Dubois

[johnjm22]

Except Mike Richards came in, helped change the culture, pushed all the chips in that he had left, and showed this team how to play with heart to win.

The team was worse after the Richards trade.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The team was worse after the Richards trade.

oh jesus christ dude come on

in a summer worth of awful takes this one is so bad it has to be deliberate

 

[chris kontos]

The team was worse after the Richards trade.

wow.

 

[tny760]

The team was worse after the Richards trade.

 

[Trash Panda]

The team was worse after the Richards trade.

“Pseudo intellectual” actually checks out here.

 

[King'sPawn]

oh jesus christ dude come on

in a summer worth of awful takes this one is so bad it has to be deliberate

I'm assuming the reasoning is that the Kings were a playoff team before they traded for Richards, but were in danger of missing the playoffs after Richards (hence the trade for Carter).

Not agreeing with it, mind you. But there have been allusions to it in the past. Not sure if it was someone else though.

 

[kilowatt]

The team was worse after the Richards trade.

galaxy brain shit right here

 

[johnjm22]

oh jesus christ dude come on

in a summer worth of awful takes this one is so bad it has to be deliberate

galaxy brain shit right here

The Kings were a worse team after the Richards trade. It's not a "take". It's just a fact.

The turn around didn't happen until Sutter and Carter got here.

Sutter is probably main reason IMO.

 

[kilowatt]

The Kings were a worse team after the Richards trade. It's not a "take". It's just a fact.

The turn around didn't happen until Sutter and Carter got here.

Sutter is probably main reason IMO.

Did Kopitar make the Kings worse as well? They went from 89 points in 05-06 without Kopitar to 68 points in 06-07 with Kopitar.

 

[King'sPawn]

Did Kopitar make the Kings worse as well? They went from 89 points in 05-06 without Kopitar to 68 points in 06-07 with Kopitar.

No. That was Lombardi who made the Kings worse.

 

[Trash Panda]

I'm assuming the reasoning is that the Kings were a playoff team before they traded for Richards, but were in danger of missing the playoffs after Richards (hence the trade for Carter).

Not agreeing with it, mind you. But there have been allusions to it in the past. Not sure if it was someone else though.

Man, I have read some hot tales in my day, but that certain has to be one of the best

I hadn’t even heard whispers of that until just now.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Talk about tunnel vision.

 

[johnjm22]

I understand why people like the narrative. It sounds epic. A true leader coming in to rally the team. Change the culture. Play with heart. So romantic.

He fulfilled the role of a second line center very well before the injury. It wasn't enough to move the needle though. I think it's pretty clear what the main difference maker was that year.

 

[Trash Panda]

I understand why people like the narrative. It sounds epic. A true leader coming in to rally the team. Change the culture. Play with heart. So romantic.

He fulfilled the role of a second line center very well before the injury. It wasn't enough to move the needle though. I think it's pretty clear what the main difference maker was that year.

If you can watch game 1 of that 2012 Vancouver series and not see how Richards came out and set the tone from his first shift, then we are probably not gonna be able to come to any sort of constructive agreement.

I’m more than able to have conversations about the nuances of the how’s and why’s of the regular season, but the playoffs are just an entirely different animal. Richards was THE dude that played like he could win. It’s exactly what the roster needed, and what it’s been lacking ever since.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I understand why people like the narrative. It sounds epic. A true leader coming in to rally the team. Change the culture. Play with heart. So romantic.

He fulfilled the role of a second line center very well before the injury. It wasn't enough to move the needle though. I think it's pretty clear what the main difference maker was that year.

No one said that. He was an upgrade on Handzus while pushing Stoll to 3C, which helped get the team to the next level. Or just a bunch of luck I guess, since they fell back asswards into a cup.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

The sad thing is there's no way the Kings can move him unless it's a full-on buyout. Or if they take an even worse contract that another team has no problem moving with no retention going either way, and one Dubois can agree with.

 

[CarlSneep]

Richards WAS underwhelming individually (East Coasters thought he was better than Kopitar, hahaha) but the Kings as a team were better by every metric in 11-12 than 10-11, most likely because Richards allowed Stoll to slot into a better position and let Kopitar tee off on everyone he played.

