Hot Stove Discussion: A Few Questions on the Los Angeles Kings
by David M. Getz on Aug 21, 2009 3:00 PM EDT
61 comments
As you may have noticed, we hockey bloggers at SBN have been paired up for some cross-conference Q&A in an effort to help fans get a little more knowledgeable about some of the teams they might not be devoting as much attention towards - and get SBN users to realize just how many great blogs there are on our network.
Japers' Rink drew the Los Angeles Kings, a team whose rebuild is almost complete, and hence should be interesting to follow in 2009-10. RudyKelly at Battle of California has already been so kind as to post our answers to his questions and we're going to return the favor (our questions, his answers) after the jump.
Realistic? Sure. If Anze Kopitar plays better and scores about 80 points, if Drew Doughty continues to be the greatest man in history, if the goaltending holds up, if the Kings continue to play good defense, if Ryan Smyth brings some sort of leadership to the team, if Justin Williams recovers from his injuries to play up to his early potential, the Kings can make the playoffs. All of those are realisitc. All of them happening in one season? Maybe not so realistic. The Kings should be in that 7-10 region this season.
Yeah, the Kings struggle to gain any sort of market share because they share money with all the sports teams in the area and also with Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm, the Getty, and a thousand other awesome things to do in LA and Orange County. The Kings have been around long enough that most people know they're there, but people in LA don't pay attention to losers. When the Kings make the playoffs Staples is jumping, and they'll make some noise with the media when they get there soon.
We are lucky that we have probably the best local beat site in the country (Rich Hammond at the Los Angeles Daily News) and Kings fans tend to some of the more dedicated fans around. There are also some good blogs if you're interested, like A Queen Among Kings and The Royal Half among others. Overall, I'm fairly happy with our coverage because frankly I don't need the competition.
(3) How do Kings fans feel about the team's goaltending going in to next season? Is it realistic to expect Jonathan Quick to do as well or perhaps even improve? How close to being ready is Jonathan Bernier?
It's not so much that the Kings are confident in Jonathan Quick as they are confident that one of Quick/Bernier/Erik Ersberg will play well. Quick is the incumbent and played very well in his first taste at NHL action (2.48 GAA, .914 SV% in 44 games), while Ersberg is a fairly reliable back-up as long as he plays about 20 games or so.
Jonathan Bernier is the big question mark this season. He made the Kings out of camp 2 years ago as a 19 year-old but was sent back to Junior to save him from the Kings' porous defense. He has a bit of a track record of pouting when things don't work out for him; his play suffered after he lost out to Steve Mason at the World Juniors a couple years ago and he pouted last year after Bernier didn't make the Kings out of camp. The Kings are fairly lucky because Quick is probably good enough right now while Bernier should hopefully be great in the future. We'll see.
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I’ve always liked the Kings. I hope they make a push for the playoffs this year.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
I look forward to seeing more of Dustin Brown (especially with Team USA)….I get the feeling if he played in the East he’d be talked about a lot more. Probably Kopitar too.
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
Yeah, two studs (even if D-Brown’s hit totals are grossly inflated and Kopitar has racoon eyes).
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
- screams and tears out her eyeballs *
That’s … painful, dude.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
Say what you will. You have to be confident in the team you are fielding to put them in that sweater. I mean how else are you going to sell merchandise?
Lucky was my first favorite non-Cap.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
You know he signed with the Lowell Devils for this year, right?
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
Dammit, made me look.
http://wewintrophies.com/ - 12 major trophies in national and international competitions. Be a part of the next one.
by Bald Pollack on Aug 21, 2009 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Here’s an unrelated question. Can you delete comments? I posted one I thought I saw but don’t see any more. Wasn’t sure if I imagined it or if I have stepped on some sort of toes or something.
Yes, I can. And did (it wasn’t heading anywhere good, imo).
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
I know it was – I’m just not sure it would’ve been taken as such, so I cut it off.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
Gold and purple
Those are outstanding. So much better than grey on black.
Contributor to The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
The gray on black is just for their third jerseys. Their main home sweaters are a MUCH more cheerful dark purple on black.
"My face is my mask."
That’s horrific. Didn’t they have a jersey that was all-purple at one point? I kind of liked that one.
Not all purple, but from 1999 through 2007, they had a purple alternate that used black as a secondary color. They actually flipflopped logos on it at one point (replacing the original crown with the shield logo). With either logo, it was a nice jersey, and I’d wish they bring it back as their normal color one.
Will there be an equivalent interview with the Rink at another SBN hockey blog? I don’t see one at Battle of California.
"My face is my mask."
Haha!
Japer’s Rink is one of the big boys in the blogging world and have been doing some great stuff this off-season…Basically, they run a great blog and it’s embarrassing they had to talk to me.
Rudy’s hilarious. Worth checking out his Kings stuff anytime something big happens.
Blogging on hockey at fromtherink.com
by James Mirtle on Aug 21, 2009 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions
C’mon, dude. The link is right in that second paragraph.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
Oops, I skipped right to the questions and didn’t read DMG’s preface. Reading fail.
"My face is my mask."
Not uncommon – many people will skip not only the preface but the comments before posting.
I'm so sick and tired of the refs explaining the calls like this is the NFL.
many people will skip not only the preface but the comments before posting.
