FINAL: San Jose 3, Kings 1

The Kings so far are playing without any rhythm. The lines are set up with little or no chemistry it seems. That’s evident with the lack of goal scoring. And on defense they have been unable to prevent the cross ice passes that killed them last season in their zone. And its still killing them so far this season. There is very little a goalie can do when the defense in front of you on a consistent basis allows dose cross ice passes. Murray is got to work with this team to improve this area of their game or it could be long season again. It’s also evident that the team needs O'sullivan and needs him bad.
Rich another thing that I don’t understand is. Why is Boyl playing on the kings fourth line and not on the third line or the second line. This guy is a goal scorer and plays better with more skilled players. Also Murray could of made things interesting by playing Boyle and Purcell on the same line, these guys have played together and they were successful in Manchester. Is there a reason why this was so.
I am looking forward to your thoughts on this regard.

Thanks for what you are doing for us fans.
Roger

hey Roger its freakin' pre-season. Relax. This is a time for "individuals" to show what they have as much as it is get some of the players comfortable with one another. Moller and Boyle are being given the chance to start the season here. They are trying them out in many different situations to see where they gell - how they handle different lines, situations, pressures. Just relax. Much will be determined in the next week.

psych,
i know its only pre-seaon, and i hope im not overreacting, but I just get a feeling this is going to be a real long season. I guess I should just EXPECT them to lose and if they dont then I can be pleasantly surprised! I do echo rogers sentiment about POS though! We are a weak team and we need all the experienced players available to us. The issue needs to be solved (one way or another)before the season officially starts or it has huge potential to be an even bigger distraction than it already is!

Uh, yeah. The season has not started yet. There is no correlation between pre-season numbers and regular season numbers (if there were, the Kings would project to 93 points this year, which is unlikely). To keep it in perspective, last year Ottawa went, I think, 7-0, Edmonton and Minnesota did great, as did San Jose. Pittsburgh was one spot from dead last in their conference, winning only one game. And the Kings, their leading scorers were Willsie, Calder and Armstrong (tied).

although it would be great to have patty o signed and conditioned, this is not the case. The benefit of this is that we have had the chance to see Moller, Purcell, Simmonds, and Moulson show us more of what they are capable of. Please remember that the focus of this camp was to instill a defensive system and from that, we create offensive chances. For the most part, the Kings have shown defensive gains with some lapses from time to time but it is still new. The defense looks better - I think we can all agree on that. Yes, there have been some bone head plays but we must remember that these are kids and there will a lot of ups and downs. But in the long run, maybe not this season, but definitely next and for many after that, this will prove very beneficial. So re-evaluate your expectations for the season. it is not going to happen over night, but if you can watch the games with the future in mind, it will be a very enjoyable season.

I'd be interested to know what other people thought of our youngsters' performance during the pre-season. From the radio snippets I heard, it sounds like Moller, Simmonds and Doughty were very pleasant surprises and Boyle, Purcell and Moulson were mild disappointments. I don't recall hearing much about Hickey at all.

JonG --

Sounds to me like Doughty was what we hoped (being able to step in this year), Moller and Simmonds are ahead of schedule, Purcell and Moulson are doing about what you'd expect, Boyle has been moved around a lot (Murray trying to figure out just where he fits this year), not setting the pre-season on fire, but on the other hand, he has shown what he can do at the NHL level (albeit for a very short stint last year). I haven't heard much about Hickey either, although I seem to recall Nick Nickson saying some nice things about him. Also he did some serious icetime with Doughty a few games back, on a 5-on-3 maybe? I think Hickey is impressing but in a different way; I would be surprised if they decide he's physically ready, but it sounds to me like he has impressed with his willingness to stick his nose in. But it's always seemed to me that Hickey is a year or two off. That's okay. Clune, obviously, was an early surprise, and I would expect him to get a call up when he recovers from his injury. Also sounds like Martinez did some good things.

On the downside, I always had (still have) hopes for Scott Parse, but his early demotion does not speak well for him. He's not a young prospect anymore. Oh well.

It also sounds, from the few quotes from Terry Murray, that Derek Armstrong has been impressive in camp. That's obviously great news for Derek, since he's fighting for his life here.

I'll be interested to see if both Moller and Simmonds make it. And there's a minor question about whether Martinez can bump Harrold from the 7th D spot. Since I have no idea how Harrold has done in camp, it's anybody's guess, but it's probably safe to assume Harrold will hold onto #7.

Meanwhile, look:

It is 5 days, 19 hours, 55 minutes and 51 seconds until Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 7:00:00 PM (Los Angeles time)

Nice idea JonG.

I went to Frozen Fury in Vegas, listened to a couple of games on the radio, and read just about everything there was to read about this team, and nothing I read indicated any disappointment in Moulson. In fact, I thnk there is enough skill as well as sand in his game that he stays with the Kings and Purcell goes to the AHL.

I think Moller, Hickey, Martinez, and Simmonds did much better than expected; especially Moller. The problem is that he kind of needs to play on a top line, where Moulson, Simmonds, and to some extent Purcell, can play on 3rd and 4th lines without "hurting" their development.

As 20+ yr old pro rookies, Simmonds, Purcell, and Martinez can go up and down without re-entry waivers, so I think those guys will be doing exactly that this year. I'm pretty sure that Harold can only come up from the American League once without being subject to waivers. Moller and Hickey can't go anywhere but to Junior for the season if they sent down.

Opening night roster:

Moller Kopitar Brown
Frolov Stoll Moulson
Richardson Handzus Calder
Ivanans Boyle Armstrong

Greene Johnson
O'Donnell Doughty
Preissing Gauthier

LaBarbara, Ersberg

Extras: Harrold, Purcell, Hickey*

Martinez and Simmonds go to Manchester. Hickey goes back to Junior after the start of the season, maybe he seems action in a couple of games.

