Herby I'm not one of your haters or opponents but it would really take a Western Conference finals appearance to change your mind?
I mean, if the Kings played well in the playoffs and lost a great series in the second round wouldn't all signs point to a steady growth and evolution of this team?
I've heard the phrase many times: you have to lose to learn how to win. You don't feel like this team is coming together?
I don't know, considering what we were told before the year I don't think a 2nd round loss would have been acceptable. That being said, with what they have been through that could be considered an accomplishment at this point.
I threw the "passed the 2nd round" line out there at rh because that is as far as DL has ever been in his career (one time). If he makes it further with this team I will happily eat crow.
as we get older,more experienced, we aren't going to give up goals like that second one, against a nashville team that aggression worked because they aren't quite as talented in offense, but tonight when we should have dumped the puck we were still in attack mode ,very fun to watch but very freaking scary too.......finally got the team we were waiting for go kings go
as we get older,more experienced, we aren't going to give up goals like that second one, against a nashville team that aggression worked because they aren't quite as talented in offense, but tonight when we should have dumped the puck we were still in attack mode ,very fun to watch but very freaking scary too.......finally got the team we were waiting for go kings go
I agree, and I mentioned this in the GDT. You need to know the situation better, you need to know your role (sorry Rock) and the 4th line didn't do that on that play. I'm sure DS let them know, and he showed faith in putting them back out there.
Now what bothers me is the shift after Penner made it 4-2, the Kings came into the zone 3 on 2 and it was either Williams or Brown who tried a drop pass, it was stolen and the Sharks went back the other way with numbers. A veteran player cannot make that play.
He needed more time. It was easy to see. I mean I am surprised that people thought he was garbage and would never be anything else. Same with A Mart a year before that and Moulson before that and on and on.
Exactly. Even last year I was very very happy with what King brought to the table. They tried to make him a 1st line forward immediately, of course he had no chemistry and did not fit them at the time, but the potential was clearly there. Again, both Martinez and Moulson were favourites of mine, these guys needed/deserved chances to prove themselves and they have been great at the NHL level. The Kings have developed a great system but continually have failed to take advantage of it, glad that King and Nolan maybe are staring to change that.
I'll admit I've been wrong in the past (big O'Sullivan fan and a couple other prospects (Fast for one example)), but I have always been behind King, Moulson(in particular), Martinez, those couple games don't always show the true potential of a player. I could not believe how quickly people turned on King, he is going to be a solid NHLer.
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2012 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS LA KINGS!!! GO JETS GO!
I agree, and I mentioned this in the GDT. You need to know the situation better, you need to know your role (sorry Rock) and the 4th line didn't do that on that play. I'm sure DS let them know, and he showed faith in putting them back out there.
Now what bothers me is the shift after Penner made it 4-2, the Kings came into the zone 3 on 2 and it was either Williams or Brown who tried a drop pass, it was stolen and the Sharks went back the other way with numbers. A veteran player cannot make that play.
It was Williams and it was a really bad play. If that would've been a goal, I really think the wheels would've fallen off for the game. We had the brief let down/scare that led to the 3-2 goal, but responded...not sure we would've/could've done it again.
It was Williams and it was a really bad play. If that would've been a goal, I really think the wheels would've fallen off for the game. We had the brief let down/scare that led to the 3-2 goal, but responded...not sure we would've/could've done it again.
I figured it was Williams.
I like Williams for the most part, once the game gets deep into the offensive zone. But he seems to make bad decisions near both blue lines and in the neutral zone.
Good game guys, Niemi really let me down tonight.. (although he has let me down previous times before)
Enjoy it!
I'm sure others have said this (I haven't read the thread yet, but yours was the first post after the OP), but I wouldn't be too disappointed in him. I'd look to your defense. They let the Kings get several outnumbered attacks, had several turnovers in their zone and neutral zone and allowed 42 shots. In fact, for most of the game (minus the few breakdowns in the 3rd), I thought Neimi was the only thing keeping the Sharks in the game.
I'm sure others have said this (I haven't read the thread yet, but yours was the first post after the OP), but I wouldn't be too disappointed in him. I'd look to your defense. They let the Kings get several outnumbered attacks, had several turnovers in their zone and neutral zone and allowed 42 shots. In fact, for most of the game (minus the few breakdowns in the 3rd), I thought Neimi was the only thing keeping the Sharks in the game.
I thought Niemi could've done more on literally every Kings goal. Every shot hit him. On Martinez's he wasn't square to the shot, Penner's was just awful, Kopi's was tough and would've required a great save admittedly, Richards' hit him and it looked, to me, like he made himself small. He also had several bobbles/awkward moments.