There are other sites and blogs that have strict rules about that sort of thing. I hope we don’t need them.
by CapitalCentre on Aug 21, 2009 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions
And the previous comments, and the rest of any comment they’re quoting.
Atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Aug 21, 2009 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Whom do I thank for the subtle DCU nod?
http://wewintrophies.com/ - 12 major trophies in national and international competitions. Be a part of the next one.
A shout-out in the rink, and vanquishing an overrated Brit player follows!
http://wewintrophies.com/ - 12 major trophies in national and international competitions. Be a part of the next one.
by Bald Pollack on Aug 21, 2009 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Isn’t he suspended for a red card last week? Or was that two weeks ago?
by David M. Getz on Aug 21, 2009 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions
He got the red, but sat out Wednesday. Him, Landycakes and his mild swine flu should be in the lineup tomorrow.
http://wewintrophies.com/ - 12 major trophies in national and international competitions. Be a part of the next one.
by Bald Pollack on Aug 21, 2009 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions
gotsparkly, I see you’ve been infiltrating Battle of California’s comments section.
"My face is my mask."
Seriously, though – I read several other teams’ blogs – I like both the outside perspective on the Caps and learning about other teams. I admit to a special fondness for the Bruins (I have a total hockey crush on David Krejci and I find them almost as fun to watch as the Caps) and some love for Vancouver, though Nucks Misconduct isn’t something that draws my attention a lot. I don’t always comment but I do read from time to time.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
I can’t get behind other EC teams. I’ll check out some EC blogs for the hockey talk (specifically Pensburgh, but not much this summer for some reason) but I don’t check them out like I check out the blogs of teams I like. I used to like TOR but they were in the West back then and Doug Gilmour was my favorite player. Darcy Tucker and the Tie Domi elbow to Scott Niedermayer ruined whatever connection I had for TOR that survived Gilmour. I still go to PPP for the hockey talk but I’m not really a Leafs fan anymore. I like going to Fear the Fin and BoC because I really like the CA teams. I visited a friend in LA once and we went to a Kings game. I tried to smuggle in a bunch of canned beers but they caught me at the metal detector. The security was nice enough to let me go back outside the gate and slam a few beers before coming in, instead of confiscating the beers. I had a nice little crowd of people laughing at me.
by Fehr and Balanced on Aug 22, 2009 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions
So where was I? Oh yeah, so I was wearing an onion on my belt because that was the style at the time…
by Killer_Carlson on Aug 22, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yeah… well, I may not have a fancy black bathrobe and a hammer like
Snooty, but I do have slippers and an oatmeal spoon. Look!
Ron and Fez Noon to Three
by YvonLabresMoustache on Aug 22, 2009 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
As a Caps fan in L.A., Thanx
But I still don’t see the Kings contending as long as Anshutz and is an owner. Sure, they get a lot of talent as a result of years of high draft picks, but they never seem to spend the money to either retain them or augment through free agency. They are a perennially young, somewhat exciting team that is always a few players away from contending. Same goes for this year. Maybe they sneak in this year if everything breaks right.
Your favorite meme is dead
I don’t know – they’ve locked up Brown and Kopitar and added ten million in salary between Smyth and Scuderi.
by David M. Getz on Aug 21, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t think Quick will be the answer to their goaltending woes, though. Who knows? They go through goalies quicker than the Redskins go through quarterbacks.
I'm so sick and tired of the refs explaining the calls like this is the NFL.
Didn’t they also give that Japanese guy a start?
by red army line on Aug 22, 2009 9:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Hey, one of my best friends from college (who is Japanese) went out and bought a Yutaka Fukufuji jersey based on that one start.
I’m all for more internationals in hockey. That’s one of my absolute favorite parts of the game, the fact that it can be embraced by so many cultures. That’s how I learned so much about so many countries, was growing up watching a game where so many countries were represented. (It’s one of my favorite parts about soccer too).
I'm so sick and tired of the refs explaining the calls like this is the NFL.
I feel like I’m the only person who likes the silver-black deal. I thought the Kings looked much better in that era than they ever did wearing Lakers colors.
Winterion Game Studios
Visit us online at : http://winterion.com
I do actually think their current third jersey is sort of cool. Very minimalist. And it makes for some badass goalie mask possibilities. Their masks certainly spank Theo’s and Varly’s.
"My face is my mask."
I’ve never been much into the Kings. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about them (after Gretzky) is that famous blooper that was played on a thousand different video tapes is that time when someone threw a live chicken on the ice during a game.
Ron and Fez Noon to Three
by YvonLabresMoustache on Aug 22, 2009 7:59 AM EDT reply actions
Here’s my question for LA bloggers:
Do you think Sean O’Donnell is one of the most underrated players in hockey? Do you think he is fully recognized in LA?
Atta dinnin stick a who!
Great question
I think O’Donnell is pretty underrated throughout the NHL due to his age, but Kings fans definitely appreciated him last season. He has been the rock for Drew Doughty, a young kid in need of developing and mentoring. He’ll start this season being paired with Doughty again as the top defensive pair.
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington
|
82 | 54 | 15 | 13 | 121 |
|
Atlanta
|
82 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 83 |
|
Carolina
|
82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 80 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 80 |
|
Florida
|
82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 77 |
(updated 4.12.2010 at 9:21 AM EDT)
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