GDT: 2023-24 season game 29 LA Kings vs Seattle Kraken @7:00pm 12/20/23

[Nasti]

I feel like if I vent how bad that trade for PLD was, eventually the pain will decrease.

I need to keep venting.

 

[kingsfan28]

Also wtf happened to Twitter

Russians hacked it and want Elon to re-instate Putin OR ELSE THE BIRD GETS IT ! [insert ominous music]

actually I have no idea, other than a bunch understaffed/overwork software engineers screwed up and can't fix it. The site is going to collapse very soon.

 

[King'sPawn]

Again, I never once said it would fix the issue. I even reiterated it again. Better linemates would not fix PLD himself and I never once stated that, In fact I've been very clear on that. Has anybody even stated that here? And yet somehow it's an argument on this board with specific posters. Goes back to what I was saying is annoying. Meaningless arguments over simple statements followed up by more random cheeky statements on the topic

"You're getting pushback because it doesn't fix the issue" basically just confirms my point that I'm getting pushback for no reason and it's annoying.

It's like the friend that misses the point of your statements and just wants to argue anyways because why? Who knows, the need to complain on this board is always rather high

So you're getting upset and defensive because other posters and I don't understand your point that you admit won't address the underlying issue?

Are you sure we're the ones who have a need to complain?

PLD would also probably score more if McLellan gave him more time on the ice when the opponent has an empty net. Sure, it won't fix the problems PLD has, but at least he'd have better numbers... probably.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Russians hacked it and want Elon to re-instate Putin OR ELSE ! [insert ominous music]

actually I have no idea, other than a bunch understaffed/overwork software engineers screwed up and can't fix it. The site is going to collapse very soon.

Before Elon purchased TwiX, Twitter was a mess with too paid staff for filter selective free speech. Now that he's in charge, TwiX is having all the crap pushed out of them! Basically Elon is cleaning house and now all these little detailed bugs in Twix are becoming exposed. Give about 6 months or a little more and TwiX we be cleaned up and operating smoothly again.

 

[The Butcher]

if i trusted our coach to adjust i'd be satisfied with that.

But when a team says 'hey we're going to play boring defense and not leave our slot, we dare you to beat us' the Kings haven't done anything but flail and falter. Doubly so if the team plays physical. The Caps game, the Isles game, both games vs. the Kraken. The last few weeks have seen tighter checking and fewer free goals and so it's no wonder the only teams they're beating are the near-lottery teams. and they're getting f***ing CRUSHED by the playoff teams.

Yeah there's peaks and valleys but thus far they're just proving to be who we thought they were, not some darkhorse juggernaut in waiting, they're just a bug on a real contender's windshield mostly because their entire playbook fits on a napkin written in crayon so when another team turns a page we just run into a wall hoping for a better result, running up the shot counter with effortless bad-angle floaters for Sutteresque moral corsi victories.

Ya coach still worries me. Todd seems like a very smart man and I actually really do respect him but his criticisms are valid. Again, I'll wait to reserve my judgements until spring.

I'm actually pretty pleased with the roster aside from the PL problem. To be fair the Kings are 1-1 vs the Avs and 1-0-1 against the Knights 1-1 vs Winnipeg. Losses to Boston and NY yes. So 3-4-1, not the end of the world. We haven't seen them play Vancouver, Dallas, or (gulp) Edmonton yet so I'm willing to give it a little more rope until this crazy schedule starts to even out.

 

[VILARGOD]

So you're getting upset and defensive because other posters and I don't understand your point that you admit won't address the underlying issue?

Are you sure we're the ones who have a need to complain?

PLD would also probably score more if McLellan gave him more time on the ice when the opponent has an empty net. Sure, it won't fix the problems PLD has, but at least he'd have better numbers... probably.

You don't understand my point? The only point I ever made was "PLD is playing like garbage but playing with the worst linemates he's ever had probably isn't helping him either." Somehow THATs what started this and caused so much pushback from you multiple times.

