Conf . Call with Lombardi, Richards , Kopitar (Kopi -no injury/no surgery)

[Reclamation Project]

Let's be real. He's not going to make a deep run in the Olympics, no matter how much I want them too.

 

[jml87]

As a fan, seeing Quick and Richards crushed after a loss and Williams pissed off, I love that. To me that just reeks of leadership. I was glad last night when Patrick ONeal asked Wlliams something to the effect of appreciating what the team accomplished and he shook his head and said that this wasn't what they set out to accomplish, that winning the cuip was and that coming up short left a bitter taste in his mouth

Good for him!
Richards has always been that way, that heart and soul guy , I still get upset when I see that video of him in 2010 post cup in the locker room when some dopey reporter asked 'How much does this hurt' He was choking back tears and barely audible and said 'alot'. he also blamed himself for the loss when Elliott Friedman asked him what happened , that 'the Hawks had 4 lines going and we had 3 (meaning his line) and paused, swallowed real hard and had to regroup and then said' and that's something I'll have to think about all summer'.
I love that heart of a champion...you can't teach that, you either have it or you don't. And shame on Homer for throwing it away No coincidence that the year after he trades MR to the Kings they win a Cup and this year they go WCF while the Flyers play golf again in April.

This team, this very special team , DL has put together mostliy a whole room full of those guys. And he's gonna try to keep as many of them (certainly the leadership group) together.

They'll learn from this and be stronger for it next year (with a new LW we hope!!).

But how can you not love this team?

I love them, too much I think You're supposed to want your team to win as a personal thing as something for the city. You're supposed to be all in for the logo on the sweater. But this year, it was more I don't want them to lose cause I feel for the guys so much. I can't stand to see them so disappointed. I mean I want to win, but I'm pretty ok with how things turned out this year. But seeing them all so upset, it makes me proud, but also breaks my heart too, you know. I guess they made me so happy last year so I just want them to be happy. But unfortunately you can't win every year.

I'm an emotional person anyway and I admit I was totally crying in 2010 after those Finals (embarrassing to admit, but come on, give me a break, I'm a girl ). You spend almost every night watching these guys, you can't help but feel something for them.

But I still know that with a locker room filled with guys like that, they are a going to be multi champions.

 

[agentfouser]

I agree with those saying it sounds more mental than physical. Sure, Kopitar was slower than we've seen in the past, and was easier to knock off the puck. But, maybe more than anything, he wasn't going to the middle of the ice. He turned into a perimeter player, backing off, looking for the easy play, and not driving down the middle himself.

And I can see how the pressure of being the top center on a team trying to repeat would get to you. The hardest thing I've discovered about professional life is being able to maintain one's mental and emotional intensity day after day. There are times when you simply burn out or hit a wall, and it can be difficult to push through it. It can affect your confidence in yourself, cause you to second-guess yourself, and can turn a cold or unlucky streak into a major mental funk.

The person above who pointed out that Kopitar needs to recognize that he's not alone makes a great point. This is where we will need to see the bonds of the dressing room tighten, and see the players become more mutually supportive.

 

[KingKopitar11*]

He really needs to train, man that guy needs to bust his ass so he can remember what hard work is.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

FYI, Kopitar played in 96 games if you include his participation with Mora and the playoffs.

Last season, with an 82 game NHL schedule, Kopitar appeared in 102 games. So the difference in games played for Kopitar was 6 games, and this was in a locked out, abbreviated season.

Add the fact that he had damaged his knee in his last game over in Sweden and rushed back to play with a knee brace on, and you get an idea as to why Kopitar played the way he did towards the end of the playoff run.

 

[Winger23]

FYI, Kopitar played in 96 games if you include his participation with Mora and the playoffs.

Last season, with an 82 game NHL schedule, Kopitar appeared in 102 games. So the difference in games played for Kopitar was 6 games, and this was in a locked out, abbreviated season.

Add the fact that he had damaged his knee in his last game over in Sweden and rushed back to play with a knee brace on, and you get an idea as to why Kopitar played the way he did towards the end of the playoff run.

Imo he still needs to be better if all he had was the knee problem he had all year. He's getting paid way too much to play like he did during the playoffs. It's not about scoring points, but he created absolutely nothing on offense whatsoever.

When guys like handzus are beating him to sucks and he is healthy there's a serious issue.

 

[Papa Mocha 15]

I have been out of the area for the vast majority of the season, so I haven't seen many games. That being said, the Kings lost in the Conference Finals....

....and I am the pessimist?

