Gauthier suspended five games

appropriate

Sounds about right... What did Komisarek get? He raised the elbow two games in a row.

Seems fair. The question is, how will the Kings respond on the ice, and how well do they play without him in the lineup. From what I recall, they'd played rather well without him in the games he's sat.

We shall see..

Five games seems about right. He's a repeat offender. Now Preissing can get some ice-time.

I think the penalty fits the crime.

Too bad he wasn't suspended for the rest of the season.
5 days is too good for him.

Now I know most of you guys have been very critical of Gauthier. And rightfully so.
But I think that TM needs to held accountable as well.
Gauthier has no business beeing on this roster.

Ater the team beat Chicago, Why the hell did this coach feel that Gauthier had to be reinstated in the line-up.
What does Gauthier bring to the table?
What does he see in Gauthier and Calder for that matter?
Im sick and tired of TM and this obsession and obligation to ex-flyer players.
If it wasn't for bad coaching, the Kings would have beaten Montreal.

Gauthier's stupid penalty put the kings down a player for 5 minutes.
Calder took 2 stupid penalties in the third and gave Montreal 2 power plays.
Between these two clowns we were down 9 minutes in the game. And 4 minutes in the crucial third period.
Who knows how the game would have turned out if Gauthier and Calder didn't play.

I'm tired of this so called obligation TM has for these ex-flyer players.
Waive Calder and Gauthier.
And Fire TM.

Preissing still won't see the ice. If Moller can go, he will be back up front and Harrold goes back on D. If Moller is still out same scenario with Zeiler.

Anthony-

If DL fired Terry, who would you like to see coach the Kings? I'm not asking out of sarcasm. I seriously want to know what coach you think would best fit the Kings where they stand right now.

don't be surprised if Anthony says Marc Crawford

Anthony...

Calder 7 Points in his last 5 games. Yea...waive him.

People why is it that everytime we lose your ready to hang TM? As for Calder, when we went on that winning streak, he could do no wrong. The CBS line is playing the best out of any line combo this year. Can some tell me why Fro is on the blocks again this year? It seems like this happen every year. TM is the right coach for time being. There is no one that can take what we have now and turn it into winner. We have holes and we have young kids. They are learning to play D first, which has been our problem for years. We are on the right path. Last year we talked about our D being soft. Now with toughness you get guys who dont always handle the puck well and take bad penalties.

the gauthier suspension is just....

wondering if there's any truth to the published frolov rumors...it would have to involve spezza, no?
i hope this is not true. i can only figure that d.l. either asked fro's agent what it will take next season to re-sign...i think $4-$5 million should be reasonable for fro...and got back a scary response...or d.l. thinks he can get something great in return...i don't think spezza is the guy to make it happen for l.a....i do think that a kovy deal w/the thrashers would be more advantageous...and i would not give up frolov in any of those deals...in fact, it would be great to see what kovy could do w/his fellow countryman...kopi centering kovy and fro would be a top nhl line...
all frolov has done this year is play in every role asked of him...he's been misplaced for a better part of the season on a third line..the guy can score goals and put up points and he's been an even +/- player the whole year and even better for lesser king teams throughout his career...
i don't know why he has suffered in the respect department...he's finally getting a chance to play with more offensive players the last few weeks and has been consistently producing...
it's time to give him some respect, get him signed to a 2-4 year deal and move on by ADDING a top-six forward w/out losing him...
frolov is not the problem...if anything, he should be a part of the solution...

Anthony is probably thinking about Hartsburg who was just fired from Ottawa today. No thanks. TM is doing fine.

5 games is good. I'm glad the NHL didn't get stupid with their decision. We've had enough bias for one weekend.

Ugh, Preissing (shiver)

brilliant idea, anthony. let's fire TM and have 3 coaches in under 1 season. as long as we're changing coaches, lets trade all our young talent too to fit the new coach's philosophy. then when the team doesn't perform, we can fire DL, bring in a new GM with a brand new strategy...maybe somebody who only drafts, signs and trades for players whose last name starts with the letter "A". and if that doesn't yield immediate results, move on to the letter "B" and so forth.

