New lines today

Ivanans-Boyle-Zeiler

the only line not to change.

Calder-Handzus-Brown

i like this line.

Frolov-Kopitar-Simmonds
O'Sullivan-Stoll-Purcell
Armstrong-Richardson-Moller

not good.

Quick is also on the ice.

nice!

Finally Frolov and Kopitar are reunited! Simmonds is an interesting choice for that line. I like Handzus and Brown but not with Calder. Stoll with O'Sullivan and Purcell could be fun to watch.

Certainly time for a shake up.

Looking forward to some new combinations. I really feel like we have enough talent to be a bit more of a threat offensively.

Actually, I rather like the Sully-Stoll-Purcy line.

Good to see Quick healthy.

You recall Boyle because he goes on a scoring streak now you put him on the same non-productive line and they expect what from him? Are they doing this so when they try to resign him as a RFA they can claim that he hasn't produced and give him a bad contract?

I think Handzus and Simmonds have been the two players who have played really well together so far. But as it is, things need to be changed. Hopefully Armstrong can bring some energy to the team aswell, and I like the fact that Frolov gets the chance to play with Kopitar (or vice versa..)

Rich - Donde esta Preissing?

Coaches made the bed ,let them sleep in it. You can't expect to create offense when you play a 1-2-2 forecheck with the limited skill we have.Crawford would of had more out of them last nite.FAIL --Murray.

Not sure about putting Fro and Kopi on the same line. Sully and Purcell make a decent speed. Army, Richardson and Moller are just getting them on the ice.

Rich was Preissing on the ice for practice and also does this mean Moller will be scrathed tmrw?

the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Terry Rodney Murray needs to learn some new tricks.

If the IBZ line is so *magic*, why did their minutes go down in a horribly boring game?
I thought they were for energy and spark?
Boyle gets the best hit of the night, and makes the most creative drop pass of the night springing Doughty and he saw less ice-time than on Saturday.

Kudos to Murray for experimenting, he realizes scoring is a problem and is trying to find the solution. Hopefully Frolov will do damage.

You know, Marc Crawford's style of play was always too wide open for my taste, but it does work... as long as you're icing Sakic/Forsberg/Tanguay/Hejduk/Deadmarsh etc and Patrick Roy is your goalie. I think everyone agrees that Terry Murray and the coaching staff have done a good job of turning around this club's defense and a big part of that is the work done by the players. My beef with Terry Murray is that he keeps changing the lines after a loss and although he isn't the first or only coach to do this, he is doing it with a bunch of kids and veterans that should not be getting top line minutes. Plugging Kyle Calder anywhere in the line-up isn't helping this team. This is the guy that coached the Legion of Doom line for Christ's sake. Do you guys remember Leclair/Linros/Renberg and the chemistry they developed after playing together? I just don't get his philosophy or at least I don't agree with it. I also realize that some of you (waves) are pretty tired of me and the fans who bitch and moan about this subject, but trust me when I say I'm not trying to bug you. I'm just confused by this coach's rationale.

Mark...Boyle's recall didn't have anything to do with his scoring, neither did his demotion.

He was demoted because he was and is a 6'7" 250lb. forward playing smaller than Theron Fluery. If only he played with his heart. He was demoted so that he can learn to actually use that size (which he did do last night...he actually played fairly well in limited ice time).

When will people learn. Under Lombardi...under Murray, no player, EVER will be just handed ice time. You must earn EVERYTHING you get. Until Boyle shows them in limited ice time at the NHL level that he deserves to get more ice time, he will not, period.

15 forwards.
Who's going back to Manchester.

I think TM should try playing POS as a center again. Some of his best games were played at center.
He's very speedy when he picks up the puck from behind his own net and goes coast to coast.
When he's on wing, he gets bottled up in the neutral zone.
I would love to see Frolov-POS-Purcell
Try it your excellency. Everthing else you tried has failed.

@ mrbrett7,

I agree with your points about Boyle. He wasn't sent down to score goals - we already know he's capable. He was sent down just like you said to play bigger and meaner, and use his size better in ALL situations, not just scoring.

The management is trying to make sure he doesn't turn out to be a one-dimensional player. Just give it time, I have faith he'll eventually catch on.

Frolov-Kopitar-Simmonds
Calder-Handzus-Brown
O'Sullivan-Stoll-Purcell
Ivanans-Boyle-Zeiler
Armstrong-Richardson-Moller

Switch Moller and calder and I'm happy.

