2015-16 AHL Ontario Reign - going back to Cali, Cali, Cali...

[regulate]

The first period last night was the worst I have ever seen the Reign play in person. Poor passing, no energy, not skating, going through the motions. They were also out of sync without the Captain.

Analysis: The players were hung-over from St. Patrick's day.

THE GOOD:

Anyway, Sutter, Brodzinski and Ebert were the standouts to me last night.

Brodz with a great shot upper left corner on the rush. A shot that reminds me of Toffoli. Also 2 assists. Great game. Kings fans, look for this guy in 17-18. He might be that next RW we need.

Ebert did his Drew Doughty impression last night with a couple of nice rushes or passes that got the Reign on track, including Brodzinski's rush goal and Sutter's second goal. For some reason Dowd got the assist instead of Ebert, then later on the changed the scoring via the PA announcer.

Yet for some reason, the official score sheet shows Dowd this morning. If you watch the replay, it's clearly Ebert on the rush and with the shot that leads to the goal. Ebert does have some elite skills on the rush when he uses them (not as often as I would like to see). With LoVerde out, he had more of a chance to showcase them. I wish he was given more time on the PP. It's miserable watching Jeff Schultz on the PP unit. Just miserable.

Sutter two nice roof shot goals and handled himself in a fight standing up for Kempe, who had his clock cleaned on a good check by SA. Very nice game by Sutter.

THE BAD:
Forbort. Completely out of position and losses his man right in front of the Reign goal mouth of the Rampage's second goal. Then, on the Rampage third goal, passes the puck right into the slot to a Rampage player, hanging Budaj out to dry, Both goals were his responsibility.

Not sure what the Kings are going to do with this player who is no longer waiver exempt after this year.

Kempe was also invisible again. He has a long way to go with consistent effort and effect on the game. Right now, it's not there every night.

The Reign play the Gulls tonight at 6 PM. The Gulls (Ducks) are the only team that Reign have a losing record against. Let's hope that changes tonight.

 

[Jason Lewis]

Ebert had a really great game last night. Was super impressed.

Forbort and Raine were a mess.

Sutter superb.

Brodzinski one of the best games I have seen him play. He looks like an incredibly good systems winger. Very underrated defense and transition game.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I saw Forbort twice in the last couple of weeks and he's been very disappointing. Mostly due to inconsistency, but that's a bigger problem when you're the guy starting the breakout.

he seems to be really regressing and it's very disappointing.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Too bad Lombardi couldn't flip Forabort for a mid round pick at the deadline. I just have never seen anything from his game that would translate well to the pro level. He has zero intensity and isn't as good of a skater as some misleading scouting reports would lead you to believe.

With that said, I hope that Ebert establishes himself in the AHL as a top 4 dman.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

Ebert has some exciting aspects to his game if he can get it all together. Looks like Brodzinski is starting to figure the AHL out. Glad to have Sutter on board.

 

[losingsand]

it's too bad lombardi didn't draft Tarasenko instead. :/

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

it's too bad lombardi didn't draft Tarasenko instead. :/

I know it feels like a kick in the balls looking back at that Forbort selection (who for all intents and purposes is destined to be a bust). However, it feels better realizing that Toffoli fell in their laps in the 2nd round. So let's just ignore Forbort and pretend that Toffoli was the 1st selection.

 

[Jason Lewis]

I know it feels like a kick in the balls looking back at that Forbort selection (who for all intents and purposes is destined to be a bust). However, it feels better realizing that Toffoli fell in their laps in the 2nd round. So let's just ignore Forbort and pretend that Toffoli was the 1st selection.

Define bust.

Because I still think that Forbort is a capable 4-6 defenseman. Will it be with the Kings? Yea probably night, but the guy can play. He just has not found his spot here. I'd say that's not bad for a mid first if you are getting a ceiling No. 4 Dman in the NHL.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Define bust.

Because I still think that Forbort is a capable 4-6 defenseman. Will it be with the Kings? Yea probably night, but the guy can play. He just has not found his spot here. I'd say that's not bad for a mid first if you are getting a ceiling No. 4 Dman in the NHL.

Keaton Ellerby. That's exactly who I envision Derek Forbort as.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Forbort will probably end up being be Hickey 2.0, in career trajectory.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Yeah I didn't mean he's a bust, but I don't think either evaluation is really wrong at this point, he's become more of a wild card--he could be Keaton Ellerby or a bottom-pairing guy with #4 upside. I think the problem for him right now is a lack of identity; is he a defensive guy, a puck mover, or two-way? I mean, I've said before in his limited time with the Kings he absolutely wired some breakout passes that were literally more impressive than any I've ever seen, and then he followed that up with indecision and a soft turnover while getting pushed around in the corner. At least he showed a willingness to try to play tough when he dropped the gloves on Gabby's behalf. I think he's an NHLer, the question is will it be on this roster or another? He has to be up next year (no mo waiver!) so I guess we'll see if some more development time, Scuderi, and others can iron him out a bit. BUt I get the feeling he's still a project as far as development (like Hickey).

