GDT: 2021-22 season game 9 LA Kings vs Buffalo Sabres @1:00pm 10/31/21

[kingsfan]

Yea exactly you should judge them based on results. This core has been here a long time and has had pretty horrid results for what the last 6 years?
When they come out flat a lot of nights and have a losing record to start another season I think most of us have our reservations about being overly excited about the players that have been on this team and are looking toward the future core.
Are you paid to be a fan on here or related to someone on the team?

Reading some comments like this, I should be getting paid.

Who has been here for the last six years that wasn't called out rightfully so for piss poor effort? I took a five+ year hiatus from this board and only came back a few months ago, so that is an honest question, but I'm going to guess based on the way some people who call themselves fans post around here, no one was spared any wrath. If we say 2016-2017 was six years ago, the only guys still on the team from that season are Kopitar, Doughty, Brown, Kempe and Quick. Pretty sure I've seen all of them blasted these past few months, some even in this thread, and all of them have been debated for trades. Kopitar and Doughty are by far the best of that list and even they get attacked fairly regularly. Who exactly isn't getting judged based on results around here?

 

[Schmooley]

Reading some comments like this, I should be getting paid.

Who has been here for the last six years that wasn't called out rightfully so for piss poor effort? I took a five+ year hiatus from this board and only came back a few months ago, so that is an honest question, but I'm going to guess based on the way some people who call themselves fans post around here, no one was spared any wrath. If we say 2016-2017 was six years ago, the only guys still on the team from that season are Kopitar, Doughty, Brown, Kempe and Quick. Pretty sure I've seen all of them blasted these past few months, some even in this thread, and all of them have been debated for trades. Kopitar and Doughty are by far the best of that list and even they get attacked fairly regularly. Who exactly isn't getting judged based on results around here?

Just the way you stick up for them I was wondering if you are related to people in the organization.
Sometimes they get blasted and deserve it and other times yes its unwarranted and nitpicky.

 

[tbrown33]

Kale Clague is a good player, glad to see we didn't lose him for nothing despite begging the rest of the NHL to take him.

 

[cyclones22]

Kale Clague is a good player, glad to see we didn't lose him for nothing despite begging the rest of the NHL to take him.

Let's see what happens with Clague over the next 7 weeks or so. Let's see who plays better between him and Maatta and who stays in the lineup when Doughty returns. Clague played relatively well last season and was sent down because vets and money even though those vets were demonstrably worse i.e. Maatta and Macdermid. Maatta thinks he's a #1 defender. He makes high risk passes in his own zone and carries the puck into the o-zone and pinches when he shouldn't. It was so tiring last season watching the front office hide behind "waiver eligibility" and continue to play shit players with zero upside because of saving a buck. Finally, they moved in the right direction by waiving Wagner, but now he's just taking ice time away from prospects in Ontario which is another discussion altogether.

 

[johnjm22]

I'm not convinced Clague is any good.

He plays in 2 games, both in which the Kings won (against soft opponents), where he gets 75% OZ starts and 10+ minutes of PP time. Who wouldn't look good in that scenario?

The problem for Clauge is that the other team seems to score when he's on the ice.

Guys can always look good in short stints/callups. It's over the long arduous grind of an NHL season when you find out who they really are.

 

[cyclones22]

I'm not blaming Clague for being the lone defender back on 2 odd-man rushes that resulted in goals.

 

[johnjm22]

I promise @kingsfan and @johnjm22 I will shut the f*** up about Vilardi, Tkachev, and TM for at least a week if the good stuff that's happened over the last two games happens vs. the Blues on Wednesday.

Don't shut up about TM, just change your criticism of him.

Criticizing him for not playing Tkachev over Moore/Kempe is nuts.

Meanwhile you could be making very valid criticisms. Like not giving Bjornfot PP time for example.

 

[King'sPawn]

I'm not blaming Clague for being the lone defender back on 2 odd-man rushes that resulted in goals.

I'm not either, but the 2-on-1 rush against on the powerplay was resulted in something that will send him down.

Kaliyev lobbed a softy to him, no doubt. But Clague was indecisive about what to do until he already lost the chase for the puck.