How long has Richardson been skating? How is his conditioning after not being able to skate for so long.

mrbrett,

If he used his size last night, and he's on an energy line, why doesn't Boyle play more last night or earn the line-promotion Lewis and Percy did?
I get the argument you make, but it's hard to not "read between the lines" with these interviews and opinions from inside. In fact, in sports there's always a "truth" behind the words.

Those lines could be alright with a couple tweaks:

Frolov-Kopitar-Simmonds
Moller-Handzus-Brown
O'Sullivan-Stoll-Purcell
Ivanans-Boyle-Calder

Armstrong-Richardson-Zeiler

And stop with the Kyle Calder crap.
Anybody with at least half a brain would easily recognize that he's no more than a 4th line utility player, if at that.

Frolov + Kopitar?

I'm convinced Kings coaches and management read this and LGK boards.

I-Pat,
Murray was also expected to win the cup that year but got swept in the Finals, and then out of Philly.
Last season, once '08 started the team went 1 game under .500 with no goalie. Maybe we weren't as broke as we thought. But of course Lubo, Cammi, and many others are gone, so we're not going to see the scoring just "come around." And despite the idea, learning a defensive system doesn't make you forget how to score a goal. Plus, are these guys practicing shooting and passing together after practice at all? I have no idea, but maybe some of these guys need to show a willingness to work together outside of practice to help speed up the understanding between them.
Also, we have no VETERAN players who are leaders.
Who on the team is going to challenge Murray to be better going forward or try to impress on him that he's not getting the best out of his players.
I'm not saying the Kings are a sinking ship, but Murray could be compared to a captain on a sinking ship. He's got some real problems with the team and the scoring, but his tactics remain the same: become the Ducks or die.

Re: someone being sent down

"Moller recalled
By Rich Hammond on January 6, 2009 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | ShareThis
As expected, the Kings recalled Oscar Moller after his stint with Sweden's junior national team. Because there was an open roster spot, the Kings won't need to make a corresponding move. "

Same thing as before this will not get any results Terry is trying to spread the scoring over 3 lines and its just diluting the talent. Should focus on getting 2 really good lines so opposing teams cant just match up against the 1st line.

Anthony -

I think Richardson is on IR, so no-one needs to be sent down. It would be great if he were healthy, because I think his services are needed about now.

Rich -

I think the point behind the lines is literally to shake everything up. By definition, it's clear those can't be the lines tomorrow. You've got one guy who we know will be playing (Moller) skating on a line with two injured guys (Richardson and Armstrong). You know, now that I think about it, maybe the message is this:

Moller will be going in somewhere, whose spot will he take?

I think he'll go in for Zeiler, and the real lines will be the first four listed, with the fourth being Ivanans/Boyle/Zeiler.

However, I would also just say that Murray has said repeatedly that he's looking for a #1 line to step up. Really, that's either about hoping your big names (Kopitar, Brown, POS, Frolov, Stoll, Handzus) make that happen, or it's about finding some other magic combination of names other than those guys. Call it the third line, whatever, and see if they can outscore the other lines. I think (back-seat driver that I am) he should give a look to:

Purcell/Boyle/Moller
Purcell/Moller/Simmonds
POS/Moller/Purcell
Frolov/Purcell/Moller
Frolov/Boyle/Simmonds

simonsez said:
Those lines could be alright with a couple tweaks:

Frolov-Kopitar-Simmonds
Moller-Handzus-Brown

also... Anonymous made the same point about putting Moller with Zus and Brown. I couldn't agree more. Good thinking you guys.

ETR...who is going to center the 4th line?

You, and others, have this fascination that Boyle could or should be on the wing...he shouldn't for one simple reason. They want him to be a center.

They never wanted O'Sullivan to be a center because he simply is not strong enough. His defensive work, behind his own net, simply is not good enough. Now, that's fine, because on most nights, his board play in his own zone is just fine.

Boyle on the other hand, with his size and strength should be an absolute freakin' monster in his own zone, both along the boards and in his own zone behind his net. For the most part, defensively, that is the center's responsibility. Defensemen, by in large, are never to go behind their own net unless it is to retrieve the puck.

Oddly enough, pound for pound, watch Stoll. He's excellent defensively in his own zone because he has great vision. Handzus is really who Boyle should be watching as their demeanor is really similar. Both are really gentle giants, but, Handzus learned early how to use his size to his advantage. You don't have to be a terror to use your size. But you do need to be a prick sometimes.

