Kings Gameday: More Like Dour Play, Right? Right?

LA Kings (10-11-4) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (11-11-3)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West


The Kings' power play feels shitty right now. The numbers don't really back me up (the Kings are about where they were last year, around 17th) but I don't know, I'm still not a fan. There's something vaguely unlikable about it; if the Kings' power play were an actor, they'd be Cole Hauser.* I think the problem I have with it is that it relies way too heavily on the Kings' forwards to move the action. When the Kings get the puck in the opposing zone, they end up passing it back and forth between the forwards while the defensemen just kind of stand there. There's no movement, there's no position-switching to confuse the defense. You kind of kill the man advantage when you allow the defense to stand still. What the Kings need is a small, nimble puck mover, one that can get involved in the play. Maybe pair him with a big, aging asshole with a booming shot. That would work.

*Dude just looks like an asshole, you know? By the way, I've always thought a cool movie would be Hauser and Josh Lucas conspiring to kill Matthew McConaughey so they can get his movie roles.

Another problem with the power play? The top defensive pairing (most of the time) is Doughty and Preissing, while the other is Jarret Stoll and Kyle Quincey. Doughty and Preissing are both Feeders, in that they are usually best at corralling the puck and setting up their other defenseman for a one-timer, while Stoll and Quincey are both Boomers and are best at shooting the puck. I would say the Kings should switch things up but I think the reason the lines are this way is probably because Terry Murray doesn't trust Stoll and Preissing defensively. That's probably a good decision. I don't see this changing until Jack Johnson gets back.


Finally, the Kings have absolutely no one that can deflect the puck on the way to the net. Seriously, it seems like other teams are constantly scoring on deflections and tip-ins while the Kings are busting their asses trying to score nice goals like a bunch of chumps. Dustin Brown and Kyle Calder are the men in front of the net on the Kings' power play, but they usually try to sneak open for shots or try to bang in rebounds. Make them stand in front of the net and deflect pucks like they do in peewee.

Unrelated, but how is this guy good at sports betting?

The Kings' power play hasn't been terrible this season, but it hasn't been great like it should be either. I think the power play will go the way of Anze Kopitar and Alex Frolov; if they're doing well then the Kings will be fine. If not, then they're boned. I still think the Kings should switch it up and give Frolov primary ice time on the power play instead of Kopitar, but that's just me. Either way, a good power play can help a team when they're slumping and it's exactly what the Kings need right now.

***

In case you haven't been paying attention, it's fashionable for Kings' fans to declare Erik Ersberg the 2nd Coming while accusing Jason Labarbera of taking 2nds at the pregame spread. The reality is that they were pretty close, Ersberg was just more consistent and had fewer terrible games, but last night kind of changed that. Labs has been playing excellently of late and will probably get the start tonight. He had 30 saves in 2 periods last night and was only really done in by the shootout, which is his Everest. If you're in want of a good time, go on a Kings' messageboard and read how it wasn't Ersberg's fault last night and how even though Labarbera didn't mess up too bad did you see him in the shootout oh he's fat. It's hilarious.

***

The Kings are playing the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight. They played valiantly in a losing effort to the San Jose Sharks last night. Will they be hungry for a win after being denied against the Sharks, or will they be deflated and tired after a game the night before? I'm sure the sportswriters will wait and see how they play and then tell us.

Prediction: Kings win, 4-3. Goals by Brown, Frolov (who is on a 4-game goal scoring streak), Stoll and Calder.

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I was talking to my brother yesterday and we were in agreement that if the Kings could somehow combine Erik Ersberg and Jason Labarbera, they'd have the perfect goaltender (basically, Roberto Luongo). We then decided that if they somehow grew a child in a lab from their genes, he'd grow up to be:


...the dude from Idle Hands and She's All That. (He was also Fulton from Mighty Ducks.) I have a gift for placing faces, what can I say.

My brother also has a similar gift (and a similarly small penis) and pointed out that Edmonton's new goaltender looks exactly like Evgeni Malkin:


Also, and this is completely unrelated, but what the hell is Twilight? I went and saw Role Models this weekend and they had a trailer for this emo vampire movie; I sat there with a confused expression on my face for about 30 seconds and then muttered, "What the fuck is this shit?" Teenagers are retarded.

Kings Gameday: Wait, the Kings Play Today?

