Morning skate upcoming

Boyle deserves to sit. He's skilled but lacks hockey passion.

He'll be about at noticeable tonight as he's been in the games where he played. And at 6'7" that's saying something.

i was pretty sure that Garon started at least five games in a row his first season with the Kings. I could be wrong though

Honestly, with Parker being sent to Lake Erie, I don't see why the Kings even bother dressing Ivanans every game... Calder deserves to get back in to the lineup as well... There'd be no harm in sitting Armstrong once in a while either... these guys are getting 6-8 minutes a night, and at least with the "skill" guys (Boyle, Richardson, Calder...) you have the CHANCE of generating some offense and getting them started.

Oh well, I'm not gonna second guess Murray, he seems to be pushing more "right" buttons than "wrong" ones, though I do hope he drops Moulson down to a line that sees a little less ice than Kopitar and Brown's ... :)

wasn't cloutier in our goalie 5+ straight games for the beginning of the season a couple seasons ago? i'll have to look that one up...
there's too many Boyle's to keep track of. i thought we had the same boyle from tampa bay, but we don't there's two dan boyle's and we have brian boyle, who played for us last season for a bit. took me a while to figure it out.

P.S. I think it's sort of assinine to intimate that Boyle lacks hockey passion. Are you inside his head? What you perceive based on his play on the ice is hardly what is going on. Boyle has essentially been put in a position to fail. He's getting very few shifts and getting them with deadweight linemates. In the preseason, and in last season's cup of coffee, Boyle showed a pretty good shot, and an instinct to be in the right place at the right time. So far, yes, he's been out of synch, and limited in his ability to make anything happen, but to suggest he has no passion? Nonsense. He wants to be a player in this league for a long time, and I would assume he'd go through walls to keep his career on the upswing. There's not much of a good reason, nor a good time to find him MORE ice time with better linemates, but if the situation arose, I'm sure you'd see a far better player than you've seen in the first few games this season... IF YOU THINK HE'S THE PLAYER HE WAS DRAFTED TO BE... (some don't... I've been a Boyle skeptic since I was sitting in the arena in Nashville when the Kings called his name. Only the play he exhibited in his short stint last year had me consider changing my mind. Now, I'm not so sure, but I'm not gonna question his heart.)

Too bad for the Boyle because I like him as a player, but you have to take advantage of the opportunities given to you...no matter how few there are.
I've read a lot of posts that say that Boyle deserves more ice time or should be put on one of the top lines. One thought keeps popping into my head...I'm going to assume that he didn't have a great training camp because coming out of the pre season..he was one of the players wearing the different color jerseys. We all saw what he did last year during his brief time up, but I'm assuming he didn't wow anyone during camp..if he did, I'm sure he would have been peniciled into the starting lineup. If that's the case, then he doesn't deserve the chance to be put on one of the top lines...you earn your ice time in this league...nothing is given to you.

Rich...do you know what the coaching staff thought of Boyle's camp?

I feel sorry for Boyle and Harrold
Last season Boyle played 8 games in LA. He was dominant in all those games, scoring 4 goals in the process.
It was because he was playing quality minutes woth quality players like Frolov.
Its hard to put numbers up when your linemates are complete zeros. Playing with Armstrong and Ivanans is enough to even make Kopitar struggle.
I seriously believe that coach MURPHY is mis-managing Boyle's playing time. He should be playing more on the Power play and he should be playing more with descent linemates. I'm sure Boyles numbers would start to improve.

As far as Harrold is concerned. Murphy, at the beginning of the season, saw a surplus of talent on D and decided to use Harrold as the utility D-man. In short, the next Keven Dallman.

Finally, I hope Murphy doesn't screw up again by starting Moulson on the Kopi line. It's like mixing 2 pieces of Fillet Mignon with Jack-Ass meat. The kings were down 3-1 against Carolina when POS finally replaced career minor leaguer. You can then see Kopi and Brown come to life. Each scored a goal in the game.
There would not have been a Handzus OT goal and a win had it not been for Sully replacing Moulson,
If I see that career minor leaguer on the top line today, I'm gonna change the channel.

Quincy looks like a real solid player and a great addition to the Kings. I expect he'll be in the lineup consistently. I agree with Sense 13 that Boyle lacks hockey passion. Somehow, he seems to bring no energy on his shifts and looks somehow like he's in a different dimension. I hope he can recapture his edge from last year, when he looked so good in his short stop with the Kings.

I like the job Labs is doing. He is doing a great job with what he has been dealt. The D is, so far, much better than last year and they are protecting him from skates and spears. We couldn't ask for more while he is getting to know his new team mates and new coach. The way Labs (And the whole team) is playing, it is obvious they like Murray a hell of a-lot more than that idiot Crawford..

Boyle had a decent training camp, otherwise he would be back in Manchester with Purcell. They could have easily sent him down as soon as O'Sullivan signed, as Richardson and Calder have been healthy scratches. I think Boyle should go down, as I really think he is a better player than the 6 minutes (or whatever) he is getting a game. He obviously needs to work on the physical aspect of his game before he gets some serious ice time, and the real problem is that we have three centers right now playing well. There is no way he will beat out Kopitar, Stoll or Handzus for a job right now.

Good for Richardson to get a chance too play against his former team though!

