GDT: Los Angeles Kings at Calgary Flames | Thursday, April 9, 2015 - 6:00PM (PDT)

[Raccoon Jesus]

After the loss against Edmonton, I'm not stressing over this game. While I'd be glad to see the Kings advance and get into playoff contention, and while I would also be disappointed to see them fail to qualify for a playoff spot, I won't be too upset due to the fact that we know that Lombardi will be proactive in preventing them from being in such a position again.

Even Darryl Sutter has alluded to the Kings having too many passengers on the roster this season, and most of those passengers have been veteran players. While we rag on guys like Greene and Muzzin because of his speed or boneheaded decisions, their effort has been consistent. Whereas a guy like Williams or Brown or Stoll who are dragging the team down with their play.

Changes will be coming this off-season, hopefully for the better.

Whatever happens tonight, the last 3 years were worth whatever has to be dealt with next week.

Amen to both of these!

I'm getting whiskey as **** tonight. I advise the Kings and everyone here to be as well.

I'm cracking open my good stuff tonight, gonna be fun one way or another.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The bright side of missing the playoffs would be that Lombardi will have less difficulty making those tough decisions. If by some miracle we do make the playoffs and go on a similar run, Lombardi may be inclined to keep more of those guys around. Bottom line, the sooner we go out this year, the better off the roster will be next year...but I'd rather win.

Don't get me wrong, I totally agree...but we were saying this exact same thing in round one last year. Just a funny observation.

 

[johnjm22]

I'm not stressed about the game tonight. Whatever happens, the last 3 years have been great, and the future is still bright.

I love watching big games. This one is going to be intense, and the crowd is going to be great. I'm just gonna sit back, watch, and enjoy some great hockey.

 

[Little Psycho]

@helenenothelen
Flames D Dennis Wideman on Kings having been on the ropes before: 'We have no doubt they're going to play good tonight. They're going to have their game. They've proved it time and time again. Last year in the playofffs down 3-0 and came all the way back. Bunch of Game 7s.We know this team knows how to play in these games and for us, we're a young group, we haven't been in that type of game too often..we've

Hoping for a good game, if we lose it's been a fantastic 3 years.

Btw are the Kings out if they beat Calgary in regulation and Winnipeg wins against Colorado?

 

[redcard]

Don't get me wrong, I totally agree...but we were saying this exact same thing in round one last year. Just a funny observation.

Yuuuuuuup. Just another day on the farm.

Btw are the Kings out if they beat Calgary in regulation and Winnipeg wins against Colorado?

No, in this scenario they'd be tied in points with Calgary with each team playing Saturday. They'd just need to get more points than the flames in the last game to move on (Cal owns tiebreaker).

 

[taz346]

Amen to both of these!



I'm cracking open my good stuff tonight, gonna be fun one way or another.

I'll be doing my part to conserve water in Ca. Drinking beer for this one.

 

[Little Psycho]

Yuuuuuuup. Just another day on the farm.



No, in this scenario they'd be tied in points with Calgary with each team playing Saturday. They'd just need to get more points than the flames in the last game to move on (Cal owns tiebreaker).

Oh ok. Thank you for explaining it.

 

[taz346]

mics are picking up an awful lot of outside noise in there

 

[Bandit]

is it over yet?

 

[Kurrilino]

No, our favorite team was this one.

ahhhhhh this is our beloved team..... no captain, just assistants.

Reminds me of just locker room players.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Lombardi's real problem is that he doubled down on loyalty and "the room." Williams is worth keeping around ahead of guys on downright back-breaking contacts that Richards, Brown, and Greene have, although Williams is declining, there's no way he should come back at any more than 2 years. Brown is meh, he's the captain, but that's going to be a killer, but Richards and Greene should have been cut bait with and were not. That is Lombardi's fault, and not anyone else's. I don't think wanting to make changes is the issue as it is actually making it happen. To move Richards, they're going to have to take back somebody's bad contract.

Lombardi was loyal to a fault, and it is biting him in the ass for having so much patience and hope that these declining players would recover. I can see why he gave Richards an opportunity to return given his winning pedigree, but that's also looking at the past.