Los Angeles Kings (3-4) vs. Detroit Red Wings (2009 Stanley Cup Champs)

7:30 PST, FSN West

-Jason Labarbera is playing fucking again today. I actually like it because I wanted him to get a chance to prove himself but give Eric Ersberg a chance, huh? Did Ersberg spit on Terry Murray's grave or something? (Because he looks like a corpse, you see.)

-Anze isn't looking that great to start the season. That's not bad. I've always found hockey to be cyclical: you feel great for a month, then you notice a little hitch that bothers you and it throws you off, then it seems like nothing is going right, and then all of a sudden you're fine again. The important part is that Kopitar is still being productive even though he's struggling. Both him and Frolov look like they're pressing a little bit, probably because they expected to be the leaders of this team, but they'll be fine.

-Detroit is a shithole.

Prediction: Kings win, 4-1, with dominant puck possession hockey while the Red Wings run around with shit in their pants. Now reverse the names on that.

What the O'Donnell Trade Means for Los Angeles

The Kings are cooking now! ...I hate myself.

The Kings needed a experienced, left-handed defenseman, and yet getting Sean O'Donnell never even crossed my mind. I think I have a mental block on all non-Jewish Ducks players. But luckily Dean Lombardi doesn't have the same handicap and managed to acquire O'Donnell for basically nothing. The gist is that the Kings have to give the Ducks a 3rd rounder only if the Kings decide to trade O'Donnell at the deadline. It's a pretty smart clause by Burke: it pretty much guarantees that O'Donnell won't come back and bite him in the ass (unless, you know, he's into that sort of thing). It was also a good move for Lombardi, as he gets a "good character guy"* and a solid defensive specialist basically for free.

*You always hear that someone's a good character guy, but we really have no idea. Yeah O'Donnell is probably a nice guy, but maybe he hits his kids. Nobody really knows. You never hear that a European is a good character guy, either.

O'Donnell's impact on the Ducks' defense has been overstated at this point. The aging blueliner averaged 17 minutes a game, good for 6th among Anaheim defensemen. O'Donnell skated mostly with Chris Pronger, but Pronger also skated an additional 3 minutes with other people. At even strength O'Donnell is probably a little bit of a liability, as he has a penchant for taking penalties and is losing a step. However, O'Donnell's a pretty big asset on the penalty kill; when they weren't in the box, O'Donnell and Pronger formed one of the best penalty kill tandems in the league. I expect O'Donnell and Jack Johnson to form the Kings' top penalty killing unit this season. Finally, Sean O'Donnell is someone who will defend his teammates. He had 4 fights last year, mostly when someone pissed him off, and isn't afraid to put someone on his ass if they're around the goaltender. Brent Severyn won't be able to take liberties with Dmitri Khristich when Sean O'Donnell's on the ice. Plus, he grows a mean beard.


The addition of O'Donnell does not really make the Kings' defense that much better, but he does provide an solid presence to counteract the youth of the team. If Drew Doughty makes the team I imagine Terry Murray will pair him with O'Donnell; a young defender needs a guy he can trust to cover for his inexperience and O'Donnell would be perfect for that. I swear I remember O'Donnell playing on the right side when he was with the Kings and that he switched to the left so he could play with Pronger, but I'm not sure. Any Wild fans remember where O'Donnell played? I see the defense shaking out this way:

Greene-Johnson
Preissing-Harrold
Doughty-O'Donnell
Gauthier

That's still terrible, but it's a little better than when I woke up yesterday morning. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to see how it shakes out. Overall, I'd give Lombardi an A for the individual move and a C when looking at the overall picture. Getting an NHL defenseman for nothing is obviously a good idea, but I think the Kings could have gotten someone much better if he had been willing to take on a little more salary.

***

The Kings and the Ducks played last night at Staples Center and the Ducks won in a shootout, 2-1. Terry Murray continued rewarding players for their effort in the shootout, as Matt Moulson, Ted Purcell and David Meckler were all given an opportunity and failed miserably. Chris Kunitz scored the lone goal for the Ducks in the shootout. On the plus side, Jason Labarbera played very well, stopping 30 of 31 shots. He'll be the Kings' #1 goaltender and will hopefully be more consistent this season. Wayne Simmonds got in 2 fights and got his first profile in the LA Times. Good for him.

Finally, Connie from Queen Among Kings has her Frozen Fury recap up and unveils Air Bailey. I knew the guy that used to wear a suit like that for Long Beach State; he had a person walk around with him because little kids used to try to push him down the stairs.

Kings Training Camp Primer

The Kings are in a state of flux right now. They have a great deal of young talent ready for the NHL right now but they still have a lot of the bridge guys Lombardi signed the last few years on NHL deals. What does this mean? It means the Kings are going to have a pretty interesting training camp. To help educate the ten of you that are actually reading this, I thought I'd go line-by-line and highlight the most interesting training camp battles. Look for news about these guys to see how the team is going to look on opening night. Here is a look at the roster and what spots we can reasonably assume are locked up:

O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Stoll-( )
( )-Handzus-( )
Ivanans-( )-( )

As you can see, there's a lot of room for movement on the roster. Let's get started, shall we?

2nd Line RW

Competitors: Ted Purcell, Brad Richardson, Brian Boyle

The Kings' top line is pretty much set: it's Kopitar, Brown and the other guy. The part of the other guy was assumed by Patrick O'Sullivan last year and we can reasonably assume he'll continue in that role once he, you know, signs.* Frolov will keep doing what he does and I imagine Stoll will be given opportunity in the 2nd center role after signing such a big deal in the off-season. That leaves the 2nd line right wing position as the sole top-six spot up for grabs. The three main competitors are all good young players that each bring something different.

*I'm confident he'll sign and it won't affect the Kings at all. What's that? I happen to like the feeling on my skin when I stick my head in the sand, thank you very much.

Ted Purcell is probably the most talented of the three and is an excellent playmaking option. His negatives are that he's not overly physical and the line already has two playmakers in Frolov and Stoll. Plus, him on the line would put three right-handers on one line; that's not necessarily a dealbreaker, but it is a little unusual in the NHL. Brad Richardson is probably the fastest and has the best shot of the three, but he's also the smallest and couldn't do a lot of the dirty work this line will need. Boyle could do that dirty work because he's a large man, but he's also kind of slow. Plus, I don't think the Kings want to derail his progress as a center. I'd probably give Purcell the best chance to win the job, although I wouldn't put it past Terry Murray to put O'Sullivan on that line and put someone like Matt Moulson or Kyle Calder up with Kopitar.

3rd Line LW

Competitors: Matt Moulson, Kyle Calder

This spot was Kyle Calder's for most of last season with generally subpar results. The man named "Grease" (allegedly because he gets dirty or some weird shit) finished the season with 7 goals and 13 assists despite getting ample power play time. Clearly, he's going to have to earn his spot back. His main challenger for the spot is Matt Moulson, the 24 year-old defensive guru that provided a spark for Calder and Handzus when he was paired with them last season. Since Moulson is better defensively than Calder and Calder sucks offensively, I imagine Moulson will win the spot alongside Handzus and...

3rd Line RW

Competitors: Brad Richardson, Ted Purcell, Matt Ellis, Wayne Simmonds

Michal Handzus was tasked with shutting down the other team's top scorer last season yet he wasn't given any help. Handzus and Calder are not very fleet of foot and needed someone who could keep up with the opposition. Having Moulson on one side of Handzus would help, and having the loser of the 2nd Line RW battle would help even more. Brad Richardson is probably the best option for this spot; not only would he help at even strength, he would also provide another quality body on the penalty kill. Ted Purcell could win the spot if he doesn't win the 2nd line RW job but still shows enough to justify NHL playing time, while Matt Ellis is an option if none of the young guys actually step up. An intriguing option is Wayne Simmonds, the young fireplug from Sault Ste. Marie. He's young and needs to put on weight but he's been excellent in development camp and I can honestly see him making the team. Should be something to watch.

4th line C

Competitors: Brian Boyle, Derek Armstrong, Brady Murray

This spot has been up for grabs for a couple years now as injuries have prevented Derek Armstrong from taking the job that belonged to him. The job looks to belong to Brian Boyle this season, who can take a few minutes up on the 2nd line and also play on the power play as well. If for some reason Boyle disappoints (or if he takes a wing position up in the lineup) then Derek Armstrong can step in to the job he was born for. Brady Murray is running out of time with the Kings and will probably sign with someone else if he doesn't make a name for himself in the NHL this season.

4th line RW

Competitors: Kyle Calder, Derek Armstrong/Brian Boyle, Matt Ellis, John Zeiler, anyone really

The final spot can best be solved by thinking about who can be used in a special teams capacity. Calder is useful on the power play, although his spot in front of the net will probably be usurped by Boyle. Matt Ellis can make the penalty kill better, but it might full with Michal Handzus, Patrick O'Sullivan, Brad Richardson and Jarret Stoll already on the team. Or the Kings could just give the spot to anyone who performs the best in camp. It's pretty up in the air.

Here's the way I see the forwards winding up on opening night:

O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Stoll-Purcell
Moulson-Handzus-Richardson
Ivanans-Boyle-Armstrong
Calder, Zeiler

I see Calder and Zeiler making the team because Calder can be useful in spots and no one cares if John Zeiler never plays. I said when we picked him up that I thought Matt Ellis was on the team to captain the team in Manchester and I'm still pretty sure about that.

Defense

2nd RD Position

Competitors: Denis Gauthier, Peter Harrold, Free Agent

The defense is surprisingly rigid, at least to my eyes. Jack Johnson will take the top spot on the right side. Tom Preissing is the best right-handed defenseman so he'll probably play with Johnson. Greene also plays on the left side so he's set. That leaves his partner to get top-4 minutes. Denis Gauthier is the safe option, while Harrold is the defenseman that can earn the spot. Neither is very palatable, though, and the hope is that the Kings can pick someone up to take that spot. If only there were someone in the area that could come over and help out. Maybe Lombardi could call Brian Burke, see if he could help him out.

3rd LD Position

Competitors: Drew Doughty, Colten Teubert

The dirty little secret in Kings' training camp is that Drew Doughty has to make the team. They're acting like he's not guaranteed a spot and he has to earn it but they're just pretending. The Kings need Doughty for two reasons: one, they need his cap number, and two, they don't have anyone that can play on that left side. All the other options the Kings have are left-handed so it pretty much leaves Doughty or fellow teenager Colten Teubert. My money's on Doughty.

3rd RD Position

Competitors: Denis Gauthier, Peter Harrold, Thomas Hickey, Joe Piskula, Drew Bagnall

The final spot on defense is probably Harrold's, I'm not going to lie. There's other options, like Gauthier, but it's probably best to just give Harrold the spot because he can play on the power play and the penalty kill. Hickey could use one more year to get a little bigger and Piskula and Bagnall are available in case of injury.

Here's the way I see the defense on opening night:

Preissing-Johnson
Greene-(Free Agent)
Doughty-Harrold
Gauthier

Goaltending

Labarbera
( )

Other Goaltending Spot

Competitors: Erik Ersberg, Jonathan Bernier, Jonathan Quick

Labarbera is pretty much guaranteed a spot since he's so great. (Oh, and he has a one-way deal.) That leaves Ersberg and Bernier to battle it out for the other spot. Bernier is going to have to greatly outperform Ersberg to win a spot. He's basically going to have to win the starting job, a tall task for a 21 year-old. I think Ersberg will win the job while Bernier gets a healthy number of games against AHL competition. Quick isn't really a competitor, I just figured his parents might scan this and see his name added and feel better. I'm a giver.

Whew, I'm tired. I'm making a sandwich. You want one? You can't have one, you're virtual. Or you're not, but you're reading this virtually. Something like that, I don't understand the internet. Goodbye.

I Hate Ryan Smyth

"I want you to get this fuck where he breathes! I want you to find this nancy-boy Eliot Ness, I want him DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burned to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES!"
-Al Capone, The Untouchables

I hate Ryan Smyth. He's Exhibit A for why the whole concept of "being tough" is completely fucked in the NHL. Everyone acts like he's some sort of noble beast for standing in front of the next and being ugly, but he wears a flak jacket. A fucking flak jacket. You know, a jacket that stops flak. The thing is meant to stop shards of metal from embedding into someone's flesh, I'm pretty sure it'll stop a cross-check or a puck. So no, he's not tough. He's a cheap-shotting little bitch and I fucking hate him. What kind of a man refuses to sign a contract for a team, forces a trade, and then has the fucking cojones to cry when he goes back. At least Chris Pronger didn't try to pretend like he was the victim, you nosed bastard. That's another thing: Smyth looks like... you know in Beetle Juice, where Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin have to get into the afterworld so they pull their faces out about three feet? Or Pyramid Head in Silent Hill. That's what Smyth looks like. Fuck him.

In case you didn't see it tonight, Jason Labarbera had to leave the game because he got speared by Smyth. Smyth came in and dug his stick into "Nolte," then fell on top of it until it broke after Blake barely touched him. (What the hell, Blake? Cross check him in the back of the head, what are you doing?) It was a bullshit play, and for it he deserves to die. I don't understand why a play like that would be a 5-minute major if it had been Blake on top of the puck but it gets nothing when it's a goalie. I'm biased because I'm both a Kings fan and a goalie, but the 7th cirle of Hell is reserved for guys who hit a goalie after he's covered the puck. Labarbera was completely exposed and unable to defend himself, and Smyth knew it. After that play, I didn't care at all about the rest of the game; I just wanted to see Ryan Smyth buried. I wanted Raitis Ivanans to pick him up by the feet and throw him clear out of the rink. I wanted him... well, I wanted him dead. I'm not one to call for a boarding, but I'm officially calling for a boarding. Congratulations, Ryan Smyth: in a league with Sean Avery, Corey Perry, and Derek Armstrong, you are now my least favorite player in the NHL. Die.

Battle of California, Kings-Sharks photos

Here are a few photos from the Kings 3-2 OT shootout win over the Sharks last night at HP Pavilion. There was a lot of negative comments made after the shootout loss, but the Sharks did come back late in recent games against Anaheim and LA, they just can't get it done in the shootout.

San Jose is 1-4 this season in shootouts, and 4-13 all time (worst in the NHL). Evgeni Nabokov has to get over the poke check strategy in a shootout, it rarely works, and head coach Ron Wilson needs to get creative with who he selects to take shots. If the big guns are not firing, ice Rob Davison, Sandis Ozolinsh and Curtis Brown. Try anything, because what they are trying now is not working.

There were reporters from ESPN, the Canadian Press, the Globe and Mail, and a few other national sources, and Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. was in the press box. After this type of loss, with this amount of media and the Board of Governors meeting today and tomorrow in Pebble Beach, expect the Sharks rumor mill to hit the fan.

A few more notes from the game are up here. War Rudy Kelly's blog posts without f-bombs.

The San Jose Sharks Have the Worst Fans in Hockey

Couldn't they just give San Jose the loss and save everyone some time?

Right? Remember when they were winning at home all the time and everyone was saying how great their fans were? I do. I couldn’t go 5 feet without listening to some San Joseer bragging about how great they were and how San Jose fans are more cultured and understood how to support their team better than the fans in Los Angeles and Anaheim. Now that they have fewest wins at home in the NHL (along with 3 losses to the Kings there this season), that means that their fans suck now, right? I mean, it’s not like you can take credit when your team wins and then blame them when they lose, right? That would be crazy and illogical.* Tough break, San Jose.

***

How badass is Jason Labarbera? Lost in the Kings’ woes the past two weeks has been the stellar play of… Labs? Labby? This guy needs a good nickname. I prefer “Nolte,” after his profile shot, but that’s just me. I mean, the guy’s sporting stats like 2.49 GAA and a .917 SV%, and it’s not because of the Kings’ defensive play or anything like that. The craziest thing is that he’s posting those stats and still has a sub-.500 record. If I told you at the beginning of the season that the Kings would get good goaltending and still lose, what would you have said? Well, you probably would have called me gay, because you’re a dick. Fuck you man, I don’t even know why I hang out with you sometimes.

Nice game Jas- oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought you were someone else.

***

What do you guys think of Michal Handzus? I think he’s kinda getting dicked over. Sure, he hasn’t played great so far (although I think he’s picked up his game of late), but I saw that the guys on Versus said he was the biggest free-agent bust of the year so far. The guy is coming off major knee surgery and hadn’t played in a year! There are two injuries I accept in hockey: injuries to your knee and your head. I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to walk confidently after wrecking your knee, let alone skate. I know he’s getting paid $4 million this year and that’s probably too much, but I’ll give him this year to get back into shape. If he’s leading team in penalty minutes this time next year then I’ll be first in line to flagellate the son of a bitch. (No, FLAGELLATE. Look it up and get your mind out of the gutter.)