For the record, this is the first time in their history that they have lost in the 3rd round of the playoffs.

I can live with that

Hey You're back!!! Was wondering if you were gonna jump back on the boards.....

 

[etherialone]

I have been in Tampa, FL for the last 3 months. You would think that there might be some interest with the Lightning here, but.....

There has been a TOTAL of one Kings game on TV here since I arrived. The only game that I was able to watch was last night. Not the result that I wanted, but compared to the performances from the past 30 years, it's hard to be disappointed.

Ewww Tampa.

Well I am not surprised at the lack of hockey but what can you do?

I too am not disappointed with team but you know me.

Good to see you posting and look forward to your thoughts on our summer moves additions etc.

It should be a great one and sort of interesting too.

 

[I Am Ziggy Palffy]

I think it worked for Ziggy Palffy...

Low blow there man.

Eyeball test alone tells me Kopi wasn't right physically. Perhaps the physical wear down from compressed schedule? I wonder if hid poor play goes back to that Douglas Murray hit?

 

[Winger23]

Low blow there man.

Eyeball test alone tells me Kopi wasn't right physically. Perhaps the physical wear down from compressed schedule? I wonder if hid poor play goes back to that Douglas Murray hit?

Guess we will have to see how he looks after a few months off. I do believe he's hiding it.

 

[Herby]

IMO, to be great he will have to change his off season program to be more like the ones that guys like Stoll and Lewis do over the summer.

I wonder if we will ever see an Anze Kopitar season where he reaches his full potential.

Even with all the training, Lewis and Stoll played poorly down the stretch and completely vanished in the playoffs.

As for Kopi, he was pretty dominant last playoffs, most years he would have won a Conn Smythe. That was his potential, and the Kings won a cup.

I think the issue for Kopitar, Lewis, Stoll and some other guys may be just playing to many games, they simply weren't use to it and ran out of gas.

 

[KingLB]

Even with all the training, Lewis and Stoll played poorly down the stretch and completely vanished in the playoffs.

As for Kopi, he was pretty dominant last playoffs, most years he would have won a Conn Smythe. That was his potential, and the Kings won a cup.

I think the issue for Kopitar, Lewis, Stoll and some other guys may be just playing to many games, they simply weren't use to it and ran out of gas.

Stoll and Lewis had an extra 4 months off though didn't they? (wish Kopi woulda used that time)

 

[KingsFan7824]

Kopitar wasn't the only player not only on the Kings, but around the league, that didn't have a great playoff. It happens. Perry had 0 goals and 2 points. Crosby and Malkin had 0 points in the conference finals. People were questioning some of Chicago's players earlier in the playoffs.

Hell, even Gretzky "only" had 19 points in 10 playoff games the year he had 215 points in the regular season. Lost in the 2nd round to the Flames, a team that had 30 fewer points than the Oilers.

If it were easy, every player would always be good during the playoffs. Kopitar has still only played in 8 playoff series in his career. 44 games total. Before this season, he had 25 points in 26 playoff games, with a couple OT winners in Vancouver and NJ.

Whatever the reason, and there may be many, few, or none, he didn't have a great playoff this season. It's not time to write the guy off though.

 

[KingKopitar11*]

Kopitar wasn't the only player not only on the Kings, but around the league, that didn't have a great playoff. It happens. Perry had 0 goals and 2 points. Crosby and Malkin had 0 points in the conference finals. People were questioning some of Chicago's players earlier in the playoffs.

Hell, even Gretzky "only" had 19 points in 10 playoff games the year he had 215 points in the regular season. Lost in the 2nd round to the Flames, a team that had 30 fewer points than the Oilers.

If it were easy, every player would always be good during the playoffs. Kopitar has still only played in 8 playoff series in his career. 44 games total. Before this season, he had 25 points in 26 playoff games, with a couple OT winners in Vancouver and NJ.

Whatever the reason, and there may be many, few, or none, he didn't have a great playoff this season. It's not time to write the guy off though.

That's true many players stunk it up and some of those guys were injured. But what separates Kopitar is how ineffective his play was in regular season as well.

 

[likid]

Kopitar will play on Olympics 3 group games max and maybe one more (I'm not sure of system there, but I bellieve all teams will play at least one more game after group phase) and he'll be back in LA one week before final.

