Kings News: Nic Dowd recalled from Ontario.

[mrkolice]

The only injury Carter is suffering is playing with Brown and Clifford. Reunite the 70s line and see how many goals he scores again. Or the Lucic-Carter-Toffolli line. With that said, I know that Sutter is just mixing things up to see how he can play around with the lines during the playoffs. I don't expect these current line arrangements to stay the same come April.

i think carter was injured at one moment, the way he played was indicating it, and i guess i'm not the only one here to put a bet on it. whatever it was, it was always just speculation.

sutter mixing, that's his favourite game this season. so far so good. with dowd he just found some new ammo, like in doom2.

edit: rj, my thoughts exactly.

 

[rajuabju]

Why 67? Why not just go with 69.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

Why 67? Why not just go with 69.

Didn't the league retire than number in honor of Doug Glatt?

 

[tigermask48]

Why 67? Why not just go with 69.

Arent numbers submitted before the season starts or after training camp so most guys that are in camp but don't stick in the NHL have high? I know Carter took 77 since Scuderi already had 7 when he got here but Tofolli Pearson and King had 73 70 and 74 in camp and just keep them once the they got called up. Anyone have a training camp roster handy? I bet Dowd was 67 in camp and just kept it.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

Arent numbers submitted before the season starts or after training camp so most guys that are in camp but don't stick in the NHL have high? I know Carter took 77 since Scuderi already had 7 when he got here but Tofolli Pearson and King had 73 70 and 74 in camp and just keep them once the they got called up. Anyone have a training camp roster handy? I bet Dowd was 67 in camp and just kept it.

Your 're right.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

A Husky Homecoming

“My whole family was here, so it was great,†he said. “Disappointing we didn’t come out with a win, but yeah, it’s been a long road. It was great to play in the first one.â€

The smile widened on Dowd’s face when someone asked him if it felt appropriate to make his debut at the Xcel Energy Center because the Huskies will play in the NCAA West Regional this weekend at the X.

“I was pretty excited knowing I was going to debut in Minnesota,†the native of Huntsville, Ala., said. “The state means a lot to me. The culture here is awesome, and going to St. Cloud, we had a lot of people in the stands that I wouldn’t be here without them.â€

The night began on a strange note for Dowd, who took a stick to the chops from former University of Minnesota opponent Erik Haula on his first shift. Dowd played 2 minutes, 48 seconds in the first period, 4:05 in the second period and 5:22 in the third, finishing with two shot attempts, one hit and one giveaway...He was plus-1 for the evening and won 63 percent of his faceoffs (5-for-8).

 

[Herby]

Another player who comes up and immediately looks better than Shore, Clifford, Lewis and Andreoff.

He'll probably be riding buses again this weekend.

 

[TradeMadeMeSignUp]

Another player who comes up and immediately looks better than Shore, Clifford, Lewis and Andreoff.

He'll probably be riding buses again this weekend.

Agreed whole heartedly. It's only 1 game but I already like him better than Shore, he was battling hard behind the net and got the puck to guys in dangerous positions multiple times and he looked even better late in the 3rd period.

No Score Shore at 4C next year is my guess. He's a less offensively gifted Trevor Lewis (how is that even freakn possible?) that can win faceoffs/PK. He'll be valuable for the Kings just not at 3C like we were expecting when the year started.

 

[head eyes]

Dowd (80) with the 2nd highest CF% last night behind Lucic (82.9).

62.5% on faceoffs, some good passes to Toffoli, almost had a nice tip-in goal, went to the net hard and finished his checks.

Only negatives I noticed were a weak spin-around backhand pass to the slot which went to a Wild player, and a few times he was caught behind the play a tiny bit.

Not bad at all for his first game.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

And the penalty that led to Minnesota's second goal, but yeah, even the announcers were saying it was a good debut. Wow, didn't know Nic had a Corsi that high. Interesting that his minutes went up each period.

 

[head eyes]

And the penalty that led to Minnesota's second goal, but yeah, even the announcers were saying it was a good debut. Wow, didn't know Nic had a Corsi that high. Interesting that his minutes went up each period.

Oh, I forgot about the penalty. I didn't actually see it, but some said he was pushed into Dubnyk. Either way, shows he's not scared to go to the net.

Also interesting that he was out there with 1 min left.

 

[TradeMadeMeSignUp]

And the penalty that led to Minnesota's second goal, but yeah, even the announcers were saying it was a good debut. Wow, didn't know Nic had a Corsi that high. Interesting that his minutes went up each period.

Muzzin's failed clearance didn't help on that PK. That was horrible.

 

[scramble91]

Dowd looked good! Better first step and more jump than Shore.

But need to see a lot more first. He was down low a lot for the f3 and got caught 2-3 times almost resulting in outnumbered attacks. Sutter typically doesn't like that...especially with the 3rd or 4th lines.

Also lets see him score more than shore before crowing him the next 3rd line center. Shore out produced dowd in the ahl, and a lot of people were man crushing over shore for his first month.

I did love his jump and relentless attack but let's see if it produces.

The thing that stands out the most is the possession system that the organization uses... Might be ugly to some, but makes the transition between the ahl and NHL for the players pretty seamless.

