So, we panic yet?

[MSRinkRat]

Ellerby is a band-aid on a gaping wound and I see it as part of a panic button being pushed. Is Bernier's valued enough to get something we can use? Can we all agree that we got pancake Penner and not playoff Penner? Can someone please please please post some missing posters for Mike Richards and Dustin Brown. Just saying. Penner is not helping the team sitting in the stands wearing a suit. Has King made an impact on the team this year? Where the hell is Mitchell? Quick someone check the beaches, bars, and tacorias in the greater LA area for him. Wait, did someone bring him down off that mountain in Vancouver? Check there too.

Yes, we DID win the Cup last year, but wake up people, that's over and "The Time is Now" to move on to winning ANOTHER one. This team is as close to winning the cup as the '97 kings were. OK maybe a little closer, but still you get the point. I say yes, make the changes that should have been made in the off season while everyone was drunk and decided to keep the group together.

Complacency breeds failure. Unless your the US Government

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[AKAY47]

Disagree on Brown, he's playing alot better but I agree that King/Nolan haven't been doing anything. Kind of suspicious about Mitchell, sucks that they won't let us know what's going on with him. And don't even get me started on Mike Richards, by far the biggest disappointment on the Kings and maybe even in the whole league (no joke).

 

[The Tikkanen]

Disagree on Brown, he's playing alot better but I agree that King/Nolan haven't been doing anything. Kind of suspicious about Mitchell, sucks that they won't let us know what's going on with him. And don't even get me started on Mike Richards, by far the biggest disappointment on the Kings and maybe even in the whole league (no joke).

If you followed Richards on Twitter the dude did nothing but ice fish and hunt during the lockout. That doesn't translate to being in hockey shape. I love the way he plays but I'm struggling to see how he put up so many points in Philly.

 

[moosehead81]

If you followed Richards on Twitter the dude did nothing but ice fish and hunt during the lockout. That doesn't translate to being in hockey shape. I love the way he plays but I'm struggling to see how he put up so many points in Philly.

Actually if you go to http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats....&position=S&country=&status=&viewName=summary you'll find that just about everybody on the Kings must have ice fished and hunted during the lockout. And as for the specifics about Mike Richards, he must be a real issue when four out of four writers for the Sun picked him as an early favorite for the upcoming Olympic team. Put him on the trading block and 28 other teams would be interested.

 

[Telos]

It is time to be concerned, but it's not panic mode just yet. We are at a critical juncture though. Just a handful more of losses like that and we will be in a hole that is very hard to climb out of. We really need to be playing at least .500 hockey from here on out.

The season is 20% over already, we'll know exactly where we stand at around 40% when the trade deadline arrives. So there is still a long way before any panic buttons are pressed, but right now we are 5 points out of a playoff spot and have nearly three times less points than the conference leader, Chicago. We can still easily climb out of this with a couple wins in a row, and that will likely happen if we continue to play like we did against Detroit, but if things progress the way they are for a few more weeks, then we may want to look at picking up a first round pick in this draft.

Bottom line, Bernier needs to be played more, Brown and Richards have looked better here or there and need to be more consistent, but given the work ethic and the types of player they both are, I'm confident in them turning it around and would never consider dealing either. Penner needs to go eventually, Gagne has thoroughly outplayed him. You always have to have a backup plan for Gagne, but the writing is on the wall for Penner.

Ellerby is a good pickup, I actually see him as potentially a long-time King. I think he'll work out, at the very least as a long term bottom pairing option. He'll either become the new Scuderi, or at the very least, the new Drewiske. Either way, we acquired an enduring NHL player in Ellerby and I'm glad to have him, even if he turns into a Drewiske, the price of a 5th is still very fair. He has already won half the battle with his skating, typically defensemen of his size take much longer due to learning how to use their body and getting their skating up to par, but this kid has a lot of those basics down, and if he spends more time with someone like Doughty, I think he can only get better.

Mitchell will be here when he is here, but as Lombardi said, we have to play through it as if he is out for the year. He isn't the type of person to milk an injury, and if he says he isn't ready then he isn't ready, and I expect him to return the moment he is, and trust in his judgement.

