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Excellent Katie Strang article about this season, etc

  • Thread starter Thread starter Captain Mittens*
  • Start date Start date
Didn't realize DL was an only child, and I wouldn't have thought he'd take things so hard with Stoll. At least he gives a damn though. I wasn't looking forward to next year, but now that the Monarchs are in the Calder Cup, its a little more reassuring. ****ing Voynov though, I'm sick of everything that has to do with him. Give the guy a ****in break and I'm pretty sure he'll never do anything like that again. Its ruined his life, his wife's life, and has ****ed the Kings over in a big way. That's PLENTY of punishment as it is. Varlamov got away scott free after a similar incident last year.
 
If there's ever a season in which the whole team should be motivated from the get-go, it's next year. Whether it's Brown, or Kopitar, or whatever young guys make it, it should be an interesting run next year. Hopefully a good one.
 
First, Katie Strang is an artist with her writing. She paints a portrait of a GM I can't help but love (in a fan way) and empathize with. It's obvious Dean cares deeply about his players. I hope they're able to restore his trust.

Second, Brown, Kopitar and Williams are the best of Kings hockey - its identity, its fire, heart, and competitiveness, imo.
 
Bad Will Hunting said:
http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/13015321/story-why-los-angeles-kings-spectularly-flamed-out
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great article. Was surprised how candid Brown was saying that he didn't even want to look at his equipment last off season. Also was surprised on how he commented on stoll by saying he screwed up. I was expecting a response like "he is our brother and we need to help him," or some fluff piece. Brown likely knows who else was at that party and may have even been there himself. So that means he is saying others screwed up to, but only stoll got caught.
The kopitar stick smash against Edmonton stuck in my head to as the moment i figured LA was out of the playoffs. I was at the Calgary game. The dome was the loudest I have heard it, and I was at a 04 Tampa game.
 
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I've mentioned several times since the season ended that this team seemed to display a sense of arrogance or something akin to it throughout the season and that thought gets stronger for me after nearly every post-mortem article I read about the season.

The Stoll incident is pretty much the thesis for this arrogance theory. Champs can walk through security at Wet Republic while holding but you can't do that when you just finished 18th out of 30. That doesn't even touch on the whole idea of going to Vegas to party a week after the season ended, although I understand they are human beings and all.

Can't just show up and win because you've won a Cup. Can't allegedly rough up your wife just because you are a millionaire. Can't promise to come to camp in tip top shape and perform while hoping that everyone else will keep up their high standard of play so your continued regression isn't as noticeable. You also aren't a dynasty if you can't make the playoffs and thinking you are a dynasty before you are one isn't going to do you any favors either.

There are spots open so there better be a feeling amongst several players that jobs are not secure. Outside of the key guys, all goodwill from the 2-in-3 run has been spent in this past nightmare season so guys better come to camp prepared to play hard in an effort to win games not only in April but also in January for Christ's sake. Weal, Shore, Forbort, Mersch etc... don't give a **** who you are or what you may have done: they are gunning for NHL jobs and hopefully lead management to make some tough decisions.

Pour one out for the 2-in-3 teams because things are going to be looking pretty different here, and soon. Already said goodbye to Penner,Scuderi,Mitchell and Regher and will most likely be moving on from Williams, Richards and Stoll. It's what happens in a cap world but the Kings should be fine moving forward as long as they roll out 11-77-8-32 for the foreseeable future and get the right pieces to compliment that core. I have complete faith in the drafting and development team in place and feel next season is going to be great.

Excited to see how Lombardi juggles all these issues but I'm pretty confident in a return to the playoffs next season, barring injuries of course.
 
Perro said:
The kopitar stick smash against Edmonton stuck in my head to as the moment i figured LA was out of the playoffs.
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That was just a sad game. That was watching a team that had come up big in so many games over the years, and in so many road games, just not have it against a bad team. A game where a shot from center ice on the PP was the only reason they had a chance to win late. Sort of the game that defined the season. More so than even that one Buffalo game, because this was at the end when it was do or die, and that's when this team had been at their best.
 
It's part of the reason why I'm confident these guys will be back. From the team, to DL, to other management. They're not afraid to look inward and root out the problems.
 
BigKing said:
I've mentioned several times since the season ended that this team seemed to display a sense of arrogance or something akin to it throughout the season and that thought gets stronger for me after nearly every post-mortem article I read about the season.

The Stoll incident is pretty much the thesis for this arrogance theory. Champs can walk through security at Wet Republic while holding but you can't do that when you just finished 18th out of 30. That doesn't even touch on the whole idea of going to Vegas to party a week after the season ended, although I understand they are human beings and all.

Can't just show up and win because you've won a Cup. Can't allegedly rough up your wife just because you are a millionaire. Can't promise to come to camp in tip top shape and perform while hoping that everyone else will keep up their high standard of play so your continued regression isn't as noticeable. You also aren't a dynasty if you can't make the playoffs and thinking you are a dynasty before you are one isn't going to do you any favors either.

There are spots open so there better be a feeling amongst several players that jobs are not secure. Outside of the key guys, all goodwill from the 2-in-3 run has been spent in this past nightmare season so guys better come to camp prepared to play hard in an effort to win games not only in April but also in January for Christ's sake. Weal, Shore, Forbort, Mersch etc... don't give a **** who you are or what you may have done: they are gunning for NHL jobs and hopefully lead management to make some tough decisions.