He looks out of sink out there on the ice. He seems to be chasing the play and almost always looks out of position. One other big concern is, he does not use his size to his advantage. He looks like a chicken with his head cut off. Go wonder.

Roger

Boyle, Purcell, and Moulson were all being discussed during the summer by management as good candidates to make the team's list of forwards this year. So what happened? Boyle and Purcell got out-worked by Moller and Simmonds. Moulson had a good camp, worked his ass off, and is showing that he belongs.

From what I've seen of Boyle, he looks lost, even timid in these first few games. That's not a good thing for someone his size. He could at the very least be making the opposition uncomfortable along the boards. He is not.

Some of you seem to think that if he was playing top 6 minutes, things would be different. Perhaps. But why, when the top 6 guys are playing fairly well-rounded games already?

I would like to see him sent down with specific instructions from management about what it will take to return. I know that every player is different, but hopefully, it would have a similar result to what happened with Patrick O'Sullivan.

His size and soft hands make it hard to abandon him as a project, but with the wealth of young talent in the system, he had better get his act together . . . and soon.

Just my 2 cents . . . try and spend it.

Anthony... Enough with the MURPHY

Coach Murphy?
Excuse my typo.

anthony said: "It's like mixing 2 pieces of Fillet Mignon with Jack-Ass meat."

You know, I feel the same way...when I see a post by Quip, JDM, and then Anthony.

I have always been a supporter of Boyles and I still hope he shows what it takes to crack the top 3 line but there is a major difference between his game this year and his game last year. Last year on the same 4th line with Gulliano he was able to show his scoring ability and his raw power. He ran over guys and made them pay for stepping in his way. His last game he just looked like he didn't want to be there. 1st period he took a hard check to the boards behind the Kings net and when he got up he looked like he was sulking to the bench.

Wow...4 games in, and Boyle has no hockey sense.

Question for all the "experts". Who led Boston College to back to back championship games? Who volunteered as captain of his college hockey team to switch to defense when they were hit with a rash of injuries? Who spent half the season last year in Manchester TRYING to learn how to play defense at the professional level, only to switch back to center and have an all-star year in the AHL as a rookie?

No hockey sense? You can't do any of these without having hockey sense off the charts. He has plenty of hockey sense...he's severly lacking confidence right now. His entire hockey life, he has played #1 center minutes and been the top guy on his team. Given any thought to the fact that he is coping with being low man on the totum pole right now? He struggled his Freshman year at BC for the very same reasons.

Can anyone comment on how Boyle has looked in practice? Usually when a guy isn't getting enough ice time during the games he's expected to bring lots of energy to the practices. It's the only way to change a coach's mind.

My guess (and it is purely a guess) is that Boyle hasn't put the requisite effort into the practice sessions. It's a lesson that lots of young players have to learn.

For Boyle to be the best player he can be, he's gotta use that size of his more effectivly. Hes gotta stand in front of the net, screen goalies and take the abuse, get deflections, get chips on goal or throw it back out to teammates. Problem so far has been the Kings have never really had sustained pressure on the opposition. I cant recall an even strenth goal scored this year where the Kings dominated a shift or two inside the offensive zone and won the battles in front to score a goal. Thats where Boyle is gonna have success, when that sustained pressure is on and hes in front of the next causing a disturbance ala Holstrom and the Kings are getting chances. Thats why it wouldnt matter if he was on the fourth line or first, because not one line has been that dominant so far this season. Just give him some time and you will see the improvement, and if not, he will be sent to Manch to work on that part of his game once again. I hope he can figure it out, because if he does, he will be a force as a power forward.

VERY well said 420. I saw him in a handful of games in Manchester last season, and that was exactly his game at Center...creating havoc in front of the net.

I hate to see Boyle out of the lineup but to be honest, he's been invisible these past 4 games. I know some people think it's because he should be playing on a scoring line. But so far this season I've been more impressed with Simmonds, Moller, and Moulson and I think they'd deserve that chance more than Boyle does. And I don't put it entirely on him being out there with Armstrong and Ivanans either. As much as people like to put him down, Armstrong is no slug. He does have some skills. And Ivanans might be a slug but he still has a physical presence on the ice. But I haven't seen anything yet out of Boyle. Which sucks because we've seen last year what he could do and because this roster spot was his to lose. He needs to 1st off, do whatever it takes in practice to get back into the lineup. And 2nd, be more physical out on the ice. He's what, 6'7 240? He needs to start using that size and just maybe that will open up the ice to give him more offensive chances.

Boyle had an OK camp. Unfortunately he needed to have a good/great camp. Two younger prospects beat him out, Moller and Simmonds.

I believe the only reason Purcell was sent down and not Boyle is the Kings felt that Boyle is better suited to play on the 4th line (due to size). I'm not sure he's ever been a 4th line player in his career, so he has to learn to do it. Purcell and Boyle probably felt they had the open spots, hopefully they learn from their mistakes and are not sulking.

Currently Boyle is getting very little ice time and I agree with Mark Nathan, he is in a position to lose. Personally, I'd rather see him sent down and let Calder or Richardson play on the fourth line. Let Boyle get a ton of ice time with the Monarchs and maybe he or Purcell get the first call-up. Right now he's kind of rotting on the vine getting 6 minutes a game.