If you REALLY take a look at the Kings D ice time...

...it was actually the first time all season (IMHO) that they did it as close to right as they can get...

There were 65 minutes to be carved up by the 3 defensive pairings (linemates, to some ;) )

The Kings spent 10 minutes on the power play

The Kings spent 12:23 shorthanded

The Kings spent about 42 minutes even strength

The number of shifts were pretty evenly distributed:

Miller - 26

Corvo - 26

Dempsey - 24

Norstrom - 24

Visnovsky - 27

Gleason - 24

Four defensemen spent the majority of time on the power play

Visnovsky - 5:17
Corvo - 5:04
Dempsey and Norstrom - 4:43
and the remaining :13 goes to Gleason (someone explain why they don't give him a shot on the PP...)

Four defensemen spent ALL the time on the PK

Norstrom - 8:17
Dempsey - 6:42
Miller - 5:41
Gleason - 4:06
(and you pretty much have to split Norstrom and Miller up most of the time if you want two units to rotate effectively --- one of the reasons they could use a defensive defenseman, no?)

As for even strength...

Visnovsky - 17:05 (makes sense since he and Corvo were not allowed near the ice during the 12+ minutes of PK... which I have been harping on all year... thank you Lord... NO reason for either of these guys to see the ice on the PK.)

Corvo - 15:41 (again, makes sense, from a fatigue standpoint, this pairing needed to get the most even strength time, since there were 12+ minutes they couldn't be used.)

Gleason - 14:45 (see fatigue factor for other pairs not used on the PP)

Miller - 14:21 (again, makes total sense)

Norstrom - 12:14 (hey, the guy AVERAGED over a minute a shift tonight... something only about 7 or 8 other NHL players averaged in tonight's box scores. He did yeoman's work, and throw in his jaw for good measure. No complaint here.)

Dempsey - 11:06 (the least used of the 6 at even strength, in a game where all the defensemen took between 24 and 27 shifts. No complaints from me.)

So, all you Dempsey bashers... YOU figure out how to do it better? I can't, and they allowed ONE goal tonight. You could have dressed seven D and made Parros sit with Cowan and Popcornopolous, but that would probably have made things even more confusing for Harpo and VanCrapsmear.

Tonight, I give the coaching staff a passing grade... or better!

I agree that the D is used fine. They just need to add a true 2nd pair d-man.

Its the forwards, special teams, tactics and attitude that make me ill.

Tonight, I give the coaching staff a passing grade... or better!
Coaching staff grades.....tonight :C+......for the season :F

I agree that the D is used fine. They just need to add a true 2nd pair d-man.

Its the forwards, special teams, tactics and attitude that make me ill.


and dump Dempsey

Nice analysis, Marc. Very interesting breakdown. I am a little worried about you saying something nice (or at least not mean ;)), about the coaching staff. :eek:

Nice analysis, Marc. Very interesting breakdown. I am a little worried about you saying something nice (or at least not mean ;)), about the coaching staff. :eek:

i think he's very well aware of the ol' "every dog has his day" thingie!

Nice analysis, Marc. Very interesting breakdown. I am a little worried about you saying something nice (or at least not mean ;)), about the coaching staff. :eek:

Believe it or not, I am far from some of the fanatical AM haters here on this board. I, in fact, proposed the thought that if he were to be relieved of his duties here in LA, he'd be snapped up immediately by one of the other NHL teams.

I think AM is a very well respected coach in NHL circles, but as I have said time and time again, every coach (and his staff) comes with an expiration date... every one of them... and I think we are past due on his.

If Kevin Gilmore believes that winners breed winning, and losers breed losing, he ought to closely examine AM's NHL coaching history. Excuses about injuries aside, there is nothing to indicate that he's truly a winner... now give me a Sutter... and I'll show you a winner.

Believe it or not, I am far from some of the fanatical AM haters here on this board.

So I am fanatical now am I?:rolly: :eek: :help:

one coach i personally think is pretty good is Ron Wilson.

he coached the Ducks for the first 4 years of their existence, which ended in a second round playoff exit (not effing bad for a budding franchise). the next season, he went on to take basically what was Jim Schoenfeld's (who was canned after failing to reach the playoffs with an organization who had seen it's team make the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons) Capitals to the Finals. four years later, he was looking for a new job because he (for whatever reason) failed to improve upon the team's success in his first year. he then takes over the San Jose Sharks. and in his first full season, he leads them to the Conference Finals.

this is only his second full season at the helm. they struggled out of the gate, and made a MAJOR player personel change (and dealing Nabokov is on the horizon). but i can almost guarantee you, if the Sharks organization sees little to no improvement with this team (meaning at least one finals appearance) in the next three years... Wilson WILL be gone.

like Tubby said... expiration dates and stuff.

I'm glad to see Trotz and Poile so successful (so far) this season. These guys had a plan, and it's nice to watch it work. That team is really the sum of its parts!

Wilson and his staff impress me in that they plug in guys like Preissing, and now Murray and give them the responsibility needed to do their jobs effectively. I too think Nabokov is the stunner trade piece by the deadline.

Ruff has come through the rough, and sees his team live way beyond expectations.

Renney has to be given some credit, if for nothing else, for getting Jags to play hockey the way God intended for him to play :)

All these guys will eventually go by the wayside, but with XM and Center Ice, it's so much easier to root root root for the non-home team...

i stand corrected... they CAN'T be serious!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=153475&hubname=nhl

i stand corrected... they CAN'T be serious!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=153475&hubname=nhl

Well, there's the theory that you build from the net out... Nabokov is "elite" and obviously they don't think Meat Tostada and Nolan Schaefer are ready to bear the burden in goal.

Well, there's the theory that you build from the net out... Nabokov is "elite" and obviously they don't think Meat Tostada and Nolan Schaefer are ready to bear the burden in goal.

either that, or they too are completely bamboozled by what can easily turn out to be a mirage in the Joe Thornton trade.

If I'm Doug Wilson, I make that Thornton trade ANY day of ANY week of ANY month of this year.

If I'm Doug Wilson, I make that Thornton trade ANY day of ANY week of ANY month of this year.

yeah but the difference is, it wouldn't dazzle you enough to not make ANY more deals.

yeah but the difference is, it wouldn't dazzle you enough to not make ANY more deals.

they can certainly deal Rob Davison... he's as spare a part as Langfeld was earlier in the week.