GDT: 2024-25 season game 44 LA Kings vs Pittsburgh Penguins @7:30pm 1/20/25

[GoldenBearHockey]

THere were so. many to choose from .. QB last one Id single out.. I didnt hear it so maybe someone can chime in on exactly what he said.. not interested enough to investigate further

Easy search, this is what he said "
On elevating Samuel Helenius in the third period
I didn’t like Q’s game, I didn’t like where Q was and I thought Sammy, in his limited time prior to that, was going at least, was one of the, probably few players I thought had some energy, some physicality, some intensity, so I just wanted to reward him a little bit. Well, I shouldn’t single Q out, there were plenty of guys to go along with him. He, like the others, wasn’t on his game. I wanted to bump Sammy up, so where do you where do you put him? It’s easy to slide Q to the wing."

I would have love to known what he didn't like about his game......he seemed flying out there like I said, maybe a bit out of control, at least in the 1st half.....

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Easy search, this is what he said "
On elevating Samuel Helenius in the third period
I didn’t like Q’s game, I didn’t like where Q was and I thought Sammy, in his limited time prior to that, was going at least, was one of the, probably few players I thought had some energy, some physicality, some intensity, so I just wanted to reward him a little bit. Well, I shouldn’t single Q out, there were plenty of guys to go along with him. He, like the others, wasn’t on his game. I wanted to bump Sammy up, so where do you where do you put him? It’s easy to slide Q to the wing."

I would have love to known what he didn't like about his game......he seemed flying out there like I said, maybe a bit out of control, at least in the 1st half.....

Maybe not converting on his chances is what he didn’t like. It’s kinda getting old.

 

[Herby]

Byfield tried a fancy deke in the offensive zone trying to ::gasp:: generate an offensive chance, instead of doing it the Kings way and dumping it behind the net or passing it to the point for an 85th "throw the puck at the net"chance from the blueline. He was naturally replaced in a scoring line role by a player with 0 goals in 24 games, who had two scoring chances in this game and flubbed both of them off-target.

I wonder what it will take for Phil Danault, who looks like he is playing with a 9-iron when he handles the puck to be moved down.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Byfield tried a fancy deke in the offensive zone trying to ::gasp:: generate an offensive chance, instead of doing it the Kings way and dumping it behind the net or passing it to the point for an 85th "throw the puck at the net"chance from the blueline. He was naturally replaced in a scoring line role by a player with 0 goals in 24 games, who had two scoring chances in this game and flubbed both of them off-target.

I wonder what it will take for Phil Danault, who looks like he is playing with a 9-iron when he handles the puck to be moved down.

I know I've seen that before....Crosby from Grezlyck....I think it was just last night.....I guess it DOES work.

 

[chris kontos]

TOTAL WASTE OF 3 HOURS GLAD I MISSED IT

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

TOTAL WASTE OF 3 HOURS GLAD I MISSED IT

You hate the Kings, why would you even consider watching it?

 

[Herby]

I know I've seen that before....Crosby from Grezlyck....I think it was just last night.....I guess it DOES work.

Who said it doesn't work and can never be used? Does it work when it's the focal point of your offense? I would say no, but I'm sure you will tell me the Kings strategy and personnel when it comes to generating offense is fine. "Plenty of skill on this roster" right?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Who said it doesn't work and can never be used? Does it work when it's the focal point of your offense? I would say no, but I'm sure you will tell me the Kings strategy and personnel when it comes to generating offense is fine. "Plenty of skill on this roster" right?

There is skill on the roster, Byfield, Fiala, Kempe, Kopitar, Clarke, Spence,

Not a lot of balls on the roster, to take the puck to the middle, to get to the front of the net....

 

[Master Yoda]

There is skill on the roster, Byfield, Fiala, Kempe, Kopitar, Clarke, Spence,

Not a lot of balls on the roster, to take the puck to the middle, to get to the front of the net....

That's only 4 forwards, and 3 of them aren't scoring with any regularity.

 

[Omni Owl]

So glad I missed this shitshow amongst other things yesterday.

 

[Herby]

There is skill on the roster, Byfield, Fiala, Kempe, Kopitar, Clarke, Spence,

Not a lot of balls on the roster, to take the puck to the middle, to get to the front of the net....

Compare that to the skill level of the two teams we will have to beat to advance out of the division, and then of the teams we likely see in the later rounds and tell me how it compares?

Kempe is one of the best all-around players in the NHL and the only player on the Kings roster who would be a 1st liner on every team in the NHL. Kopitar is still very good but no longer a championship caliber 1C, Byfield is on pace for a sub-40 point season and if he is immediately who jumps into mind for you it should tell you how ugly it is, and Fiala (at least so far this season) is one of the most useless players in the NHL, especially at ES.

The numbers don't lie, this team wins about 20% of the games they play when they allow the other team to score 3 goals, considering the two teams in the Pacific above us both average over 3 goals a game, how do you go about trying to win? Do you just try and hold these guys to 2 goals a game over a 7 game series? Or do you find a way to score 4 goals, something the team has only done about 30% of the time this season?

