Boyle must ``play tougher and meaner''
Kevin Provencher of the Union-Leader caught up with Brian Boyle upon his arrival in Manchester. If nothing else, Boyle is saying all the right things about his demotion to the AHL and what he must do to get back to the Kings. ``My intention in Manch, I want to be dominant. Be more of a presence on the ice,'' Boyle said. ``I kind of lost sight of that in LA.''
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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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Any thought of bringing up a replacement such as Purcell?
How do you lose sight on playing tougher and meaner on the 4th line? Did he think that his line was going to be a scoring line? I'm commenting meaner and tougher and I'm sitting on my rear.
"We're not wasting time. We're trying to re-ignite their chemistry."
Can we promote Mark Morris to coach of the Kings?
Boyle is being grossly misused. You can't make a player something entirely different than what he is. He'll never produce on a checking line, and he's not physical enough for it, either. The guy is a foot taller than me for $*(#s sake.
Mark...the reason is because he has never done that. He has played hockey for 20+ years, and has always been a goal scorer/playmaker. He was then asked to do something that was completely different from what he is used to doing. This is something that ALL kids struggle through when they are first asked to do something that is different from what they have done their entire lives.
People forget, as an example, Ian Lapparairre (sp?) was a big time goal scorer in Juniors, but never really had the talent to do that in the NHL. He had to completely change his game in order to forge a career. Hundreds of players go through this...he'll be fine.
I just hope Boyle can really understand that he has to be much, much more physical and aggressive to be effective in the NHL, even as a scorer. He can do it, but can he do it consistently without it being such a struggle mentally. And, don't worry about fighting. No one has to fight if they don't want to.
We're familiar with his strengths and we'll do everything we can to put him in a position to be successful.
That's a coaching philosophy Murray should adopt.
"I was trying to adapt," said Boyle, "I wasn't really playing hockey, I was just trying not to screw up I guess."
"The initial shock is really, really tough to swallow ... You look back and you say it stinks .. Hopefully down the line they'll see me as someone who can chip in offensively."
Worry, worry.
Glad he ended with:
"I hope to improve on things and get back to where I want to be," said Boyle.
"When I get called back up I'm going to be a better player for it," he said.
Brian Boyle is 6'8" in Manchester and only 6'7" in Los Angeles.
Good news. Brian Boyle has grown an inch since his demotion. He's 6'8" in Manchester.
Hey, why don't you delete one of THESE two comments? Or are you trying to make me feel craaaaaaaaazy?