 

[kingsfan]

Some people here paniced after opening night. Glad to see a Stanley Cup banner hasn't changed any thinking around these boards.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

None of this is new for the Kings....the only thing they have proven year in and year out is that they are NOT an elite team, but a streaky team. They got hot last season, and we all know where that led them. This team is only as good as the hot streak of specific players (Quick, Brown, etc. )

They can turn this thing around, not a problem, but its a crapshoot.

Elite teams play well consistently, regardless of what is thrown at them.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Yes, I'm in panic mode until we string wins together.

 

[Ron*]

I only panic if my heart stops or I have an aneurism or something.

This is sports. Be entertained.

Within the framework of sports, I am not concerned. The wins will come. This team is far too talented for the struggling to continue for any length of time.

 

[thelos]

If you followed Richards on Twitter the dude did nothing but ice fish and hunt during the lockout. That doesn't translate to being in hockey shape. I love the way he plays but I'm struggling to see how he put up so many points in Philly.

He was our PPQB on a good PP when he had his best offensive years

 

[Buddy The Elf]

The Kings are on their way to their second Stanley Cup so why panic?

 

[KingsFan7824]

If you followed Richards on Twitter the dude did nothing but ice fish and hunt during the lockout. That doesn't translate to being in hockey shape. I love the way he plays but I'm struggling to see how he put up so many points in Philly.

The power play.

 

[xavi4life]

This just isn't going to be our year for a repeat unless we fix the PP and replace Mitchell/Greene ASAP.

On a positive note, if we tank we could end up with a real good pick at the draft.

Honestly I've already written this season off w/o Mitchell/Greene. You can't expect Doughty and Scuderi and several young defenders to pick up all that slack. As far as Mike Richards, I'm not going to get mad if it takes them awhile or even next year before he gets his **** together.

 

[KingsFan7824]

This just isn't going to be our year for a repeat unless we fix the PP and replace Mitchell/Greene ASAP.

Damn near impossible to repeat these days, and I'm not sure the Kings were ever going to be the team to break that trend.

On a positive note, if we tank we could end up with a real good pick at the draft.

Traded it for a Cup.

 

[xavi4life]

Traded it for a Cup.

I meant a high 2nd rounder!

 

[CTKingsFan]

This just isn't going to be our year for a repeat unless we fix the PP and replace Mitchell/Greene ASAP.

On a positive note, if we tank we could end up with a real good pick at the draft.

Honestly I've already written this season off w/o Mitchell/Greene. You can't expect Doughty and Scuderi and several young defenders to pick up all that slack. As far as Mike Richards, I'm not going to get mad if it takes them awhile or even next year before he gets his **** together.

Columbus has our 1st round draft pick.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

 

[SLang]

I say yes, make the changes that should have been made in the off season while everyone was drunk and decided to keep the group together. Complacency breeds failure.

Armchair quarterbacking at it's finest. Come on, the Kings didn't just suddenly turn it on in the playoffs. In the last quarter of the last regular season they finally started becoming the team people thought they would be at the beginning of the season. They were one of the top-scoring teams and one of the best defensively. So before the playoffs, confidence was growing. Then they steam-rolled everyone in the playoffs.

I get a good laugh at the revisionist history going on in the main boards yesterday....someone actually posted that the Kings only ran the table because they got "favorable matchups". Yeah, whipping the 1, 2, and 3 conference seeds is "favorable" regardless of where you were seeded.

They could have made some defensive depth moves - but really - had Lombardi made significant changes to that team, there would have been a collective head explosion around here.

 

[Crosby87Domi11]

It is time to be concerned, but it's not panic mode just yet. We are at a critical juncture though. Just a handful more of losses like that and we will be in a hole that is very hard to climb out of. We really need to be playing at least .500 hockey from here on out.

The season is 20% over already, we'll know exactly where we stand at around 40% when the trade deadline arrives. So there is still a long way before any panic buttons are pressed, but right now we are 5 points out of a playoff spot and have nearly three times less points than the conference leader, Chicago. We can still easily climb out of this with a couple wins in a row, and that will likely happen if we continue to play like we did against Detroit, but if things progress the way they are for a few more weeks, then we may want to look at picking up a first round pick in this draft.

