Preparing for Rangers

"Brought Teddy Purcell back from the AHL, just in time for the lines to get turned upside-down. While it's hard to figure the motivation behind some of the combinations, the Kings do at least have the forward depth to put together three solid units." From tsn's power rankings, so some kings fans aren't the only ones that thing TM is being stupid with his lineups.

PLZ DON'T START BARBIE in net. I'm going to this game I don't wanna see a blood bath.

I hope Murray tweaks the 4th line some.

PurSullitar
Fro- Zus- Ivan
Moller - Stoll - Brown
Calder - Army - Simmonds

Q - D
Goat - Greene
O'D - Harrold

This is with the current roster, thought I'd like to see Boyle, Lewis, G Gauthier, and Richardson with a shot to step in for Army and Ivan.

As the roster is now I'd even think:

Zeiler - Stoll - Brown
Calder - Moller - Simmonds would work.

Am I making too much of having a 4th line that's skate-able? I think we're doing a great job of battling and sticking to the defense, but I'd like to see Puck Possession become stronger as we progress. 4 steady lines allow that. I'm willing to listen if people don't think its necessary.

I go to every game. If Labarb starts i have to take my zanax. I hope and pray that Ouick gets the start. You never know he might be a diamond in the rough.

Lundqvist was really sensational last night. Maybe the Rangers will give the Kings a break and throw Valiquette at them... that would at least give the Kings a shot...

They could pick a random kings fan put them in net to play and they'd still have the goaltending advantage over Barbie.

Rich,

Do you know or can you find out the extent of Richardson's injuries? I recall that he was cut on the lower leg by a skate and needed a few stitches. I expected him to be out for a week or so but now that he's on IR I'm curious if some muscle damage was done or something more serious than a cut.

Back-to-backs for the Rangers on the road, with the Quacks being a black-n-bruising type of team, look for the Kings to come out strong early like in the SJ game.

If the Kings are truly on their game like they were in Edmonton, Babs should only have to play an average game to compete. I.e give up one, maybe two goals tops. Kings could win it 2-1, 3-2, or even 3-1.

Wow...ETR...are you serious with those lines?

Ivaness on the 2nd line? That isn't even a 2nd line.

Get this into your noggin' everyone...Frolov/Handzus/Simmonds...this is the DEFENSIVE FORWARD LINE, and their job is to stop the opposing teams top offensive line from scoring.

Armstrong is hurt, he is not playing. He has a concussion.

Why would you change the lines, AGAIN???? Why, because they lost a heartbreaker to the best team in the NHL? Yeah...that makes sense.

The only player who I wouldn't mind sitting would be Ivaness, and the only time he needs to be in the lineup is when your playing a team that is chalk full of bruiser's and bangers, like an Anaheim.

Alen
One problem with the TSN power rankings....they were just done recently...since Purcell's been up, the Kings are playing some of their best hockey of the season. TM's lines seem to be working just fine.
They're as clueless as some of you too. Do you honestly think they've watched as many Kings games as we've seen, or they watch the games as closely as we do?
They're journalists..with the exception of Rich and Jill (I know where my bread is buttered)..most outside journalists have no clue what's going on with the day to day goings on of most teams. They get little snippets here and there and present it as hard facts. Since they've convinced you of their "Kings knowledge", they did a good job.

I understand people not being thrilled with Moller playing on the 4th line, but right now the Kings top 3 lines are all going extremely well. To break up any of the combos now doesn't seem to make any sense...especially for a player who will be leaving us shortly.
I know everyone hates Calder, but he had one of his better games as a King on Monday against San Jose. Leave things as they are until they need to be changed.

Also...if we play our game, I don't care whether its Lundqvist or Valiquette in goal, we should beat this team.

yeah brett, I don't see any reason to change the lines. and I certainly wouldn't mind Ivanans sitting some games. The coaches must think he has more pros than cons, but I'd say his presence is a wash at best.

how about this... what do you think about Ivanans as a defensmen? I see much more upside if this was possible. Is it? Or no way?

