Early Season Thoughts

[Ziggy Stardust]

It's not about the Maple Leafs.

Everything is about the Maple Leafs.

 

[lexlavender]

As I responded previously, it's about more than just the beginning of this season. But if I'm to step back and be a little more optimistic for balance, Rosen had a good take:

"Well, there are several forces in play here. There’s one in which the LA Kings have opened the year 0-for-21 on the power play, a surprising 12-for-17 on the penalty kill and sport a minus-four goal differential with a possession rate in the red. There’s another in which 11 days of the season have elapsed, Ottawa and Vancouver currently occupy playoff spots, and there’s the widely held understanding that you should take what you see in early and mid-October with a healthy dose of skepticism. Lots of times teams will get these types of things sorted out. And sometimes they don’t. To this point, the eye test does not pan out. Several familiar staples of team success – suppressing shots, relying on terrific penalty killing and out-possessing their opponents – aren’t there right now, leading to questions about identity. Will that be sorted out? Perhaps; they’ve had suspect starts before. Sometimes they’ve made the playoffs, and sometimes they haven’t. There’s nothing consistently positive from the recent data. It depicts a team that scored one goal in three of four games on the road trip and, though it benefited from moments of strong five-on-five play on Monday, doesn’t have much margin for error if it wants to beat teams like the Maple Leafs."

I don't expect them to be this bad forever, I guess. I'm hoping last night was rock bottom (again, though, I didn't watch), but I thought the other game was rock bottom--it just keeps getting worse. Though nowhere to go but up? My issue is the stuff that was working before--defense, PK--was about the only thing contributing to any sort of identity. Now? That stuff is gone too. Now you have Derek ****ing Forbort making drop passes at the blueline. You have Drew Doughty with no confidence in what to do. You have the coach putting Ilya Kovalchuk in front of the net.

There's a hell of a cleanup job to do no matter how positive anyone wants to be.






It's not about the Maple Leafs.

Honestly last night was more progress for consistent offensive chances, but a deep step back for In-Zone D play.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Honestly last night was more progress for consistent offensive chances, but a deep step back for In-Zone D play.

This is such a major coaching failure. No professional team should be just figuring out the foundation of their offensive pressure during game 6 of the regular season. This is why we have f***ing training camp and preseason.

 

[lexlavender]

This is such a major coaching failure. No professional team should be just figuring out the foundation of their offensive pressure during game 6 of the regular season. This is why we have ****ing training camp and preseason.

I very much agree, I didn't mean to imply otherwise.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

This is such a major coaching failure. No professional team should be just figuring out the foundation of their offensive pressure during game 6 of the regular season. This is why we have ****ing training camp and preseason.

That's why I hate split-squad games. The whole team didn't even play a game together until like the 2nd to last game of pre-season or something like that. And Stevens plays Kovy with Kopi and Brown for the entire pre-season and then the 1st game of the season decides to play him with Carter.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I very much agree, I didn't mean to imply otherwise.

You didn’t. Just a run on thought prompted by your post.

 

[lumbergh]

Team identity is about the thing that your team does better than other teams, the thing that you focus on from the top to the bottom. The championship teams had an identity. Physical, hard to play against. I just summed up the 2012-14 team in 5 words. The Golden Knights has an identity last year. Upstarts that win by outworking you.

What is the Kings identity today? Soft and passive? I don’t know.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Let’s see what the GM of the team has to say...

“The discussion with Blake was taking place before the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Kings 4-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. Blake, assessing the early state of the Kings, cut right to the chase when asked what he has liked the most so far.”

“It’s probably a very short answer: Nothing,” he said.

“We haven’t played well at all. Not in one aspect.”

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Honestly last night was more progress for consistent offensive chances, but a deep step back for In-Zone D play.

Absolutely, but....it was also against a really really bad defensive team so...I dunno how much stock you put in that.

 

[head eyes]

Let’s see what the GM of the team has to say...

“The discussion with Blake was taking place before the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Kings 4-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. Blake, assessing the early state of the Kings, cut right to the chase when asked what he has liked the most so far.”

“It’s probably a very short answer: Nothing,” he said.

“We haven’t played well at all. Not in one aspect.”

Kinda reassuring to hear honestly. I'm thinking Stevens has until Thanksgiving to turn this around.

 

[LAKings88]

I think it’s still very early in the season but I know many of us are frustrated about the 14/15-present team.

Stale is the word that comes to mind most for me.

I think Kopi/Doughty/Quick are generational for LA and can’t be replaced.

I do think this team needs fresh blood and a bit of a new direction tho.

If LA is out by the deadline, which is very possible given the parity in the league, I would move out the 70s line and a dman.
Something between rebuild and retool.

I do think Brown’s return will even out the lines a bit. Which could make a difference.

The PP has been LA’s Achilles for a few seasons now. Something about this group just doesn’t work. I think coaching is a smaller part of that honestly than the makeup of the number one unit.

I am praying Vilardi makes a full recovery and can bring a spark to this team. Probably a long shot I know. I think Kupari will be special too.

