Speculation: Another year of this Bluc **** (The 2024 season thread)

[King'sPawn]

The contract with Kopitar was fine.

The changing of captainship was a bad move.

But the biggest issue is management's inability to add appropriate bulldogs to the team.

2012 and 2014 worked, because there were players like Greene, Williams, Richards, and the like to amp up the team emotionally, while players like Kopitar, Brown, Mitchell, Scuderi, etc added the temperature stabilizers.

And for the millionth freaking time, their model of overly relying on vets and not giving youth the keys to the car means there aren't younger drivers on this team. It's wait until the elderly flame out then youth gets trial by fire themselves, then get blamed for not acclimating fast enough.

The team's not officially dead, but it's on life support. This was all foreseeable as we keep arguing over the same talking points. The only time things looked better was the regular season when management appeared to wise up before reverting to the same shit.

It is as predictable as it's unacceptable.

 

[tigermask48]

I want to say the logic behind stripping Brown of the C was to give him the chance to focus just on playing games rather than being the captain as well.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Why wouldn't I prefer a future that looks brighter than both the Kings present and future?

I also hate soft hockey and the Kings have played a ton of that for years now, so these regular season games aren't terribly exciting for the most part.

The Ducks 'bright future' has been bragged about for the past 5-6 years and they are still a perennial lottery team.

 

[johnjm22]

If LA bows out in the 1st round again, it will be interesting to see if we get firings in the offseason.

I know people don't want to hear it right now, but I thought this was a pretty good season. The Kings finally started moving in the right direction.

I never expected LA do be a contender, so I'm not particularly disappointed.

I'm more concerned with LA holding on to their 1st round picks and prospects. Which they did. The regular season being as good as it was, was just a bonus.

Had we traded away a blue chip prospect in the last year, or one of our upcoming 1sts, I would be singing a different tune.

 

[SmytheKing]

I think there was more to it, I don't think Brown was exactly the most respected player in that room.

Plus, Brown was given the C in the same way Kopitar got it - a gift meant to inspire, not an earned recognition.

And let's never forget that the reason Williams, Stoll, Greene, Richards and Mitchell (hell, even Thornton and Cloutier before that) were brought in was because of the glaring lack of leadership in the core.

Easy to romanticize Brown in retrospect, but he was never considered a real "leader".

I don't necessarily disagree, but he WAS the captain and stripping it from him while he was still with the team just makes no sense.

Regarding the comment about not being respected in the room, I'm not sure that's the case. We heard from a bunch of those guys how much Brown led by example on the ice and how he supported young players coming in and lots of other things. I don't recall a single bad word coming from any of the players about him. Either on or off the record. I could be forgetting it though.

Also, he got the C after Blake left (again) and there wasn't really another option that made sense. It was "his time" if you will and, while you might be right about it not being "earned" I still think it's a lot different than how Kopitar got it.

 

[BaileyFan]

The Ducks 'bright future' has been bragged about for the past 5-6 years and they are still a perennial lottery team.

Boring. Bring back Surf Nutz!

 

[King'sPawn]

B

Boring. Bring back Surf Nutz!

He's taken up to airing his grievances against me and HF Boards on Mayor's Manor.

 

[All The Kings Men]

Dean or Sutter actually explained it last year in an interview with either Jesse or the Mayor. I believe it was Dean. I don't have time to find it today but I remember thinking that made a bit of sense. I read it as he wanted to push Kopi to the next level.

Wish I could take credit but it was with Cam and Strick.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Boring. Bring back Surf Nutz!

no no no no.... thats like saying you want crabs back after shaving your crotch (sorry admitedly crude but im not in a good mood)

 

[AbsentMojo]

He's taken up to airing his grievances against me and HF Boards on Mayor's Manor.

Who says the hfboard mods are aholes, those guys seem to be doing a fantastic job.. glad he has a place to go vs find his way back on here.. Thanks to Mayor's Manor for taking one for the team

 

[bland]

I don't necessarily disagree, but he WAS the captain and stripping it from him while he was still with the team just makes no sense.

