Forum answers VI

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Question: It seems to me that the offense lacks structure and creativity, compared to last year. Do you think Murray has focused too much on defensive strategies? I get the feeling when I watch Kopitar, O'Sullivan and Brown that they're not at all comfortable with the offensive system they're playing. Last year they would be skating around alot more in the neutral and offensive zone, this year it seems all they do is dump it in and cycle it along the board (and that's definitely not the best way to use Kopitar).

Answer: That's a little too technical for me to make a definitive statement on one way or another, but it's absolutely true that Murray has put a heavy emphasis on defense. He looked at team toughness, the number of goals against and the number of shots against and decided that his first priority needed to be to clean up the defense. Is the offense suffering because of it? It's a plausible theory, but on the other hand, it might not be a bad thing in the long term.

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Questions: 1) Any chance you can get Jim Fox or Luc Robitaille or someone else in the Kings organization to do a question and answer ? 2) Who are the top 3 NHL players (past and present) you would interview if you could 3) 3) In an interview with the LA Times Tim Leiweke mentions Dean Lombardi feels we have enough "chips" that we can trade them away if needs be. Any thoughts about who these chips might be or what type of players (08 draftees, AHL guys, college guys, etc) they might be ?

Answers: 1) As a matter of fact, Mr. Fox and I were just talking about something we could do for the blog this month. Details to come, hopefully. A Q&A with Robitaille is a good idea as well. 2) Wow... Eddie Shore, Terry Sawchuk and Gordie Howe. Some variety. 3) That's another one of those Leiweke statements. Even Lombardi doesn't know the answer to that question right now.

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Question: Could you tell us what a day as a reporter is like covering the Kings on game day? Who do you usually talk to? What is the procedure as a member of the press?

Answer: My game-day schedule has been different this season, but for a typical beat writer it would mean showing up at the morning skate at 10 a.m., chatting with the broadcasters and team employees during the skate, then going in the locker room and talking to players for about 20 minutes or so. Then we talk to the coach and either go talk to more players or leave. Then I would usually arrive at Staples Center around 5:30 or 6, have some dinner and BS with other writers and broadcasters, then head up to the press box before the game. Did I make it sound glamorous at all?

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Question: Did you watch or Tivo the Kings on The Price is Right and if you've seen it what did you think (personally I thought Gauthier had one of the best intentional/unitentional humor moments I've seen on television in a long time)?

Answer: Actually, I didn't catch up, but are there clips up on the Kings' website? I'd imagine there will be soon, if there aren't already.

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Question: If a player is caught in the face with a high-stick, and an injury results, is the delayed penalty negated if the penalized team is scored upon? Or, due to the injury, does the penalty carry over after the stoppage in play due to the goal? If so, is the decision made due to the severity of the injury sustained? Is the decision the referee's to make?

Answer: This is the second time I've had to consult the rulebook today! Good questions, though, for sure. If there's blood drawn, it's a double-minor penalty. If a goal is scored after the penalty occurs, but before the whistle, one of the penalties would stand but the other would be wiped out, so it would be a 5-on-4 power play for two mintues.

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Question: Do you really thnk that mentioning the curling thing ever so often is going to get you more dates?

Answer: Well, it hasn't worked yet. Actually, I want to start a team.