When I made a random statement about it that had gotten you defensive (as I am doing now), I reviewed what I said, told you that was more inflammatory than I meant, said I respected your opinion and moved on. Realized theres no need to be cheeky or randomly start arguments and adjusted.

So fundamentally we disagree on how to go about discourse on this board. That's all I can take from this because I already know we agree on PLD.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I love the argument that the Kings traded for PL because they can’t ice Lizotte as the 3c against Edmonton.

The Kings drafted the following centers:

Kupari, Turcotte, Vilardi, Byfield. All in the first round.

Isn’t it on them to develop a number one center?

Also, why couldn’t they have signed RR or Nick Bjugstad to a few year deal until Byfield takes over as the 1C.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I feel like if I vent how bad that trade for PLD was, eventually the pain will decrease.

I need to keep venting.

The dumb contract extension by Blake made it worse than it should have been. Case in point. I'm remember my Caps trading for Jaromir Jagr, from the arch nemesis Pen(!)s. The Caps owner Ted Leonsis, aka mister bailout/sellout before AOL plummeted to a big turd, gave Jagr a 7 year extension @ $11 million per year before he had any good immediate impact. Secretly Jagr never wanted to play for the Caps but he went along with it. To make things worse, Leonsis hired a rookie coach, then at the time Bruce Cassidy, who had no business being an NHL coach. Jagr was traded after 2 n 1/2 years with the Caps to the Rangers for Anson Carter. In the 2 n 1/2 seasons, Jagr 70+ points twice and 45 pts in that 3rd year with the Caps. The following season with the Rangers, I think he had something like 121 pts.

The moral might be try a new coach with Dubois/Fiala that could work while working with the rest of the roster. The way I see it, Fiala/Dubois are being used wrong by TMac. Frankly, TMac is definitely the wrong coach in general despite the fact the Kings are top 3 in goal scoring average and goals against/GAA and PK. This team is not being coached right to be a hard team to play against in the playoffs.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

The dumb contract extension by Blake made it worse than it should have been. Case in point. I'm remember my Caps trading for Jaromir Jagr, from the arch nemesis Pen(!)s. The Caps owner Ted Leonsis, aka mister bailout/sellout before AOL plummeted to a big turd, gave Jagr a 7 year extension @ $11 million per year before he had any good immediate impact. Secretly Jagr never wanted to play for the Caps but he went along with it. To make things worse, Leonsis hired a rookie coach, then at the time Bruce Cassidy, who had no business being an NHL coach. Jagr was traded after 2 n 1/2 years with the Caps to the Rangers for Anson Carter. In the 2 n 1/2 seasons, Jagr 70+ points twice and 45 pts in that 3rd year with the Caps. The following season with the Rangers, I think he had something like 121 pts.

The moral might be try a new coach with Dubois/Fiala that could work while working with the rest of the roster. The way I see it, Fiala/Dubois are being used wrong by TMac. Frankly, TMac is definitely the wrong coach in general despite the fact the Kings are top 3 in goal scoring average and goals against/GAA and PK. This team is not being coached right to be a hard team to play against in the playoffs.

Honest question, what more can they do to get Dubois producing? Is it better linemates? A different system?

 

[King'sPawn]

So fundamentally we disagree on how to go about discourse on this board. That's all I can take from this because I already know we agree on PLD.

I mentioned part of this earlier, but my initial cheeky remark was poking fun towards other people who have been PLD apologists, like people saying Arvidsson will get PLD looking better. If you're dissatisfied with PLD's performance and don't think different linemates will "fix" him, then we agree and it wasn't directed at you.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Honest question, what more can they do to get Dubois producing? Is it better linemates? A different system?