Regarding the comment about not being respected in the room, I'm not sure that's the case. We heard from a bunch of those guys how much Brown led by example on the ice and how he supported young players coming in and lots of other things. I don't recall a single bad word coming from any of the players about him. Either on or off the record. I could be forgetting it though.

Also, he got the C after Blake left (again) and there wasn't really another option that made sense. It was "his time" if you will and, while you might be right about it not being "earned" I still think it's a lot different than how Kopitar got it.

Its not a conversation for a message board, but there is more to it.

And I would say that there are plenty of players who say the exact same things about Kopitar's leadership.

But the last 4 years look an awful lot like the 09-10 and 10-11 playoffs. Early inspiration, disappeared when things got tough.

 

[Schrute farms]

If LA bows out in the 1st round again, it will be interesting to see if we get firings in the offseason.

I know people don't want to hear it right now, but I thought this was a pretty good season. The Kings finally started moving in the right direction.

I never expected LA do be a contender, so I'm not particularly disappointed.

I'm more concerned with LA holding on to their 1st round picks and prospects. Which they did. The regular season being as good as it was, was just a bonus.

Had we traded away a blue chip prospect in the last year, or one of our upcoming 1sts, I would be singing a different tune.

Nothing will happen -- season was a success

 

[Schrute farms]

The contract with Kopitar was fine.

The changing of captainship was a bad move.

But the biggest issue is management's inability to add appropriate bulldogs to the team.

2012 and 2014 worked, because there were players like Greene, Williams, Richards, and the like to amp up the team emotionally, while players like Kopitar, Brown, Mitchell, Scuderi, etc added the temperature stabilizers.

And for the millionth freaking time, their model of overly relying on vets and not giving youth the keys to the car means there aren't younger drivers on this team. It's wait until the elderly flame out then youth gets trial by fire themselves, then get blamed for not acclimating fast enough.

The team's not officially dead, but it's on life support. This was all foreseeable as we keep arguing over the same talking points. The only time things looked better was the regular season when management appeared to wise up before reverting to the same shit.

It is as predictable as it's unacceptable.

+1

 

[bland]

If LA bows out in the 1st round again, it will be interesting to see if we get firings in the offseason.

I know people don't want to hear it right now, but I thought this was a pretty good season. The Kings finally started moving in the right direction.

I never expected LA do be a contender, so I'm not particularly disappointed.

I'm more concerned with LA holding on to their 1st round picks and prospects. Which they did. The regular season being as good as it was, was just a bonus.

Had we traded away a blue chip prospect in the last year, or one of our upcoming 1sts, I would be singing a different tune.

They lost their way in this series because their coach panicked and broke from the model he built during a truthfully excellent season.

This was a sweepable series prior to the overuse fatigue and irresponsible challenge call. Once panic sat in, nobody stood up to overcome it - they just sat and let it overwhelming them for three games.

 

[Herby]

I still have no idea why Brown lost the C. It made no sense then and it still doesn't.

Pretty much everything Lombardi did after Martinez scored to win the 2nd cup was a disaster for this team. This being one that while probably not having a big effect on the on-ice product was very unfortunate with Brown being the captain of two cup winning teams. If I remember correctly Brown went from Captain to not even wearing a letter at all until BLuc took over.

I'm guessing it was probably two things.

1. The Kings were not happy that Brown's game fell off a cliff while Kopitar, Doughty and Quick were still in their primes and the team was trying to contend.

2. The rumored problems he had with Sutter.

 

[King'sPawn]

If LA bows out in the 1st round again, it will be interesting to see if we get firings in the offseason.

I know people don't want to hear it right now, but I thought this was a pretty good season. The Kings finally started moving in the right direction.

I never expected LA do be a contender, so I'm not particularly disappointed.

I'm more concerned with LA holding on to their 1st round picks and prospects. Which they did. The regular season being as good as it was, was just a bonus.

Had we traded away a blue chip prospect in the last year, or one of our upcoming 1sts, I would be singing a different tune.

