Toggle sidebar

Game 2 10/14/16: Philadelphia Flyers 4 @ Los Angeles Kings 2

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
KingsFan7824 said:
I can't imagine Mersch would be enough. I don't know if anything outside of insanity would be enough. Either insanity by McPhee in Vegas, or having to trade Mersch, Kempe, LaDue, Toffoli, the next five 1st round picks, and keep 50% of Brown's contract.

Vegas may be an expansion team, but they don't want to screw themselves with the cap. Nobody needs Brown or Gaborik for anything. Not as players. Not as veteran leaders. Not to hit the cap floor.



True. That's been the only thing keeping me optimistic about this season. You don't have to be good enough in October to win the Cup. A lot of things have to go the Kings way though, and the season has in no way started that way.
Click to expand...

Also,

You have to see if guys like Greene have anything left, he costs a lot, and is signed. Better to do that in October. I doubt Greene stays on the roster all year. He just doesn't have it anymore.

The roster will look different, probably even early as November.

Who knows, someone like Kempe/Brodzinski/Mersch could set the world on fire October/November, and warrant a call up.
 
Last edited:
KingsFan7824 said:
True. That's been the only thing keeping me optimistic about this season. You don't have to be good enough in October to win the Cup. A lot of things have to go the Kings way though, and the season has in no way started that way.
Click to expand...

I can't even remember the last time a team that was top-5 in october was the cup winner, to be honest. I'll go back and look.

Edit: on November 1sts:

2016 Penguins, 7-4-0 5th in the conference
2015 Chicago, 6-4-1, 9th in the conference
2014 LA, 9-5-0, 8th in conference
2013 Chicago, 13-0-3 we know about this steamroller (looked at Feb 19th a month in), but abnormal season
2012 LA, 6-3-2, 4th in conference
2011 Boston, 6-2-0, 7th

Not an exact science in any way, but illustrative of the different paths. But that only team that steamrolled through the entire regular season and finished the job was that 2013 lockout Chicago team. I'm more concerned that we find our way to stay afloat for the first half.
 
Last edited:
Raccoon Jesus said:
I can't even remember the last time a team that was top-5 in october was the cup winner, to be honest. I'll go back and look.
Click to expand...

Like I said before the season started.

I wouldn't put stock into even the first 25 games, even if the Kings set the world on fire.

Injuries, and roster moves, the team is going to change.

Heck, Lombardi could fire Sutter 25 games in. That's possible.
 
damacles1156 said:
Like I said before the season started.

I wouldn't put stock into even the first 25 games, even if the Kings set the world on fire.

Injuries, and roster moves, the team is going to change.

Heck, Lombardi could fire Sutter 25 games in. That's possible.
Click to expand...

Very true.

Might even be better for EVERYONE--even the most optimistic--if things are looking stagnant (which I think they will), rather than optimistic (see: last year).
 
Raccoon Jesus said:
Very true.

Might even be better for EVERYONE--even the most optimistic--if things are looking stagnant (which I think they will), rather than optimistic (see: last year).
Click to expand...

Only thing I want to see:

Is Dowd/Shore as the bottom two centers, Andy is a better winger.

Dowd/Shore are perfect players to groom in those bottom center slots.
 
We don't know how this team is going to play in all honesty. Sitting here without our top line LW, number one goalie, and heck maybe a few developing prospects down in the AHL.

The real question is can we stay just good enough so that in the 4 or 5+ months or so it takes to heal/develop we can make a push for the playoffs. That's the game at this point. I think people are overstating the Kings fixation with placeholder vets. If the AHL kids show they can make a difference they're going to get a chance. It's just unlucky that the most likely ones are are all defense. Would have been nice to have a few forwards a year or two down the line.

It's not about mystical magically depth. No team in the league can lose as much as have one game in and not be fighting for .500. It's just the nature of the game at this level of competition.

I still don't buy that the western conference as gotten better.. or at least the pacific. If anything we're all sliding from our heights a few years ago (even with the Sharks making the Cup finals because is anyone picking them this year?).
 
