GDT: 2020-21 season game 35 LA Kings vs San Jose Sharks @7:00pm 4/2/21

[LAKings88]

Yes.

On this very post. I got a server error so I almost hit reply again, but decided to check and see if it posted

Getting that the last couple days.

Also will nearly get through a long post only for some kind of refresh to happen that wipes it out.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Its time for the Kings to houseclean and bring 2,3,4 from the "Farm" permanently!

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

I'll say it again, Jeff Carter is really dragging down Vilardi. How the **** can Todd not see it???

Vilardi has not been much the last 20 games or so...wishing the Kings had pulled the trigger on Necas and signed Kubalik

 

[Jason Squirties]

Yes, the bigger problem is obviously the offense and the other 4-5 things I talked about across several posts.





Where did I blame/scapegoat him? It's literally just a factual observation, is it not? Are we not allowed to talk about Kurtis Macdermid at all? What is with the fanaticism for this guy?

Okay, if I'm going to take heat for just making a simple note--f*** it. Might as well earn it. MacDermid only being 'capable' of handling 11 minutes means Drew plays almost 30 and the d-pairings are absolutely f***ed all game with four righties and one lefty. That's a factor in the breakouts, which is a factor in the offense, which is a factor in the stupid puckhandling all over the ice.

Like I said, at some point, you have to stop making excuses for what happens throughout the lineup when MacD is in. It's like JMFJ's minuses at this point, the guy could be in the locker room changing and he'll get a dash somehow.

This lineup as a whole isn't good enough to absorb Kurtis Macdermid even when it's playing well; when it's a shitshow like it has been in large part vs. SJS especially over the last little stretch, it's only emphasized.

Yes, we have much bigger problems right now, like an absent offense, the on-ice death of Jeff Carter, a continued inability to figure out the worst regular starter in the league, line chemistry. That doesn't mean Kurtis isn't one of them especially when the end result speaks for itself. I like the guy, I'm rooting for him, I was one who said the team plays bigger with him in the lineup, and as a whole, for HIS part, he was good last night--but that ripple effect throughout the lineup didn't help us last night. With Clague available, it was bad roster management, 11 minutes isn't enough. I'm not myopic enough to pin last night solely on Macdermid, but you guys are kidding yourselves to pretend he's not a factor, either. Simply 'existing' isn't good enough otherwise we'd be praising the everliving shit out of Trevor Moore for his CF% and scoring chance numbers last night but we're not--why? Because the expectation isnt' merely "be an NHLer capable of hanging for minimal minutes."

There's a handful of posters here who seem to either feel that 1. Macdermid is beyond reproach or 2. that those of us critical of him can't also be upset with many other things about this team. 1 would be stupid, 2 would be insulting to those of us who can walk and chew gum at the same time. It's not like we believe MacD is a problem to the exclusivity of any other team issue. I literally just mentioned him in passing and three of you who I have regular positive interactions with just went apeshit with snark. Chill.

404 Apeshit. It's the whole beating a dead horse analogy. It's like, we know. At least from my perspective.

 

[Gjwrams]

This is not all on these 2 players, but I would not mind if Carter and Vilardi watched a few games from the press box. Carter is just showing up to pay his mortgage for his home on Manhattan Beach at this point and Vilardi is clearly not in a good place right now mentally.

PS: I am really taken aback by how poorly/slow Vilardi skates. I see it sometimes a wonder “when did they get footage of me chasing down a puck from my beer league?”.

 

[King'sPawn]

Where did I blame/scapegoat him? It's literally just a factual observation, is it not? Are we not allowed to talk about Kurtis Macdermid at all? What is with the fanaticism for this guy?

When people point out "we lost with MacDermid in the lineup" when 0 goals were scored by the team, and he was on the ice for 0 goals against:
- you are the one with odd fanaticism
- you are blaming/scapegoating.

We might as well bring up their record on Fridays or when Bark Madness gets discussed, as if it's a key factor. Do you look up the record when Austin Wagner's in the lineup?

I suppose it was MacDermid's fault Doughty dove into Petersen at the lightest touch to draw a penalty, allowing the Sharks to score and go up 2-0? Oh, that's right - the DVR went out for you after the first, so did you see it?

Or it was his fault the forwards couldn't sustain pressure or generate a scoring chance two shifts in a row?

If people want to criticize legitimately bad plays, of course I have no problem with discussing.

But it's dishonest or foolery to complain about one player in the lineup, particularly the No. 6/7 defenseman EVERY TIME a loss occurs with him in the lineup. There are at least 5 players on the blueline between MacDermid and Doughty, and 11 forwards aside from Kopitar, who can "lighten the minutes" and help on the breakout, defense and scoring.