Pour one out for the 2-in-3 teams because things are going to be looking pretty different here, and soon. Already said goodbye to Penner,Scuderi,Mitchell and Regher and will most likely be moving on from Williams, Richards and Stoll. It's what happens in a cap world but the Kings should be fine moving forward as long as they roll out 11-77-8-32 for the foreseeable future and get the right pieces to compliment that core. I have complete faith in the drafting and development team in place and feel next season is going to be great.

Excited to see how Lombardi juggles all these issues but I'm pretty confident in a return to the playoffs next season, barring injuries of course.
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:handclap:

If nothing else, the organization and all the players have learned from this. Lotta interesting tidbits in there. Great read.
 
KingsFan7824 said:
That was just a sad game. That was watching a team that had come up big in so many games over the years, and in so many road games, just not have it against a bad team. A game where a shot from center ice on the PP was the only reason they had a chance to win late. Sort of the game that defined the season. More so than even that one Buffalo game, because this was at the end when it was do or die, and that's when this team had been at their best.
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yup, but once I saw the kopitar stick smash I knew it was over.
 
gnarls barkley said:
agreed 100%
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I agree with your 100% agree.
That gal wrote an outstanding article. Put into perspective the feelings of DL and Brown regarding the happenings of this past season. Hopefully this team has also read the article. Talent and drive for success are one thing, but heart and caring are also a huge part of it.
DL has that and his players should continually give it their all, knowing how he takes things so to heart.
 
Blake had already gleaned stirrings of anger when he and hockey operations boss Michael Futa ran into veterans Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams in the hotel lobby while in Vancouver two days earlier.

what was the story behind this? great read.
 
Omni Owl said:
Didn't realize DL was an only child, and I wouldn't have thought he'd take things so hard with Stoll. At least he gives a damn though. I wasn't looking forward to next year, but now that the Monarchs are in the Calder Cup, its a little more reassuring. ****ing Voynov though, I'm sick of everything that has to do with him. Give the guy a ****in break and I'm pretty sure he'll never do anything like that again. Its ruined his life, his wife's life, and has ****ed the Kings over in a big way. That's PLENTY of punishment as it is. Varlamov got away scott free after a similar incident last year.
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And that makes it okay? That's exactly the mindset that professional sports needs to drop, it's unacceptable.

You can lose hundreds of other jobs committing crimes much less serious than domestic violence, it's time that professional athletes had some accountability. Losing Voynov hurts, but he's going to have to deal with the consequences of what he's done.

Anyways, the article is excellent. Who says ESPN doesn't know hockey?
 
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There are some phenomenal writers out there and she's one of them. Excellent piece. I felt terrible for Dean when I read about his meeting with Stoll and also earlier this season when he was talking about how it was his fault for Voynov allegedly hitting his wife. It's a very good trait but can also cause a lot of pain. I hope the players all read the article.
 
If I'm Lombardi, I'd be even more ticked off knowing that some of these guys are out partying and celebrating so quickly in Vegas soon after their season ended. At least wait a bit, let some time pass before doing something like that.

In a sense it shows that these guys were just waiting for the season to be over with and that they can't wait to party. And look what happened to that idiot Stoll. Good riddance to him. This team needs less distractions off the ice. Weed out the fools who are likely to blow their money up their nose and on other drugs.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
If I'm Lombardi, I'd be even more ticked off knowing that some of these guys are out partying and celebrating so quickly in Vegas soon after their season ended. At least wait a bit, let some time pass before doing something like that.

In a sense it shows that these guys were just waiting for the season to be over with and that they can't wait to party. And look what happened to that idiot Stoll. Good riddance to him. This team needs less distractions off the ice. Weed out the fools who are likely to blow their money up their nose and on other drugs.
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I hope you realize he was more than likely carrying most of those drugs in for the players he went to Vegas with. Which was quite a few, including Doughty. 8.1 grams of molly is a **** ton, probably about $650-$700 worth.
 
Leo W said:
I hope you realize he was more than likely carrying most of those drugs in for the players he went to Vegas with. Which was quite a few, including Doughty. 8.1 grams of molly is a **** ton, probably about $650-$700 worth.
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I'm aware of that, which is why I'm glad the ******* will not be returning to the team. Hopefully the other imbeciles who partake in such activities learn from his mistake.
 
DL to the Kings roster this off-season

AtomicBomb.gif
 
Leo W said:
I hope you realize he was more than likely carrying most of those drugs in for the players he went to Vegas with. Which was quite a few, including Doughty. 8.1 grams of molly is a **** ton, probably about $650-$700 worth.
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Ziggy Stardust said:
I'm aware of that, which is why I'm glad the ******* will not be returning to the team. Hopefully the other imbeciles who partake in such activities learn from his mistake.
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Stoll was pretty stupid(read arrogant) to try to sneak that much contraband past a security check point.

The pro move would have been to do a u-turn and hire a mule or attempt to parachute it in from above. At least that is what I would try
 
BringTheReign said:
And that makes it okay? That's exactly the mindset that professional sports needs to drop, it's unacceptable.

You can lose hundreds of other jobs committing crimes much less serious than domestic violence, it's time that professional athletes had some accountability. Losing Voynov hurts, but he's going to have to deal with the consequences of what he's done.

Anyways, the article is excellent. Who says ESPN doesn't know hockey?
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What he has allegedly done. He has been found guilty of nothing at this point.
 
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