With the Caps, Mantha was the same problem as PLD. Laviolette did no good in getting Mantha going, but with a new, young coach in Spencer Carbery, the right buttons have been pushed so far to click with some line mates and have some successive offensive production. Those line mates happen to be young up and coming players for the Caps. Maybe PLD needs the same, but no guarantees. PLD is talented but I have noticed when he's given too much freedom with the puck, he tries to do too much like try to go through 2/3 players at once and lose the puck. Maybe he does that bcuz he doesn't trust his line mates? I have also seen at times he can make some good seem passes but his line mates mess up the possible good scoring chance. Since the Kings aint firing TMac any time soon, I would say to have PLD play in a shooter role while his line mates do the grunt work. Going back to Mantha, he started out on the 4th line to humble him and compliment offensively the hard working 4th liners. Once he built some chemistry with them, Mantha started to work his way up to a top 6 role after being humbled. As of late, Mantha has worked well with Connor McMichael being his center and Alexei Protas(6ft6in) being his opposite winger.

Coaching players is a tough job. Finding the right players that work together is not easy. Personally I think line match-ups and line combo's is a weakness of TMac. He has never been good making in-game adjustments. Tmac has yet to get the best out of Fiala/PLD and it's partial to hurting the team, magnified on nights where they lose to a team like the Kraken.

Oh forgot to mention Mantha was scratched a few times to send a message. Maybe PLD needs the same, but TMac has to have the pucks to do it!

One more thing Mantha of course a winger, while PLD is a center. Maybe PLD needs to be delegated to playing wing to limit his liabilities?

 

[BaileyFan]

I just hope it happens before they trade Clarke, Turcotte and two firsts for Logan couture and move PLD to wing

Former Blake teammate, personal friends with Doughty…good god, this is actually going to happen isn’t it? If we start hearing around the trade deadline that Logan has fired his agent and replaced him with Brisson, look out.

 

[kilowatt]

Before Elon purchased TwiX, Twitter was a mess with too paid staff for filter selective free speech. Now that he's in charge, TwiX is having all the crap pushed out of them! Basically Elon is cleaning house and now all these little detailed bugs in Twix are becoming exposed. Give about 6 months or a little more and TwiX we be cleaned up and operating smoothly again.

Surely you’re joking?

 

[VILARGOD]

I mentioned part of this earlier, but my initial cheeky remark was poking fun towards other people who have been PLD apologists, like people saying Arvidsson will get PLD looking better. If you're dissatisfied with PLD's performance and don't think different linemates will "fix" him, then we agree and it wasn't directed at you.

Whether it was directed at me or others, I'm not sure whats to be gained by being cheeky or poking fun at others unprovoked after an already frustrating loss. It's kind of my problem with this board everybody needs to get the last word in or throw a jab weeks later etc. I enjoy talking with some posters including you over the years but I'm starting to remember why I left this board last year. Whether that's a me problem or a board problem probably both, so whatever.

 

[funky]

haha.. well one thing PLD is good for is making up acroynms that describe his play

Pretty Lazy Dude.

 

[tigermask48]

I love the argument that the Kings traded for PL because they can’t ice Lizotte as the 3c against Edmonton.

The Kings drafted the following centers:

Kupari, Turcotte, Vilardi, Byfield. All in the first round.

Isn’t it on them to develop a number one center?

Also, why couldn’t they have signed RR or Nick Bjugstad to a few year deal until Byfield takes over as the 1C.

This was brought up here when the PLD trade happened. I know I tried to make the point (and remember others as well) that no matter how the trade turned out, it reflected poorly on the Kings development because it was necessitated by their inability to develop any of the centers in the system into a 2C.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Things are never really as bad as they seem during slumps and they're never as good as they seem during streaks. Just as I knew what the team was doing 2 weeks ago wasn't really sustainable I know know now that the overall defensive play and shot volume will start getting them some wins again at some point.

It's hard to say what the issue is at home, but it something they must clean up or RC is right this team is going nowhere. I remember when Sutter came in his first order of business was to make sure they were better prepared for home games.

