Crowning Acheivement: Lombardi building Kings into a winner
NHLHS Los Angeles Kings Correspondent Mike Murangi takes a look at the progress of the Los Angeles Kings with most, if not all, of the work and thanks being given to Dean Lombardi. The teams GM has put them into the perfect position.
Categories: 30 Team Series, Around the League, By Teams, Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Pacific, Western Conference Tags: Colten Teubert, Dean Lombardi, Jarret Stoll, Kings, Los Angeles Kings, Michal Handzus, National Hockey League, NHL, Pavol Demitra
Mitchell joins the Kings’ royal family
Defensemen Willie Mitchell has agreed to a 2 year deal worth 3.5 million per season with the Los Angeles Kings. Mitchell is a 9 year veteran who played with Vancouver last season. He missed 34 games and all of the post season with a serious concussion.
Categories: Los Angeles Kings Tags: Los Angeles Kings, Willie Mitchell
Kings finally make a move
NHLHS Los Angeles Kings Correspondent Mike Murangi discusses the acquisition of Alexei Ponikarovsky.
The Los Angeles Kings and GM Dean Lombardi, recently stung by the loss of free agent Ilya Kovalchuk, signed veteran winger Alexei Ponikarovsky to a one year deal worth $3.2 million.
Categories: 30 Team Series, Around the League, By Teams, Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Pacific, Western Conference Tags: Alexander Frolov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ilya Kovalchuk, Kings
Kings Should Take Heed From Flyers’ Past
NHLHS writer Dave Strehle dives into the Ilya Kovalchuk saga with his thoughts on the situation.
Reading the daily rumor mill as to whether or not the Los Angeles Kings are still in the running to sign unrestricted free agent Ilya Kovalchuk has become tedious, at best.
Categories: Around the League, Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Western Conference Tags: Anze Kopitar, Dean Lombardi, Drew Doughty, Eric Lindros, Erik Ersberg, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jack Johnson, Jay Grossman, Jonathan Bernier, Jonathan Quick, Justin Williams, Los Angeles Kings, Mark Recchi, Michal Handzus, mike ricci, NHL, Peter Forsberg, Rod Brind'Amour, Ron Hextall, russ farwell, steve duchense, Wayne Simmonds
NHLHS Mock Draft: With the Number Nineteen Pick…
NHLHS Mock Draft is our latest feature where we collectively predict the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. The draft is a crapshoot and we will be wrong… …but we thought it would be fun to try.
With the 19th overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, the Los Angeles Kings select…
Categories: Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features Tags: Los Angeles Kings
To Change the World, Start With One Step
NHLHS Los Angeles Kings Correspondent obtained an e-mail interview with LA Kings captain, Dustin Brown. A big thank you to Scott Norton of Norton Sports Management for providing us with this opportunity.
However Small, the First is Hardest of All
-You Might Die Trying- Stand Up- Dave Matthews Band, 2005
Fun Fact: While he listens to all kinds of music and rock on a lot of game days, one of Dustin Brown’s Favorite Bands? Dave Matthews Band
Aint that a Kick In the Head…
Your friendly neighborhood <St. Louis is everyone’s hood> LA Kings’ dork blogger was sitting around recently and one of those Twitter emails pop up… xx is following you. Meh. Begrudgingly I go see what bot it is…but? A sports agency? Huh? really? really? Maybe. Maybe not… I won’t block.. won’t follow. Leave it be. Not 24 hours later my twitter feed is reading like the Kingdom’s fearless leader Dustin Brown has decided to show the world, outside of hockey, what Brown can do for you. <puts head down> Do I have to? Already? Really? Fiiine… <Dunce cap in hand..looking in the corner> going… going…
Categories: 30 Team Series, Around the League, By Teams, Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Pacific, Western Conference Tags: Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings, National Hockey League, NHL
I Can’t Buy What I’ve Done Before. I Want to Open Up Another Door
Dean Lombardi, President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings, "And again, I think the players are entitled to their share. Its more the allocation in there. It makes it reasonable for both sides. I think it helps the team, I think it helps the union, and I think it's good for the game." In comparing the current position of the LA Kings with the Chicago Blackhawks, he commended them for building itself correctly, from bottom-to-top. The difference, with the Kings, would lie in the time it takes to get there. The Blackhawks have taken approximately seven-years to build into Western Conference contenders. Lombardi felt that the Kings could match those results, in less time.