No. Not because we lost to San Jose in a shootout, but because if we want 4 lines that can play in every situation, we need a better 4th line.
Ivanans seems to play every game. That's not my doing.
I see no reason Ivan couldn't be effective on that line. I think with Fro and Zus he'd have plenty of support and could stand at the net in the offensive zone, creating space for his linemates.
I also think my 4th line is head and shoulders better than the current one and we lose nothing with Moller up on the 3rd.
It doesn't seem like you understand any of this, though.

Everyone is talking about the San Jose loss as if it was a victory. What is wrong with you people? San Jose with the backup goalie, no cheecho, no pavelski and us losing to them is somehow a positive. Oh and we blew a 2-0 lead were HORRIBLE on the power play, gave up a short handed goal, but since we beat the totally worthless blues its all wonderful. Yeah good one. I bet you'll also think Barbie is a good goalie if he shuts out the Rangers even tho you know as well as I do all he has done is cost us games and will probably give up 5 in the next one to make up for it.

Alen, here's a little song you can sing along to... "You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative!"

What would you do differently besides acquire an elite goalie, get a new coach, and change the lines? I know, let's get new ownership, a new GM, Crosby, Lidstrom, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Seriously though, who would you be happy starting tonight and why?

Khabibulin was on the table and available and we passed at the time because we thought we couldn't compete apparently but now we're right in the playoff race and need to make some sort of move. My problem isn't the fact of who he puts where, its the carousel of lines that are constantly changing like the crawford days. It really didn't take 10 starts at the beginning to figure out Labarbera should NOT be starting but somehow it took 10. Now Ersberg is hurt and we have no choice but to start Labarbera, I'd still go with Quick. Young goalie with something to prove instead of the AHL goalie we anointed starter at the beginning of the season. Lababera has proven to be useless plenty of times during his career. GET RID OF HIM, he shouldn't even be a backup because even as a backup he comes in and loses games. How can one goaltender get beat 4 times with the exact same move. We're better off with a statue of JLB instead of the actual JLB.

U want lines? Okay first of all get rid of that midget Harrold who hasn't done anything now for two seasons where he has had a chance to prove himself. Let Preissing play, he does just fine on the power play and TM think of him as a defensive liability but the midget Harrold who is constantly being dropped by forechecking forwards apparently isn't? He reminds of Mike Weaver.

Offensive Lines(this is with moller gone)

Sully- Kopitar - Brown
Frolov-Stoll - Purcell
Calder- Handzus- Simmonds
Ivanans-Armstrong/Richardson-Zeiler

If Moller is playing put him on the line with handzus and drop calder or simmonds to 4th line. If they call up trevor lewis or boyle drop them in with handzus and again drop calder or simmonds. But for gods sake leave the lines the same for a while so they atleast get FAMILIAR with eachother. I don't care as much if its different LET THEM GET FAMILIAR with eachother.

Haha, waves, thats one of the first funny posts I've read on this site, mostly because it is true.

The first goal was a pretty good bounce for San Jose. Clowe was standing in front of the net and it bounced off the boards and right to him. That isn't Ersberg's fault. As far as the shorthander against, that was Doughty's fault, but even still it is hard to place too much blame. If he had gotten that puck back deep we wouldn't even be talking about it, but it took a weird bounce and Marleau is too good. It must be hard as a player knowing that your goalie can't stop a breakaway at all. The only blame I really place on Doughty is that he didn't hook Marleau hard enough to stop him. Take the penalty, then you have a 4 on 4. Oh well though.

If Quick got the start tonight, surprise wouldn't be the right word to describe my emotion. LaBarbera can't stop a breakaway or penalty shot or shootout to save his life, he's saved like 1 of 5 this year or something like that. And yea, he flops around and gives up bad goals. But to be honest, I really hope Quick doesn't play at all, unless it is like a back-to-back game, because that means that we had a really bad game.

Kings could do very well tonight but I don't think they will be confident enough in their netminder to really be effective and really play aggressive. I think with a team like the Rangers, they will focus so much on defense, especially with LaBarbara in net, that they will forget how to score.