Raccoon Jesus said:
I can't even remember the last time a team that was top-5 in october was the cup winner, to be honest. I'll go back and look.

Edit: on November 1sts:

2016 Penguins, 7-4-0 5th in the conference
2015 Chicago, 6-4-1, 9th in the conference
2014 LA, 9-5-0, 8th in conference
2013 Chicago, 13-0-3 we know about this steamroller (looked at Feb 19th a month in), but abnormal season
2012 LA, 6-3-2, 4th in conference
2011 Boston, 6-2-0, 7th

Not an exact science in any way, but illustrative of the different paths. But that only team that steamrolled through the entire regular season and finished the job was that 2013 lockout Chicago team. I'm more concerned that we find our way to stay afloat for the first half.
Click to expand...

They all still have above .500 records tho, RJ, so we need to string a few wins in here, even if we lose 5 this month. The conference standings is more telling, but the records aren't abysmal. We need this next win, or if not, a nice small winning streak to stay on par with the data on your list. Chicago at 6-4-1 was the most mediocre to start (basically 6-5)

Edit -- LA 2012, 6-3-2 (6-5), too
 
Last edited:
Greene's been giving the opportunity to take his position back after being out for a year. Nothing more, nothing less. Either he becomes relevant, or he's gone after 10 games, I bet. I don't think we can look at his special case and conclude, "Whelp, the team has doubled-down on grit."

Lombardi and Sutter know that speed is the new game - hell, we won our two cups by adding Carter and Gaborik to get juuuust enough speed and scoring touch in the offense.

Everybody has been building a book on the Kings the last four years, and everyone knows you can't outhit them, you can only outrun them.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Hey, some of us warned you guys it was going to be a long and trying season. My mantra coming in this year was to hope for the best, but expect the worst.

I just didn't expect them to look this bad so early on. The Kings never fail to disappoint in that sense.
Click to expand...

They look exactly like they did at the end of last year: unengaged and outdated.

We have a handful of prime, elite players in Kopitar, Doughty, Toffoli, and Muzzin. Even Carter and Quick are showing signs of rust.

There's a reason Lucic wasn't chomping at the bit to re-sign here. Surely he saw the decay. We're no longer a team on the up and up, nor in a championship window. We've entered some kind of mediocre post-contender limbo, ala the Penguins in 12/13/14.

Kopitar/Doughty/Quick are good enough to drag us to wins every so often on their own, but after that elite top end, the team beyond is utter trash. We need to stop playing the injury card. Gaborik now is more or less Gagne 2012. We played 90% of 11/12 with Gagne in a suit, and didn't miss a beat. If a couple injuries to the wings is sending your forward corps into a tailspin, you have serious problems.

I'm more interested to see this team post-expansion draft. It's clear Lombardi has put the team in triage until then.
 
Tadite said:
I still don't buy that the western conference as gotten better.. or at least the pacific. If anything we're all sliding from our heights a few years ago (even with the Sharks making the Cup finals because is anyone picking them this year?).
Click to expand...

St.Louis seems like they'll probably be doing what they've been doing. Dallas will keep trying to outscore their problems most of the time, and succeed most of the time. Nashville is the sexy pick. Nobody is all that high on Minnesota. Who knows what Colorado is. Winnipeg could go either way. Chicago looks like they might be in the same boat as the Kings.

San Jose seems to be in decent shape. Edmonton can make some noise if McDavid keeps skating by everyone. Looks like Calgary still might have goalie issues. Not sure what Anaheim is. Maybe Arizona does something with their speed. Nobody is all that high on Vancouver.

There should be a playoff spot for the Kings to get. There's nothing solid about the team yet though.
 
kingsholygrail said:
We need to be honest about Pearson though. He's nice and effective, but the guy isn't Luc Robitaille.
Click to expand...

He puts people in correct spots though. That alone is a boom, not to mention his speed/size.

