How many of us thought "I wonder how long it will take him to get injured" after he signed his contract?
I am being serious. I know I did. If JW could stay healthy for three full seasons in a row he would be considered one of the better RW's in the game and would be a major boost to our team. As it sits now the poor guy just can't catch a break. He must be stunned right about now.
I have wanted OM up here all season long and hope that he can tune out TM enough to bring us some much much much much needed offense.
Get well soon JW. (new nickname "Snakebit"?)
Bring it Oscar, you have worked hard, proven yourself again and have earned the shot. Now bring it and prove your detractors wrong.
Wow, that would be $10 million sidelined til playoffs if true. Hope Oscar's up for it. He'll definitely live up to his 1/2 of the 2 & 1/2 Men line. We really need JW back ASAP, however. I really like the guy's hustle and leadership.
What's the latest on Clifford again?
Official Kings Twitter says Clifford has been cleared to play and will suit up on Thursday vs the Sharks.
To replace Smyth? C'mon, Peter Harrold could replace Smyth and his production at this point.
I know your half kidding but I would love to see Harrold take Smyth's place for a game. I may be Harrolds biggest detractor around here but the guy is a very good utility player who isn't awful on D and can be an acceptable forward.
He couldn't do any worse than Smyth who up until the second half of this season has been one of my favorite players over the past several years.
No room for Harrold really (the title of his autobiography "no room for peter") .
I know your half kidding but I would love to see Harrold take Smyth's place for a game. I may be Harrolds biggest detractor around here but the guy is a very good utility player who isn't awful on D and can be an acceptable forward.
He couldn't do any worse than Smyth who up until the second half of this season has been one of my favorite players over the past several years.
No room for Harrold really (the title of his autobiography "no room for peter") .
But meh anyways.
I wasn't kidding. Smyth has been playing like garbage for a while now. At least Harrold wouldn't be such a defensive liability.
What are the chances of Moller, Clifford, and Richardson all playing, while Westgarth sits this one out?
Let's hope those chances are high...
It would be nice to roll 4 lines. I suspect a large part of our inability to score comes from the fact we can't roll 4 effective lines when Westy plays.
Given Smyth's contributions lately, does it matter?
I really don't think we'd see a huge change if Westgarth is out there in his stead. I know that sounds mean, but Smyth has been fairly useless out there for a couple months.
We got Modin that cheap because he was always injured and Colombus wanted to shed salary and give Modin a chance to actually play somewhere. Believe he was actually free, much like Sturm. The 7th was conditional on us winning the cup. Any defenseman that we would get at that value would be around the skill level of Randy Jones or Brett Lebda.
You're supporting my argument.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cnshockey
I'd much rather have Whiskey or Harrold. Both are accustomed to our style and get along well with the guys in our locker room. Trading for a defenseman would show no faith in either of them and both are competent defenseman. Plus, name one team that carries 9 dmen. I'm perfectly happy with our defensive depth and don't see any reason why we should have wasted any assets on obtaining another one.
The organization has already showed no faith in them by not playing them. Obviously the Kings wouldn't carry 9 defenseman if a depth defenseman was acquired.
I've never really understood this. Long term I understand the statement. But not short term, when he is coming up to replace our injured number one RW. If Moller is put on 4th line he better work his ass off on that line and show something positive. He CAN and he should contribute on 4th line, regardless of what seems to be his ideal longterm role in the team.
With that said, it seems he will get a chance on the first line after all.
What are the chances of Moller, Clifford, and Richardson all playing, while Westgarth sits this one out?
I don't know what the chances are but I would have to guess that they would be better than average, especially against a team like Pho (with their current line up) and the Sharks. Westgarth has come a long way and of course after his scramblng Cliffy isn't going to be the same player until the playoffs where his fists are concerned but that said, I wouldn't hesitate playing Cliffy Richardson and Moller or any one of them over Westgarth depending on the situation.
People whined about Westgarth again last night but again he had a solid couple of shifts and did his job so I don't see what the complaining is about. He has done an admirable job for his rookie NHL season and while I thought he would have been given more mins I am happy with where he is at today and think that he will be even better next season.
The Kings are a better team with any of Moller, Richardson, Clifford, Holloway, Harrold even Westgarth in the lineup over Smyth. It has become that bad with #94.
Ryan Smyth is just not an NHL player right now, in March of 2011. Murray has shown tons of patience with this guy and he just keeps getting worse each game. Eventually there is a point where you just need to shut it down, and maybe if these reports are true we have finally reached that point.
Losing Williams is a big blow though, he has been the Kings most consistent winger all season. But I think Moller can thrive finding space with Kopitar and Penner.
Silver lining: Williams could be back by the 1st round. This gives Moller a chance to prove himself in the next nine games that he deserves to be here. If he plays well, he might make it so that Smyth can be kicked out of the top six come playoff time.
Happy that Williams isn't gone for the actual season, but just the regular season.
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conformist 