Categories: Around the League, Chicago Blackhawks, Cost Efficiency, Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Pacific, Western Conference Tags: 2010 NHL Draft, Anze Kopitar, Brian Campbell, Chicago Blackhawks, Dean Lombardi, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson, JMFJ, Jon Quick, Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings, Marian Hossa, Quick, Sidney Crosby, Stanley Cup Finals, Terror Twins, ThrowtheTwinkie, Tomas Kopecky, Wayne Simmonds, Western Conference
And Now The Pressures On, The Heat Is Rising… Tonight There’s Something In The Air (Black In ST Louis)
I,personally, should have known this game was doomed when I was screaming GET OFF MY GOALTENDER..and realized I was screaming at my own Defense. And then I realized how many mistakes had already been made 1/2 way through the game but none of them by Randy Jones.. Immediately, I started looking at flight prices to Los Angeles, AGAIN. Then I cried.
Categories: Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Northwest, Pacific, Playoff Coverage, Vancouver Canucks, Western Conference Tags: Anze Kopitar, Arch, Buffalo Sabres, Defense, Dustin Brown, Ersberg, Flight Prices Suck, Head to Desk, Jim Fox, LA, Lack of Defense, Los Angeles Kings, NHL, NHL 2010 Playoffs, playoffs, Quick, Randy Jones, Ryan Smyth, St Louis, Staples Center, TerrorTwins, ThrowtheTwinkie, Twitter, Vancouver Canucks, What Can Brown Do For You
Canucks solve Kings in game 5
The Vancouver Canuck finally figured out what it will take the beat the Los Angeles Kings in their first round matchup. It’s something that many hockey writers, bloggers, and Canucks fans have been going on and on about since the start of the series. What is the answer? Simple, stay out of the penalty box! Unfortunately, it took the Canucks 3+ games to figure it out, but if they stay out of the penalty box the Kings have no chance 5 on 5. The Kings have scored 10 of their 16 goals with the man advantage while the Canucks have outscored the Kings 16-6 at even strength. Through the first 3 games and 2 periods of the series the Canucks gave the Kings power play after power play and they paid the price. Say what you will about the missed and questionable calls that have gone against Vancouver in the series, but they had been giving the referees too many reasons to call penalties.
In the last 4 periods of the series the Canucks have scored 11 goals after only scoring 10 in the first 11 periods. And in the last 2 games they have scored 13 goals after only scoring 8 in games 1-3. The 3rd period in game 4 the Canucks really found their game again as Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin came alive and got the comeback going. They had pretty much been a non-factor up to this point, with much of the praise going to the Kings defensive play. Once those flood gates opened up and the Canucks started to gain confidence it really put the Kings back on their heals and they looked nothing like the team earlier in the series.
One reason the Canucks have gotten back into this series is the play of Mikael Samuelsson. He’s already scored 7 goals, 2 more than he had in each of the last 2 play-off runs with Detroit. His strong play has made many forget that Alex Burrows, the Canucks leading goal scorer in the regular season has been held without a goal in the series so far. In fact, Burrows and Samuelsson have switched lines as Alain Vigneault has searched for the right chemistry. Mike Gillis continues to look like a genius for signing Samuelsson as a free-agent in the offseason. The Canucks have definitely benefitted by giving him more ice time than he had in Detroit and his snub by the Swedish Olympic team lit a fire that has burned long after the Olympic torch was extinguished.
As several Canucks fans mentioned on Twitter, the Kings seemed preoccupied with trying to get the Canucks to take penalties instead of playing their game. Obviously it didn’t work and they were unable to make adjustments quick enough as the Canucks spent the game dismantling LA’s defensive coverage and exposing their lack of speed. They also got a lot more traffic in front of Quick, even bumping into him as the Kings have been doing all series with Roberto Luongo. The Kings did try to stir things up at the end of the game with Shane O’Brien fighting Wayne Simmonds and Rick Rypien with the one-punch knockdown of Kings goon Rich Clune. While it’s not unusual for a coach to send out his tough guys at the end of a game to get his team going, it is unusual to see a coach do it in the final 4 minutes of a game that was already over. For his efforts, Klune ended up with a separated shoulder in the fight. It would seem that the time to pick a fight would’ve been much earlier in the game. Clune was trying to get under the Canucks skin all night, but his act was amateur hour at best.