One more comment regarding the scoring problems... It just occured to me that by spreading out the admittedly somewhat limited offensive creativity on this team across four lines, you sort of end up with not much concentrated threat anywhere. The Ducks don't have loads either but notice they always maximize Getzlaf and Perry together as a proper first line. Anyone have any thoughts about that?

number6,

I totally agree. If we had a glut of offensive creativity it would be fine to spread it out, but we don't. So why do it? And if your name is a reference to The Prisoner, I say kudos to you sir. If it's not than I'll just assume you really dig Sean O'Donnell.

mrbrett7,

Excellent points about Stoll and how Boyle should be learning from Handzus. I would not be opposed to having Boyle center a line with Handzus on his wing for the next 10+ games to help Boyle like how he has mentored Simmonds.

number6,

I totally agree. If we had a glut of offensive creativity it would be fine to spread it out, but we don't. So why do it? And if your name is a reference to The Prisoner, I say kudos to you sir. If it's not than I'll just assume you really dig Sean O'Donnell.

mrbrett7,

Excellent points about Stoll and how Boyle should be learning from Handzus. I would not be opposed to having Boyle center a line with Handzus on his wing for the next 10+ games to help Boyle like how he has mentored Simmonds.

Well, we knew there would be some changes... and of course this will change as Moller gets moved higher into the rotation.

Glad to see Frolov bumped up, rather than, well, pretty much anyone else. If that first line does stay the same, it'll be interesting to see if Simmonds can skate with them. The man loves going into the corners but he often ends up taking out the man but not getting the puck cleanly.

I'd still rather see Lewis here than Zeiler. He added some spark.

Skill players need to play with skill players...

Calder needs to play with himself. Then at least SOMEONE will be satisfied by the end of the evening.

FINALLY. Those previous line combos were horrible. There is no way Frolov should be wasted on the third line.

number 6 -

I agree. Here's what I would do if I were Terry Murray instead of, well, me.

(1) appear to stack the first line. Frolov/Kopitar/Brown. I think the old wisdom about Frolov and Kopitar both being puck possession guys is not operational right now. Why? Because Kopitar is not playing like a puck possession guy. Anyway, the other team will have to key on this line, since it's all our top scorers.

(2) skate a defensive "stopper" line of Calder/Handzus/Stoll. Call it the #2 line. Use it like a stopper line.

(3) third line: POS/Moller/Purcell. Call it the third line. But give it the same amount of ice-time as the first unit. Because it's the real co-first unit and they will score as much or more than the putative first unit. Let the opposition decide who to defend against. They're going to have to send someone weak out against this line. Or else they'll have to ignore Kopitar and Frolov.

(4) Bring up Lewis. Skate a fourth line of Lewis/Boyle/Simmonds. Tell them their jobs are to get the puck and hold onto it. This is not a bruiser (prototypical) fourth line. This is a doppelganger of our second (Handzus) line. They do the same thing the second line does (stopper), and they're used against the second threatening line of the opposition. Simmonds and Lewis are extremely sound defensively. And Boyle's reach goes from one face-off dot to the other.

(5) Actually roll four lines. The key to this idea is for Terry Murray to keep the scoring lines (the Moller line and the Kopitar line) equal in ice-time, even while calling the Kopitar line #1. Similarly, the second and fourth lines should also see equal time. Nobody gets 5 minutes per game.

Irish Pat -

I was thinking he was really into Doug Houda.

mrbrett,

ETR...who is going to center the 4th line?

We have about 5,000 centers on this team. Pick any one of them.

And, Boyle isn't going to learn a thing playing 5.5 minutes a game with those guys on his wing.
We're almost to the half-way point of the season. Maybe we'll see some changes in philosophy. I doubt it, but maybe.
I think that Murray and Lombardi are trying to become more like the Ducks against the Senators than the Wings against P'burgh as evidenced in Gann Matsuda's article about Lombardi, Goaltending, and Teubert/defensemen.

Quisp,

As always you make insightful points. To comment on your logic:

1.) I'll admit that I am in the camp that sees no sense in putting Fro and Kopi on the same line since they both like to carry the puck and are very adept at it, but you're right and maybe Fro can take some of the pressure off of Kopi. I guess we'll find out on Thursday.

2.) I like the defensive stopper line idea, but I can't get on board with Calder. Call it a hang up, but I wish Lombardi would just dump him already. Slip Simmonds in and I'm with you. Kid can play.

3.) I really like this line. If they got the chance to play together I think each player's creativity would come through not to mention their collective skating. Watching these 3 guys move their feet in the offensive zone for 3 periods would be great.

