Speculation: 2020-21 News/Rumors/Roster Thread Part IV

[bland]

Clifford's value wasn't just in on ice toughness, it was also in the weight room and in practices where young defensemen have to deal with that type of play. There is nobody other than Grundstrom here who plays an honest, heavy forecheck game. You need to practice against that shit to know how to prepare for it. You need repititions against the types of players who rely on strength and physicality to build up confidence and improve reads against that kind of opponent.

Its not a be all and end all, but it is definitely an asset. How many times this year have we seen our young defensemen look unprepared for heavy forechecks and opponents with ill intent?

This is a soft, soft team without much regard for its rookies safety or comfort, and it is a concern knowing how many more young players are on their way shortly.

I would seriously consider a move to bring Lucic back to play 8 minutes a night for the next year and a half, then buy out his last year.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

Whoever mentioned Hults, yeah, he's making his presence literally felt already

Yeah, i mentioned Hults today, inquiring if his 5 PM were for fighting or for boarding and I missed this game the other night. And mentioned he had 112 PM in 59 games, his last season in the USHL- some serious time in the box.
That’s when he was 6’0” 190 and he’s now 6’2” 210, last i saw.

He’s built like Grundstrom ‘Tonka’, but even bigger. You can see in this great interview, from April 29, 2020, that he has a solid build and looks like he has that look of having toughness, just from the way he portrays himself.

It’s a great interview, done by Faust, with Turcotte, Madden and Hults on the video chat. Faust is actually more likeable in this setting and does a great job. If you have not seen this, i recommend it. Just know, it is just 1-3 months after all 3 of them signed and no hockey was being played. Love that Turcotte chirped ‘it looks like Tyler was on his phone’ lol

We all know of the current woes of the Reign...it’s just so many 18-20 yr olds and a bad defense and shoddy goaltending. I think these kids will be fine and develop into good players. Turcotte has barely played, as well as Hults. Of all the youth there, I think those 2 are the types that will be the leaders, among the 18-20 year old players there.



.

 

[Herby]

Why would we play Clifford on the right when we got right wingers to play there? What does he actually bring that requires us to sacrifice another younger player? We're not short on veterans. I don't get this boner people have for Clifford. He wasn't even a good fighter and only got concussions.

I for the life of me don’t get it. Never have and never will.

It’s not like he was some big part of the glory years anyways. He was concussed early in the 2012 playoffs and played like 2 games. And in 2014 he was on the awful 4th line, the only weak spot on that totally stacked Kings team.

He took a 40% paycut. If he was so good and valuable why did Toronto not match the Blues offer to keep him, obv didn’t show them much.

But you’ll get replies saying how valuable he was and was the best 4th liner in club history.

 

[Docgonzo]

I must have different memories then the rest of you from the cup runs. While yes the teams were tough and full of grit, nobody stopped anybody from taking runs at our players or cheap shots.

Remember when Torres was nailed Stoll? When Hanzal boarded Brown? When Smith two handed Brown? Remember when Couture nailed Lucic out of the box? Malkin elbowing Simmonds? Bernier on Scuderi? Gio gunning after Brown? Kieth chop to Carter’s face?

All of those teams had tough guys on them, but yet they did not detour players from doing anything. Sticking up for teammates sure, but let’s not pretend having Clifford, MacDermind and player X will stop players from taking runs.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I must have different memories then the rest of you from the cup runs. While yes the teams were tough and full of grit, nobody stopped anybody from taking runs at our players or cheap shots.

Remember when Torres was nailed Stoll? When Hanzal boarded Brown? When Smith two handed Brown? Remember when Couture nailed Lucic out of the box? Malkin elbowing Simmonds? Bernier on Scuderi? Gio gunning after Brown? Kieth chop to Carter’s face?

All of those teams had tough guys on them, but yet they did not detour players from doing anything. Sticking up for teammates sure, but let’s not pretend having Clifford, MacDermind and player X will stop players from taking runs.

I remember a team who would at least drop people around the crease and frankly initiated most of the contact themselves.

