Chat tonight?

Does Murray consider Quick the #1 goalie yet ?

I'd be up for the chat if I knew in advance it was coming. Should be a great game and a real test for the Kings, as well as the next game at NJ.

My question for Terry Murray would be what are his early impressions of Drewiske now that he's played a couple of games?

I'd like to know what TM expects from Davis Drewiske while he is here with the big club as far as style of play, etc. Also, how does he think he did in Ottawa and is he in the line up tonight?

Thanks-

Rich, can you ask Terry Murray to elaborate on the Tom Preissing situation?

I would ask TM how he feels about the play of Brad Richardson. I would be up for chat tonight...

Can you please ask him what he thinks of the Richardson, Simmonds and Handzues line? That line has a lot of speed with Richardson and Simmonds on the wings and I felt that they were BY FAR the most effective line in OTT. I would really like to see this line stay together.

Thanks Rich!

hey rich, can you find out how he will adjust the line up when moller is back? and how he feels about the brown-stoll-calder line lately?

I won't be at the chat tonight because I have class. Shame, during this 4-1-1 stretch the only game I saw was the Colorado win.

But I'd love to ask TM his opinion on whether the Kings should make a move to add some scoring depth, and how Quick fits in with the team's plans for the future (with Ersberg and Bernier).

Agree with nayagamj, I'd be very interested to find out why the Kings chose to recall Drewiske instead of simply dressing Preissing. Preissing hasn't been bad this season (in my opinion he's less of a defensive liability than Gauthier is and certainly no worse defensively than Harrold) but it seems he's put himself in Murray's doghouse permanently.

Preissing has vertigo per LA Times

I would be interested to know his thoughts on having another rookie defenseman in the lineup

Interesting topic on the Leafs message board.Would you trade Schenn for Doughty?

I would like to know how he chooses to handle Ovechkin tonight. Mainly if he will assign either Doughty or Johnson to shut him down.

(I'm interested in this because Johnson is more rugged, and with Ovie's game it could be a great battle. But on the other hand, Doughty did an excellent job shutting him down in the first meeting at Staples)

thanks

Quick question for Murray, "What's the ETA on Moller?"

chat

As for the chat, may I say:

Do It, Do It, Do It!

Ask TM is we are going to see Kevin Westgarth again this year?

They dressed Drewiske probably because:

1) They've been giving the call-ups their shot all season. Why stop now?

2) Preissing has had his chances. It's pretty much a sure bet he'll be gone before or at the trade deadline. If not then, the end of the season.

3) Drewiske has played very well on his minor league club. He deserves a shot, as does any other youngster that works hard for it.

How does TM think Quick is developing? Can he comment on the breath of fresh air that a consistant goalie can bring to the rink every night?

Questions for Murray.

1 - I've noticed a Calder/Stoll/Simmonds line for about 3 shifts this season and was impressed. Why doesn't Murray try this combination more?

2 - We've given up the most goals on a by-period basis in the 3rd period. Does Murray recognize that the "prevent defense" has often cost the team and "prevented" a win - just like in the NFL's "prevent defenses?"

3 - Why is there an inconsistency in the "punishment" department? For example, Stoll and Frolov have both been "punished" through benchings and line-dropping, but players like Greene, Doughty, and Calder have made crucial late game mistakes without, seemingly, receiving any similar punishments.

Thanks for the opportunity Rich.

PS - I like the regular "game thread" because its possible to go back and read the comments that posters were making during the game.

cheers

I also want to hear his thoughts on Richardson. Does he feel he is getting the most out of him or does he feel Brad has a higher upside? Basically, down the line what role does he see Richardson fitting best? Checker, grinder or scorer?

Also I'm always up for a chat! Love em anytime you can do em Rich.

Since it's an east coast game and some of us will still be wrapping up our 9to5 when the puck drops, I think the update chat will still be cool. I don't know how accurate the counter feature is but it looked like there were over 100 guests in the chat for the 3rd period.

A question for Murry,
At then end of the MTL game, Murry and Derek Armstrong stayed out on the ice, both visibly agitated and exchanged "pleasantries" with the officials. Could you get Murry and/or Armstrong to comment on what the conversation might have been about? eh
I'm guessing they were talking about who was going to win the Superbowl???

Hey Rich, please ask Terry about the horrible powerplay the kings are playing this year. Why the players on the point never make a cycle play?? (when I see Detroit's powerplay point mans ours look static) And why doesn't Kopitar play more near the players on the point??

Just that from me,
sorry for spelling and other errors.

yours truly blog reader,
4ndr3y

Good day Rich,

I'd be interested in knowing if TM has ideas on generating more scoring from the tremendous end-to-end, transitional puck carrying abilities of Doughty and Simmonds.