4.) This line is good too. If you move Simmonds up though and waive/trade/banish Calder you could perhaps use Richardson. Best part about this is you didn't use Zeiler, Ivanans or Armstrong. It can be done!

5.) I agree the Kings should roll 4 lines more consistently, but only if they use your line combos. The fact that Murray doesn't should show how much faith he doesn't have in the players he's putting on that 4th line.

And lastly, Doug Houda... wow... Doug Houda. We are so lucky to be looking forward to JMFJ, Doughty, Hickey, Teubert and Voi(y/j)nov soon.

Love you post quisp. Agree completely

Irish Pat -

I'm with you on Calder, although he has had some (more or less pointless) jump lately. I do think he will be dealt in the next two months. I put him on that line because realistically I don't think he's going anywhere right now; not until DL can get a pick for him.

I also agree re Frolov and Kopitar. I just see this as a way to jump start Kopitar. Like you said, "take the pressure off." And, like I said earlier, Kopitar is not playing puck possession right now, so the concern is moot. For the time being.

My entire suggestion is really only about dealing with the current situation.

Also, I think once my shadow first line of POS/Moller/Purcell starts filling the net, there will be no turning back. I know why Murray won't put this line together: he worries about the defensive abilities of Purcell and POS in general, and he has reservations re Moller's ability to play the defensive side at center because of his lack of physical maturity at his young age of 12, or whatever he is now. That's why he did that kind of brilliant gambit of having Moller play center on one side of the red line and Handzus play center on the other side. Anyway, he should still try this line. Maybe they will rise to the challenge...

Irish Pat, to be honest it's just my lucky number, but thanks for the compliment anyway :-)
.... and thanks Quisp. A little support goes a long ways. I just think that what we've been saying above makes common sense. Also, it occurs to me that clearly TM IS very strong defensively. It's his strong suit as a former defenseman. But he could do maybe with some outside input from someone who Understands the creative dynamics of the offensive game.
Oh, and I had the same problems with the movable type error.

Bye for now you guys.

New lines today, what a surprise! Has anyone considered possibility that the constant changing of the lines could be part of the reason for the lack of scoring production? To me it seems as though the lines just need time to work through their scoring slumps. There has been no consistency with the lines, and very little chemistry has developed as a result. If one line combo doesn't produces several goals in one game then TM will change it up again. This is annoying to me as a fan, and must be annoying to the players as well. Just give the kids time to gel already. It's a young team and we can't expect 5 goals a night, but give these kids some time together and see what they can do!

ETR...just because someone is listed as a center coming out of Juniors and/or college and/or Europe, does not make them a center in the NHL.

Cammy was a center in college...still think he should be playing center in the NHL?

Point is...don't get blinded by a listed position (yes, I know, I've been saying just the opposite).

Irish...I really like the idea of playing Handzus on a wing with Boyle. He has mentored Simmonds so well, no reason to think he couldn't do the same with Boyle.

What some are not realizing about Boyle is his offensive ability at this level isn't really in question. I don't think Murray, Lombardi, and the rest of the staff question whether or not if he can score in the NHL. Give him 15/20 minutes per night, and he will probably score 50-60 points in a season. The problem is, he will also probably be around a -25 or -30 right now. He is so bad defensively, that you just cannot give him more ice time on a team that stresses defense first.

@EAT - "Last season, once '08 started the team went 1 game under .500 with no goalie. Maybe we weren't as broke as we thought."

We were 18-19-5, which if you break into wins and losses solely is 18-24. I wouldn't call that a game under .500, more like 6 games under and definitely broken. When you are out of the playoff hunt in December, there's definitely something wrong.

2008 finished with 41 points in 42 games... fairly similar points results to this season's 38 points in 39 games with a heavily loaded home schedule.

Last season's December was horrible, this one was tepid and at times there were flashes of brilliance.

We'll need more than 82 points to get to the playoffs and with the road heavy schedule ahead of us. We'll be lucky to keep at our current point production.

I don't understand why people don't understand that 2 puck possession guys on the same line is a BAD thing???
How do you play puck possession without guys who are good with the puck?
The Russians in the WJC's showed what it's like to play with 5 puck possession players scored a lot against a stingy canada.
You're supposed to use 5 guys possessing the puck so that you can eventually tap the puck into an open net.
Murray's philosophy is for cycling and forechecking - not puck possession.
If the coach doesn't change, and he doesn't get replaced, I see the Euro's getting moved for they types of guys he thinks fit into that highly canadian style.