Do you truthfully think this roster construction and organizational philosophy is optimal to winning playoff rounds in the 2020's?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Compare that to the skill level of the two teams we will have to beat to advance out of the division, and then of the teams we likely see in the later rounds and tell me how it compares?

Kempe is one of the best all-around players in the NHL and the only player on the Kings roster who would be a 1st liner on every team in the NHL. Kopitar is still very good but no longer a championship caliber 1C, Byfield is on pace for a sub-40 point season and if he is immediately who jumps into mind for you it should tell you how ugly it is, and Fiala (at least so far this season) is one of the most useless players in the NHL, especially at ES.

The numbers don't lie, this team wins about 20% of the games they play when they allow the other team to score 3 goals, considering the two teams in the Pacific above us both average over 3 goals a game, how do you go about trying to win? Do you just try and hold these guys to 2 goals a game over a 7 game series? Or do you find a way to score 4 goals, something the team has only done about 30% of the time this season?

Do you truthfully think this roster construction and organizational philosophy is optimal to winning playoff rounds in the 2020's?

So now you aren't talking about skill.....you are talking about willpower, and desire, and that is what the Kings lack. Byfield pulled off 2 of the most skilled plays of the year last night, missed the net on one, got his feet tangled up on the other. Fiala has made some tremendous skilled plays,

Do they need to finish, absolutely, again, will, not skill, They need to take the puck to the net every shift, not just when it's open, not just when they won't get cracked on....

Let's compare the skill to EDM....EDM has McDavid and Draisaitl.....and.....and.......and....they win a lot of games because of those two, and yea they are more skilled than just about anyone, but what is the one thing they do, McKinnon does, that no one on LA does?

How about Vegas....Eichel...and Stone...and Hertl? Again, what is the one thing they do that LA doesn't.

The issue isn't skill itself.

That's only 4 forwards, and 3 of them aren't scoring with any regularity.

Most teams only have 3-4 forwards with SKILL.....or top 6 skill etc,

Most teams 4th-6th, have a mixture of skill and grit....players like Moore, Lafferriere, Hyman, RNH, Barbashev, Howden etc....

 

[Herby]

Ok fine, if you don't like the term skill, then we can change it to finish or production, the act of making plays that result in pucks ending up in the back of the net.

You listed a player on pace for 39 points and another one who has 11 points at even-strength over half-way through the season as two of the teams better offensive players.

Vegas has 7 players on pace for more than 50 points over a full 82 games, including a 100 point forward and a point-per-game defenseman. The Kings have 3, with one of them being Laf.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Do you truthfully think this roster construction and organizational philosophy is optimal to winning playoff rounds in the 2020's?

Just because the Kings have only faced one team in the '2020s' a team that is considered prob top 3 in the league, and have lost those series....does NOT mean the Kings can't win in the playoffs. Your statement, just because it's proven to be true thus far (against a SINGLE team), does not make you the smartest guy in the room.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Ok fine, if you don't like the term skill, then we can change it to finish or production, the act of making plays that result in pucks ending up in the back of the net.

You listed a player on pace for 39 points and another one who has 11 points at even-strength over half-way through the season as two of the teams better offensive players.

Vegas has 7 players on pace for more than 50 points over a full 82 games, including a 100 point forward and a point-per-game defenseman. The Kings have 3, with one of them being Laf.

Again, because they are willing to do the things the Kings aren't right now.....has nothing to do with skill....or production...IF the Kings were willing to do this, production would come....

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

The Pens and Kings traded places tonight. Usually the score going into the 3rd is the other way around for the Pens .

That KHayes is still a good player and has Size at Centre

Rittich has sucked most of the season. His SV% is sub .890, which is awful even for a backup goalie.

LA might be Rittich's last Port-O-call

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

So glad I missed this shitshow amongst other things yesterday.

It had its moments...thought the Refs missed a couple calls after Kempe scored that could put the Kings in another 5-3 PP and possibly another goal it would have made it 3-2 instead Glass of all players scores making it 4-1...you could see the collective breathe deflating the Kings men

After that I called it a night

 

[johnjm22]

Kings were going to hit a bad stretch eventually.

They just don't generate many offensive chances. When you play this style your margin of error is very low.

In Rittich's time with LA he's been very serviceable. Makes the stops he's supposed to make plus and occasional extra one. He's hasn't looked good recently though. If they're actually interested in developing Portillo maybe he should get a start every once in awhile.

 

[Lt Dan]

Easily the worst loss of the year. It's all about how they revound next game. Do they start a new winning streak ?

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Man I'm not going to lie I fully intended to come in here and post something optimistic about blah blah blah I think the Kings will be okay, they'll get a boost when Doughty and Laf are back and a TDL scoring winger would also be a really nice boost... etc etc

But learning about Hiller's post game comments now has me pissed off.

