Archive for March, 2010

Is Bernier the 2nd Coming? Has Jonathan Quick lost his starting spot to the upstart Jonathan Bernier? What happens to Ersberg? Who starts the next Kings game? Will I continue my streak of picking the wrong winner in every game? In order: maybe, not a chance, nothing, probably Quick, hopefully not. C’mon folks, those are the kind of silly over-reacting questions we’re seeing throughout the blogosphere. I’m going to have to hear a compelling argument to see why two solid performances would unseat Quick, who has set a franchise record for single-season wins. That said, you’d better believe that Quick [...]

As the Kings head into the final seven games of the season, it looks like I was… not correct in my predictions. In fact, so far I’m 0-2 in my predictions. Maybe it has something to do with being March. My March Madness bracket was somewhat disappointing as well (though I guess I’m not entirely alone on that one – Go ‘Cuse?). So what’s going on? I’m here to answer that question. First, I officially ban the phrase “young team” from this post, and although it may have some credibility, it’s ultimately not sufficient to explain what is going on. [...]

(Photo by Los Angeles Times) OK, so Terry Murray likes to play with his lines. Let’s be honest, most of the coaches in the NHL seem to enjoy tinkering with lines. Frankly, I’ve heard the same complaints (let them gel, they need to develop chemistry, etc) levied toward Andy Murray, Marc Crawford, and countless others over the past few years. It seems that the fans want the lines to stick together, and the coaches… well… don’t seem to care all that much about it. I’m going to have to go out on a limb and say that I think the [...]

It’s no secret that the Los Angeles Kings have struggled to find a stable presence in net since at least the mid-90′s with Hrudey (though some would argue convincingly that it’s been since Vachon tended goal in Los Angeles. That plague appears to be on its way out, with Jonathan Quick building on a surprisingly excellent rookie season last year with a workhorse of an effort this season. You know what? To call him a workhorse is probably not doing justice. He’s appeared in 66 games this season, more goalie appearances than anyone save Martin Brodeur. Not only that, but [...]

Are the Kings in the playoffs? Not yet. But with any luck this could be their first appearance in nearly half a decade! Just as an interesting exercise, let’s take a look at the road they’ve got ahead of them, as well as some simple predictions for how they’ll do. Obviously my predictions are nearly infallible, though I’d be curious if anyone has a different view. Here’s the underlying premise. With the Kings “magic number” down to 10 points (the amount they need to assure themselves a playoff berth) they’ll need five wins in the next ten games to guarantee [...]

What is going on with Frolov lately? After struggling a bit through the first half of the season, so much so that he fell off the radar for the Russian Olympic team and missed the trip to Vancouver. Turns out that might have been a strategic error on the part of the Russian brain-trust, but we’re getting off track. In the four games since the Kings have been back from break, Frolov has been on a wicked tear. In fact, he’s been incredibly impressive even when he’s not scoring goals. How good has he been doing? 3 goals and 5 [...]

After a break for the Olympics, we’re back and better than ever. The Los Angeles Kings are back on track and ready to roll to the playoffs for the first time in YEARS! Before we get to a discussion of where they’re at, let’s take a look at where they’ve been. The Canadian and United States Olympic teams put down perhaps the single greatest hockey game ever played. It’s certainly one of the best games that I’ve ever seen myself, and I’m not sure I can imagine a circumstance in which it was topped (maybe if the USA won…). But [...]