So, if you think MacDermid's presence was the difference between winning and losing, feel free to make yourself feel better. Maybe the Kings can trade for Joel Hanley, Dallas No. 6 defenseman. I heard they won 4-1 with him in the lineup a couple days ago and the team's problems will all go away.

 

[Schmooley]

When people point out "we lost with MacDermid in the lineup" when 0 goals were scored by the team, and he was on the ice for 0 goals against:
- you are the one with odd fanaticism
- you are blaming/scapegoating.

We might as well bring up their record on Fridays or when Bark Madness gets discussed, as if it's a key factor. Do you look up the record when Austin Wagner's in the lineup?

I suppose it was MacDermid's fault Doughty dove into Petersen at the lightest touch to draw a penalty, allowing the Sharks to score and go up 2-0? Oh, that's right - the DVR went out for you after the first, so did you see it?

Or it was his fault the forwards couldn't sustain pressure or generate a scoring chance two shifts in a row?

If people want to criticize legitimately bad plays, of course I have no problem with discussing.

But it's dishonest or foolery to complain about one player in the lineup, particularly the No. 6/7 defenseman EVERY TIME a loss occurs with him in the lineup. There are at least 5 players on the blueline between MacDermid and Doughty, and 11 forwards aside from Kopitar, who can "lighten the minutes" and help on the breakout, defense and scoring.

So, if you think MacDermid's presence was the difference between winning and losing, feel free to make yourself feel better. Maybe the Kings can trade for Joel Hanley, Dallas No. 6 defenseman. I heard they won 4-1 with him in the lineup a couple days ago and the team's problems will all go away.

Nobody blamed mcdermid for the loss. At least not in the pages Ive seen. He sucks though. Badly. He finally played a game yesterday where most of the team sucked as bad as him so he wasnt a total liability and cost the team the game. Big whoop.
Do you enjoy watching mcdermid play? What did he do last night that you want to keep watching him?

 

[DoktorJeep]

Jeff Carter is going to earn $75.8M in his career when this contract is up. He’s probably got $2.8M left. He’s basically trade proof and buyout proof at this point. At best he’s a #12 forward and that’s solely due to a lack of depth.

The Kings screwed up trying to transition him to a middle six winger and betting that would improve the team. They could have told him to look at Spezza as a role model for the 4/3 C spot. If Carter had 8 goals and 20 points he’d probably be the #2C on this club and they’d be no better in the standings. But if there was a little better depth in the top 9, his current production of 16 points might be more effective when it comes to team success.

Given cap space is no longer a problem, what’s the excuse for wishing for the best and sitting on your hands?

 

[tny760]

When people point out "we lost with MacDermid in the lineup" when 0 goals were scored by the team, and he was on the ice for 0 goals against:
- you are the one with odd fanaticism
- you are blaming/scapegoating.

We might as well bring up their record on Fridays or when Bark Madness gets discussed, as if it's a key factor. Do you look up the record when Austin Wagner's in the lineup?

I suppose it was MacDermid's fault Doughty dove into Petersen at the lightest touch to draw a penalty, allowing the Sharks to score and go up 2-0? Oh, that's right - the DVR went out for you after the first, so did you see it?

Or it was his fault the forwards couldn't sustain pressure or generate a scoring chance two shifts in a row?

If people want to criticize legitimately bad plays, of course I have no problem with discussing.

But it's dishonest or foolery to complain about one player in the lineup, particularly the No. 6/7 defenseman EVERY TIME a loss occurs with him in the lineup. There are at least 5 players on the blueline between MacDermid and Doughty, and 11 forwards aside from Kopitar, who can "lighten the minutes" and help on the breakout, defense and scoring.

So, if you think MacDermid's presence was the difference between winning and losing, feel free to make yourself feel better. Maybe the Kings can trade for Joel Hanley, Dallas No. 6 defenseman. I heard they won 4-1 with him in the lineup a couple days ago and the team's problems will all go away.

this is better than i could ever put it

i'm not a macdermid fanatic but i like him obviously, i'm just absolutely sick and tired of this board collectively making him a punching bag. i'd do the same in real life for someone who i say, worked with who i felt was being treated unfairly. i think he's being treated unfairly. it's not a personal attack on you RJ, i just think it's a shitty thing to say.

the guy doesn't play great defense, fine. he doesn't fight enough, fine. he doesn't hit hard enough, fine. but he stayed off the scoresheet, positive or negative, and contributed. that's doing his job, and his name should never have come up for blame for anything. that's unfair, especially when there's a $30M power play failing to convert at an outrageous clip, hell they can't even enter the zone clean.. 2 for 30 in the last 10 games. that's a HUGE problem.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

Yeah he might be the worst player in the NHL at the moment. Just completely uninspired play. Push puck forward or towards net blindly, rinse repeat. I don't like that he has an assumed lineup spot at this point. Might as well be playing Luff really.

but....but...Grundstrom!!! He made a mistake last game. So he sits and sits. Whilst Carter gets 15 minutes and sucks any life out of the Kings. 1 goal, 2 assists, -6 last 13 games.
Yeah, let's give him 15 minutes. Roller skater now. Glides 11 mph, no cuts, no deception, no short bursts. feet never move, except those long strides that can no longer reach 4th gear. I counted the number of times he and Vilardi connected a single pass last night: 1 time. Please break them up.