Edit yep went back to confirm and this was a team that was regularly at the top of hits per game even despite being head and shoulders better than most teams in possession

"team toughness" in this era is a lot different than it was in the past but I think we all agree this team is...not.

 

[bland]

I must have different memories then the rest of you from the cup runs. While yes the teams were tough and full of grit, nobody stopped anybody from taking runs at our players or cheap shots.

Remember when Torres was nailed Stoll? When Hanzal boarded Brown? When Smith two handed Brown? Remember when Couture nailed Lucic out of the box? Malkin elbowing Simmonds? Bernier on Scuderi? Gio gunning after Brown? Kieth chop to Carter’s face?

All of those teams had tough guys on them, but yet they did not detour players from doing anything. Sticking up for teammates sure, but let’s not pretend having Clifford, MacDermind and player X will stop players from taking runs.

That isn't the point at all. Having an army didn't prevent Pearl Harbor either.

Ask yourself which of the Kings teams above showed perseverance and which ones caved in on themselves. You cannot prevent an action, but your response is what matters.

When this team gets manhandled, its over. They fold like a cheap suit.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I must have different memories then the rest of you from the cup runs. While yes the teams were tough and full of grit, nobody stopped anybody from taking runs at our players or cheap shots.

Remember when Torres was nailed Stoll? When Hanzal boarded Brown? When Smith two handed Brown? Remember when Couture nailed Lucic out of the box? Malkin elbowing Simmonds? Bernier on Scuderi? Gio gunning after Brown? Kieth chop to Carter’s face?

All of those teams had tough guys on them, but yet they did not detour players from doing anything. Sticking up for teammates sure, but let’s not pretend having Clifford, MacDermind and player X will stop players from taking runs.

I would argue the prevalence of those incidents is way up given what we've seen this year.

Having guys doesn't stop it completely but what you've listed amounts to about one incident a year (minus the Coyotes full meltdown). When we've had multiple now in weeks.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I for the life of me don’t get it. Never have and never will.

It’s not like he was some big part of the glory years anyways. He was concussed early in the 2012 playoffs and played like 2 games. And in 2014 he was on the awful 4th line, the only weak spot on that totally stacked Kings team.

He took a 40% paycut. If he was so good and valuable why did Toronto not match the Blues offer to keep him, obv didn’t show them much.

But you’ll get replies saying how valuable he was and was the best 4th liner in club history.

Bluntly--this is a 'you' problem, not a Clifford problem.

I'm not saying we should have brought him back this year but the guy was a good soldier and a top bottom sixer in the league for a decade by every statistic, by the eye test, and by the testimony of everyone around him. Having a dip at 30 doesn't mean he was never good.

Trying to retroactively rewrite his legacy because you're repeatedly clueless about depth production and grumpy about others sticking up for him is a bad look. But at least you admitted you don't get it this time, that's progress!

 

[Vino]

Yeah, i mentioned Hults today, inquiring if his 5 PM were for fighting or for boarding and I missed this game the other night. And mentioned he had 112 PM in 59 games, his last season in the USHL- some serious time in the box.
That’s when he was 6’0” 190 and he’s now 6’2” 210, last i saw.

He’s built like Grundstrom ‘Tonka’, but even bigger. You can see in this great interview, from April 29, 2020, that he has a solid build and looks like he has that look of having toughness, just from the way he portrays himself.

Yes, he's built like Grundstrom, but he is definitely not 6’2” 210. More like 6’0” 210 (very much like Charlie McAvoy, who is 6’0” 207). Hults seems to be a naturally aggressive guy, which is a good thing, because Kinks don't have prospects like that.

 

[Docgonzo]

That isn't the point at all. Having an army didn't prevent Pearl Harbor either.

Ask yourself which of the Kings teams above showed perseverance and which ones caved in on themselves. You cannot prevent an action, but your response is what matters.

When this team gets manhandled, its over. They fold like a cheap suit.