Bottom line, Bernier needs to be played more, Brown and Richards have looked better here or there and need to be more consistent, but given the work ethic and the types of player they both are, I'm confident in them turning it around and would never consider dealing either. Penner needs to go eventually, Gagne has thoroughly outplayed him. You always have to have a backup plan for Gagne, but the writing is on the wall for Penner.

Ellerby is a good pickup, I actually see him as potentially a long-time King. I think he'll work out, at the very least as a long term bottom pairing option. He'll either become the new Scuderi, or at the very least, the new Drewiske. Either way, we acquired an enduring NHL player in Ellerby and I'm glad to have him, even if he turns into a Drewiske, the price of a 5th is still very fair. He has already won half the battle with his skating, typically defensemen of his size take much longer due to learning how to use their body and getting their skating up to par, but this kid has a lot of those basics down, and if he spends more time with someone like Doughty, I think he can only get better.

Mitchell will be here when he is here, but as Lombardi said, we have to play through it as if he is out for the year. He isn't the type of person to milk an injury, and if he says he isn't ready then he isn't ready, and I expect him to return the moment he is, and trust in his judgement.

Ellerby will most likely work in the kings organization better than he did with Florida. Part of the reason his playing time was minamal (in my eyes at least) was that he wasn't a Tallon draftee so he fell behind the other D and his development was slow, most likely because people expected him to be a stellar defenseman right out of juniors. Too much pressure on him from that lead to him being 7th or 8th in Florida and getting traded to the Kings

 

[CTKingsFan]

It's not as hard to repeat as people make it out to be. (nor is it that easy)

Since the Red Wings did it 98. The Dallas Stars came within 2 wins of doing it in 2000. The Devils came within in 1 win of doing it in 2001. The Red Wings came with in 1 win of doing it in 2009 and if you look at it backwards the Penguins came with 2 wins of doing it in 08/09.

But, nobody ultimately did it. So, it ain't easy!

 

[SLang]

If you followed Richards on Twitter the dude did nothing but ice fish and hunt during the lockout. That doesn't translate to being in hockey shape. I love the way he plays but I'm struggling to see how he put up so many points in Philly.

Maybe he skated to the ice fishing hole.

The thought that being on twitter gives one an insight into everything someone else does with their day is just, well, silly.

 

[etherialone]

I only panic if my heart stops or I have an aneurism or something.

This is sports. Be entertained.

Within the framework of sports, I am not concerned. The wins will come. This team is far too talented for the struggling to continue for any length of time.

No see your wrong Ron.

Its time to fall weeping to the floor and panic! Give up already. Fire DS and DL. Deal away MR or limit his ice time severely. Trade or waive everyone who isn't at or in the top ten in scoring at their position. Bring up the kids regardless of whether they are ready or not and waive WM and MG so that we can bring in permanent replacements.

The thing about winning the cup last year that the panic now moders are forgetting is that there is one great aspect about winning the cup that should always remain with everyone who has done so and that is the experience that was gained in doing so.

Yes, this is a new season and yes we aren't off to the start that we all want to be but, we actually did learn allot about what it takes to win the cup last year and most of the players who are on the team today are aware of what it is going to take to get back there again.

So it does matter that we won the cup last year *this* season as we know what we will have to do to get back there. That experience and the desire to get back to having a shot at winning the cup is more important then most of the things I see poeple complaining about on these boards and that is a fact.

Is it panic time? No. Not at all. How do we fix what is wrong with our team? Well that depends on how much you want to change our roster but I can assure you that dealing away our less than average performers will only bring us back picks prospects or the same from another team.

Dealing away our solid players will leave holes that will need to be filled. Right now we are seeing how difficult it is to replace KEY VETERAN players with our prospects. Losing WM and MG at (or near) the same time is the key reason for our struggles so far (Kopi recovering from injury hasn't helped) and having our #7 Dman step in for one of them for a little while is fine but then having a rookie have to step in and replace the other is a bad situation, especially when you are asking that rookie to play a style of game that they are unaccustomed to playing.