And Calder isn't going anywhere at this price but to our 4th line. The sooner we accept that he and Preissing are untradeable the better.
Not only does a team in the playoffs not have the cap space or need for them, but teams out of the playoffs probably don't see these two as bridges to the future.
Unless Calder has a great next 2 months, who will be looking to add him? The Wings picked him up from Philly a couple years ago but at the time I think he was much cheaper and they probably had more cap space.
I think we're stuck there.

I'm starting a new acronym: FCOLA (For Crying Out Loud Anthony)...
FCOLA--not everything TM has done was a failure. Building a team/franchise will have bumps. I'm willing for now to score less so long as our defensive structure continues to improve and enables the team to eventually move to focus on the offense. There won't be 1980's Edmonton Oilers champions these days. Solid defense gives us a chance to win, which is more than 3.5 goals a game with Swiss Cheese defense ever gave us.
Patience my friend.

Sorry,

Should read: I don't understand why people THINK two puck possession guys on the same line IS a bad thing???

EAT, it's both Kopi and Fro generally always elect to pass rather than shoot.

This could lead to two outcomes.

Either A: One of them is forced to start shooting more
or
B: Neither adjusts and they stay along the boards the whole time, leaving Simmonds, who is great but no sniper, as the only one willing to shoot the damn puck.

Personally I hope this makes Frolov shoot more, because he has one hell of an accurate shot. Ideally Simmonds is crashing the net causing trouble for the goalie.

JDM, I'd rather see them tapping it into the open net after a return pass from a defender than shooting from off the boards.
I don't see that happening much, though.
When is the last time you saw a defenseman activate and jump into the play?
I guess Doughty does it some so it could happen, but I think we should pair up Harrold and Doughty on more than just the PP so that we can start scoring some more with the changed lineups.
Defense must play a big role in scoring.

If there was a God, and I'm just saying, Kyle Calder would be playing in the AHL right now.

Having said that, I'll continue browsing my Richard Dawkins library.

mrbrett, if you'd play boyle with some decent wingers like Patrick and Dustin how do you have defensive liability?
Plus, Cammi at center may be a good idea, but it's not an option in LA - that thought wasn't so ridiculous.
We've got Moller, Richardson, Purcell, Lewis, and Sully who can plug in there at the very least. And if you want to teach defending to a center through the 4th line you could always drop Kopi there, according to the "philosophy."

Light da lamp - do your math.

We were 18-19-5, which if you break into wins and losses solely is 18-24.

You take away 6 points in the second equation. How does that make a lick of sense?
1 game under .500, is one game under .500.
By your reasoning Dec. of '08 was barely better than Dec. of '07. And our record is no better than last seasons to this point.
I find it hard to see anything making sense in what you wrote.

ETW,

It's not 2 puck possesion guys, it's 2 puck carriers. Frolov and Kopitar both like to carry the puck on their tape into the opponents defensive zone and are excellent at doing so by both distributing the puck and playing keep away from the other team's D. A good example of this is when they each play on the power play. Jason Allison was a good example of this as well. He was excellent along the walls. It's not insane to put them together on the same line, but they are both so effective with the puck in this capacity that it makes sense to keep them on separate lines. Really, Frolov passing the puck to Stoll with his shot in front of the net would be ideal. Kind of like if Cammi played center with Fro, but Stoll doesn't get knocked down as much because he isn't a midget.

Irish -
I won't argue that maybe Brown or Moller would be a better winger to go with on that line, but what can we do?
I see your point, but I think those guys (K&F) are pretty good passers, too.

BTW - I've been told I'll probably switch my screename again, and if I choose "eat the witch" you get all the credit.
hee hee.

Good job TM. I think the timing is perfect for some line changes.
We're all going to find out how well the combos work in the coming days and weeks. Who knows, maybe it's possible that TM knows what he's doing and really isn't dumber than all of us.
I like the idea of putting Simmonds on the top line. He played well late in the Philly game with Kopitar.

Note to Anthony and Marty...stop with the personal attacks against the coach. Disagree if you want, but you don't need to call him "fail Murray" or "Try it your excellency. Everthing else you tried has failed".
We're in January battling for a playoff spot. How were we last January?

ETR
"Murray was also expected to win the cup that year but got swept in the Finals, and then out of Philly."

At least he got there. When the hell was the last time we've been there?

"Last season, once '08 started the team went 1 game under .500 with no goalie".

We were ELIMINATED by January 08.

"Also, we have no VETERAN players who are leaders.
Who on the team is going to challenge Murray to be better going forward or try to impress on him that he's not getting the best out of his players."

