Murray postgame quotes

Personally, I'm PISSED at this game. Maybe I'm just being an overzealous fan, but you KNOW the importance of this game and we came out like THAT??? Yes the 2nd period was buzzin, but that wasn't even CLOSE to some of the other 2nd periods we have played. Anze is talking about how it's good to get a point but a LITTLE BETTER to get two? Dude, I love ya Kopi, but I want you disapponted, showing it, and I want you digging for fire for the next game. You wear the 'A' and we need to see some intensity!!

I saw WAY too many 'Cute' plays out there when there should have been shots. I notice when this team gets a little confidence, they try too much to look pretty. Honestly, someone needs to stand up in the room and just put a moratorium on the pretty play. North-south, pucks to net, LOTS of crashing the net, 2 bodies in front whenever possible, responsible backchecking and aggressive forechecking. With our D, if we keep it that simple and frustrate teams with relentless play (Like in New Jersey), we'll win a majority of our games.

I'm gonna mention this not as an excuse, but an observation. Has Staples Center gone to hell in terms of its condition? Broken panes of glass all the time, HORRIBLE ICE, Whoever does the ice for Staples needs to be put on notice or fired! I know it can be a challenge out here, but even Phoenix has better ice than LA. The amount of guys losing edges, falling into the boards, having trouble settling the puck is 2-3 times as much as in any other building I see a game in. Does anyone else notice this or am I on crack? The NHL is supposed to regulate the ice surfaces and Staples needs SERIOUS help with theirs.

Hey Rich, this might be tough to pull off, but maybe you could do an anonymous poll of the players on their opinions of their home ice conditions? I know that if I was a player and had to skate on that stuff a majority of the year, I'd prefer the road over home. Really, anything that can be done to bring attention to this I think would be beneficial to the games played at Staples in general and not just for the Kings.

I also thought Quick turned into LaBarbara for the shootout. I did NOT expect that. Furthermore, Frolov and POS have gotta bury those. This is for the PLAYOFFS GUYS!!

Thanks-

(Puts soapbox in closet)

At least we won both fights.

One big problem is that the Kings do not get involved in the front of the net. This is how you are going to beat good goalies (ie Kiprosoff). During this game you see too many times the Kings having three forwards fighting on the boards behind the net. Who's in front for the pass, deflection, rebound?

It doesn't matter if you outshoot your opponents every game. You need to screen the goalie and be in place for the dirty goals.

Cynic...The ice at Staples is poor because of how many events are there throughout the year. Its not about the location being in SoCal or the staff. They do the best they can for the bussiest venue in the NHL. Rinks like edmonton are so good because of how the ice stays intact and undisturbed for much longer periods of time compared to Staples. Its a tough problem to solve with the arena operating 5 pro teams (kings, lakers, clippers, avengers, sparks), concerts, awared shows, etc.

The boards are another story. I agree with you about the glass. You know its bad when the Zam Man can pretty much perform a Cirque de Soleil act on the ladder as he is switching out the panes of glass. Lots of practice...

28 games left, no time to panic. If anything the experience was a wake up call of what to expect down the stretch. I'm not sure what plays you are referring to where they were getting cute. The game looked pretty physical to me. A lot of corner play, and North/South hockey. They totalled 41 shots. Just sayin...

Now what about Moller? Did I miss something? Why was he out of the lineup?

Cynic:

I happened to get a chance to chat with Jim Fox at a practice, and he said that the ice at Toyota Sports Center is better than the ice at Staples Center. I guess that's understandable because TSC is a smaller building, but it's gotta be hard practicing on better ice than you play on.

TB- I hear ya about the events, but that is something AEG has to figure out. If that means thicker padding between the ice and the floor on top or even refrigerated floor panels, then it needs to be invested in. This is an NHL think, not a Kings thing IMHO. Any player can pull a groin, twist a knee, etc on bad ice. The NHL should make AEG pony up to find ways to adhere to NHL quality ice standards.

As NL just said, even Jim Fox notices the difference. Man, that does have to suck! If I'm a player, practicing on one quality ice surface and playing games on another would absolutely affect my game. Breakouts, passes, stopping, if I practice them one way and have to execute differently in the game because of the ice, I'm gonna play hesitant and I'm gonna slow down because I simply don't trust the ice.

I agree, no time to panic, I'm just bent at the lack of urgency until it's almost too late. I know, I know, it's a young team. Maybe I should blame the vets for not ridin' the kids more then.