Hope I'm wrong!

Alen
You're not serious with what you said, are you?
How good will Quick be in the NHL? Guess what...NOBODY KNOWS. Why are you annointing him...just because he isn't named LaBarbara..cmon man be sensible.

As far as the SJ "victory" nobody else has even gotten a point off of those guys since November.
Our team wasn't supposed to be able to compete with the Elite teams like SJ...guess what...we can compete with them and with a break or 2..beat them. They have injuries and so do we. Did you notice we lost our goalie during the game, or that doesn't count?

I'm more interested in what your expectations were coming into the season. You think that a new coach should be able to walk into training camp and in 3 weeks have steady lines and be able to know who the #1 goalie will be. Ersberg played only a few games last year. He was terrific, but his numbers in Mancester weren't. Let the coach play the guys and figure out who is and who isn't #1. He knows a lot more than you or I.
as far as being in the playoff race..I agree..I think we are in the race, but we have a ton of road games coming up. We'll know a lot more by the deadline whether we're in it or not. It makes no sense to make a knee-jerk trade for a Khabibulin when the season's not half over and you're getting solid goaltending from Ersberg.

Drop Simmonds to the 4th line...apparently you haven't seen what the guy has done on the checking line. If you did, you wouldn't mess with that line. They shut down Thornton completely on Monday. What more do you want from your checking line?

Eat -

Well, Ivanans doesn't have the defensive chops to skate on that line. Plus, I don't you want to give him those minutes. As far as "making too much of having a good fourth line," I don't think you're making too much of it. I do think, however, that the Moller version of the line is the best one we've seen this year (okay, the POS/Boyle/Harrold line was pretty effective too). I think the way to make the 4th unit better is to put Lewis on it instead of Ivanans or Zeiler. I actually think either of those guys can be effective on that line at times, depending on the situation. But I would be very interested to see what the Lewis/Moller/x line could do.

From what DL said the other day, I wouldn't be surprised to see both of Boyle and Lewis brought up in Moller's absence. Then we'll probably see those two with Zeiler/Ivanans on the 4th unit. How about Lewis/Boyle/Moller when Moller gets back? Hmmmm. Might not suck.

I don't think TM will change up his top three lines. He has to think they're working pretty well. I do think he's trying to see what Simmonds can do with the extra ice-time. And the Calder/Stoll/Brown line is working.

p.s. notice that the Calder line is basically TM's old 1st line with Kopitar replaced. He's just calling it the third line.

Doesn't anyone remember that Doughty DID pick up a penalty on that play for hooking Marleau? It got waived because of the goal...

Alen, while I agree that maybe Khabibulin may have been worth going after, maybe we wouldn't be playing as well in the "team defense" department if we'd had a guy covering for all the little mistakes.
As it stands, the team needs to avoid shootouts and we might be ok through the injury to Bergie. I've lost hope for Labs, but maybe a shaky goalie will help the guys solidify their game and when we get to March, if a goalie is still needed for the playoffs we can do it then.
Goalies are always coming available (thus I don't like spending high draft picks on goalies) and there are bound to be teams willing to make trades, sometimes for not very much return.
There are some really bad teams and sooner or later their going to want to make some moves for the future. Gerber, despite Ottawa's horrible record, has some great numbers and is very experienced. Also, Roloson has proven he's a money goalie and Edmonton found out what happens when he's injured that year in the finals. Conklin is pretty comparable to Labs - unbelievable he's in Detroit.
There's lots of young guys too. Hiller, Ben Bishop...if either the Ducks or Blues would make a deal I'd wouldn't mind having them in our system as well.

Finally Alen, I hate your lines. What's the point in changing if you're going to have the same unusable 4th line? I'd rather just keep it as is and have them going 4 minutes a night. I think we have the commitment and talent to roll 4 solid lines, but maybe it's not necessary. There's lots of teams that have a "utility" line that only does certain dirty jobs like fighting or hitting everything in sight. So if that's our philosophy with it, OK. I just don't know if that's what the mindset is.

ps - Preissing is a detriment. Harrold has by far outplayed him and is doing a lot of things you don't notice - like getting shots from the point or playing the puck around on the PP. He's no hall of famer, but he's getting better with more time. Last season he actually was in "plus" territory after coming up at the end of the season. Goat, as well, does more good than harm, so pay attention and notice their positives. You won't see that in Preissing, if he every dresses again.