Pearson is a very good fore-checker as well. He reminds me of a younger Justin Williams.
 
kingsholygrail said:
We need to be honest about Pearson though. He's nice and effective, but the guy isn't Luc Robitaille.
Click to expand...

No, but who is? He's awesome and has 1LW ceiling and 2LW floor, and is better than the junk we have up there now.

We need to lock him up before he breaks out, and we have the cap, this season, to do it. Let Toff get paid in the offseason when we shed contracts. Toff is already at least a 6m dollar player, we can get Tanner, god willing, under 4 (3.8-3.9aav, maybe?)

If Tanner breaks out gnarly, we are screwed capwise.
 
damacles1156 said:
He puts people in correct spots though. That alone is a boom, not to mention his speed/size.

Pearson is a very good fore-checker as well. He reminds me of a younger Justin Williams.
Click to expand...

KingTrouty said:
No, but who is? He's awesome and has 1LW ceiling and 2LW floor, and is better than the junk we have up there now.

We need to lock him up before he breaks out, and we have the cap, this season, to do it. Let Toff get paid in the offseason when we shed contracts. Toff is already at least a 6m dollar player, we can get Tanner, god willing, under 4 (3.8-3.9aav, maybe?)

If Tanner breaks out gnarly, we are screwed capwise.
Click to expand...

It will be nice to have him back. I'm just saying we should temper our expectations of how effective his return will be.
 
I'm just pumped hockey season is back, and that we have a team to be proud of. And that our mgmt has acknowledged their mistakes and are gonna try to remedy them over the course of the next few seasons.

It sucks that it's a process, but at least we get to be there while it goes down.

I'll eat my crow if DL fails, Sutter stays stubborn, Tanner regresses, and Gravel is a bust. But until then, I'm on the cautious optimism boat. Tho, Quickie going down is rocking the **** out of the boat.
 
tsanuri said:
With this team until they actually start fully showing up we should temper everything.

But some seem to think this is the best this team can do. :help:
Click to expand...

Again the first 25 games will most likely be huge peaks/valleys.

Roster will be a mess of constant changes, most likely.

Having Pearson back is good though.
 
tsanuri said:
With this team until they actually start fully showing up we should temper everything.

But some seem to think this is the best this team can do. :help:
Click to expand...

It can do better, but the Kings offense is going to slow down from last year. Combine that with adventures on D and in goal and I'm just not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
 
Gaborik won't make much of a difference either considering the injury he'll be coming back from. He'll take a while to get back in the groove, and the Kings needed productive years from him, Pearson, Brown, Purcell and Setoguchi.

The only productive winger this team has right now is Toffoli. After him it's a pile of crap. And let's not forget to acknowledge that Brown was slated to be on the top line even with a full lineup.

Let's digest that fact for a moment. Then you'll come to the realization of just how bad the depth on this team is along the wings.

For months we've been saying the depth on this team is abysmal, but some chose to ignore this fact and point to the Kings being a great possession team as if that's some type of accomplishment. It's not a big deal when all you do is keep the puck along the perimeter and never penetrate through the middle of the ice.

This team is slowly losing its identity as well. The relentless forecheck, punishing defenders, and suffocating the opposition's offense are all things of the past. The current personnel is slow, soft, and unskilled.

Maybe what little optimism I have left in this team makes me think that they'll get better and that this can't get any worse, but at this point even I'm not sure of that. This just feels like a continuation of 2015-16 and how they went out on a whimper. This group already looks discouraged.

What a way to start Kopitar's era as captain. Maybe Lombardi and Sutter should watch some tapes of Team Europe and call Ralph Kruger for advice on how to get everyone on the same page. This Kings team looks so disjointed.
 
tsanuri said:
With this team until they actually start fully showing up we should temper everything.

But some seem to think this is the best this team can do. :help:
Click to expand...

I know the team will win games. It's just that funny feeling of "I haven't seen them win anything in a long time so why start now?" Starting off 0-2 doesn't help that feeling. :laugh:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom