Richardson in, Boyle out
As previously posted a couple times, Brad Richardson will return to the lineup in place of Brian Boyle. Richardson, who played in the Kings' first game but then was a healthy scratch for the next three, gets a chance to play against Colorado, the team that traded him to the Kings on draft day for a second-round pick. Boyle sits, after three games in which he got limited minutes as a fourth-line center and had a minus-4 rating. I asked Terry Murray about the change and what Boyle needs to improve...
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Question: Going with a lineup change tonight?
MURRAY: ``Yeah, Richardson is going to play tonight. He's been out for a while, he's working hard (and) he's against his former team. Sometimes that can mean good things. I like the speed that he's going to bring to the game, plus he's a penalty killer and he's done a pretty good job in that area. Sometimes his speed becomes a little bit of a concern for me, because he gets ahead of the play. As I spoke with him yesterday, it's about slowing down on the breakouts, come from below, generate your speed as you're leaving your zone through the middle of the ice. I think he's been giving that a focus in the last two days of practice.''
Question: As Boyle tries to establish himself here, are there certain things you need to see more of?
MURRAY: ``Yeah, there are. On most of the stuff, I've talked to him and met with him one-on-one already. I'll meet with him again after the morning skate here and show him some clips from the game the other night. I think the consistency is probably the main issue. The game against Anaheim, I liked a lot of the stuff he did. He took the puck to the net, he was using his size, his strength and his one-on-one play. Then he seemed to take a step back the other night against Carolina. That's the major issue that I have.''
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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.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.com.
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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Good move. Richardson's skating is a little better where it is needed between Army and Ivanans.
well from Murray's comments it seems to me that it is a lack of intensity from Boyle. If he's not taking the body and attacking the net, he's of no use to the team.
His lack on consistency has absolutely nothing to do with who is linemates are. Hitting and hustling can be done with anyone..not just kopitar or Frolov..and if that's the case, then he has a bigger problem than we all thought.
I hope he puts it all together because he should be a dominating center with his size.
specific... no BS media sound bites here.
i love it.
Terry Mother F'ing Murray
-4 is no good for a guy playing 6 minutes a game. If Army is any value as a linemate he is responsible defensively. Ivanans is also good on the forecheck as is Army. Boyle clearly needs to do more one on one.
If you'd notice when watching the NHL on the Fly after the Canes game, Boyle was on the ice during most of the good Carolina scoring chances they showed. That's bad ESPECIALLY when he is only playing 4 minutes that game.
I'm looking forward to getting another look at Richardson. I liked what I saw in game 1.
What I'd really like to see is next game for Ratboy to sit and see a 4th line of Army-Boyle-Richardson. On paper that sounds like a solid mixture for a 4th line of speed, size and fiestiness. I love Ratboy but if he aint fighting he aint helping.
Boyle is not a fourth line center. He is a scorer and should be on the top 3 lines. There isnt any room for him there, so he should be in the minors scoring. Simple. If you are going to ice a fourth line with Ivanans and Army, you need a grinder out there. If the fourth line was say, Purcell, and Calder, then you throw Boyle out there.