That's why I think it's time to walk away from Williams, who has been a turnover machine and has been awful along the boards this season, constantly pinning his team in the defensive zone due to his inability to get the puck out of his zone.

Dustin Brown is looking like another David Clarkson if he doesn't bounce back next season. The Greene contract isn't the worst contract on this roster so I'm not too concerned over him so long as his ice time is reduced next season.

This year, it was obvious that Kopitar and Carter needed some support down the middle. When they weren't producing, there was nobody else on the roster to pick up their slack. Not Richards, not Stoll, and that's too much to expect from Shore this season.

Everyone used to rave about the Kings depth because they were getting production from everyone in the lineup in previous years. This season? Not so much. There is a handful of guys this team relied on heavily to produce. That has to change.

 

[GKJ]

I disagree. It would have been better to never have won the cup so that we wouldn't have to hear every turd that's floating to the surface this week gloating about our demise. #mainboardlogic

Whenever people talk about yeah-but's when it comes to winning, and I'm sure I've said this here, when you're a winner you don't really give a **** what other people think about it. We heard the Kings were a fluke when they snuck in as an 8-seed in 2012 (even though some of us know better), and we heard the Kings were a fluke when they lucked into winning 3 Game 7's in 2014. And nobody really cares, much of it is a defensive mechanism.

Much that it will should the Kings miss the playoffs. There will be celebrating by many people - just remember why they feel the need to celebrate. How many of those people are fans of teams who haven't seen 2 (or 1) Cup in their lifetime let alone the immediate past.

Floating around this board for umpteen years now, with the league-wide indifference to the Kings, for this to be happening now, there should still be some sort of a badge of honor amongst Kings fans. So many people are glad the Kings wouldn't be in because everyone is so scared to death of what might happen if they were go get into the playoffs. In 2 weeks, half of teams who made the playoffs are going to be on the sidelines regardless, the part that stings would be not even getting the chance to see what would happen.

My Twitter feed was filled the other night of people jumping for joy that the Canucks won the other night -- when it was only in 2012 that the entire free world HATED the Canucks (ironically, except me), and it was neat and cool that the Kings were the cool new thing in hockey, vanquishing what was seen as pure evil in the Canucks, and only a couple years later the tables are completely turned. It's cool when you first win, it's less cool to keep winning. And the Canucks hadn't even won. How many people in the East are wishing the same on the Penguins or Bruins making way for the Senators. And neither of those teams won it twice.

All of this because of what the Kings have already accomplished, so win or lose tonight or otherwise, I hope people here don't lose sight of what the Kings have accomplished, and even if they miss the playoffs, almost any other fan on the main board would gladly switch positions. I guess maybe except the Blackhawks.

 

[taz346]

is it over yet?

No, but the fat lady has been ordered to stand by

 

[Little Psycho]

Richards and Shore both on the ice for warm-ups

 

[TonySCV]

Richards is in, Shore is out per Hammond.

Time to nut up, Richie.

 

[GKJ]

Lombardi was loyal to a fault, and it is biting him in the ass for having so much patience and hope that these declining players would recover. I can see why he gave Richards an opportunity to return given his winning pedigree, but that's also looking at the past.

That's why I think it's time to walk away from Williams, who has been a turnover machine and has been awful along the boards this season, constantly pinning his team in the defensive zone due to his inability to get the puck out of his zone.

Dustin Brown is looking like another David Clarkson if he doesn't bounce back next season. The Greene contract isn't the worst contract on this roster so I'm not too concerned over him so long as his ice time is reduced next season.

This year, it was obvious that Kopitar and Carter needed some support down the middle. When they weren't producing, there was nobody else on the roster to pick up their slack. Not Richards, not Stoll, and that's too much to expect from Shore this season.

Everyone used to rave about the Kings depth because they were getting production from everyone in the lineup in previous years. This season? Not so much. There is a handful of guys this team relied on heavily to produce. That has to change.

