GDT: GM #16 LA Kings vs Tampa Bay Lightning @7:30

[Bandit]

So because he was a captain he's automatically considered not lazy? I guess it makes it pretty obvious then.


Yeah they won the cup but it's not like he had a good season. 27 points from your $6 million top liner doesn't really scream good year to me.

"Yeah they won but..."

Moley Hoses. Only 4 forwards scored more than he did in the playoffs on a cup winning team. I mean... wow.

 

[HookKing]

Brown was just about the only King that didn't quit on Sutter last year. Yeah he's lazy and just worried about personal stats. The things people come up with around here.

 

[kingsfan28]

Brown was just about the only King that didn't quit on Sutter last year. Yeah he's lazy and just worried about personal stats. The things people come up with around here.

And he had every reason to do it, from losing the captaincy [one of Sutter conditions to being resigned], to the way he was treated by him since the start of 2015. Nobody on the team got treated worse than Brown did by Sutter.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I've said a lot of things about Brown -- low hockey IQ, embellisher, cap anchor -- but would never call him lazy.

 

[damacles1156]

Sutter never really demoted Brown either. Brown was heavily used by Sutter, he basically had too. Just look at TOI for the last four years, Brown is up there with Kopitar.

Also good to see people realize that John Stevens is just like every NHL coach that likes and trusts Veterans.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Also good to see people realize that John Stevens is just like every NHL coach that likes and trusts Veterans.

I was curious, and it's by no means perfect, but interesting. This season is still very early, so small sample size and all that, but, just interesting. Since 11-12, the Kings have had 23 guys average under 10 minutes per game.

11-12, 4 guys
12-13, 2 guys
13-14, 3 guys
14-15, 3 guys
15-16, 4 guys
16-17. 0 guys
17-18, 7 guys

6 of the 13 lowest averages in that time frame are in this season too. Again, small sample, but Stevens hasn't been a strict 4 line, 3 pair coach so far. Further curiosity showed that 65 guys around the league are averaging less than 10 minutes, with the Kings 7 leading the way. The next closest were Montreal and Winnipeg at 5 each.

At the same time, Iafallo has been on the 1st line since game 1(2nd highest ES ice time for forwards), and despite Kempe's massive struggles on faceoffs, he's still taken the 3rd most on the team. Can't argue with the results so far this year, but Stevens has both played young guys a lot, and basically left them on the bench for entire games.

Doughty, Martinez, Muzzin, Kopitar, Forbort, Brown, and Lewis are all up in average minutes. Some a minute+ more. Both Pearson and Toffoli are down though. By seconds, so not a huge deal or anything, but interesting.

 

[Bandit]

It's almost like dudes that produce results get to play while the ones that don't get benched.

Mind. Blown.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Kinda crazy how well we've been doing while down players.

Lately, we've played St. Louis, leading the West; Tampa Bay, leading the league; Nashville, last year's finalists; Toronto, 2nd in the East. All while coming off a brutal road trip in terms of time and distance.

Those are the games we've struggled in and to me when you're playing other top teams every little thing matters--so missing a whole line of impact guys (4 when down Kempe) has an affect on the game. No surprise we only got 3 points of 8 in those 4. Never mind the, erm, controversial goal calls