Kovalchuk is a good addition but I feel like the Kings are adjusting to his presence. A little too much deferring going on imho.

Can’t remember so many missed and blind passes in a Kings team.

I’m happy I saw two cups. I don’t need them to win every year. Just want to enjoy some fun hockey again.

 

[mrkolice]

identity is about team compass.

it's the answer to questions like "who are we" or "where are we going".

deep down it's about questions that teens ask. sweet 16s. it comes to surface again in midlife crisis in mid 40s. but not between.

now here we have a bunch of veterans who won it all and who want to do it again, if we believe their own words. they are the identity, right or wrong.

the core: kopi, dd & quick. their personal identities should lead the team first to playoffs, then to the cup.

identity? to win the cup again.

i will just suggest a better term instead of identity, to avoid future confusion. it's called playing style, and this is when stevens and coaching come to play. when we discuss playing style instead of foggy terms like identity we can finally start discussing the essence of the game, the mechanics, hard core facts.

identity? two cups.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Let’s see what the GM of the team has to say...

“The discussion with Blake was taking place before the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Kings 4-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. Blake, assessing the early state of the Kings, cut right to the chase when asked what he has liked the most so far.”

“It’s probably a very short answer: Nothing,” he said.

“We haven’t played well at all. Not in one aspect.”

Thank f***ing goodness. And that was before the Leafs' game?

Mancrush on Blake restarted.

 

[Choralone]

I must have missed the Stanley Cups that the Lucic and Sekera trades brought, the Stanley Cups that the Gaborik extension brought, the Stanley Cups that bringing back Greene and Richards brought. The last significant assets the Kings gave up that lead to winning SC's was Jack Johnson and the 2013 1st that were traded for Carter. (and no Matt Frattin wasn't a significant asset 2 years later)

I still don't agree with the Sekera trade being a blot on Dean. Yeah, it didn't work out in hindsight, but getting a defenseman of that caliber before the playoffs was a good move, what the team needed, and roundly praised here (if I remember correctly). The fact that he got injured was unforeseeable.

And that season's team barely missed the playoffs - had they made it who knows if they could have summoned another run? True, we burned a pick on Sekera, but we were all-in at that point.

I can't argue the other stuff other than that Lucic seemed to be the prototypical Kings player to that point and I can see why Lombardi was tantalized when he realized he could be had.

 

[Herby]

You can say you liked the Sekera and Lucic trades, that is fine, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it. What I am disputing is the multiple people here who have takes like "We are in this spot because of moves we made that lead to Stanley Cups"

That is factually incorrect.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

when do warning points expire?

 

[member 88115]

Kings identity: confusion of self, horrible passes, board battle until u come out tired, shoot wide, & don't score on power plays. I don't know, but that was kind of fun.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

when do warning points expire?

When the Kings score a power play goal.

 

[Legionnaire]

So never then?

 

[Peter James Bond II]

I hated the Lucic trade...for a few reasons; the price paid and that he was on the last year of his contract....I had studied the draft the last part of the season and read the Kings liked Kyle Connor if he was available...and I made a post about him and was ready to start new thread "Pick #13 Kyle Connor"....never to be posted. #1, Jones and Miller. I mean, damn it Dean. Jones had real value. Miller was a good prospect, ready for the NHL. Should have got something more back, possibly the Bruins #2 pick, or something. The Bruins then had picks 13,14,15.

so I never did this but could have this roster...no looking back though. Jones would have had to go somewhere and could have got something decent for him.
And traded Pearson. Launch Thompson into the sun with Stevens...or better...not resign him.

Kovalchuk Kopitar Brown
Connor Carter Toffoli
Iafallo Amadio Kempe
Wagner JAD Lewis
Clifford
Forbort Doughty
Muzzin Miller
Phaneuf Martinez
Ladue
Quick
Campbell

 

[Bandit]

You can say you liked the Sekera and Lucic trades, that is fine, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it. What I am disputing is the multiple people here who have takes like "We are in this spot because of moves we made that lead to Stanley Cups"

That is factually incorrect.

Tuebert
Penner
Richards

 

[damacles1156]

The roster doesn't do anything well atm. It's This current managements problem.

 

[Steve Zissou]

Can I ask why most of you love to constantly debate DL and The Lucic / Sekera trades in various threads? Change the f***ing record.

 

[Choralone]

Can I ask why most of you love to constantly debate DL and The Lucic / Sekera trades in various threads? Change the ****ing record.

Because he who writes the history rules the future.

 

[AlphaBravo]

Can I ask why most of you love to constantly debate DL and The Lucic / Sekera trades in various threads? Change the ****ing record.

Yeah, its got to be the most annoying discussion topics. I get it if fans want to talk about these trades over and over and over again if its the offseason, but there are more important things to talk about when the season starts. I am not one to complaint because I just ignore those posts. I just feel sorry for people who love to relive and redebate moot points. The trades happened. Its over. DL is gone. Nothing to see here.