Semi set-plays with the trailing player ready to either take a drop pass at the blueline or else crash the net heavily and try to get a rebound... anything really. Can we take better advantage of our speed and grit?

Ask Terry:
Ask Terry where he feels Moller can fit.

"littleballofhate said:
Interesting topic on the Leafs message board.Would you trade Schenn for Doughty?"

It made me sick when the Montreal guys were going on about Doughty being "like Schenn".

I've seen Schenn play some games and color me unimpressed so far. Doughty is by far the best rookie defenseman this season. Look how much ice time he logs and how it quiets down the back end when he's in there. He has presence that i've not seen in a long time.

for TM - Why Drewiske and not Hickey? Is it a size/weight thing? Just curious how the choice is made who to call up. Thanks Rich!

Hickey can't be called up from juniors.

Karl Alzner (currently in the AHL) is the only rookie dman that has been even near the level of play Doughty has exhibited this year. He doesn't have near the offensive ability DD has though.

Viktor Kozlov is out tonight for the Caps.

I'd like to know if Murray still thinks Kopitar has improved his game from last year like he said earlier in the year.

Rich,I think TM should have his players study films of the red wings power play and there offensive entres into the zone.(couldn`t hurt).Our pp looked awful last game.Another BIG game.

Kopitar is on a pace to have his worst season so far, essentially the same numbers as his rookie year, but with worse +/-. That's right, his +/- is getting worse on a team that's improved its overall +/- by a few dozen goals. His shooting % is down (as has been empirically obvious, just considering all the open nets he's missed). He looks like he's skating in slow-motion. Calder was supposedly slowing him down (remember that?), but now Calder is on fire, on the third line with Stoll and Brown that is in effect our first line.

I'm not saying he's bad. But facts are facts. This is a slump that's been going on since day one of this season and is now threatening to be a season-long slump. It's already officially an "off-year."

It would be nice if he snapped out of it soon. If the Kings are at .500 with Kopitar asleep at the wheel, imagine where they would be if he woke up.

Quisp.

Its really irritating to read criticism of our best player.
Is this a bad year for Kopitar? Maybe by the way you look at it.
Is this the Kings best year since he's been a member of the squad? Arguably.
I can't for the life of me understand why someone so keyed in to what is going on with the team saves his criticism for the best player on the team.
I though you were in favor of Murray's defensive system and his player management?
We continue to have little secondary scoring from players like Simmonds, O'Sullivan, Handzus, Zeiler, Ivanans, Richardson, Armstrong, O'Donnel, Gauthier, Greene, etc...

I think you miss the point completely.

Ask TM if he thinks they'll make some moves at the deadline, seeing how they are in playoff contention. Can't do the chat, I'll be there. If anyone sees a bald guy on the glass behind the net in a circa-mid 90s black jersey, that's me....

rich...

so many questions already...

if it's possible...can you ask t.m. about putting stoll or jj at the point on one of the pp units...?

i like the space the stoll has at the top of the circle/pts. because the defense starts to respect his shot and opens up lanes/shot ops for him...and since it seems he might have the heaviest shot on the team, it makes sense...
i know t.m. and co. were doing it at the start of the season...why not now...?

also...

since t.m. and his brother b.m. have management rolls for competing teams, are there any league rules from prohibiting two family members on opposite teams in handling deals/transactions with their respective teams...? are there worries of collusion...?
how do they handle situations like that...?

thanks as always, rich...

Quisp--ever think the Kopitar slump is post-big-contractitis?

EAT THE RICH:

Not sure why it's irritating for you to read criticism at the best player? He's only stating the facts and adds that he skates slow (in his opinion). My "beef" is I think he (Kopitar) is not managing his minutes on the ice very well. Some shifts he plays well over a minute, that adds to the +/- stats because he runs out of juice. Maybe that is what Quisp is seeing?

Another player I've had a "beef" with for well over 2 years is Frolov. His untimely "time off's" during the seasons, his lack of body checking ability or fear, to name some. I've only seen 2 games this season where he actually had a hit on a player...2 games!! Yes, you can argue that he's not a checker, but it takes more of an efforet to avoid being checked than actually check!

The point is: we all have our reasons for critiquing players. Some reasons are better than others, but there's no need to be irritated. It's just opinions...

Rich, I have to agree with Eat, in that the after game chat is nice to have for thoughts/debates, etc.

I'm not "saving" my criticism for anybody. He's having a bad year. He started the year (first 30-ish games) on a pace for just under 30 goals and in the last twenty games he's scored exactly twice. Twice. Same as Ivanans and Armstrong.

If you look at the last three seasons, he's been our best player. But he hasn't been our best player this year.

Of your secondary scoring list, POS is also having a bad year. Handzus and Simmonds are having great years. And nobody expects any "secondary" scoring from Zeiler, Ivanans, Gauthier, SOD or Greene.