It will be very interesting to see if the Canucks can keep building on the momentum they have gained and how the young Kings team will respond to the elimination possibility in game 6. Will playing on home ice be a burden or uplifting for them, or will they crack and wilt under the pressure? Either way, the Kings have a lot to be proud of this year playing in the toughest division in the NHL and looking very much like the Chicago Blackhawks of last season. They have a very bright future, but the time is now for the Canucks to take game 6 and this series. Go Canucks Go!
I-5 Canucks
NHLHS Canucks Correspondents
hipcheck44@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @Hipcheck44 and @WCE71944
Categories: Around the League, By Teams, Los Angeles Kings, Northwest, Pacific, Vancouver Canucks, Western Conference Tags: Alain Vigneault, Alex Burrows, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Mikael Samuelsson, Mike Gillis, Rich Clune, Rick Rypien, Roberto Luongo, Shane O'Brien, Wayne Simmonds
It’s Times You Like These, You Give and Give Again
Game 3 led the La Kings and its Kingdom were talking and acting like it belonged in the playoffs instead of the punk kids on the block that have weeds for a garden and bricks for yard furniture. You know the ones, the ones that all the cool kids with the nice houses on the block look down on, and when those kids step up the rest yell "NO FAIR.. MUST BE A CONSPIRACY" There was Quick's punch to the head, Doughty and Brown's trash-talk and Smyth sending Luongo home early... but now? Now Game 5 is time to get that back.... because Game 4 didn't quite go as planned...
Categories: Around the League, By Teams, Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Vancouver Canucks Tags: 2010 NHL Playoffs, 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings, NHL, playoffs, Ryan Smyth, Terry Murray
Karma Police… Arrest This Man… This Is What You Get… When You Mess With Us
Next on Sports Psychosis, MD: Sports Paranoia: What to do when your players want to blame inferior play and losses on league conspiracies, inept officiating, flying reptiles, fish and/or men (we're assuming men?) in bright neon costumes that climb the sin bin like spider-man without the power or responsibility. The truth, though no one will admit it or give the LA Kings respect for it, is that they have dominated the Vancouver Canucks in net, special teams (and no the Kings have not been favored in power plays given) and, well heart. So the Vancouver Canucks took to that adage - if you can't beat them, beat the shit out of them. And I suppose that is fine, if you are going to kill off your penalties. But-- um... pssst..... boys.. yeah you... with the Greenmen... you missed a spot...
Categories: Around the League, Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Northwest, Pacific, Playoff Coverage, Vancouver Canucks, Western Conference Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson, Jonathan Quick, Ryan Smyth, Sidney Crosby, Wayne Simmonds
Canucks back at it
With 2 games already in the books and the series tied 1-1 between the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings, here are a few observations.
The Kings youth hasn’t been a liability… yet
Their core of young players have played extremely well under early pressure. Facing the raucous crowd in Vancouver is no easy task, now they have to perform in front of their own crowd. It will be interesting to see if the butterflies show up when they hit the Forum ice tonight. Opening on the road may have been a blessing for the Kings, especially since they made it out of GM Place with the all important split.
Penalties… “too many”
While much has been made of the “too many men on the ice” call that led to the Kings winning power play goal on Sunday, it could be argued that had the Canucks buried some of their chances earlier in the game that call wouldn’t even have happened. The Canucks found themselves in the box 7 times, while the Kings were only penalized 4 times.
The Alberts experiment
Brought in at the trade deadline for some depth on defense, Andrew Alberts was supposed to be a shot-blocking, punishing defenseman that could fill-in as a 5/6 defensemen. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case as he’s taken way too many penalties, made too many defensive mistakes, and generally been a liability on the back end. Did Canucks fans expect too much or has he just had a hard time adjusting to the Western Conference style of play? No one really knows. Barring another injury or really poor effort by another d-man, he’s probably going to spend the rest of the play-offs in the press box as Aaron Rome is back from injury and going to play in Game 3.
What the Canucks need to do:
- Play physical – they need to get in on the forecheck and bang the Kings players, especially their skill players like Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, and Drew Doughty. It’s not easy to play 20-30 minutes a game at play-off intensity, but it’s much easier if you aren’t being hit.