Regarding his yesterdays statement. I'm amazed how you can't read behind Lombardis words. You really think Lombardi would use such excuses for Kopitar if everything was OK with him? Kopitar was clear, he didn't suffer any new important injury during PO, but he played all games in NHL this season with bracelet. And if you play with bracelet, you are not 100%, not physicaly not mentally. Physically is obvious because if he would be 100% OK, he wouldn't use bracelet. Mentally because when you use bracelet, you don't fully trust your knee that it will keep all the physical pressure. And that is why he wasn't that strong on boards and he wasn't fast enough with his skating. I'm sure he though to much not to make such a moves that would worsen his knee. We all know, what unnatural move will do to your knee if knee is hurt or not strong enough. So you'll do safe moves, try to avoid situations which could destroy your knee till the end.

And the end result was what we saw at the end of this season.

And I have no doubt that next year Kopi will be old himself, one that carry his team on his back. And i have no doubt he and his teammates will be much hungrier to win SC again.

 

[likid]

That's true many players stunk it up and some of those guys were injured. But what separates Kopitar is how ineffective his play was in regular season as well.

He still had almost 10 more points than next best scorer on this team...

 

[KingsFan7824]

That's true many players stunk it up and some of those guys were injured. But what separates Kopitar is how ineffective his play was in regular season as well.

Before he went 16 games without a goal to end the season, he had 30 points in 31 games, and 10 of those points were goals. Average out those 10 goals in 31 games over a normal season, and he's at 25+, which is normal for Kopitar. As is a long goal scoring slump. He very easily could've gotten 15 goals in the last 34 games of the season, had it been an 82 game season. That's what Kopitar does. He scores in bunches, and then doesn't score in bunches.

Why he goes through the slumps, I don't think anyone not directly involved could know. We can speculate all day, but we're not going to come up with anything definitive. Maybe it has to do with Kopitar, maybe it has to do with the way the Kings play, maybe it has to do with any number of things.

Kopitar isn't going to be Crosby, or Malkin, or Stamkos, etc. He's not that guy.

We'll see how he does next year. If he end up with 25+ goals, and close to a point per game, and a point per game in the playoffs, that's going to be pretty good. If he scores 14 goals, and ends up 5th on the team in scoring, then that's something different.

 

[FootKnight]

And don't forget in addition to 82 NHL games and the playoffs, he'll have Olympic games.I didn't like the idea of him playing in Europe adding all those extra games to what was a condensed schedule , esp when players who didn't go would have less games played at playoff time. If this year was too much, how will he handle 82 + Olympics + playoffs?

No offense to the Slovenian team, but I don't anticipate Kopitar will be playing very many games at the Olympics...

On any injury slowing him down during the playoffs:

“There is not going to be any surgery necessary. In fact, I just talked to Chris (Kingsley, Kings head trainer) and our doctor today. I can actually get rid of the knee brace too. So, I’m getting back to no discomfort and good strength in my knee. I should be fine. And in regards to being injured during the playoffs, there was really no significant injuries that I suffered. It was normal, just banged up with a few bumps and bruises. That’s about it.”

"Getting back to." Implying he still has discomfort and less-than-good strength.

It's like some of you forget that he was PPG to be tied with Brown to be the team's leading scorer in the Cup run and despite his less than stellar regular season, he was still the team's leading scorer there. I can't believe I actually saw someone mention a damn trade.

 

[TheSlovenian]

Well, at least Kopi is not making excuses like that Russian guy who plays for the Capitals.

 

[xavi4life]

Leave Kopitar ALONE!!!!

Seriously though, the team sucked away from home and there wasn't enough production from the bottom 6 either. The team will bounce back. Now move on, enjoy your summer, read a book, learn a new language, become a big brother, plant a tree, etc...

 

[SLang]

In the OP, Kopi says he wasn't injured. Just a few lines above the GM says he doesn't favor making injuries public.

Read between the lines.

Why would Kopi (or the team) want to sit there using injuries as an excuse? Nothing to gain.

 

[Bandit]

In the OP, Kopi says he wasn't injured. Just a few lines above the GM says he doesn't favor making injuries public.

Read between the lines.

Why would Kopi (or the team) want to sit there using injuries as an excuse? Nothing to gain.

Sure but why would injuries to Doughty, Brown and Williams be disclosed, but not Kopitar?

 

[agentfouser]

Sure but why would injuries to Doughty, Brown and Williams be disclosed, but not Kopitar?

Player preference? Do we know who actually did the telling for the other injuries?

 

[SLang]

Sure but why would injuries to Doughty, Brown and Williams be disclosed, but not Kopitar?

Maybe they disclosed before Dean commented? Doesn't seem likely, but who knows?

 

[yankeeking]

whats he going to say.........he was out skated and beaten to the puck by bickel and zues something isn't right