Byfield was one of the only players actually trying to be creative and generate scoring chances last night. There were at least 2-3 times last night where he was VERY close to scoring / setting up teammates that probably should have scored. He was inches away from scoring a highlight reel goal that would've rivaled his goal of the year against CBJ last season. But oh noooooooo, the horrors... He tried a fancy move in the offensive zone and it resulted in a turnover - Now let's call him out to the media and reduce his ice time so he knows to never do that again!!! And we WONDER why Byfield isn't scoring more....

This organization / coaching staff is so deathly afraid of taking risks offensively.

We saw it with Clarke earlier this year. Clarke was producing at like a point per game pace through the first 10-15 games of the season. He was coming off a 3 point night (during a game the Kings WON btw) when Hiller decides its a good time to go to the press post game talking about "Clarke needs to be responsible defensively"..... Bitch WHAT?!?!?! You have a 21 year old d man producing at a point per game and just put up 3 points and your feedback for him is "you need to be more responsible defensively"????

And it's no coincidence Clarke then proceeded to go on a massive cold streak and still hasn't really been the same since. McLellan and now Hiller seem to have an uncanny ability to kill players confidence and by extension, offensive production.

Almost certainly a factor in Fiala's situation as well. He's had "Kings hockey" (aka don't ever do anything risky offensively) shoved down his throat for 3 straight seasons he's finally losing his ability to create offensively.

I know the record has been great under Hiller but MAN this approach where offensive creativity is seemingly frowned upon is REALLY frustrating. High skill players like Fiala, Byfield, Clarke, etc need to have the freedom to be creative offensively in order to be at their best. Hiller & Co seem determined to prevent that from happening.

 

[chris kontos]

I learned all about hiller when he benched laferreriere for defending himself
F that guy

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I know the record has been great under Hiller but MAN this approach where offensive creativity is seemingly frowned upon is REALLY frustrating. High skill players like Fiala, Byfield, Clarke, etc need to have the freedom to be creative offensively in order to be at their best. Hiller & Co seem determined to prevent that from happening.

I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on in the room...but I will say this, if you want the leash loose for 'offense creativity', then you better deliver. I'm just using Byfield as an example because it's been a re-occurring theme for him lately, but nobody gives a shit about how many players he skated through if he doesn't convert on these chances.

 

[bland]

Byfield tried to go between his legs for an extremely low percentage play at the top of the circles with two forwards below him and both pointmen flat-footed. That was garbage and deserved to be called out in ANY circumstances.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I learned all about hiller when he benched laferreriere for defending himself
F that guy

He wasn't benched, he was injured. Get your facts straight for once...and stop trolling this board, thanks.

 

[bland]

Man I'm not going to lie I fully intended to come in here and post something optimistic about blah blah blah I think the Kings will be okay, they'll get a boost when Doughty and Laf are back and a TDL scoring winger would also be a really nice boost... etc etc

But learning about Hiller's post game comments now has me pissed off.

Byfield was one of the only players actually trying to be creative and generate scoring chances last night. There were at least 2-3 times last night where he was VERY close to scoring / setting up teammates that probably should have scored. He was inches away from scoring a highlight reel goal that would've rivaled his goal of the year against CBJ last season. But oh noooooooo, the horrors... He tried a fancy move in the offensive zone and it resulted in a turnover - Now let's call him out to the media and reduce his ice time so he knows to never do that again!!! And we WONDER why Byfield isn't scoring more....

This organization / coaching staff is so deathly afraid of taking risks offensively.

We saw it with Clarke earlier this year. Clarke was producing at like a point per game pace through the first 10-15 games of the season. He was coming off a 3 point night (during a game the Kings WON btw) when Hiller decides its a good time to go to the press post game talking about "Clarke needs to be responsible defensively"..... Bitch WHAT?!?!?! You have a 21 year old d man producing at a point per game and just put up 3 points and your feedback for him is "you need to be more responsible defensively"????

And it's no coincidence Clarke then proceeded to go on a massive cold streak and still hasn't really been the same since. McLellan and now Hiller seem to have an uncanny ability to kill players confidence and by extension, offensive production.

Almost certainly a factor in Fiala's situation as well. He's had "Kings hockey" (aka don't ever do anything risky offensively) shoved down his throat for 3 straight seasons he's finally losing his ability to create offensively.

I know the record has been great under Hiller but MAN this approach where offensive creativity is seemingly frowned upon is REALLY frustrating. High skill players like Fiala, Byfield, Clarke, etc need to have the freedom to be creative offensively in order to be at their best. Hiller & Co seem determined to prevent that from happening.

So you want to watch a real life video game instead of watching young players make mistakes, be held accountable and grow into professionals that can be trusted to make the right play at the the right time.

Coaches don't just coach to get two immediate points, they make tough decisions to enable growth so that those players mature and they don't need 37 year old warhorses getting every key shift.

Brandt Clarke isn't just a work in progress in his zone, most nights he is the worst defender on the ice. You learn via experience, and that isn't always pleasant.

In fact, I would put it at even money that Clarke sees time in Ontario in February. He is gassed and ineffective at the moment, it wouldn't be the worst idea to send him down.