Sounds about right based on the circumstances, including his past. I was hoping for at least 25 though. ;) Well at least that's five games we'll see the defense the way it should be.

Anthony....Easy tiger....Do you really want to see Hartzburg? Hartley?? Maybe the return of Crow???

I figured 7 games because he's a repeat offender and Gorges got racked pretty good. Overall, I think the Kings come out ok, particularly with Oscar coming back. Harrold drops back to D and all is good.

Re: Harrold...I haven't been one of his biggest fans but I will admit, what the Kings did see in him has paid off. He's very good on the puck and getting stronger physically. He makes good decisions and is a good positional player who is improving. Overall, another good decison by DL and TM.

It's coming together....

Anthony -

Do you really hate Gauthier so much that you would welcome the kings losing a roster spot for the rest of the year? Seriously?

Huh. Looks like Gauts has been studying Chris Pronger vids on youtube...

He lined him up, led with his elbow, left his feet=Goat got off easy, with his history. Next time=10-20 games.

There are definite Spezza-Kings rumors on HockeyBuzz.com. It would require value for value, but straight up is a possibility IF the Kings take on that salary.

The Senators need defense. How about Spezza + Vermette for Frolov + Johnson?

To answer Cynics question to Anthony. TM has helped the Kings alot on defence. But the offence has suffered so much, its hardly worth it. He can't keep a line together for 3 periods, let alone 3 weeks. Keep TM as the defence coach and bring back Crawford. Go ahead and laugh, but Crawford at least kept the lines together and the Kings were a scoring threat. Remember when the Kings were down 4-0 late in the 3rd period against Dallas? The Kings won that game, and they were exciting to watch. Now if they are down 4-0, there is no chance for a comeback, and everyone leaves the building.

Spezza + Vermette for Fro and Johnson is a TERRIBLE trade for the Kings.

Extolling Crawford's ability to keep lines together is HILARIOUS. He kept one line together and only because it worked. TM has kept one line together because it's worked (Calder - Stoll - Brown).

Hey Anthony... cALDER IS ON fIRE. That CBS line has worked since the first time they were put together.

Fair enough... But how many games were the ref's suspended for their poor judgement?

Stop the rumor mill!

"Spezza + Vermette for Frolov + Johnson?" Seriously? BARF!

Just say no to turtlenecks! We want to get stronger, not softer.

As for the suspension, it is fair. I watched a replay from RDS and they had a good angle in which Goat's skate was still on the ice at point of impact and it was actually his shoulder, not his elbow that struck Gorges' head. Regardless, the players need to know that these days you can't even APPEAR to be leaving your feet. The league is too sensitive right now.

regarding the trade rumors

every time Rich has made on comment on trade rumors his logic is overwhelming

rumors suck and 99.8% they're not true

"Spezza + Vermette for Frolov + Johnson?"

that would be COMPLETELY ridiculous for the kings to do...and yes, daniel, it would cause me to barf, too...!

y'know, i can't help but to think that all these frolov rumors always seem to happen on the king's road trip to canada...it's been widely known for years that the sens, oilers, etc. covet frolov's game...every year, around this time, frolov is always the subject of trade speculation coming from the canadian press...

i'll say it again...frolov is a part of the solution, not the problem...he's 26 going on 27, tons 'o' talent (again, being misused by t.m. up until recently) and he is producing...with the exception of dustin brown, frolov's pt. production like most of la's top six,is down from l.y. ...i think that has to do with more of the system the kings are playing this year...in fro's case, the aforementioned, coupled w/that he's been playing on the third line for the most part, have contributed to his lower pt. total...

but...
if you look at the last 6 games, frolow is leading the team in t.o.i amongst forwards....gee, think there's a good reason for that...he's a very good player, always has been, on marginal kings teams...
if you remember when ziggy palffy and jason allison were healthy, when surrounded by highly skilled players, frolov could shine, as was witnessed when that line was healthy: at one time, it was the top scoring line in the league...

get this kid on the top line consistently with kopi, go out and try to land another top six forward w/out giving up the farm and you will reap the rewards more efficiently and effectively than if you trade alex...

stay the course and continue the trend of watching kings draft picks and prospects grow WITHIN the system...by trying to keep/sign frolov would be a significant step in the right direction and would solidify belief in d.l. and his direction when he claims that the kings are all about rebuilding from within....