***

I don’t really have any hard evidence to back this up or anything, but I’m convinced that Milan Michalek did vile things to Jack Johnson’s mother some time in the past. That’s the only way to explain Jack’s actions every time we play the Sharks. He tried to kill Michalek two weeks ago by jumping at his head, and last night he gave Michalek the mother of all face washings because Michalek… stood there? It’s nice to see Jack play with a little bit of an edge, but why is it only against Milan?

*My craaazy friend Megalodon thinks the Sharks aren’t playing well at home because they’re young and nervous to play in front of the home crowd. Sure why not.

Blimey.

Hey, nice save Labar... oh wait, dammit.

The Kings and the Ducks apparently didn’t like the parts they were playing in game 1 and decided to switch scripts in game 2. The Ducks just dominated down low and in the corners of game 2, pretty much doing whatever they wanted against the Jack Johnson-Jaroslav Modry line. They made a conscious decision to get after Lubomir Visnovsky every time he had the puck, and I think it rattled him a little bit. They also decided to get inside Anze Kopitar’s jersey, which made it very difficult for him to get anything going. Labarbera didn't play that bad but he was left out to dry 3 times. (The last goal was just him being a big slow idiot.)

The only thing that was good about the game was Cammalleri’s goal (which puts him on pace for 123 this season) and Scott Thornton beating up George Parros. Overall, the Ducks adjusted, while the Kings did not. That’s okay, it’s only 1 game. I hope they don’t play like that again, though, because they’re not good enough that they can afford to play less than their best and still win.

(My favorite moment? When the announcers finished up their pre-game spiel and sent it back to the studio, the play-by-play guy said, "Like they say in England, 'Tally Ho!' (Awkward pause.) Do they say that?")

So now the Kings (and me) have a little time off until they play Saturday night. They have to get rid of one more player (I’m thinking Zeiler) to trim the roster down to 23. They may send Willsie down since he didn't play either game in London, but I think it’d just be easier to send down Zeiler since he won’t have to clear waivers. Enjoy the time off folks; it’s going to be an emotionally draining season.

(Oh, and Earl thinks he's so great for being on the radio, but I once talked to Jimmy Fox. He said, "Get the hell away from me!" That Jimmy, always kidding.)

***

Also, this is apropos of nothing, but according to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the Dodgers are interested in hiring Dusty Baker. In case you don’t follow baseball, this is the equivalent of the Penguins hiring Mike Keenan. The Dodgers are filled with young talent and Dusty Baker is notorious for being terrible with rookies. See you later, Chad Billingsley; enjoy your torn labrum.

Season (P)Review: Jason Labarbera

Last Season: 39 W, 2.20 GAA, .933 GAA (AHL)

Word That Best Describes His Season: Frustrating.


I am hereby declaring a moratorium on all King’s goaltending talk until the season begins. Yes, everyone knows Cloutier sucked last year. Yes, everyone knows the Kings didn’t bring in a goaltender during the off-season. (Who the hell were they supposed to bring in anyway? The Sharks probably wouldn’t have sent Toskala to L.A. and Manny Fernandez isn’t any better than what we have now. Please, tell me.) Let’s just shut up about it until we know if it’s actually something to be concerned about.

That save was unproven.

The biggest problem I have with the articles (here’s the latest one) that claim that the Kings are doomed because of their goaltending is that they just completely dismiss Jason Labarbera. He’s not some unproven 21 year-old kid; he’s 27 and played well in his first NHL action two years ago before something happened with his personal life that caused him to miss about a month of the season. He’s won the Baz Bastien award (the AHL’s Vezina) twice and was completely dominant down there last year. He would have been starting for the Kings by November last year if they had been able to call him up. I would be shocked if Labarbera has a save percentage less than .905 at the end of the season. He’s the kind of guy that will start off playing well and then the same idiots who wrote that the Kings were doomed will write new articles talking about how he came out of nowhere.

UNPROVEN UNPROVEN UNPROVEN

I know that I probably get more annoyed than most because I read every single article that comes out about the Kings, but seriously people, it takes 15 seconds to type “Jason Labarbera” into Google and find his stats on Hockeydb.com or something. If Labarbera can play like he did two years ago (when he had a 2.89 GAA and a .900 Sv. %), then I think we’ll be okay. Not great, but okay. Until the situation changes, why don’t we all just take a deep breath.

***

Also, Eklund thinks the Kings have a shot at signing Selanne. I don't even know what to say to that.