If he goes for it, he has a higher likelihood of winning the chase but also a chance at a 2-on-0. If he stayed back, he could have positioned himself better to reduce the threat and let Quick focus on the shooter.

In my opinion, he did the absolute worst thing and hedged.

Would a goal have happened anyway? Sure, it's possible. But indecisiveness is what continues to hold him back. It's okay to make bad decisions. He let the opposition decide for him, though.

 

[kingsfan28]

heh

yeah i don't think he was thinking too hard about eating clock when he spun off and flung the puck behind his back to the 2 defenders in the slot instead of chipping it deep or pinning it against the boards

listen man he had a good game but that was literally f***in braindead play

Meh, were nitpicking a play with like 5 second to go. Buffalo had no chance to score there.

 

[lexlavender]

Don't shut up about TM, just change your criticism of him.

Criticizing him for not playing Tkachev over Moore/Kempe is nuts.

Meanwhile you could be making very valid criticisms. Like not giving Bjornfot PP time for example.

It's true, at this point Bjornfoot has earned some pp time

 

[Bandit]

I'm not either, but the 2-on-1 rush against on the powerplay was resulted in something that will send him down.

Kaliyev lobbed a softy to him, no doubt. But Clague was indecisive about what to do until he already lost the chase for the puck.

If he goes for it, he has a higher likelihood of winning the chase but also a chance at a 2-on-0. If he stayed back, he could have positioned himself better to reduce the threat and let Quick focus on the shooter.

In my opinion, he did the absolute worst thing and hedged.

Would a goal have happened anyway? Sure, it's possible. But indecisiveness is what continues to hold him back. It's okay to make bad decisions. He let the opposition decide for him, though.

I dunno about that. Not saying Clague is a world beater but he had about .175 seconds after Kaliyev boned that pass. Doesn’t seem like he had much of a chance to do anything but back off.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I'm not convinced Clague is any good.

He plays in 2 games, both in which the Kings won (against soft opponents), where he gets 75% OZ starts and 10+ minutes of PP time. Who wouldn't look good in that scenario?

The problem for Clauge is that the other team seems to score when he's on the ice.

Guys can always look good in short stints/callups. It's over the long arduous grind of an NHL season when you find out who they really are.

The weird thing about Clague is that so far he's looked better in games with more responsibility/bigger minutes than in the AHL and smaller minutes.

Last year in that game where all the dmen died he jumped up with Doughty and had a beastly game, had that 24 min game, one like 80% CF% etc...

Re: his deployment--that's exactly what you would want a coach to do with an offensive specialist, right? See: Colin Miller's huge year with VGK. Softest minutes in the NHL--perfect for his skillset. I'm doing my best to NOT mention my thoughts re: Vilardi...

Last year he was 2nd only to Drew in CF%rel and 3rd to Drew and Mikey in GF%rel so the 'bad defense' tag didn't really apply to him as much as is being suggested especially given his partners...this is a guy who spent significant time with MacDermid. The team was a large order of magnitude better with him on the ice without macdermid:

He was above the break-even on an awful team at 5v5, and he obviously brings some chomp to the PP.

I'm under no delusions he's anything but a 'specialist,' but there's obvious room for offensive dmen on this roster. The question for Clague is will enough of his offense translate to the NHL to minimize his defensive miscues. And this is why it was so maddening to see Maatta stick over Wolanin AND Clague...if nothing else, maybe this will get him some trade value so we can lose both Wolanin and Clague for like a 4th round pick and see much more of Scott Neidermaatta.

 

[King'sPawn]

I dunno about that. Not saying Clague is a world beater but he had about .175 seconds after Kaliyev boned that pass. Doesn’t seem like he had much of a chance to do anything but back off.

I genuinely think it would have been the safer and understandable play, particularly for a young player.

The problem was he didn't back off. He lunged to try to poke it, then had to race back when he didn't get control.

Sorry if my point was unclear.