Worst player in NHL? Maybe. But I think 'the easiest to play against' in the NHL. Randy Jones would have shut him down with ease, on his worst day.

 

[Statto]

But it's dishonest or foolery to complain about one player in the lineup, particularly the No. 6/7 defenseman EVERY TIME a loss occurs with him in the lineup. There are at least 5 players on the blueline between MacDermid and Doughty, and 11 forwards aside from Kopitar, who can "lighten the minutes" and help on the breakout, defense and scoring.

So, if you think MacDermid's presence was the difference between winning and losing, feel free to make yourself feel better. Maybe the Kings can trade for Joel Hanley, Dallas No. 6 defenseman. I heard they won 4-1 with him in the lineup a couple days ago and the team's problems will all go away.

You might have a point if he only complained about MacDermid, but he was bitching about a number of things.; Carter had a much harder critique last night.

MacDermid is part of the teams problems, he simply isn’t good enough despite the fact I love the guys heart. So yes he has a detrimental effect on the team, simply by being in the lineup. Also, last night Carter was dragging Vilardi down with him (again), not dressing Clague was a mistake and Kopitar’s performance was another major problem. So it’s not all on MacD.

The problem is though, that MacDermids presence is consistently an issue and whilst I can’t be bothered looking it up our record with him in the lineup is significantly worse than when he plays. There is no doubt he has a detrimental effect on the balance of the team which serves to further highlight its deficiencies. So it gets mentioned by people because it’s a frustrating problem that keeps contributing to our issues, especially when other options existed.

The team is a work in progress which I’m fine with, I never expected to make the play-offs, but at this stage of things I see no reason to use MacDermid except in an emergency. So given Clague was available I don’t get why MacD played. I’m no great fan of Clague but he’s a much better option for the team. Carter is just much of a problem unfortunately, but I’ve already said my piece there. They are the two players that are an issue every night they are in the lineup, which is why the frustration grows with them both.

 

[BigKing]

Let's talk about their record with anyone in the lineup: it's not great.

They are a black hole type of team that can lose to anyone and beat anyone. Consistency is hard to come by throughout the lineup so you'll get clunkers and then sometimes you'll get a nice win over a good team.

Makes sense since Blake added nothing but AA to this team. Like, they are supposed to be a playoff team after finishing 5th worst in the league just because of Vilardi full time and AA?

The main thing to worry about right now is the lack of grit and urgency. A lot of these dudes are placeholders so whatever on an individual level but I still need to see these guys act like a team. I'm not getting caught up in results but I am concerned about seeing passionless hockey. Last night looked like any loss you want to pick out from the two seasons prior.

 

[yankeeking]

its funny how there are so many different players to blame , big mac, vilardi, carter, dd , how about its becoming apparently clear they have as a group no heart maybe? , only watched the second half from right after they scored the second time, but I can't remember one solid clean or borderline hit anywhere on the ice, we all know how emotional hockey is as a game , when was the last time we saw some one shit anyone lay a guy out or cream a dman on the dump and chase and force them to being looking all around for a pass, we have to be the easiest team to play against in the division . Agreed we have more speed now but we still have to play the body more, look back at any five minute segment last night and tell me you seen us hit or hell even bump a guy, big mac was doing earlier in the year but he now seems afraid that if he is out of position he will be benched for a while , I know its the new nhl but why do you think reaves and kospar (sp) on vegas are there , bellmare on col. is there they stop the rush and change momentum constantly , hitting is contagious and if we can hit a few guys on the forecheck maybe they aren't as comfortable making tape to tape passes , talking about needing stoll tonight if he doesn't hit that dman that night there's no turnover and who knows what happens from there right

 

[LAKings88]

The Sharks are the epitome of a black hole team. Also a team that has no real window in the near future. Fn Jones. I hate losing to that team.

 

[Schmooley]

Last night looked like any loss you want to pick out from the two seasons prior.

Yea I kept thinking the same thing.