 

[Omni Owl]

Disappointed about Kempe lately, hope he can get it together, I have high hopes for him and think he's a great player.

 

[Kingsfan1]

That's what happens when Dean and co draft for character and grind and hustle style players instead of BPA

 

[Jericho111091]

That's what happens when Dean and co draft for character and grind and hustle style players instead of BPA

on the day of the draft Forbort was the consensus BPA at the time of our pick. you are using hindsight, which the scouting staff didn't have.

 

[regulate]

Disappointed about Kempe lately, hope he can get it together, I have high hopes for him and think he's a great player.

He had a good game on Saturday against the Gulls (after an invisible game on Friday night). I watched him closely. He was playing hard on both sides of the puck, and was the only reason we even scored a goal (his weaving through about 3 or 4 defenders to put a nice pass onto the stick of Forbort) that night. The key is consistency. Can he play several games in a row with maximum effort?

 

[regulate]

That's what happens when Dean and co draft for character and grind and hustle style players instead of BPA

An important factor to consider was it was 2010, we hadn't won anything yet, and we were still in the build from the back mode at the time. May have had a lot to do with it.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

That's what happens when Dean and co draft for character and grind and hustle style players instead of BPA

Both Hickey and Forbort were more finesse type players when picked. Character and grind picks include dwight king, mike amadio, trevor lewis, wayne simmonds.

 

[Sam]

To add to that Forbort was generally considered the BPA at the time. See this composite which included the rankings from THN, TSN, McKeens, and ISS.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

Looks like Mersch got banged up last night.

 

[regulate]

Looks like Mersch got banged up last night.

He got his clock cleaned at the end of the game by an open ice hit when he passed to the open wing for Backman who drove the length of the ice and put the puck into an empty net. The Reign bench was up in arms!

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

Luckily Mersch seems to be okay now. Win on Friday, loss last night.







From Coach Mike Stothers:

...but for us, Jonny Brodzinski was clearly the best player on the ice and that line was very, very good. [Reporter: Ten shots on goal for Brodzinski, is he shooting enough?] Well, yeah. That’s terrific. He had 10 shots. Do you know how many shots other guys had? How many did Crescenzi have? None. How many did Kempe have in the middle when I had him in the middle? None. How many did Leitner have? None. And Newbury had one. So that’s not creating a whole lot of offense from the middle of your ice.

Stothers, on the failed 5-on-3 in the second period:

Well, I didn’t hurl on the bench so I guess that’s a good thing, but I wanted to.

 

[regulate]

Stothers was pissed when he called out the teams Centers in the absence of Dowd. Quite frankly, Mersch's game is kind of plateaued a bit, and he is not nearly as effective without a good center that can pass (Dowd). Brodzinski was all over the ice. He is Tyler Toffoli part II. His shot is very similar, took him half the season to figure it out after he hit more posts and crossbars than anyone could imagine. Right now he is the go to guy. Kings fans should be happy that they have another potentially skilled RW in the pipeline. In my book his ETA is 17-18, but could get a look next year of he continues to impress.

Kempe is lost. He is adrift at sea. Kempe needs a steady, skilled center to play with. He is bouncing around the line-up and is struggling. He does not drive the offense like Backman, Brodzinski, Dowd or Mersch can.

Not a good game last night. Only 1 home game left, the rest are all on the road. And recently, two of the worst 5 on 3 advantages (Reign on PP) that I have ever seen at the professional level have occurred recently. Really missing LoVerde.

 

[Tadite]

it's too bad lombardi didn't draft Tarasenko instead. :/

I think their should be a moratorium on pre-Cup draft pick reevaluations.

Hockey butterfly effect.

A. Pick Tarasenko and get likely takes Toffoli's NHL callup. Then god knows what happens to the King/Nolan combo and even worse what happens to that insane 2012 playoffs. Not to mention how we could resign him, with the cap, then the 2014 playoffs (maybe no Gabby? Or No Carter?).

Sure Forbort doesn't look like he's living up to his hype but Gravel might be and the world could have changed with one or two different picks...

 

[damacles1156]

Kempe's last few months have been a huge disappointment. He has a lot of work to do next season in the AHL. Hope he shows a much better game in the playoff's.

Or the remaining eight games of the regular season.

One thing to look forward too, Kempe will have Amadio most likely as a Center next season.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I think Kempe adjusting to the grind of the North American hockey style and schedule has had a big impact on his body. His conditioning probably isn't used to it considering how much shorter his schedule was over in the SHL, where he played 50 or so games.