So say we deal away JB and one of our bottom 6ers (a clear position of strength) for a vet Dman to fill in for MG or WM, what do you do when they are both healthy? If you plan on getting a lesser player to fill in for them then plan on getting lesser results. If your going to do that then why bother trying to replace either of WM or MG in the first place?

My point is that we have due to injury, injuries that would have cost us the cup last season we are struggling to put our game together. It is as simple as that. We play a PMD/SAH system and we are asking DavisD to fill in for the most part for MG and he is doing a good job considering he has played in 18 NHL games over the past two seasons and we are asking Muzzin and or Ellerby to play out of position (stylistically speaking) to cover WM's spot (or cover other areas so other players can try to cover for the loss of WM).

Are we a much weaker team without WM and MG in the line up? Yes. Should we be? I don't think so but you can't argue with the results.

Also remember that we have brought in a new PP coach who is teaching a brand new system for our PP and that is having a negative effect and will until everyone is comfortable with the new system.

I see us slowly putting everything together and am certain that we will go on a run soon and everything will be good again but then I am an optimistic person and can see what we have built over the past few years and realize that the culmination of each of the things that we have done just prior to and since winning the cup will be the reason that we get at least one or two more shots at winning it again over the next few seasons. To me that makes us an elite team but I guess we will have to wait and see.

So panic, don't panic whatever its all good with me. Just remember that there were several people who post here were had lost all hope just prior to DS stepping in and turning our team around and if anyone wants to argue that we didn't become a completely different team after DS got here take a look at the facts, I promise you will be surprised.

 

[KingsFan7824]

It's not as hard to repeat as people make it out to be. (nor is it that easy)

Since the Red Wings did it 98. The Dallas Stars came within 2 wins of doing it in 2000. The Devils came within in 1 win of doing it in 2001. The Red Wings came with in 1 win of doing it in 2009 and if you look at it backwards the Penguins came with 2 wins of doing it in 08/09.

But, nobody ultimately did it. So, it ain't easy!

Look at those teams though. All in the top 5 or so of the whole league those years. Except Pittsburgh when they won it, but they also had Crosby and Malkin over 100 points.

The Kings were 6th in the conference in 2010, 7th in 2011, and 8th in 2012. Only 10 games in so far, but Penner is terrible, 1/3 of the defense might be done for the year, they can't score more than 2 goals a game again, and Clifford is still tied for the team lead in points.

Wow, just looking at the 09-10 standings. The Kings had 241 goals scored that year. A little better per game average than what the Kings did in the playoffs last year.

The 09-10 regular season, and the 2012 playoffs, are Doughty's most productive time in the NHL. A little chicken or the egg scenario there.

 

[DaAnimal]

I think it's fair to say that the lockout has hurt this team A LOT.

Most of our players did not come out of camp ready to play hockey. Kopi, Brown, and a few others whom have played in Europe gets a pass because of their performance in Europe.

Most guys weren't even expecting hockey to be back. And let's not forget about our key injuries: Mitchell and Greene.

Mitchell is one of the key reasons why we are losing. His absence from day one had sacred me because I felt that no one on this organization can fill his role. Sometimes I question whether or not we will continue to be successful in 2014... I know some will say Forbert, but is he ready to fill the holes of Mitchell?

I agree that Ellerby is just a bandaid. Maybe he'll turn out to be a stud or maybe he'll just be the same Ellerby as he was in Florida.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of you have watched our games either live or on television and are baffled by our play as well. We suck on the PP (no Kompon, so obviously it wasn't the coaching) and we can't seem to elevate the puck into the net. Our shots are either wide or they are shot directly into the goalies chest. Are Carter and Kopi the only ones that can score on this team? Where are you Brown, Richards, Gagne, Williams, and Penner? Our PP is pretty predictable. Our defense and goaltending could be better and our offense is just sad. Where is the creativity people???

Tonight will determine whether or not I will hit the panic button. The Blues are a contender and I will be watching the game closely. Go Kings Go.

 

[Muzzinga]

grunch

The best team ever assembled that plays perfect hockey every single shift can potentially lose every single game. That's how sports work

If the Kings keep playing like they did yesterday and still lose, there is nothing you can do but just accept it. They are playing well, luck just isn't there