Quisp - I'd love to see a Lewis/Boyle/Moller line. Absolutely love it.
But I don't get how Ivan can't play with two outstanding defensive forwards, but he CAN play with a rookie center and Mister Z. (not being antagonistic, just don't get that)
You know by now that I'd really give Ivan only spot duty and really wouldn't have Zeiler in LA, but if they're going to be here why not play them with two good forwards next to them instead of grouping a TOTALLY weak and incompetent 4th. Moller did well against some young and beat-up teams, but he's just not going to get the chance against the good teams.
Look to Detroit, everyone's favorite measuring stick, and you've got Draper with Kopecky (impressed me) and Maltby. That line could play at any time unless Detroit is trailing in the game (which they've been doing a lot of this season).
I have liked Calder, but still think he'd be best suited on a grind line. Stoll and Brown don't need him there and anyone will fit in with them. I'm still wondering what type of linemates Brown would be most effective with. As you said, he's a bit more of a possession guy and hasn't been setting up his linemates very much.

Who do you really thing Brown needs to be playing with? Or, what type of center and winger. I'd really still love to see Boyle center Brown and maybe Lewis or Moller, but a 4th line of Calder, Stoll, Simmonds is really what I want for Christmas. I might even pre-order some playoff tickets if that happened.

Cheers.

ps - check mail lately?

December 17, 2008 1:39 PM
Alen said:
Khabibulin was on the table and available and we passed at the time because we thought we couldn't compete apparently but now we're right in the playoff race and need to make some sort of move.

No, the Kings passed on him because of a) his 6.75 million dollar/year contract and b) his crappy numbers last year.

Nykingfan - some great points. We're injured, too.

I say Simmonds on the 4th line not as punishment but as creating a great 4th line. Maybe Ivan isn't going to be as good with Fro and Zus (there were great against Thornton's line) but as long as players like Boyle are going to be playing in Manch., it's not possible to plug anyone else in. Again it goes back to the idea that we have assets we're not getting to use because they're always getting plugged in with weak linemates and being told to get mean. I wish you'd get that. I've argued until blue in the face about it.

ps - read some archives from Dec. last year and, man, things were a mess. Even you were getting irate. Anyway, I'm definitely coming around on Lombardi and Murray and am glad they took some of my advice with the PP unit and Preissing. heehee. I'm also glad they didn't put Purcell on the 4th line with Ivan and Mister Z.

Now I know where wavesinair learned his hockey. The song "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" has a history in hockey according to Wikipedia:

"The song was covered by Dr. John for the 1992 movie The Mighty Ducks."

What's next, the flying wedge?

ETR

Where did you find the archives on last season?
That would be pretty cool to see how things have changed since last season.
I can't remember what the heck I said or was thinking at this time last year, but since we were in the midst of our death run, it had to be pretty ugly.

New Yawka,

On the main page look just under "recent comments" and there's "Archives." I didn't discover this blog until this past summer, but have looked back a couple times to see what people were saying. I was looking through the Dec. 2007 folder and reading the comments after a loss to Dallas and then Colorado. Some of the line combos and players (gabe gauthier) made me grin. I said somewhere else, mabye we'll turn out to be lucky to have had Crawford at that time. He let some of these guys prove they could play in this league and while his defense sucked, knowing you're good enough is big. Brown, Kopi, Fro, O'Sullivan, even Boyle, Purcell, Harrold, and Moulson maybe owe him a certain amount of thanks.

One thing is for sure. There were a lot more negative comments than there are now and the Kings seem to have cancelled a lot of practices in favor of team meetings.

GLORY, GLORY, MAN UNITED (i wish my exclamation point worked)