Do you expect a "veteran" to walk into Murray's office and demand that Zeiler sit..or that he needs to bench LaBarbara? What player of substance would ever do that? The coach runs the team. The inmates don't run the asylum. I'm sure Brown communicates with TM, but there can only be one head coach. The players are well aware of the chain of command. Think Before you post hogwash like that. You make it sound like Murray's some scared coach who needs a good, stern talking to.

nykingfan,

I'd say Igor Larionov changed the Sharks and the Wings into winners as a player, mister.
There's a reason you don't win much with a bunch of kids in any pro sport, they need on field/ice leaders who know some tricks.
The Kings got to the Finals once too, but they won a game and took 3 of the losses to overtime, my friend. I don't see any of us resting on those laurels that came 2 years before Murray's shot with a STACKED Philedelphia team.
I didn't know you wash Hogs, i sometimes eat them.
I never implied murray needs a strong talking to, I just said maybe he needs to go with somebody else's ideas going forward on offense.
Do you think Murray knows as much about offense as Igor or Shanahan or even Kopitar? He was a fair to middlin' defenseman, all he knows is cycle, dump and chase.
I'm not the one who can't get the team to score.
You'd at least think we'd have a 50/50 chance on 5 on 3's but I don't think we do. Are we .500 on 5 on 3's?

Oh yeah,
Nobody is mathematically out by January.

cmon ETR you thought we had a legitimate shot last january to make the playoffs? We were done by that point. We all watched the games because we're loyal fans.

We made it to the cup finals with less than a stacked team? We had 1/2 the cup winning Oiler players on the roster. That was a stacked team.

Why wasn't Larionov or Shanahan player coaches...since they know more about the game than the actual coach does? Coaches are paid to coach, players are paid to play. If he needs input he'll ask. It doesn't work the other way. He has competent assistant coaches to help and offer advice to him.
You think because TM was a defenseman, he doesn't know anything about offense? That my friend, is ridiculous and you know it. How did Al Arbour...a stay at home defenseman, coach guys like Bossy, Potvin etc? Since Arbour never won a cup as a player, how did he coach the Islanders to all those Stanley Cups? There's a lot more to coaching than just X's and O's. TM has done a good job whereveer he's been and he's doing a terrific job here.
I'll agree with you that offensively we have some issues. In my opinion I think it has a lot to do with focus on the defensive end. That doesn't excuse the lack of effort against Anaheim the other night.

I wash the hogs first, then eat em.

nykingfan,

I agree that it doesn't take a guy who's won or played good offense to win, but usually it does take some veteran on ice talent that has more knowledge than the coach about what they're doing on the ice. You can't defer to the coach in the middle of a shift. Some players naturally understand the game completely. I think Larionov falls into that category and I know for a fact that the guy is SUPER competitive in any situation.
By the way, I'm not talking about verbally challenging the coach in front of the players, I'm talking about veterans talking with rookies and offering advice on game situations even though it may run contrary to some of the things the coach says. I DO think that Murray could use some coaching help on the offense though, and that he'd be wise to seek some opinions about how to turn it around, especially on the PP. Even Team Canada in the WJC's was able to effectively institute some creative PP looks and it won them the Tourney.
I eat the hog, then wash it down with ale.

Cheers

I have no doubt Larionov would be that type of leader on a team. He's won enough cups and World cahmpionships to prove that.
I think with time Dustin Brown can become that guy. He's shown a willingness to go the extra mile with the young kids...he spoke with them during developmental camp before training camp. He's doing all the little things that a leader should be doing. I'm sure he has a ton more to learn, but he's just starting.
That's the whole idea behind what DL is doing. He wants the core guys to become the leaders of this team, so that when we're ready to win, the leadership of this team will be in place. We have no idea if TM will be here when that time comes, but we do know that Brown and Kopitar will be here.

My thoughts on the PP is that guys seem tentative. I think the best thing they can do is throw it at the net and create havoc and traffic in front and get a few "dirty" goals. that might ease the tension.

Forget the hog...bring on the Ale.

but we do know that Brown and Kopitar will be here.

I hope this remains true. But, I'm worried about the Kopitar part.

Did you watch the WJC's and see Canada's PP setup? They played a (from the defense forward) a 1-2-2. It's an experimental look and I've no idea if its attempted in the NHL, but its worth considering.
I think throwing the puck on net can work sometimes, but often its just a turnover and you end up retrieving the puck from your own end after the clear. But I do see what you're saying.

MMmmm, DUFF ALE, aaggghhhh.

cheers.