 

[Jason Squirties]

its funny how there are so many different players to blame , big mac, vilardi, carter, dd , how about its becoming apparently clear they have as a group no heart maybe? , only watched the second half from right after they scored the second time, but I can't remember one solid clean or borderline hit anywhere on the ice, we all know how emotional hockey is as a game , when was the last time we saw some one shit anyone lay a guy out or cream a dman on the dump and chase and force them to being looking all around for a pass, we have to be the easiest team to play against in the division . Agreed we have more speed now but we still have to play the body more, look back at any five minute segment last night and tell me you seen us hit or hell even bump a guy, big mac was doing earlier in the year but he now seems afraid that if he is out of position he will be benched for a while , I know its the new nhl but why do you think reaves and kospar (sp) on vegas are there , bellmare on col. is there they stop the rush and change momentum constantly , hitting is contagious and if we can hit a few guys on the forecheck maybe they aren't as comfortable making tape to tape passes , talking about needing stoll tonight if he doesn't hit that dman that night there's no turnover and who knows what happens from there right

Yes, we've been harping on this for a while. Collectively they avoid any sort of confrontation or emotional response outside of Doughty chirping from 100ft away. Everyone on the team is happy to keep their head down and ignore what a lot of us are screaming bout in front of our TV's every night.

 

[King'sPawn]

You might have a point if he only complained about MacDermid, but he was bitching about a number of things.; Carter had a much harder critique last night.

MacDermid is part of the teams problems, he simply isn’t good enough despite the fact I love the guys heart. So yes he has a detrimental effect on the team, simply by being in the lineup. Also, last night Carter was dragging Vilardi down with him (again), not dressing Clague was a mistake and Kopitar’s performance was another major problem. So it’s not all on MacD.

The problem is though, that MacDermids presence is consistently an issue and whilst I can’t be bothered looking it up our record with him in the lineup is significantly worse than when he plays. There is no doubt he has a detrimental effect on the balance of the team which serves to further highlight its deficiencies. So it gets mentioned by people because it’s a frustrating problem that keeps contributing to our issues, especially when other options existed.

The team is a work in progress which I’m fine with, I never expected to make the play-offs, but at this stage of things I see no reason to use MacDermid except in an emergency. So given Clague was available I don’t get why MacD played. I’m no great fan of Clague but he’s a much better option for the team. Carter is just much of a problem unfortunately, but I’ve already said my piece there. They are the two players that are an issue every night they are in the lineup, which is why the frustration grows with them both.

And those are fair criticisms when broadly discussed. But ultimately, I think in last night's game, like many, MacDermid's contributions to the successes and failures of the team are far fewer than the attention he gets.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The Kings are so bad, opposing players are setting up goals against them while using wrong handed sticks.

 

[Schmooley]

And those are fair criticisms when broadly discussed. But ultimately, I think in last night's game, like many, MacDermid's contributions to the successes and failures of the team are far fewer than the attention he gets.

No one blamed yesterday on him. Where do you see people saying that? He was a non factor at best yesterday. Which for him may be his best game of the year.
The two prior san jose games he was horrible and deserved a large portion of the blame. Theres really no denying it if you watched.

 

[Mats26]

Meh...said it a few weeks ago at best we are a .500 team. We ain't making the playoffs with that kind of record, if we fall short consider it a postive step compared to the last 2 years.

Would like to see some youth getting in a few games this year. I really don't think a Turcotte\Byfeild would cost us over siting Lizotte and his 4 pts for a game or 2.

For me the biggest off season in this rebuild is this summer. How Blake manages the cap space, expansion draft, UFA(AI) and who he brings in will be telling if he serious about a playoff seed or it's just PR. IMO with fans in the seats I think the pressure on him to add will be bigger than it is right now. I feel he is getting off easy since no one is actually paying to see this horse show anyways.

 

[King'sPawn]

No one blamed yesterday on him. Where do you see people saying that? He was a non factor at best yesterday. Which for him may be his best game of the year.
The two prior san jose games he was horrible and deserved a large portion of the blame. Theres really no denying it if you watched.

You mean casually bringing up the Kings record when MacDermid is in the lineup isn't blaming him?

Bringing up what a terrible player he is, so others get overplayed isn't blaming him?

Must be nice to be able to say how MacDermid's existence on the roster is contributory to the team losing, but you can also gaslight people by saying "nobody's blaming him."

 

[Schmooley]

You mean casually bringing up the Kings record when MacDermid is in the lineup isn't blaming him?

Bringing up what a terrible player he is, so others get overplayed isn't blaming him?

Must be nice to be able to say how MacDermid's existence on the roster is contributory to the team losing, but you can also gaslight people by saying "nobody's blaming him."

Nobody blamed him for losing yesterday. But the games before yea he was a big factor in the losses.
People have been posting the record with him in the lineup for weeks now and not just yesterday. Its not a good record so yes he is part of the reason they are losing in general. But last night Id say a lot of players were more to blame. Carter and Brown have come up as culprits and I agree. Doughty wasnt so good yesterday but he gets the benefit of the doubt cause hes been great. Still waiting for people to bash Iafallo besides Andys but maybe hes been such a ghost people forget hes there altogether.