emery?
Answer: 1) That's a good question, and a very delicate one. Because if the Kings are going to have one of the young goalies in the NHL, they just don't want him to sit but they also don't want to overwhelm him. If it's a guy like Bernier, maybe 20-25 games would seem around right to me, depending upon how things go. Any less than 20-25 and he might as well be down playing a full season in the AHL. 2) Not going to happen. The Kings, I'm told, don't want anything to do with him.
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Question: What do you think of Brian Burke's contention that Kevin Lowe is responsible for inflated salaries for young players that eliminates the "second contract" and takes kids right from entry level to mega-deals?
Answer: It's kind of fun to sit back and watch the Burke-Lowe feud. I don't know who's right, but I do believe that we're on the verge of more problems in the NHL in terms of salaries. I'm not smart enough to tell you exactly why, but my instincts tell me that Burke has a point here. Guys such as Lowe are almost turning this into the ``Wild West,'' and while that's cool in a way, I think it's also dangerous.
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Question: when will the schedule be announced and do you have any kind of advanced idea as to whether the Kings will be coming to Boston in 08-09?
Answer: The schedule is usually announce on or around July 15, so you should be seeing it sometime in the next couple weeks, for sure. The NHL is going back to its old schedule, so you will be seeing the Kings visiting Boston in 2008-09.
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Question: I haven't gone over every comment/question, so this might be repetitive, but what about the other RFA's...everyone seems concerned when O'Sullivan (and possibly Stoll) will re-sign, but has there been any communication, hints, information regarding the rest of these guys (most notably Ersberg and Moulson)?
Answer: They gave qualifying offers to all those guys you mentioned, so they have every intention of bringing them back. Seems as though that's the Kings' next focus. I must admit, I'm a little confused about the panic regarding the RFAs. Last year, if I remember correctly, a guy like John Zeiler didn't sign unti July 20.
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Question: You should really add this site to your links list, especially for those interested in cap #'s. http://www.nhlnumbers.com/
Answer: That's a great site that I encourage people to visit for salary-cap questions. I should add it to the links, and will as soon as I get a few free minutes.
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Question: Do you think the Kings, as currently composed, have an NHL caliber defense, or that of an expansion team? In a few years these guys - plus Teubert, Voinov and maybe Campbell will be a good defense - just not so sure they fit the bill now. Could be a tough year for JLB and EE....
Answer: Yeah, I understand that point there. I've seen some pretty bad expansion defensive units though. I'd say it looks more like a very promising AHL defense than it does a NHL defense right now. Because you're absolutely right...the lack of experience on that list is pretty startling. Preissing is pretty much the only one who has proven himself to be an everyday NHL defenseman over the last few years. Wow...
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Question: 1) If Bernier wins the job in camp do you see DL having the "vision" to let him stay in LA the whole year regardless of the D in front of him? 2) Do you think the acquisition of Stoll, and his ability to win faceoffs, will help improve the PK?
Answer: 1) If Bernier makes the team, I think it's more likely to be as a backup. Especially, as you said, since it seems that the defense might be shaky in front of him, at least at the start of the season. I don't think they want Bernier to feel the pressure of being a No. 1 guy and potentially have his confidence shaken if things go bad. It makes more sense to put him in as the No. 2 and let him grow by starting one game per week or something like that. 2) The addition of Stoll, if he can stay completely healthy, should be a good one for the Kings. Is it worth giving up Visnovsky? Well, everyone has their opinion on that. But as you said, Stoll's faceoff ability and penalty killing should help the Kings in two areas that have been troublesome recently.
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About Rich Hammond
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Rich, I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate all of your hard work. I'm hoping Erik Ersberg gets a good look in training camp as I was really impressed by what I saw at the end of last season. Do you feel the Kings will make a trade for another D-man or possibly pick someone up on waivers at the end of training camp? Brian
Rich,
I haven't had the chance to thank you before, but your site has become indispensable.
You probably don't know the answer (and nobody else seems to either), but I figured after seeing the question above about FSN and High Def, I'd give it a shot.
As you say, this is the age of HD, and I was excited that FSN was going to broadcast Kings games in HD. Sadly, very few were (at least on my TW Cable System). Will this change in the upcoming year?
To anyone who might have been offended by the ``silly rumors'' comment, I certainly hope you don't take it personally. It's not personal. The fact of the matter is that I have neither the time nor the inclination to ``shoot down'' every single rumor that pops up on a website. In general, I've been massively impressed by Kings fans and their ability to distinguish legitimate news organizations from rumor sites. I hope you understand that if I spent all day ``shooting down'' wacky rumors, you'd never get any actual news. It's sort of like fretting about world affairs based upon reporting in the National Enquirer. So that's that. As always, the support is much appreciated.
As is your opinion, answers and hi level of journalism. You walk a fine line between us and the Kings management sometimes, and I think it takes a true professional to do that Rich. So thanks.
To MartinRW:
I mentioned this to a FSN employee that I met, she said that they know the broadcasts aren't in HD. They are being extrapolated up to HD bandwidth. She said that would change come February of this season when digital pictures become standard. I told her that hockey games look awful in this definition and she said she'd mention it to the higher ups.