Scratching Armstrong
Derek Armstrong will be a healthy scratch for the fifth consecutive game tonight. The veteran Armstrong is one of the most popular players in the locker room. Instead of bounding around the locker room and playing ping pong with his teammates, Armstrong is now staying on the ice, getting extra work with everyone else who isn't playing. Asked how he's taking the demotion, Terry Murray said:
``I'm sure he's having a difficult time with it. It's the first time he's been out of the lineup in almost seven years. It's a hard decision. It's one of the hardest decisions a coach can make to take a veteran player, who's been with a team for a long time, out. The decision was not just one player. It came down to our 10-game point and we were not where I wanted us to be. I felt, and I think I mentioned this, that we needed to go to four lines on a more consistent basis. I needed players who were going to play on that line to be able to kill penalties and be on the power play. And just have a larger variance of contributions to the team. Army is a 5-on-5 player. That was the reason for the change. We needed to try to change the luck of our makeup, our chemistry.''
``He'll get back in the lineup again. You know how that is. Over the course of the year, things will happen. He's staying very positive, working hard. That attitude, to me, is very professional. The opportunity will get there again. Most importantly, you stay prepared. Never begrudge your time in the trenches. I've always said that to players who aren't in the lineup. The opportunity will come, and you want to make sure you're prepared for it and take advantage of it again.''
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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
.com.
Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
@dailynews.com.
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Thanks for this Jill, very interesting.
You know, I've never been able to put a finger on why I'm not thrilled with Armstrong but that's it.
He's really ONLY a 5-on-5 player.
Putting him on the PP was a disaster! And he can't kill a penalty to save his life.
I don't mind him centering a 3rd or 4th line, because he'll chip in and give you some points. But he really can't do anything beyond that, which may be a reason that our PK has been so awful for years, because on most teams that position (3rd line center) is usually a PK specialist.
As screwed up as I think Terry Murray is sometimes, and as much as I'd MUCH rather see Armstrong and Richardson on the ice at times, over forwards like Harrold (LOL... forward...) or Simmonds or Ivanans... At LEAST he calls it correctly... Armstrong is a "5 on 5" guy, and the reason he was so loathed at times here in the past was because he was getting too much time on the power play...
Keep your head up Army, the Handzus-Simmonds-Ivanans line will continue to be pointless in more ways than one, and your day will come again.
i thought armstrong was a power play specialist, at least based on how we've been using him the past god knows how many years! =)
Army's the kind of player who you know when he finally gets back into the lineup he's going to have a very strong game.
Army is a class guy.
people are going to hate me and that's ok. i think army is where he should be... riding the pine. he is useless. he is a classy guy. but we need good hockey players on the ice. army is weak, skates slower than molasses and takes 3 days to decide who he should pass to. i'd rather watch simmonds, who has way more upside and one of the future mainstays of this team, make mistakes than army struggle through his shifts. he should have been canned last year, but we had no one who could fill the role. so long army, thanks for the memories.
Totally agree with jediknight329. Armstrong lacks a role on this team.