Thanks Quisp. I appreciate your thoughts, and I definitely agree with you about Hickey. I had forgotten about Clune, who we should see later this year.

I love the fact that they had Doughty killing a 5-on-3 last night. Even though it's only pre-season, the coaching staff obviously thought enough of him to throw him out there.

I've gone through 30-plus years with this team, and I think I've gotten pretty good at filtering preseason marketing hype from real enthusiasm. I do sense that at least three of these youngsters are real keepers.

Will - I'm glad to hear that Moulson did well in the preseason. I liked what I saw of him last year, and I'm hoping he sticks eventually.

How did Richardson do? I still don't know much about him at all. Is he anything more than a generic third-liner? (Not that there is anything wrong with that . . .)

Kings lost Blake, Modry, Stuart and Vishnovsky--arguably but probably 4 of our 5 best defenders on a bad team. Kings also lost Cammalleri and now O'Sullivan, 2 of the top six forwards on a bad team.

Hope I'm wrong but things do not look to be shaping up so good. At least we'll be a bad team which isn't a bad team that also gets beat up.

I am surprised we do not see more rookies on defense. At least if we lose, those young defenders would be getting NHL experience.

Rich,

While listening to the radio call, it appeared the Kings let down after a questionable penalty call against JJ. This led to two quick goals, granted one was on the PP. This is not unexpected with a young team. If you have any magic windows to one of the assistant coaches, can you ask if the team discussed this during the 2nd intermission?

Thanks for everything.

ok thank God all the bullsh** is over. Now come Saturday it all counts. I haven't ben able to see or hear any of the games so I can't wait for this to begin. I can't belive I'm excited to shell out $$, but its for a good cause...the Center Ice package!

The roster cuts are going to be interesting...I don't think the Kings will keep Hickey or Martinez as the 7th defensemen..that sounds like a job for Peter Harrold. It wouldn't help their development to sit in the stands and not play.

I have no clue how the forwards are going to shake out....Too many variables

"Thank God all the bullsh** is over."

O' contrar monfrar! It's just beginning.

-Expect Patio to sign this week.
-Down will go Westgarth and Simmonds to NH. (leaving us 14 forwards)
-Moller will get some game time before being sent to juniors.
-Then enjoy the scary-go-round of forwards and defensmen coming and going as they learn that the NHL is, well, painful and difficult.

PASSION - POWER + INEXPERIENCE = LAST PLACE

As far as losing Blake, Lubo, Stuart and Modry... you could easily see that as a net positive. Of course, we will see very soon now. But I would be surprised if this year's defense is worse than last year's. Last year's Kings allowed 3.25 GPG. They need to get that down to at least under 3.00. That seems doable to me.

As far as losing Cammy and POS... POS isn't lost, yet. Cammy was out half the season last year. I wouldn't be surprised to see the 40-ish goals scored by those two guys replaced by Moller/Purcell/Moulson/Boyle/Richardson.

Wavesinair - I love your new nickname for Patrick O'Sullivan. He's probably sitting on his patio right now.

That reminds me of an old cartoon from The Hockey News. Paul Coffey was holding out during training camp, and the cartoon showed him sitting in his lakeside cottage listening to Glen Sather's voice on the telephone: "Paul, that's not what I meant by being a stay-at-home defenseman!"

PASSION - POWER + INEXPERIENCE = LAST PLACE

cmon man....we haven't lost a regular season game yet...lets show a little confidence.
I still think the Kings will show improvement this year. It's unrealistic to think we're playoff-bound, but it's not unrealistic to think that we'll improve significantly over last year.
Without seeing the other teams in the league, how can you definitively say last place?

I'm sure the roster opening night will be a lot different than the roster we close out the year with. That's what it should be with a young team trying to get better.

PASSION - POWER + INEXPERIENCE = LAST PLACE

cmon man....we haven't lost a regular season game yet...lets show a little confidence.
I still think the Kings will show improvement this year. It's unrealistic to think we're playoff-bound, but it's not unrealistic to think that we'll improve significantly over last year.
Without seeing the other teams in the league, how can you definitively say last place?

I'm sure the roster opening night will be a lot different than the roster we close out the year with. That's what it should be with a young team trying to get better.

This is the year to finish dead last if team is not going to compete for playoff spot which it appears they will not. Getting Hedman/Taveras would be much
better than 76 points and finishing out of draft lottery. Islanders on paper look to be worst team in the league but that is on paper.

metalmaster - I agree that the Islanders may not have the best squad going forward, but the extensive veteran talent and strength at goaltending may keep them serviceable this season. The Kings inexperience and the players that are only going to make the first team due to their large contracts make them, IMO, the weakest team to start the season. I have seen zero pre-season, however, so perhaps there will be surprises. Currently, though, I wouldn't bet on any other team finishing below them.

Will we see some of Lombardi's picks make an impact this season? Outside of Doughty (who as a 2nd overall guy cannot be really credited to Lombardi) who will really settle our nerves about Lombardi's ability to find talent in the draft? It doesn't look like Lewis, Hickey, or Bernier are going to reassure us just yet.

cheers

I'm assuming since it is never mentioned, OLD MAN Blake did not play? I guess he does need extra days to rest up for opening day! Will he hide behind Thorton's skirt on Sunday, or will he come out and face his boo's like a man?

Cristobal
"Outside of Doughty (who as a 2nd overall guy cannot be really credited to Lombardi)"

That's a BS statement. We were all debating here who the Kings should take with the #2 pick...There were plenty of other options. Saying he deserves no credit for that pick is blatantly unfair. I'm sure if Doughty had a lousy training camp and was quickly sent to juniors, you would have been been bashing the hell out of DL. Fair is fair!