In short, Niemi and the rest of the Sharks were just not good enough tonight.
I have no idea what Williams was arguing about on that call. No one covered the puck, not Niemi and certainly not Doug Murray.
Brown was arguing off to the side of the net about the ref blowing it dead when it was still loose, he had a legit gripe.
His hand closed on the puck before he pushed it/or it squirted free again. Niemi never touched it, but it disappears under Murray's glove for a few seconds.
His hand closed on the puck before he pushed it/or it squirted free again. Niemi never touched it, but it disappears under Murray's glove for a few seconds.
I think it just slid under his body. It looked like he WANTED to cover it but couldn't find the puck before it got away.
I like Williams for the most part, once the game gets deep into the offensive zone. But he seems to make bad decisions near both blue lines and in the neutral zone.
That is a play a 10+ year veteran can't make.
You should know by now that this is pretty much what you get with Williams. An often spastic, hustling creative winger with a tendency to bobble the puck at the blue line. The positive side of his game is that the risks he takes often pay off, and he scores some pretty slick goals.
High risk, high reward. We have enough grinders and muckers on this team... Williams will never be a Selke forward, he just needs to keep playing his game. Admittedly you don't want to see him make that play in a 3-2 game, but overall I can't really fault Williams for what he is.
What a game. From top to bottom we played great. We let our foot off the gas a little in the 3rd which had me nervous, but it's crazy, with the way we're playing, I knew we could put up another goal. Amazing what a few games of scoring will do to ones mind. Imagine what it does to the players when it makes us, on our couches, more confident.
Voynov was shaky in the first but I give him full props for picking it back up in the 2nd and 3rd periods.
Richards showed that he shows up in huge games and Kopitar is a beast. I thought Lewis quietly had a great game. We stayed out of the box (we only had like, 2 penalties, right?) and dominated plays. An absolute joy to watch. Well done, Kings!
You should know by now that this is pretty much what you get with Williams. An often spastic, hustling creative winger with a tendency to bobble the puck at the blue line. The positive side of his game is that the risks he takes often pay off, and he scores some pretty slick goals.
High risk, high reward. We have enough grinders and muckers on this team... Williams will never be a Selke forward, he just needs to keep playing his game. Admittedly you don't want to see him make that play in a 3-2 game, but overall I can't really fault Williams for what he is.
I don't know, considering what we were told before the year I don't think a 2nd round loss would have been acceptable. That being said, with what they have been through that could be considered an accomplishment at this point.
I threw the "passed the 2nd round" line out there at rh because that is as far as DL has ever been in his career (one time). If he makes it further with this team I will happily eat crow.
Fair enough man but to me its not really about eating crow. I know we all want to see these guys succeed.
I was starting to think you might be right about this team as the season went on but lately I've seen a noticeable difference in the teams ability to funnel pucks toward the net with traffic and continuing to push forward late in games. I must say I'm really starting to believe again. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself but the Carter trade, so far, is giving me a similar feeling to the Felix Potvin run.
You're only as good as your last game and tonight the Kings are a pretty solid hockey club.
I like Williams for the most part, once the game gets deep into the offensive zone. But he seems to make bad decisions near both blue lines and in the neutral zone.
That is a play a 10+ year veteran can't make.
That's the problem with Williams, he can be a great contributor--and he was tonight, overall--but there are times when his decision-making is as good as a teenage drug addict.
Edit: In fairness to Williams, no player is 100% all the time, and while he can be frustrating there's no doubt that he's an integral part of the offense. He can be maddening at times, but I'd say that he more than makes up for his defensive lapses.
briefly had thought the odds were against the Kings when they had lost 3 in a row, in 11th place,
but otherwise, never gave up hope,
and thought that the Kings had actually improved just before Sutter took over in getting more shots on goal than before,
and that after he took over, the players definitely were moving their feet more, especially in the forecheck and sending two guys instead of just one, were more aggressive and showed more effort, took even more shots and that were kinda snake-bitten in some of the games,
and that maybe, just maybe, they would get hot late in the season, just at the right time,
and now they are firing on all cylinders, on O as well as on D,
doing just about everything right.
Penner was skating so slowly and looking so bad just a couple of weeks ago, and now he looks like a totally different player the past couple of games,
Lewis has kicked it up a notch and may justify his 1st round draft,
Richards and Carter look good together and King fits in well,
Stoll is playing more physical but he needs to reduce his penalties,
Martinez seems to be back on his game and Mitchell continues to be the best defender on the team on the blue line,
Kopi is one of the best two way forwards in the league...