My point was those teams didn’t respond to any of those instances. Minus maybe a weak push or something. And some of those years the teams had straight goons on the roster.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Yes, he's built like Grundstrom, but he is definitely not 6’2” 210. More like 6’0” 210 (very much like Charlie McAvoy, who is 6’0” 207). Hults seems to be a naturally aggressive guy, which is a good thing, because Kinks don't have prospects like that.

The biggest kicker really, dude is just super intense at all times. Won't even smile in interviews, lol.

 

[Docgonzo]

I would argue the prevalence of those incidents is way up given what we've seen this year.

Having guys doesn't stop it completely but what you've listed amounts to about one incident a year (minus the Coyotes full meltdown). When we've had multiple now in weeks.

I don’t think the prevalence is up this year it just comes from one team. Other than vs the Wild I don’t remember that many cheap shot and runs from the other teams we’ve played. Even with Vegas and Reaves and Carrier and Tuch.

So just because one team is feeling, that is younger and feeling full of confidence is taking liberties doesn’t mean everybody is.

But yes this team in it’s current state lacks toughness, but it’s not surprising with half the roster being rookies.

 

[Mats26]

Not going to bash Blake and Luc since it is only half way in the rebuild and the many 1st year AHL prospects, Taxi squad, Covid situation make things tuff on them but it was the same for all other teams. I do feel this was the year to capitalize on some teams that needed to shed salary and players. Blake didn't come through there. I thought getting 1 or 2 depth NHL players in the Taxi squad to fill in for injuries could of been done to prevent prospects sitting on Taxi becasue they are waiver exempt. So instead we had Fagemo, JAD and Kupari sitting without playing.

Prime example of mismanaged roster: How do we keep our best AHL prospect in Taxi but play Marcus Phillips on LW...Mind boggling.
Just get NHL depth players to fullfill the taxi requirments and play Andersson\Kupari\JAD\Fagemo in the AHL or with the Kings.

 

[funky]

I am not a fan of having our youth sit on taxi and not get into games while the AHL team struggles to ice a competitive team. If DD, Roy and Walker are back send Strand down. If Amadio is going to keep getting minutes send Kupari down. That is the top scorer and top right shot Defenceman inserted into our AHL lineup. Kids don’t properly develop by losing steady and they don’t develop by lack of on ice leadership.

Clague, Strand and Andersson have all tasted the NHL. Get them down there to tell the kids what’ us expected.

maybe Jesse can ask someone in the know why this is happening? Maybe there is a legit reason.

 

[BigKing]

I must have different memories then the rest of you from the cup runs. While yes the teams were tough and full of grit, nobody stopped anybody from taking runs at our players or cheap shots.

Remember when Torres was nailed Stoll? When Hanzal boarded Brown? When Smith two handed Brown? Remember when Couture nailed Lucic out of the box? Malkin elbowing Simmonds? Bernier on Scuderi? Gio gunning after Brown? Kieth chop to Carter’s face?

All of those teams had tough guys on them, but yet they did not detour players from doing anything. Sticking up for teammates sure, but let’s not pretend having Clifford, MacDermind and player X will stop players from taking runs.

As already mentioned, you're missing the point.

Torres/Hanzal/Smith/Bernier/Keith...all in playoff games and not Game 1 of the first round either. The flip side of that would be what about King on Pieterangelo? Brown on Sedin? Brown on Roszival? Brown on Parise? Brown v. the world? Regher putting guys into the tunnel of death? Nolan and Clifford taking runs. Stoll "accidentally" boarding guys? The point isn't that having a tough team means bad things will never happen but it means two things: your team might be the one imposing their will and your team isn't going to fold once the other team ratchets up the physicality and borderline cheap stuff.

Lombardi gets skewered for character over skill debates but he still went out and got Stoll, Greene, Mitchell, Williams and Richards while also taking Simmonds and Clifford higher than they were rated for the draft. People try to say things like "JAD can be Stoll" and it's like, do you remember Stoll just being good on face-offs and that's it? Guy was an under-the-radar killer. I'm reading stuff on here about Kempe having an edge and it's like, that's how f***ing soft this team is when we are touting Kempe's edge. Wagner has twice now tried to dick around with Kaprizov and the Wild have immediately responded while Wagner has nobody riding with him. Wagner is still waiting on someone to stick up for him after Karlsson KO'd him. Two teams on win streaks met this weekend and one looked like a team that believes in itself and each other while the other one looked like a team that wants to win as long as it doesn't have to get dirty.