They were strong down the middle before Richards and Stoll had the toll taken on them. As big negatives as they were this season, they were just as big positives the past 3. Despite that, we knew keeping Richards was a huge risk with very little reward. He was declining AND there was nowhere for him otherwise to not become an albatross. While they served their purposes, Lombardi should have been keen and savvy enough and trusted himself to find replacements at cheaper costs. We know Anschutz is more of a bottom-line guy, missing the playoffs while spending this money when he shouldn't be hurts him just as much as what winning Cups was worth.

 

[taz346]

Lombardi was loyal to a fault, and it is biting him in the ass for having so much patience and hope that these declining players would recover. I can see why he gave Richards an opportunity to return given his winning pedigree, but that's also looking at the past.

That's why I think it's time to walk away from Williams, who has been a turnover machine and has been awful along the boards this season, constantly pinning his team in the defensive zone due to his inability to get the puck out of his zone.

Dustin Brown is looking like another David Clarkson if he doesn't bounce back next season. The Greene contract isn't the worst contract on this roster so I'm not too concerned over him so long as his ice time is reduced next season.

This year, it was obvious that Kopitar and Carter needed some support down the middle. When they weren't producing, there was nobody else on the roster to pick up their slack. Not Richards, not Stoll, and that's too much to expect from Shore this season.

Everyone used to rave about the Kings depth because they were getting production from everyone in the lineup in previous years. This season? Not so much. There is a handful of guys this team relied on heavily to produce. That has to change.

Agee, this team needs some fresh young blood who are hungry to win. Other's who've reached the top, have found it hard to get back up there again.

 

[HookKing]

Richards is in, Shore is out per Hammond.




Time to nut up, Richie.

Wow. Talk about grasping at straws.

 

[Bandit]

Whenever people talk about yeah-but's when it comes to winning, and I'm sure I've said this here, when you're a winner you don't really give a **** what other people think about it. We heard the Kings were a fluke when they snuck in as an 8-seed in 2012 (even though some of us know better), and we heard the Kings were a fluke when they lucked into winning 3 Game 7's in 2014. And nobody really cares, much of it is a defensive mechanism.

Much that it will should the Kings miss the playoffs. There will be celebrating by many people - just remember why they feel the need to celebrate. How many of those people are fans of teams who haven't seen 2 (or 1) Cup in their lifetime let alone the immediate past.

Floating around this board for umpteen years now, with the league-wide indifference to the Kings, for this to be happening now, there should still be some sort of a badge of honor amongst Kings fans. So many people are glad the Kings wouldn't be in because everyone is so scared to death of what might happen if they were go get into the playoffs. In 2 weeks, half of teams who made the playoffs are going to be on the sidelines regardless, the part that stings would be not even getting the chance to see what would happen.

My Twitter feed was filled the other night of people jumping for joy that the Canucks won the other night -- when it was only in 2012 that the entire free world HATED the Canucks (ironically, except me), and it was neat and cool that the Kings were the cool new thing in hockey, vanquishing what was seen as pure evil in the Canucks, and only a couple years later the tables are completely turned. It's cool when you first win, it's less cool to keep winning. And the Canucks hadn't even won. How many people in the East are wishing the same on the Penguins or Bruins making way for the Senators. And neither of those teams won it twice.

All of this because of what the Kings have already accomplished, so win or lose tonight or otherwise, I hope people here don't lose sight of what the Kings have accomplished, and even if they miss the playoffs, almost any other fan on the main board would gladly switch positions. I guess maybe except the Blackhawks.

I with you all the way. I'm sure you know I was being sarcastic. Wouldn't trade the last 3 years for anything. Even if we miss out this year, we'll be back next year.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

Fasten your seatbelts, friends, it's going to be a wild ride.

 

[kingsfan28]

Putting Richard in for the big game. If there was ever a game this season for him to regain some form, this is it.

 

[BigBrown]

Good posts, GKJ.

I'm pumped for the game. Start already!

 

[Jeff18]

I feel like throwing up. Just get this **** over with

 

[kingsfan28]

I blame this healthcare commercial and this awful song on the Kings current situation.

 

[GKJ]

Wow. Talk about grasping at straws.

Darryl Sutter will die by the sword.