 

[BigKing]

Oh, I forgot about the penalty. I didn't actually see it, but some said he was pushed into Dubnyk. Either way, shows he's not scared to go to the net.

Also interesting that he was out there with 1 min left.

He crashed the net earlier in the period way after the puck was gone and jammed his stick into Dubnyk's legs which pissed Dubnyk off.

He was also looking for contact and shoved a guy in front of Quick after a whistle.

I don't think Andreoff has ever played a game as good as Dowd last night even when he's scored a goal. Shore would be hard pressed to look as good either.

Let's hope he keeps it up and isn't back in Ontario a week from now.

 

[losingsand]

speaking of that DOWD penalty?
i don't think they showed the replay of it.
anybody catch it live? i surely didn't see it

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

 

[TradeMadeMeSignUp]

Dowd looked good! Better first step and more jump than Shore.

But need to see a lot more first. He was down low a lot for the f3 and got caught 2-3 times almost resulting in outnumbered attacks. Sutter typically doesn't like that...especially with the 3rd or 4th lines.

Also lets see him score more than shore before crowing him the next 3rd line center. Shore out produced dowd in the ahl, and a lot of people were man crushing over shore for his first month.

I did love his jump and relentless attack but let's see if it produces.

The thing that stands out the most is the possession system that the organization uses... Might be ugly to some, but makes the transition between the ahl and NHL for the players pretty seamless.

100 Games, 4 Goals, 13 Assists, and a -7 with a shooting % of 3.5, shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[scramble91]

100 Games, 4 Goals, 13 Assists, and a -7 with a shooting % of 3.5, shouldn't be too difficult.

People here were saying the same things with Shore replacing Richards/Stoll... And it didn't happen


So...it might be difficult if he hasn't been able to out produce shore in the minors yet being 2 years older.

Could it happen?? Yes... And I'm hoping it happens. But it most certainly will be difficult.

(For the record, I was one who thought shore would produce more too. Now just a little more skeptical on offensive abilities translating to the NHL.)

 

[regulate]

I have watched Dowd live almost 30 games this year with the Reign. He is to the Reign, what Kopitar is to the Kings, he is the driver of the offensive engine. I have posted previously on this board that I see him as our 3C next season to replace Vinny when he retires. Hopefully we now have some more Kings fans on board that can see the same thing. The guy is a pass first player with excellent vision and he is a gamer (shows moxie, compete level). Excellent in the face-off circle. Responsible defensively, can play on the PP and the PK. He was struggling early in the season scoring goals until Stothers told him to stop being unselfish and shoot the *&#@ puck. Now he has 14 goals. He has a decent shot but probably won't be a big goal scorer, but with minutes and some PP time, I think he could pot between 10-20. Traits that need improvement: Risky blind passes and could stay out of the box a bit more. Nic Dowd is an NHL player. The Reign will be in trouble in the playoffs if he somehow sticks with the Kings.

 

[Omni Owl]

I really hope he doesn't get sent back down. Only one game in and he stood out in a good way, looks like he'll have much more impact than Shore or AA. He also has unteachable size and reach. I think Sutter was impressed, as his ice time went up after each period and he was out there with a minute left in the game.

 

[Trolfoli]

Agreed whole heartedly. It's only 1 game but I already like him better than Shore, he was battling hard behind the net and got the puck to guys in dangerous positions multiple times and he looked even better late in the 3rd period.

No Score Shore at 4C next year is my guess. He's a less offensively gifted Trevor Lewis (how is that even freakn possible?) that can win faceoffs/PK. He'll be valuable for the Kings just not at 3C like we were expecting when the year started.

Who's this "WE"?

 

[cyclones22]

I didn't realize Nic was 25 already. He looked like he has a maturity to his game out there and he does have good size.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Dowd (80) with the 2nd highest CF% last night behind Lucic (82.9).

62.5% on faceoffs, some good passes to Toffoli, almost had a nice tip-in goal, went to the net hard and finished his checks.

Only negatives I noticed were a weak spin-around backhand pass to the slot which went to a Wild player, and a few times he was caught behind the play a tiny bit.

Not bad at all for his first game.

I think we need to see how he looks in a game where the Kings aren't utterly dominant before rushing to judgment, though.

But I agree he showed much more in context than most of our bottom six.

That spinaround pass made me think Sutter is gonna glue him to the bench, but he also had a couple of bad reads that caught him behind the play (granted his teammates did him no favors). They didn't result in goals against but if they did he'd be getting executed right now.

That sounds pessimistic but I love his game and hope he sticks, showed some real heart and guts too, just don't want us to overlook his concerns for the shiny new toy simply because our other 13th-15th forwards are turds.

 

[regulate]

I didn't realize Nic was 25 already. He looked like he has a maturity to his game out there and he does have good size.

1 year in the USHL, 4 years in college at St. Cloud State, and 2 years in the AHL = 26 years old in May, so he is not a "kid" in hockey terms. Just hasn't had his shot yet. Not bad for a 7th round draft pick.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Can we get rid of Shore already, he is awful. Liking Dowd and Andreoff way better.