It isn't better down in Ontario either. I've watched every game since Game 3 against the Gulls and they are Charmin down there as well outside of Hults, at least as far as people we care about as possible NHL'ers. Byfield grabs his nose like it is bleeding and cries to the refs anytime he is touched. Hults gets boarded last night and nobody even blinks at the guy that did it. Berube finally had to go after a guy himself after being slashed at after the whistle multiple times during the game. Hell, Eyssimont is one of the only guys to be chippy down there and he's a midget. Brickley shoots the puck after the whistle to end the game last night and SJ is instantly pissed...Brickley just lets the guy come up and put him in a headlock with no fight back. Then the rest of the Reign pretty much allowed themselves to be wrestled around. Dude...you guys have 1 win in 10 games, have six skaters to five out there and the team that just whipped you for two nights in a row is coming after you to start a fight and they just rolled over like bitches.

It's a different game now and there aren't necessarily guys that can come in at 18-19 like a Simmonds or Clifford and be able to play at the NHL level while also handling themselves. That's why I cringe when everyone on here says it is so easy to get "grit" later on. Actually, there is a lack of skill/grit guys because the latter is somewhat vanishing. Tampa Bay had to spend 1st round picks at the deadline last season to add such guys so they aren't cheap or easy to find. It's a big reason why Turcotte is so important because he's pretty much the only forward that jumps out at you with that "run through a wall" mentality that a lot of the golden-era Kings possessed.

Anyways, both the Kings and the Reign could use a real nice line brawl or gnarly game where they finally stand up for each other and try to send a message that they aren't going to be pushed around and they don't like losing. Incidents like that are real bonding moments for a team.

 

[Docgonzo]

As already mentioned, you're missing the point.

Torres/Hanzal/Smith/Bernier/Keith...all in playoff games and not Game 1 of the first round either. The flip side of that would be what about King on Pieterangelo? Brown on Sedin? Brown on Roszival? Brown on Parise? Brown v. the world? Regher putting guys into the tunnel of death? Nolan and Clifford taking runs. Stoll "accidentally" boarding guys? The point isn't that having a tough team means bad things will never happen but it means two things: your team might be the one imposing their will and your team isn't going to fold once the other team ratchets up the physicality and borderline cheap stuff.

Lombardi gets skewered for character over skill debates but he still went out and got Stoll, Greene, Mitchell, Williams and Richards while also taking Simmonds and Clifford higher than they were rated for the draft. People try to say things like "JAD can be Stoll" and it's like, do you remember Stoll just being good on face-offs and that's it? Guy was an under-the-radar killer. I'm reading stuff on here about Kempe having an edge and it's like, that's how f***ing soft this team is when we are touting Kempe's edge. Wagner has twice now tried to dick around with Kaprizov and the Wild have immediately responded while Wagner has nobody riding with him. Wagner is still waiting on someone to stick up for him after Karlsson KO'd him. Two teams on win streaks met this weekend and one looked like a team that believes in itself and each other while the other one looked like a team that wants to win as long as it doesn't have to get dirty.

It isn't better down in Ontario either. I've watched every game since Game 3 against the Gulls and they are Charmin down there as well outside of Hults, at least as far as people we care about as possible NHL'ers. Byfield grabs his nose like it is bleeding and cries to the refs anytime he is touched. Hults gets boarded last night and nobody even blinks at the guy that did it. Berube finally had to go after a guy himself after being slashed at after the whistle multiple times during the game. Hell, Eyssimont is one of the only guys to be chippy down there and he's a midget. Brickley shoots the puck after the whistle to end the game last night and SJ is instantly pissed...Brickley just lets the guy come up and put him in a headlock with no fight back. Then the rest of the Reign pretty much allowed themselves to be wrestled around. Dude...you guys have 1 win in 10 games, have six skaters to five out there and the team that just whipped you for two nights in a row is coming after you to start a fight and they just rolled over like bitches.