- Need for speed – the Canucks, who have one of the fastest skaters in the NHL in Mason Raymond, have more team speed than the Kings and need to use it to their advantage.
- Fewer penalties – plain and simple, stay out of the box!
- Net presence – they need to get more bodies in front of Jonathan Quick, he is an excellent netminder and like most will stop any puck he can see. Additionally, the Canucks need to get in his “kitchen” both physically and verbally. See what the kid is made of.
- Score early – survive the first 10 minutes and get some pucks behind Quick to get the crowd out of it.
We’re still picking the Canucks to win the series in 6 games, but they still have plenty of work to do as they are up against a very solid team in the Kings.
What are your thoughts on the series and who do you think is going to win it?
I-5 Canucks
NHLHS Canucks Correspondents
hipcheck44@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @Hipcheck44 and @WCE71944
Categories: Around the League, By Teams, Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Vancouver Canucks, Western Conference Tags: Aaron Rome, Andrew Alberts, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Jonathan Quick, Mason Raymond
It Keeps Getting Better
Five days in, seven overtime games and ten road wins later, the playoffs have been all that we could expect and more.
In what has been discussed time and time again, the National Hockey Leagues second season, also known as the Stanley Cup Playoffs, is all about goaltending.
Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings, Brian Boucher of the Philadelphia Flyers, Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks, Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins, Ilya Bryzgalov of the Phoenix Coyotes, Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres, Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators, Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils, Evgeni Nabokov of the San Jose Sharks, Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Antti Niemi of the Chicago Blackhawks, Brian Elliot of the Ottawa Senators, Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings, Jaroslav Halak of the Montreal Canadiens, Craig Anderson of the Colorado Avalanche as well as both Jose Theodore and Seymon Varlamov of the Washington Capitals have not only stepped up to make some amazing saves but have been able to keep each and every series even or close enough to it.
Categories: Around the League, Atlantic, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Central, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, Eastern Conference, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, NHLHS Features, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, Northeast, Northwest, Ottawa Senators, Pacific, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Playoff Coverage, San Jose Sharks, Southeast, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, Western Conference Tags: Andrei Kostitsyn, Antti Niemi, Braydon Coburn, Brian Boucher, Brian Elliot, Craig Anderson, Evgeni Malkin, Evgeni Nabokov, Henrik Zetterberg, Ilya Bryzgalov, Jaroslav Halak, Jimmy Howard, Jonathan Quick, Jose Theodore, Marc Andre Fleury, Martin Brodeur, Mike Richards, Nickas Backstrom, Nicklas Backstrom, Patrick Sharp, Pekka Rinne, Peter Forsberg, Roberto Luongo, Ryan Miller, Seymon Varlamov, Sidney Crosby, Tuukka Rask
Discovering the Underdog
NHLHS writer Anthony Curatolo gives a look at how the underdogs are on top to start this year’s NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.
If you were a betting man who strictly took the underdogs, the first night of the playoffs made you rich.
And as if the first night of the 2010 NHL playoffs completed wasn’t enough, it seemed as if night two would match night one.
Why you ask? The answer is simple. Not one team considered to be the favorite were able to win.
Categories: 30 Team Series, Around the League, Atlantic, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Central, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, Eastern Conference, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, NHLHS Features, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, Northeast, Ottawa Senators, Pacific, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Playoff Coverage, San Jose Sharks, Southeast, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, Western Conference Tags: Jaroslav Halak, Jimmy Howard
Follow The Underdog, Hold On His Collar Tight- Kaiser Chiefs, Off With Their Heads!
Follow the underdog, hold on his collar tight
-Kaiser Chiefs- Off With Their Heads (2008)
This is the song of the blog <and part of the next> because I think it is just that fitting.. plus the name of the cd it is from.. HEH. <save the line that ends the blog>
Categories: Los Angeles Kings, NHLHS Features, Northwest, Pacific, Playoff Coverage, Vancouver Canucks, Western Conference Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar, Christian Ehroff, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Henrik Sedin, Jack Johnson, JMFJ, Jonathan Quick, Justin Williams, Los Angeles Kings, Manchester Monarchs, Pittsburgh Pen, Rob Scuderi, Roberto Luongo, Ryan Smyth, Scuds, Vancouver Canucks, Wayne Simmonds