I don't think the boys played that bad tonight overall. There's inevitable ups and downs to an 82 game season. You want to be peaking going into the playoffs, not in December and very few teams can sustain dominant hockey for 9 months.

100% agree on this with the caveat, I didn't like the game they played tonight.....way too much on the perimeter, I remember TWICE the entire game players driving the net, one was Doughty, the other Dubois.....other than that, they were content to sit back, float shots in and hope.....

 

[ZJames]

Also, why couldn’t they have signed RR or Nick Bjugstad to a few year deal until Byfield takes over as the 1C.

This is what I would have preferred. RR cap hit is only 4.5 mil per season, and he already has 26 points. With that cap hit, they could have found a way to fit both GV and RR. I've been watching Nashville this year, and he has looked really good. Imagine if they had Gabe and RR? This would be a cup contender for sure.

 

[KINGS17]

You all might be too generous by chalking it up to lack of drive with PLD: he fumbles the puck and appears to have zero creativity.

...but, but, PLD is French-Canadian, he must be skilled.

if i trusted our coach to adjust i'd be satisfied with that.

But when a team says 'hey we're going to play boring defense and not leave our slot, we dare you to beat us' the Kings haven't done anything but flail and falter. Doubly so if the team plays physical. The Caps game, the Isles game, both games vs. the Kraken. The last few weeks have seen tighter checking and fewer free goals and so it's no wonder the only teams they're beating are the near-lottery teams. and they're getting f***ing CRUSHED by the playoff teams.

Yeah there's peaks and valleys but thus far they're just proving to be who we thought they were, not some darkhorse juggernaut in waiting, they're just a bug on a real contender's windshield mostly because their entire playbook fits on a napkin written in crayon so when another team turns a page we just run into a wall hoping for a better result, running up the shot counter with effortless bad-angle floaters for Sutteresque moral corsi victories.

I miss the days when the Kings controlled the tempo of the game by mashing the other team's defensemen into a sticky paste along the boards and then standing up at their own blueline and sometimes even the redline.

When those teams were at their best the gap control was outstanding and so was the forecheck.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Outhit 29-11.

 

[King'sPawn]

Whether it was directed at me or others, I'm not sure whats to be gained by being cheeky or poking fun at others unprovoked after an already frustrating loss. It's kind of my problem with this board everybody needs to get the last word in or throw a jab weeks later etc. I enjoy talking with some posters including you over the years but I'm starting to remember why I left this board last year. Whether that's a me problem or a board problem probably both, so whatever.

Could have sworn I remember you posting this:

I wonder what Sol has to say about Byfield these days, I have him on ignore

GDT: - 2023-24 season game 17 LA Kings vs Arizona Coyotes @6:00pm 11/20/23

Brutal shift for JAD with that giveaway and penalty. Awesome goal by Moore.

forums.hfboards.com

We all give and take our jabs over our silly opinions we put out there. I'll give you a list of some of my takes that aged like milk, and feel free to take some shots.

But I suggest reconsidering how you lament the board behavior of "everybody" who jabs at others weeks later. Especially if you want to single out a person rather than comment exclusively about an opinion.

 

[kinghock]

I mentioned part of this earlier, but my initial cheeky remark was poking fun towards other people who have been PLD apologists, like people saying Arvidsson will get PLD looking better. If you're dissatisfied with PLD's performance and don't think different linemates will "fix" him, then we agree and it wasn't directed at you.

Yes, all team plays like garbage and it is only PLD fault.
We are not allowed to point fingers at Kopitar, Doughty, Spence and others.

 

[bland]

Yes, all team plays like garbage and it is only PLD fault.
We are not allowed to point fingers at Kopitar, Doughty, Spence and others.

Spence?

 

[kinghock]

Spence?

on defense, yes
First goal was on him

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Spence?

Spence wasn't good last night....not that anyone else really was....but he wasn't good, I've noticed he tends to skate himself into corners while dodgine forecheck, etc.