I wouldn't give a whole lot of credence to the 'Spezza to LA' rumor.

First, the source of said rumor was Eklund at Hockeybuzz. Since Eklund's identity and racket are hardly secrets any more, it goes without saying that just about anything he exclusively reports as being something he "was told" by one of his "sources" can be all but safely be dismissed out of hand. Now while the discussion boards at Hockeybuzz are usually pretty lively and can even be intelligent and insightful once in a while, even there it's a rule of thumb that the only folks who really take Eklund's "rumours" seriously in 2009 are either young, unsophisticated, or both.

Second, there tend to be a lot of wacky trade rumors coming out of Ottawa because of Bruce Garrioch, a "legit" beat journalist there who "reports" a lot of trade rumors that tend to be suspiciously one-sided and heavily favor the Senators or another Canada-based team. And, Hockeybuzz used to have a Senators blogger named Kevin Lee who was (in)famous for instantly running with anything Garrioch told him or wrote and then getting publicly burned within hours. I think it may have been a combination of Eklund, Garrioch and Lee who were responsible for those ridiculous Kopitar/Emery/Khabibulin trade rumors last summer.

Third, some larger perspective. It has become a trendy thing for journalists and media types whose base audience is either Canadian or a large, eastern conference team (or both) to view the LA Kings as some sort of farm team whose rising stars are just destined to be traded to their audience's favorite team. On top of that, these scenarios are usually yet another one of those classic one sided deals where a high pick (usually first round), a top prospect (Hickey, Teubert, et al) and/or a rising star from the Kings (Johnson, O'Sullivan, Moller, et al) heads east for an out-of-favor player, an impending UFA veteran, or a salary dump, or some combination of the above.

Don't believe the hype.

I think all Kings fans are disappointed Gauthier received a 5-game suspension. But something you don't normally see, we're all disappointed it was ONLY 5 games. Nobody has liked him since that turnover against the Wings... in fact, that play was so bad that the word "turnover" is ashamed to be associated with him.

As for Frolov, I think they should keep him. Trading him and prospects for a goal scorer doesn't seem like the right move right now. Frolov is already the team's leading goal scorer, so moving him for more scoring doesn't seem like a smart move. I think DL has it right by building from within. Looking at the MLB Tampa Bay Rays, drafting and developing players worked great for them. The Ducks had developed Getzlaf, Perry, and Ryan all from their AHL team, and those three are great players.

But looking at the Ducks, they also have Giguere, both Niedermayers, Pronger, and Selanne. You wanna know what they gave up to get those five great players? Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid, Mike Commodore, Jean-Francois Damphousse, and four draft picks (Matt Pettinger is the only one of those four to have played an NHL game). For the sake of my argument, for Selanne, I counted his current tenure, ignoring the trade from Winnipeg (which for the record was for Chad Kilger, Tverdovsky, and a draft pick with no NHL experience).

The Ducks didn't get good by trading their leading goal scorer and prospects in lateral moves. They developed talent, signed free agents, and didn't give up a whole lot. Rob Niedermayer was acquired at the deadline in the 2002-03 season, and Giguere was acquired via trade following the 1999-2000 season. Getzlaf and Perry broke into the league in 2005, they acquired Niedermayer in 2005, and Pronger in 2006.

They didn't get good all of a sudden. It took a long time, starting with acquiring Giguere from the Flames in 2000 to signing Pronger in 2006. In essence, it was a 6-year plan for the Ducks that ended with the 2007 Stanley Cup.

So basically, all I'm trying to say is that I'm going to give DL plenty of time to make it work, because it has worked for other teams in the past.

Anthony: Let's say you were an NHL player and returning home with your team and you were a scratch. How would that make YOU feel? You are bound to have a good game and try extra hard (maybe he tried too hard on that hit) to play well in front of your loved ones.

Don't you think that out of RESPECT that you might allow that individual to play in front of their family?

How would you feel if you had to face your family as a scratch when you go home?

Bigger picture Anthony, not just the little details.