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GDT: 2020-21 season game 6 LA Kings vs St. Louis Blues @5:00pm 1/24/21

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kilowatt said:
Who else thought that after six games we'd have the same number of points as the Avalanche and Lightning?
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LXmKMfJ.jpg
 
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Great game, for the most part. Nothing can be added, that has not been said...BUT one thing that came to mind:

last year, just about everyone was down on Kempe - or at least underwhelmed and thinking he'd never emerge. I get the 'not so elite hockey sense' thing.,
but I always believed in his tools and skill. You'd see the shootout goals and 1 or 2 game winning OT snipes and knew he could do it.
It's just he needed to fully bust through with his continued work and add confidence. He's finally arrived. A point I wanted to make, is that
many would have traded him at the deadline and to me, most any deal would not make sense, do to his upside and age - few Kings in his age range .
And the return would not be worth it. His value and importance to the team has gone way up, in just 6 games. Glad he was never dealt. Yes, it
took a few years and many a MEH game. I always admired how hard he played and now he's a threat every time on the ice...and part of that,
is he's accepted that he's going to play wing.

The other player I would mention is Kale Clague. Saw his world juniors and was good...but only handfuls of minutes in Ontario. Was hearing
how he was a liability on D and bad reads...jumping up in the play too much and getting caught. No one was expecting him to make the Kings
or putting him on 7 Dman depth charts. Saw the Roy, Walker, Bjornfot, Anderson projections and Clague's the odd man out. May as well package
him in a deal. Now, all can see he can play NHL hockey and has a shot at even being a top 4 guy and second PP ability - he's not there, but you
can tell he will be. So happy for him...especially after he broke his ankle, when he was getting that callup. He has a lot of potential and
pretty excited about him. No more mentioning to jettison him in some deal...or leaving him off the 7 D charts anymore!
 
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Glad Vilardi scored and Kempe. Good to see those guys continued success. Good to see Andersson and Grundstrom going too. Good game.
 
Vilardi looks like he is skating in quick sand, but has amazing vision and skills. Glad to see he is breaking out.

As for Kempe, let’s see if he can stay consistent throughout the season. He is always hot and cold.
 
Kale’s emergence this early in the season is a pleasant surprise - though the jury is still out for sure. Certainly looking like he can play with the big club for now.
 
ru4reals said:
Gabe Vilardi will lead this team in goals this year. Kid has such a sick shot and looks like the backhand is freakin awesome too. Love this kid!!!
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It's exciting to see for sure. It's like he's not phased by anything and only expects himself to be a difference maker.

I'm loving the LAYERS of young Kings that are HERE NOW and a big part of the team now and more layers
going to keep coming in waves: first wave is here: Vilardi, Anderson, Andersson, Grundstrom and even Clague.
Next wave: Bjornfot, Fagemo. Followed by Turcotte, then a few games for Byfield, Kaliyev. Maybe a Tall cup of coffee
for Kupari, Thomas, Madden. If you're Amadio, Wagner, Luff or if Atanasiou falls off some, there are about 6, highly
skilled forwards that want your spot. Oh, and JAD somewhere in there!
 
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tny760 said:
i mean aside from the AA assist, i take nothing away from his production but there's something off about him right now

he's been lumbering for years but he never mishandled simple passes the way he is this season
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He looks like he hasn't played in 10 months at times, but still has produced. Like his legs and hands still haven't caught up with him yet. I expected this from a lot of the guys. Most years they would just be starting the season right about now [ with the preseason just finishing up] as far as camp timeline goes. Eventually things will sync.
 
King'sPawn said:
What's also important: "top line" vets expected to produce are put with younger players expected to contribute. Example: Kempe with Kopitar. Brown with Vilardi, etc.

Not putting youth exclusively with grinders and expecting them to succeed.
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During the Avalanche glory days, that's exactly what they did to break in Deadmarsh, Drury, Hejduk and Tanguay. If you're the Kings brass, you need to do this now while the vets still have gas left in the tank.
 
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Great to see some players with a killer instinct. Those kids have hearts of assassins.

Long time coming.
 
Peter James Bond III said:
It's exciting to see for sure. It's like he's not phased by anything and only expects himself to be a difference maker.

I'm loving the LAYERS of young Kings that are HERE NOW and a big part of the team now and more layers
going to keep coming in waves: first wave is here: Vilardi, Anderson, Andersson, Grundstrom and even Clague.
Next wave: Bjornfot, Fagemo. Followed by Turcotte, then a few games for Byfield, Kaliyev. Maybe a Tall cup of coffee
for Kupari, Thomas, Madden. If you're Amadio, Wagner, Luff or if Atanasiou falls off some, there are about 6, highly
skilled forwards, that want your spot.
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I never pay attention to any of these organization prospect rankings they have here on these boards, cuz it really means jack until we see them produce in the NHL. Apparently we're ranked pretty high. But I'm looking at this list and you just can't help to stop and realize Gosh dayum that is some serious talent. Assuming they all pan out of course. But still exciting as hell especially when you look at what they did tonight without two of our best prospects in Turcotte and Byfield. Not every prospect are going to make it, but just the idea of a few of these kids producing like Doughty and Kopi and Quick back in the start of our golden age of Kings hockey....makes me giddy just thinking about it. But being cautious and not get too amped of course. :DD
 
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Peter James Bond III said:
The other player I would mention is Kale Clague. Saw his world juniors and was good...but only handfuls of minutes in Ontario. Was hearing how he was a liability on D and bad reads...jumping up in the play too much and getting caught. No one was expecting him to make the Kings
or putting him on 7 Dman depth charts. Saw the Roy, Walker, Bjornfot, Anderson projections and Clague's the odd man out. May as well package
him in a deal. Now, all can see he can play NHL hockey and has a shot at even being a top 4 guy and second PP ability - he's not there, but you
can tell he will be. So happy for him...especially after he broke his ankle, when he was getting that callup. He has a lot of potential and
pretty excited about him. No more mentioning to jettison him in some deal...or leaving him off the 7 D charts anymore!
Click to expand...

It was pretty evident that he worked really hard in the off-season. Gained muscle and stated he wanted to work more on positioning and gaining strength to not only play but be effective in this league.

Speaking of his shot... both he and Roy always seem to get their shots through the traffic and on net. ;)
 
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ru4reals said:
Gabe Vilardi will lead this team in goals this year. Kid has such a sick shot and looks like the backhand is freakin awesome too. Love this kid!!!
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If you watched him in his short stint in the AHL last season you could tell he plays a thinking man's game. It's hard not to like a player who has that ability.
 
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cyclones22 said:
What I've liked about Clague so far is that I feared he might play too small and he didn't look outmuscled vs some pretty big teams.
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What I also have liked about him is his transition game. He makes both short little passes or long outlet passes to players in stride to get the play going forward. His skating comes as advertised. Had a nice play where he stayed on Kyrou step for step. He seems to be gaining a little more confidence carrying the puck and jumping into the play so hopefully his offensive skills will start to show more and more. Short sample size, but as I said in a previous post, I really like what I see from him.
 
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Only four Kings players don't have points this season so far: Mark Alt (1 game), Matt Luff (2 games), Olli Maatta (4 games), and Michael Amadio (5 games).

I would really love to see a defenseman better than Maatta and MacDermid jump into the fray. Happy with Clague and Anderson for the most part, even if I think it's a bit of trial-by-fire here.
 
johnjm22 said:
The Kings finished last season on a 10-2-1 run, and people want to act like it's surprising that they're currently .500.
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Yeah, they just went .500 in the preseason...now they have all the rust out and are ready to go.
 
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