Look at it this way, Eat. Goalies are playing well. D has been strong all year. Shots are down. Goals against are down. Third line (Brown etc) is playing great. Second line (Handzus) has been the most consistent all season. Literally, what does that leave?

That's right. First line. Who is that? Kopitar.

I applaud him for learning to be defensively responsible. But, really, how long is it acceptable for him to be scoring at a 19 goals/season pace? Is it okay for this to go on for the rest of the season? How about all of next year?

I didn't think so.

BakoCA -

Sure, yeah. And he's a kid, too. It's a lot of pressure. Look, I like him. But I'm not going to pretend he's playing great. First line must score. That's its job.

JA, re "managing his minutes":

Could be. For the record, I don't think Kopitar is slow; but I think he's not moving his feet. There have been a few games this season when he turned it up a notch. The rest have been tentative.

Quisp.

It's only in this system that, apparently, 3rd and 4th line scoring is not expected.
It's archane.
Jiri Hudler has more goals than Handzus and Simmonds combined, and he's often a 3rd or 4th liner.
O'Sullivan is falling way short of what he should be doing.
I just don't understand why you back the coach when I criticize him, but you criticize Kopitar who is leading the way for our team.
The "CBS" line has been real good the past 5 games, but prior to that we saw a horrible 2 month slump where the game-plan only occasionally worked.
On top of that, Murray continues to mix up the lines from even strength to PP, so I don't think it's Kopitar who's responsible for less points.
If you want to criticize someone, criticize the coach.
Kopitar has been playing great at both ends of the ice and Murray's secondary lines have been costing us games. I.E. - the oft referred to 4line/3rd defensive pairing fiasco's.
It's irritating to read criticism of Kopitar because you mentioned him as trade bait, and if the Kings trade this 22 year old wonder, they deserve to be abandoned and go bankrupt.
Save your criticism for Doughty. He's only 3 years Kopitar's junior and he's taken tons of bad penalties, and made tons of bad mistakes that have cost us victories or points. Kopitar has NOT ONCE, IMO, been guilty of such a breakdown.

"I applaud him for learning to be defensively responsible. But, really, how long is it acceptable for him to be scoring at a 19 goals/season pace? Is it okay for this to go on for the rest of the season? How about all of next year?
I didn't think so."

I don't know why you post a question if you're going to answer yourself. It's hardly rhetorical.
If the team-wide offensive slump continues, it should be Murray who pays the price, not Kopitar.
Of course, if we have horrible offensive stats and win the Western Conference, I don't think anyone will care too much.

Plus, if you don't expect the secondary scoring to come from secondary players, I don't know where it will come from.
Simmonds is playing great this year offensively? He has 11 points (4g, 7 assists).
Handzus has 22 points 2/3 of the way through the season...hardly "great" for Handzus.

Kopitar's minus numbers came in bunches in December, as well, when the entire team was floundering. IMO - Kopitar's struggles are tied to Murray's game plan. If you want to solve them, you'll have to get rid of Murray or be patient.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/3788/gamelog;_ylt=Al6Pc2aQyfmctucXeBcimL3CfgM6

Bollocks.
Above comment was from me.

Guys I like Wayne Simmonds and all but when did he become the sudden "great player" with scoring 4 goals. People are ripping Kopitar and in the same sentence saying what a great player Simmonds is and the dude has 4 goals.

Keep it in perspective. I like the team, and there are some changes to be made in the off season hopefully to get upgrades and build from within but don't tear down guys like this.

They're pro's and if they do poorly or do stupid things they deserve some grief but people here have a habit of taking one guy and riding him on the rail out of town....and there have been several that didn't deserve nearly the crap they took.

This team is in the hunt when nobody thought they would be (besides the kool aide drinkers). Support them and see what they can do but don't get so down on guys that don't deserve it. They're probably harder on themselves than you are.

Dan H.

Thanks for speaking up.

I didn't say Simmonds was putting up great offensive numbers. I said I thought he was playing great. Same with Handzus. They have different roles than Kopitar does.

I'm not "so down" on anybody. Kopitar is not playing well. I hope he snaps out of it.

I never said we should trade him. I believe I hypothesized that his value was on a par with Spezza.

If I might make an observation: it seems to me that your comments tend toward extremes. I don't think mine do. I'm not interested in engaging in a flame war; and I'm not ranting. I just don't think Kopitar is having a good year so far. Hopefully he'll turn it around.

Quisp.

Wasn't trying to engage in a flame war, just trying to support Kopitar in the face of criticism.
You did say Handzus and Simmonds are playing great despite their lack of points.
I'd say the same of Kopitar.
That's all.
Wasn't trying to imply you were ranting, just getting it wrong.
Opinions, that's all.

Kopitar rocks.