It's a different game now and there aren't necessarily guys that can come in at 18-19 like a Simmonds or Clifford and be able to play at the NHL level while also handling themselves. That's why I cringe when everyone on here says it is so easy to get "grit" later on. Actually, there is a lack of skill/grit guys because the latter is somewhat vanishing. Tampa Bay had to spend 1st round picks at the deadline last season to add such guys so they aren't cheap or easy to find. It's a big reason why Turcotte is so important because he's pretty much the only forward that jumps out at you with that "run through a wall" mentality that a lot of the golden-era Kings possessed.

Anyways, both the Kings and the Reign could use a real nice line brawl or gnarly game where they finally stand up for each other and try to send a message that they aren't going to be pushed around and they don't like losing. Incidents like that are real bonding moments for a team.

You want grit you could’ve picked up Komorav off of waivers or trade a 2nd for Gourde in Tampa. Could’ve kept Thompson instead of letting him go to free agency.

Thing is we haven’t heard these complaints of needing toughness and grit after playing anybody else but the Wild. There was no calls for it after the Blues, Vegas, Ducks, Avalanche, Sharks.

Everybody wants grit and physicality until they do something stupid or don’t score for ages and then they wanted them benched for a skill young players.

And the Reign need it because majority of their team is in their first years as pros.

 

[Mats26]

I am not a fan of having our youth sit on taxi and not get into games while the AHL team struggles to ice a competitive team. If DD, Roy and Walker are back send Strand down. If Amadio is going to keep getting minutes send Kupari down. That is the top scorer and top right shot Defenceman inserted into our AHL lineup. Kids don’t properly develop by losing steady and they don’t develop by lack of on ice leadership.

Clague, Strand and Andersson have all tasted the NHL. Get them down there to tell the kids what’ us expected.

maybe Jesse can ask someone in the know why this is happening? Maybe there is a legit reason.

I thought we asked him about Fagemo and why he missed the whole AHL pre-season to sit on the Taxi squad. Didn't know why.
Kupari same thing. He should be on the Reign continuing to develop. He was the AHL leading scorer when called up. Instead he is travelling with the Kings, increasing his risk of getting COVID and for what? To fullfil the Taxi requirements when a team travels?

Not impressed with these roster moves. Wrobo must feel like, guys give me my players back, so we can win a damn game.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

As already mentioned, you're missing the point.

Torres/Hanzal/Smith/Bernier/Keith...all in playoff games and not Game 1 of the first round either. The flip side of that would be what about King on Pieterangelo? Brown on Sedin? Brown on Roszival? Brown on Parise? Brown v. the world? Regher putting guys into the tunnel of death? Nolan and Clifford taking runs. Stoll "accidentally" boarding guys? The point isn't that having a tough team means bad things will never happen but it means two things: your team might be the one imposing their will and your team isn't going to fold once the other team ratchets up the physicality and borderline cheap stuff.

Lombardi gets skewered for character over skill debates but he still went out and got Stoll, Greene, Mitchell, Williams and Richards while also taking Simmonds and Clifford higher than they were rated for the draft. People try to say things like "JAD can be Stoll" and it's like, do you remember Stoll just being good on face-offs and that's it? Guy was an under-the-radar killer. I'm reading stuff on here about Kempe having an edge and it's like, that's how f***ing soft this team is when we are touting Kempe's edge. Wagner has twice now tried to dick around with Kaprizov and the Wild have immediately responded while Wagner has nobody riding with him. Wagner is still waiting on someone to stick up for him after Karlsson KO'd him. Two teams on win streaks met this weekend and one looked like a team that believes in itself and each other while the other one looked like a team that wants to win as long as it doesn't have to get dirty.