Ivanans over Moller with a speedy team? That fight by Drago wasn't worth not having Moller in the lineup. I'd like that explanation too. I thought he was good against the Flames.

We need scoring so TM sits Moller.If that`s not bad enough he sits Drewiske.The kid has been super,what does he get for his great play? the bench.If thats not bad enough TM starts Gauthier.These games are so important not to have your best players on the ice.Really frustated.Have to vent a little, see you at staples mon. night.

Does anybody know if the Kings are practicing tomorrow at the toyota sports Center? Thanks.

This is my suggestion to TM. Have the players watch what Zdeno Chara did for the equalizer against the Predators on Feb. 14 and tell them to do more of that.

(He parked his butt in front of the net, distracted the goalie, and tipped in a loose puck. And he's a D-man!)

BRS - sorry I wasn't on last night. The Kings practice this morning at 10am. If you go to the Kings website, click on the schedule bar then go down the menu to practice, you will find the information there. Hope you make it. I was there last Friday. A totally different type of practice than I saw last year with that other coach.

Cynic,

In regards to the shootout, I didn't think it was that bad. I mean obviously you want to score there and stop them and get the extra point, but

Quick did not turn into Labarbera who would get deked completely into going way down and diving out and then the player would put an easy shot into the net. Gagne with the first shot made a good fake to freeze him up a tiny bit then rang a shot in off the post which is just a great shot. The second shooter got Quick moving to the side and was patient enough to push it in the other side which I have seen players score on that move far easier so it wasn't really an easy save.

For Frolov and O'Sullivan I'll give you O'Sullivan's shot should have been better after all the stick handling and fakes because the goalie didn't really move much but overall not a terrible attempt just not as great of a shot as he'd want. Frolov's move was very good and I would say he would score on most attempts with that but Roloson did a very good job of keeping his stick on the ground as he moved covering the 5 hole well which most goalies open up very wide.

Great goaltending by Roloson throughout the game and definitely in the shootout and some very nice shots by Edmonton's shooters. It wasn't a dismal effort just Edmonton made some better shots and saves than the Kings.

The Kings have TWO guys willing to pay the price in front of the net (Zeus and Brown), they need 12 (or at least 4). That's what Detroit has, That's what Boston and the best eastern teams have, that's what the Kings need.

The Kings would have scored 5 goals in BOTH games if they had more guys willing to pay the price.

Only 4 pro teams play at Staples...The Clippers dont count!!!

Calder was aweful yesterday.
One of the worst game I've seen him play.
He just doesn't have any business on a top line or pp.

Not much to say on this one other than the frustration shared by all. Staples doesn't seem to be giving our home team any home advantange at all. No, I think the Oil wanted this game more than LA did, at least in the first period. Amazing we totally outshot EDM but little things like players setting screens in front of the net; really the only ones you see setting any kind of screens are Brownie and Zeus. Most of the shots Rollie faced were pucks he could clearly see.

I was glad to see Army back in the lineup but not at the expense of Moller. Yes, I know Oscar needs a few more lbs but the Kings need his shot and playmaking. One of the biggest problems the Kings have is offense. Personally, I'd rather see Moller in there instead of Richardson, playing an off wing.

Also, as much as I hate to say it, maybe it's time to give Quickie a little rest. The Thrashers would be a good game to get Ersberg some time in, a game the Kings should win. I hate to say it but Quick has been standing on his head for weeks now, saving the Kings butts all along the way. I just don't see how a goalie that good lets in two in a row in the shootout. Yes, it was good to get at least one point out of the game, but it was a two point switch. EDM ends up with two points the Kings badly needed.

Lets hope this team comes out a lot stronger for Atlanta and plays a full 60 minute game. The playoffs are now for the Kings.

Get Calder off the Powerplay.Surely their is someone with better hands on this team than him.

the team is getting others best shot now- squads have really picked up against us as they saw the roadie- That's a compliment to us- I didn't care for the removal of drewski his game is nice- I think we need a little fine tuning here and there to get over the hump esp on the PP - moeller def needs to be in the lineup and for sure on the PP - his offensive creativity is missed - Teams have also gotten a couple of weeks to see Q and have seen some weaknesses with his game and are taking advantage thats the difference between jrs and nhl- I liked the fact that after a bad 1st we recognized it and really picked it up for the rest of the way- were going to be in every game from now on and thats not something that could be said for the past 3yrs - the rest of the way is going to be a battle of wills - lets see the fire for the rest of the yr -