But it is probably correct to say that the 1-2 of adding Carter and dumping Johnson are really what took the Kings into the stratosphere that year.

 

[King'sPawn]

I understand why people like the narrative. It sounds epic. A true leader coming in to rally the team. Change the culture. Play with heart. So romantic.

He fulfilled the role of a second line center very well before the injury. It wasn't enough to move the needle though. I think it's pretty clear what the main difference maker was that year.

Except people generally don't say he alone was tbe difference maker. But he did provide qualities that the team needed.

The Kings won, among other reasons, because of Sutter, Richards AND Carter. Heck, they probably wouldn't have made it if King and Nolan didn't elevate their game.

But just because Richards didn't do everything on his own doesn't mean he made the team worse. It's embarrassingly reductive reasoning.

 

[tigermask48]

The Kings struggled in 2011-2012 because no one was scoring. Not Richards, not Kopitar, not Brown. The team was just collectively in a funk (other than Quick) until Sutter was brought in. Putting all the blame on Richards is just not an honest assessment of that team earlier in the season.

The team as a whole had a shooting percentage of 7.5 while league average was 8.9.
It was even worse 5v5, Kings had a 5.8 while league average was 7.3. It wasn't Richards, the whole team was just snake bit that season. The next season both stats returned to right around league average.

 

[MonkeysUncle]

The sad thing is there's no way the Kings can move him unless it's a full-on buyout. Or if they take an even worse contract that another team has no problem moving with no retention going either way, and one Dubois can agree with.

Or they can eat $3.5 and sell him at 5. Think most gms and teams can see that the did not use him effectively and you could at least get something whether it be a couple of seconds or a prospect. A Good Gm can do that and not to to mention there's always a team that thinks they can be the one to get the most out of a player, no matter who it is.

 

[kingsfan28]

The sad thing is there's no way the Kings can move him unless it's a full-on buyout. Or if they take an even worse contract that another team has no problem moving with no retention going either way, and one Dubois can agree with.

No way Blake moves him via buyout/trade without admitting it was an awful trade. His cold hearted ego won't allow it

 

[Surf Nutz]

No way Blake moves him via buyout/trade without admitting it was an awful trade. His cold hearted ego won't allow it

I would think a major chapter in discussions between Hiller and Blake before his extension were, how to put PLD in position to succeed.

Critical for the team and critical especially, for Blake.

 

[Herby]

The team was worse after the Richards trade.

You weren't winning the SC with Stoll as the 2C (don't get mad if you're reading this JT_Dutch!), it's the same issue as the Kings have in this era of the team with Danault.

I think it's ludicrous when people try and give him any credit in 2014 when he was the worst player on the team, but in 2012 he was an important piece, especially in the playoffs where he scored some timely goals and provided physicality. He really wasn't close to as good as he was in Philly and in hindsight there were warning signs of the incoming collapse, but he still provided a couple of years of good enough 2C play to get the Kings to the promised land in 2012 and pretty close in 2013, that wasn't happening witn high-and-wide Stoll or 20 year old Schenn.

 

[kingsfan28]

You weren't winning the SC with Stoll as the 2C (don't get mad if you're reading this JT_Dutch!), it's the same issue as the Kings have in this era of the team with Danault.

I think it's ludicrous when people try and give him any credit in 2014 when he was the worst player on the team, but in 2012 he was an important piece, especially in the playoffs where he scored some timely goals and provided physicality. He really wasn't close to as good as he was in Philly and in hindsight there were warning signs of the incoming collapse, but he still provided a couple of years of good enough 2C play to get the Kings to the promised land in 2012 and pretty close in 2013, that wasn't happening witn high-and-wide Stoll or 20 year old Schenn.

He really wasn't the same after that hit and concussion in the 2013 WCF. Heard him on a podcast a while back, seems to be doing good even after all the concussions.

 

[BigKing]

@johnjm22 has been saying this for years regarding MR. Good poster with several good takes bit this has always been silly.