 

[Noonan61]

I know its still early, but if Kupari keeps at this level of play, I think he can easily steal the 3C from Vilardi. He drives the play better with his speed. I think if he continues this play, the convo with Gabe needs to start soon about moving him to wing. I just don't see Gabe thriving as a center with his lack of speed in the NHL. He needs other forwards to drive the puck into the offensive zone and then he can help work his skills.

 

[driller1]

I'm not convinced Clague is any good.

He plays in 2 games, both in which the Kings won (against soft opponents), where he gets 75% OZ starts and 10+ minutes of PP time. Who wouldn't look good in that scenario?

The problem for Clauge is that the other team seems to score when he's on the ice.

Guys can always look good in short stints/callups. It's over the long arduous grind of an NHL season when you find out who they really are.

With DD and Walker out, I think it's a moot point if Clague is "good" overall. He just needs to be decent at running a PP, which the 5 other D men can't do as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Clague was quarterbacking both the 1st and 2nd unit and then sitting on the bench for a while. We have zero offensive capability coming from our back end at the moment.

On another note, anyone else notice at the end of the Buffalo game that Roy and Edler were on the ice for the PP but the kids were on the ice for the last 45 seconds when Buf pulled their goalie? Speaks volumes about the trust of the coaching staff, as conventional wisdom would have played the vets against 6 skaters.

 

[bland]

I genuinely think it would have been the safer and understandable play, particularly for a young player.

The problem was he didn't back off. He lunged to try to poke it, then had to race back when he didn't get control.

Sorry if my point was unclear.

I think the bigger issue is how he handled defending those two on ones, and neither was dealt with especially well. Its one thing to take away the pass, but he backed in so deep that he created an easy lane straight to the net.

 

[bland]

Meh, were nitpicking a play with like 5 second to go. Buffalo had no chance to score there.

There were 30 seconds to go when that play started, its not like he took it to the corner to eat clock. He was looking for a pass the whole time and skated himself into double coverage along the wall. Whether or not he put the game in jeopardy it was still a poor decision.

When he said "we have to learn how to win games" the other day, well, that isn't what you should be doing in that situation and he has been around that block and back.

 

[Telos]

Clague is alright, but he is clearly raw and no one knows if he can stick in the NHL. The bottom line is though that he never really was given a legitimate shot. Well, his deal with the devil paid off and now he finds himself in control of his own destiny. If he plays out of his mind while Walker and Doughty are down, he will earn a spot on the team. I just hope that he gets a fair opportunity to try. That's all the fans can ask of any of our prospects.

 

[HookKing]

Meh, were nitpicking a play with like 5 second to go. Buffalo had no chance to score there.

Yep, it was rather obvious he took the puck to a safe place to eat clock.

 

[bland]

Yep, it was rather obvious he took the puck to a safe place to eat clock.

No, no he didn't, lol - he was looking back for Kopitar the entire time but Anze held back and Brown skated the puck straight into a trap and coughed it up.

The lengths people go to cover for his blunders are amazing.

 

[HookKing]

No, no he didn't, lol - he was looking back for Kopitar the entire time but Anze held back and Brown skated the puck straight into a trap and coughed it up.

The lengths people go to cover for his blunders are amazing.

LOL

 

[tny760]

LOL

i mean bro there's not much to argue here



he fumbled it while looking for the pass that never came then desperation'ed it into the slot

 

[BigKing]

He was not trying to eat clock. I'm not murdering the guy over it but he was looking to shoot first, the Sabres player was in the lane so he then waited for Kopitar but that also wasn't going to work out.

If he wanted to eat clock, he wouldn't of just gave them the puck back the way he did.

 

[HookKing]

He was not trying to eat clock. I'm not murdering the guy over it but he was looking to shoot first, the Sabres player was in the lane so he then waited for Kopitar but that also wasn't going to work out.

If he wanted to eat clock, he wouldn't of just gave them the puck back the way he did.

By the time he passed it there wasn't any clock left to eat. But my favorite is "he skated into a trap"! Really? A trap along the boards 150 feet or so from your own net?

 

[johnjm22]

If Brown does something good it's because of someone else.

If Brown makes a bad play it will always get highlighted and exaggerated, even though every player botches plays every game.