I was reading up on Drew Doughty and some articles came up from earlier in the season blaming Doughty's poor start on his poor conditioning, probably as a result of his protracted contract dispute. Being in the East I don't follow Doughty and the Kings very often, but it does suck to see a guy with his ability and potential struggling. His production still seems pretty poor at this point, but beyond the stats line, is he rounding into form? Has he played better under Sutter since he took over?
It's been up and down. The beginning of the year was a big disappointment given his injury. And then when he came back he wasn't good at all.
He has come around in the last 15-20 games or so but still doesn't look quite like the Norris caliber sophomore season Doughty. He has flashes. But he's not playing the same. You could say he is slowly getting it back I guess.
He's a youngster. He's going to have up and down shifts, periods, intermission interviews, games, weeks, months, and years. He's probably up and down at the in and out, as far as that goes.
A lot of people think he should automatically have the Lindstrom experience injection the day after he signed his $7 mil per deal. But that didn't work out so well.
OTOH, Drew was personally responsible for the economic and strategic effect of the new CBA on NHL franchises and second term contracts. So, he's up and down on economic and contractual affect as well. He's bad.
Personally, I think the whole DD thing screwed up the American economy. Well, him and Obama. There you go, two guys not born in the USA. Screwing us over again. Wahhh.....
He hasn't played like a $7m year player all year. Yeah i said it. All year. That is the 3rd highest paid defenseman in the league.
He was never going to earn that paycheck this year. The Kings agreed to that deal because they expect him to play like a $9 million defenseman in a couple years
He's a youngster. He's going to have up and down shifts, periods, intermission interviews, games, weeks, months, and years. He's probably up and down at the in and out, as far as that goes.
A lot of people think he should automatically have the Lindstrom experience injection the day after he signed his $7 mil per deal. But that didn't work out so well.
OTOH, Drew was personally responsible for the economic and strategic effect of the new CBA on NHL franchises and second term contracts. So, he's up and down on economic and contractual affect as well. He's bad.
Personally, I think the whole DD thing screwed up the American economy. Well, him and Obama. There you go, two guys not born in the USA. Screwing us over again. Wahhh.....
He's a youngster. He's going to have up and down shifts, periods, intermission interviews, games, weeks, months, and years. He's probably up and down at the in and out, as far as that goes.
A lot of people think he should automatically have the Lindstrom experience injection the day after he signed his $7 mil per deal. But that didn't work out so well.
OTOH, Drew was personally responsible for the economic and strategic effect of the new CBA on NHL franchises and second term contracts. So, he's up and down on economic and contractual affect as well. He's bad.
Personally, I think the whole DD thing screwed up the American economy. Well, him and Obama. There you go, two guys not born in the USA. Screwing us over again. Wahhh.....
He is the one that held out for a contract. And sure we would all want as much money as possible if we were in his shoes. The flipside of that is when you sign a deal like that, management, fans and the media start to expect a certain caliber of play. I'd be a little less critical if he just signed a reasonable deal in the first place but when you are the highest paid player on the team, you deserve to be criticized when you aren't performing up to standards. I don't care how old he is. Nobody was making excuses for Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin and all the other players that have cashed in at that age.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDankness
He was never going to earn that paycheck this year. The Kings agreed to that deal because they expect him to play like a $9 million defenseman in a couple years
I hope he does but he needs to kick the attitude and realize 1) he hasn't won **** as an NHL player and 2) his team is on its way to missing the playoffs unless they really start to pull it together. We need the Kings best players to play like they are the best. That includes Kopitar and on down the line.
He's a youngster. He's going to have up and down shifts, periods, intermission interviews, games, weeks, months, and years. He's probably up and down at the in and out, as far as that goes.
A lot of people think he should automatically have the Lindstrom experience injection the day after he signed his $7 mil per deal. But that didn't work out so well.
OTOH, Drew was personally responsible for the economic and strategic effect of the new CBA on NHL franchises and second term contracts. So, he's up and down on economic and contractual affect as well. He's bad.
Personally, I think the whole DD thing screwed up the American economy. Well, him and Obama. There you go, two guys not born in the USA. Screwing us over again. Wahhh.....
At least Doughty admits he isn't an American and isn't afraid to show us his birth certificate.
Doughty is showing signs of life. That goal he scored the other night where he took the puck right to the blue paint is what we are looking for from him in those situations. Was Kopitar watching?
I was reading up on Drew Doughty and some articles came up from earlier in the season blaming Doughty's poor start on his poor conditioning, probably as a result of his protracted contract dispute.
Conditioning wasn't the issue; when he showed up he had lost weight. It was the shoulder injury early on that was the biggest factor, I think. When he first came back from that it was too soon. He wasn't poised, he was trying to do too much to live up to the deal, and wound up playing like a dork.
Jim Fox said he really got it together about ten games before Sutter arrived. I'd agree with that.
The peaks and valleys will smooth out the closer he gets to 25. I'm happy he signed the 8 year deal. Not so happy it didn't get done in time for camp. I'm still irritated about his conditioning but you can't expect a 22 year old to get in the same kind of physical condition as a 25 year old man, most of them (Clifford is an exception) are still growing. Still, his play is going to be choppy, irritating, and "up and down" for awhile. But his upside is pretty damned high and that's why the mistakes are so very irritating to fans.
I love Drew's D game and for the most part it's been very good. What is pissing me off is his lack of Offense, or generating any.
The Kings didn't sign him for 7m to 8 years to be just a good Defensive guy. The Kings want and expect 60 to 70 points out of this guy from the Blue-line.
Hell right now I would settle for a pace of 50 points. Drew is on his way to barely making 40 points this season(AGAIN BACK TO BACK), unless he really picks it up.
That is annoying me greatly. The Kings are 30th dead last in offense.
i think if Doughty didn't hold out, we would all be saying he's having a pretty decent year. The fact that he held out is putting a bitter taste in our mouth and we all have extraordinarily high expectations on him because he "demanded" it.
his salary aside, i think he's doing pretty well. there's no doubt he's our #1.
i think if Doughty didn't hold out, we would all be saying he's having a pretty decent year. The fact that he held out is putting a bitter taste in our mouth and we all have extraordinarily high expectations on him because he "demanded" it.
his salary aside, i think he's doing pretty well. there's no doubt he's our #1.
I have high expectations because of his salary, not because he held out. I have high expectations for Kopitar and have been disappointed by his play this season as well.
At least Doughty admits he isn't an American and isn't afraid to show us his birth certificate. :laugh
*sigh* Only in this country can someone publicly release their birth certificate LAST YEAR and still have people claiming they're "afraid" to show it *headdesk*
*sigh* Only in this country can someone publicly release their birth certificate LAST YEAR and still have people claiming they're "afraid" to show it *headdesk*