It isn't better down in Ontario either. I've watched every game since Game 3 against the Gulls and they are Charmin down there as well outside of Hults, at least as far as people we care about as possible NHL'ers. Byfield grabs his nose like it is bleeding and cries to the refs anytime he is touched. Hults gets boarded last night and nobody even blinks at the guy that did it. Berube finally had to go after a guy himself after being slashed at after the whistle multiple times during the game. Hell, Eyssimont is one of the only guys to be chippy down there and he's a midget. Brickley shoots the puck after the whistle to end the game last night and SJ is instantly pissed...Brickley just lets the guy come up and put him in a headlock with no fight back. Then the rest of the Reign pretty much allowed themselves to be wrestled around. Dude...you guys have 1 win in 10 games, have six skaters to five out there and the team that just whipped you for two nights in a row is coming after you to start a fight and they just rolled over like bitches.

It's a different game now and there aren't necessarily guys that can come in at 18-19 like a Simmonds or Clifford and be able to play at the NHL level while also handling themselves. That's why I cringe when everyone on here says it is so easy to get "grit" later on. Actually, there is a lack of skill/grit guys because the latter is somewhat vanishing. Tampa Bay had to spend 1st round picks at the deadline last season to add such guys so they aren't cheap or easy to find. It's a big reason why Turcotte is so important because he's pretty much the only forward that jumps out at you with that "run through a wall" mentality that a lot of the golden-era Kings possessed.

Anyways, both the Kings and the Reign could use a real nice line brawl or gnarly game where they finally stand up for each other and try to send a message that they aren't going to be pushed around and they don't like losing. Incidents like that are real bonding moments for a team.

raise a f***ing glass here folks

 

[tbrown33]

The taxi/AHL roster mismanagement is driving me f***ing crazy. Get Gaunce off the ice and stick him on the taxi squad for the rest of the season. Get the young guys back down there, including Andersson if he's not going to play either.

 

[SFKingshomer]

Matt Greene would have never let the Wild poke at Peterson's glove. They need a physical defenseman in the worst way.

 

[head eyes]

The taxi/AHL roster mismanagement is driving me f***ing crazy. Get Gaunce off the ice and stick him on the taxi squad for the rest of the season. Get the young guys back down there, including Andersson if he's not going to play either.

Agreed. Is the plan to make Andersson depressed and want to go back home to Sweden again?

 

[BigKing]

You want grit you could’ve picked up Komorav off of waivers or trade a 2nd for Gourde in Tampa. Could’ve kept Thompson instead of letting him go to free agency.

Thing is we haven’t heard these complaints of needing toughness and grit after playing anybody else but the Wild. There was no calls for it after the Blues, Vegas, Ducks, Avalanche, Sharks.

Everybody wants grit and physicality until they do something stupid or don’t score for ages and then they wanted them benched for a skill young players.

And the Reign need it because majority of their team is in their first years as pros.

Well, I've been banging this drum for pretty much the entirety of the post-Sutter era. Scratch that: Sutter's last season is more like it with the Tkachuk elbow on Doughty being ground zero. You can see that and the lack of a response and not be surprised at how things have turned out since then. Next night saw Iginla fight Maroon and then the next game against Calgary saw McNabb fight Tkachuk, Iginla fight Engylland and Andreoff *try* to go after Tkachuk after he took another huge run at Doughty. All of those guys are gone. Not pining for these guys and there has been a lot of roster turnover since then but even that softie team had more balls than this current one and we were all over them back then.

The veteran leaders of this team have like a combined eight career fights. It is what it is and fighting doesn't automatically = toughness but the hits against Roy and Anderson need to at least be met with an increased urgency in the Kings hitting game. To be fair, I'll give credit to Doughty in the Roy game as he amped it up but it just is not in most of these guys. Now, if the young guys were joining a team with a leadership core that played on the edge, they would have to change their game to be accepted by the team. Management is supposedly trying to rebuild the culture and they have taken guys with leadership chops (Turcotte/Bjornfot/JAD) on their resume but holy shit if it just doesn't seem like they are drafting a bunch of nice guys.

It's tired at this point, but the Lombardi army/criminals and stripes on a cat quotes are legit. You've got to have some guys that will drag everyone into the battle: this team doesn't appear to have those guys on the roster or much of it in the pipeline.