I get the general sentiment, but frankly I'm just sick and tired of moral victories.

 

[johnjm22]

Assuming they're not fired, the real test for Bluc next season is what they do with Kempe.

It will show whether they're truly committed to the right path or not.

A very hard decision is going to have to be made.

 

[johnjm22]

They lost their way in this series because their coach panicked and broke from the model he built during a truthfully excellent season.

This was a sweepable series prior to the overuse fatigue and irresponsible challenge call. Once panic sat in, nobody stood up to overcome it - they just sat and let it overwhelming them for three games.

The coach is the real leader of the team.

If you're headed into battle, and your commanding general starts looking scared and panicky, it deflates the whole brigade.

Nobody wants to charge into battle for a guy who looks like he doesn't know what he's doing.

Players can lose confidence in their coach.

 

[Maynard]

Who says the hfboard mods are aholes, those guys seem to be doing a fantastic job..

It’s a thankless job and comments like this make it all worth it. I’ll pass your kind words on to the crew at our weekly luncheon at Hometown Buffet.

 

[Master Yoda]

Nothing will happen -- season was a success

I wouldn't be surprised if this is what BLuc spews out.

We had one of the greatest regular seasons in team history and was right there with the Oilers and could've easily won the series.
We're close.

 

[Herby]

I'd rather be ANA or SJ accumulating youth with the annual tradition of getting to watch the Kings shit themselves in the 1st round every year.

I have said the same thing, but many insist that almost everyone would rather be in the black hole than in the lottery, and that we are somehow weird for thinking the way we do.

It's surprising to me because I'm presuming that unless those people are new fans or are young, they lived through the Kings missing the playoffs every season from 03 to 09 and those seasons resulted in drafting Kopitar, Doughty, Quick, Brown, Simmonds, Voynov, Schenn which became the core pieces or were traded for core pieces that became a multi-time cup winner.

But for some reason they are so dead set against ever doing something like that again, and would rather try and be the 2000 Kings than the 2014 Kings.

 

[BaileyFan]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is what BLuc spews out.

We had one of the greatest regular seasons in team history and was right there with the Oilers and could've easily won the series.
We're close.

Winning more than 2 games in a playoff series is for myopic stat-watchers. We all know the real Kings fans just want the team to have lots of passion, integrity, and family.

 

[bouncesonly]

If LA bows out in the 1st round again, it will be interesting to see if we get firings in the offseason.

I know people don't want to hear it right now, but I thought this was a pretty good season. The Kings finally started moving in the right direction.

I never expected LA do be a contender, so I'm not particularly disappointed.

I'm more concerned with LA holding on to their 1st round picks and prospects. Which they did. The regular season being as good as it was, was just a bonus.

Had we traded away a blue chip prospect in the last year, or one of our upcoming 1sts, I would be singing a different tune.

This was a decent season. Kings even did well in all 4 games against Edmonton (for the first two periods). They could be onto the next round...but we have an absolute tard for a coach with unexplainable actions for going into the third period with a lead. I want to shit on the players for not being able to shut it down but you're also going up against a desperate 97/28 who are being let into the ozone unopposed, gassing the Kings by making them essential PK at even strength for 20 minutes. Yeah, I wish they could "PK" better but 1) why are they doing that, 2) if you can't do that and you're going to lose anyways, why not play aggressively that got you the goals in the first place?

 

[AbsentMojo]

It’s a thankless job and comments like this make it all worth it. I’ll pass your kind words on to the crew at our weekly luncheon at Hometown Buffet.

I thought it was at waffle house this week? thx for update

 

[BigKing]

The Ducks 'bright future' has been bragged about for the past 5-6 years and they are still a perennial lottery team.

Verbeek has been GM for part of the 2022 season and now 23, 24, and 25. Bottomed them out in '23 and '24, leading to drafting 2nd and 3rd overall. Moved a former 6OA for Gauthier who just put up 20 goals in his first season. 21 point improvement in 2025.

It looks to be coming together finally.