 

[funky]

What we need is a certain ex kings Defenceman over in Tampa Bay.

Cernak can handle 20 mins a night and protect the crease and teammates. Unfortunately with Doughty 25 mins and Roy 20+ mins that doesn’t leave a lot of time for Erik.

if we could find a left shot Dman capable like Cernak I would overpay a lot

 

[bland]

As already mentioned, you're missing the point.

Torres/Hanzal/Smith/Bernier/Keith...all in playoff games and not Game 1 of the first round either. The flip side of that would be what about King on Pieterangelo? Brown on Sedin? Brown on Roszival? Brown on Parise? Brown v. the world? Regher putting guys into the tunnel of death? Nolan and Clifford taking runs. Stoll "accidentally" boarding guys? The point isn't that having a tough team means bad things will never happen but it means two things: your team might be the one imposing their will and your team isn't going to fold once the other team ratchets up the physicality and borderline cheap stuff.

Lombardi gets skewered for character over skill debates but he still went out and got Stoll, Greene, Mitchell, Williams and Richards while also taking Simmonds and Clifford higher than they were rated for the draft. People try to say things like "JAD can be Stoll" and it's like, do you remember Stoll just being good on face-offs and that's it? Guy was an under-the-radar killer. I'm reading stuff on here about Kempe having an edge and it's like, that's how f***ing soft this team is when we are touting Kempe's edge. Wagner has twice now tried to dick around with Kaprizov and the Wild have immediately responded while Wagner has nobody riding with him. Wagner is still waiting on someone to stick up for him after Karlsson KO'd him. Two teams on win streaks met this weekend and one looked like a team that believes in itself and each other while the other one looked like a team that wants to win as long as it doesn't have to get dirty.

It isn't better down in Ontario either. I've watched every game since Game 3 against the Gulls and they are Charmin down there as well outside of Hults, at least as far as people we care about as possible NHL'ers. Byfield grabs his nose like it is bleeding and cries to the refs anytime he is touched. Hults gets boarded last night and nobody even blinks at the guy that did it. Berube finally had to go after a guy himself after being slashed at after the whistle multiple times during the game. Hell, Eyssimont is one of the only guys to be chippy down there and he's a midget. Brickley shoots the puck after the whistle to end the game last night and SJ is instantly pissed...Brickley just lets the guy come up and put him in a headlock with no fight back. Then the rest of the Reign pretty much allowed themselves to be wrestled around. Dude...you guys have 1 win in 10 games, have six skaters to five out there and the team that just whipped you for two nights in a row is coming after you to start a fight and they just rolled over like bitches.

It's a different game now and there aren't necessarily guys that can come in at 18-19 like a Simmonds or Clifford and be able to play at the NHL level while also handling themselves. That's why I cringe when everyone on here says it is so easy to get "grit" later on. Actually, there is a lack of skill/grit guys because the latter is somewhat vanishing. Tampa Bay had to spend 1st round picks at the deadline last season to add such guys so they aren't cheap or easy to find. It's a big reason why Turcotte is so important because he's pretty much the only forward that jumps out at you with that "run through a wall" mentality that a lot of the golden-era Kings possessed.

Anyways, both the Kings and the Reign could use a real nice line brawl or gnarly game where they finally stand up for each other and try to send a message that they aren't going to be pushed around and they don't like losing. Incidents like that are real bonding moments for a team.

Bravo!

The only thing I would add is the Richards hit on Burrows, that, in my opinion, is the single most important hit in Kings history. Not only did they come in and take game 1 from the President Trophy winners, Richards stepped on their throat, held them down and pronounced dominance. It was all downhill from that second on. Vancouver was on the backfoot from that moment on and that momentum never left.

 

[Steve Zissou]

Bravo!

The only thing I would add is the Richards hit on Burrows, that, in my opinion, is the single most important hit in Kings history. Not only did they come in and take game 1 from the President Trophy winners, Richards stepped on their throat, held them down and pronounced dominance. It was all downhill from that second on. Vancouver was on the backfoot from that moment on and that momentum never left.

The video is too good not to share, even if a 100th time.