Kings Gameday: Seize the Day

LA Kings (8-8-2) vs. Colorado Avalanche (8-10)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West


The Stars have imploded and just lost their best player. The Coyotes haven't sparked offensively and their youth hasn't quite lived up to the height so far. The Ducks look to be rounding into shape after a slow start but aren't quite the dominant team they've been in years past. The Sharks... well, the Sharks are amazing. But after them, there isn't a team that has really made its mark in the Pacific Division. Why not the Kings? They're sitting at .500 right now despite losing their best defenseman in the 2nd game of the season. Their top scorers from last year have underperformed, their goaltending in the first 10 games of the season was subpar, and they just now put together a legitimate top scoring line. And yet they're right there. The Kings have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs, assuming the Stars continue to fall apart and need to use the next month to build up points before they spend the 2nd half of the season on the road. Let's start today.

Prediction: Kings lose, 4-1. Goal by John Zeiler. Fuck these guys.

Sharks Gameday: The Perfect Storm? Maybe Not

Yesterday, I joked with Earl Sleek that tonight's Sharks/Stars game seemed like the perfect storm for the Sharks to get their first loss at home. After all, Evgeni Nabokov is out, Sergei Zubov is in, the Stars have been trying to figure out something to inspire them to a win (signing Mark Parrish, obviously, is the key), and it's a big Saturday-night tilt between conference rivals.

Seems like just the type of situation that used to drive Sharks fans nuts. The team probably had a 30/70 percentage split of meeting the challenge of an occasion last season versus appearing listless and confused.

Now? Maybe the NHL's scheduling staff is on the team's side. First Detroit comes to the Golden State to face Anaheim, then less than 24 hours later, skates out on HP Pavilion ice. Now the Stars have to do the same thing.

Instead of using my "Oh crap!" negative thinking that still lingers from the Ron Wilson era, I'm going to look on the brighter side of things (don't worry Sleek, I'm not stealing positivity). Boucher's played well so far, the Sharks have overcome all of the moments of adversity (big and little), and Dallas is hopefully tired after the game in Anaheim. Zubov is one of those freak-of-nature players that never seems to get rattled or fatigued, but I'm hoping that he won't be in tip-top shape by playing back-to-back against two tough division rivals.

From the Sharks' perspective, I'm not sure if Alexei Semenov is in, but here's an unnerving stat -- in all of the games that Semenov has played, the Sharks have given up 4+ goals in all but one of them. Coincidence? A total trickling down of Semenov's total suckitude? I don't know, but if there were three things I could wave a magic wand and control tonight, it'd be:

1) A better power play
2) More shots in the slot from Jonathan Cheechoo
3) Strong team defense and no minimal bad turnovers, which means sitting Semenov

Ducks Gameday—Positivity! (Is this the game?)

Edmonton Oilers (1-0-0) at Anaheim Ducks (3 opportunities for improvement!)
There's no choice except better results, right?

What I was originally going to write about.
Look, I know the Ducks have been horrible lately, but I've caught onto a pattern.

• For game one, I wrote about how scared I was about Jonathan Goddamn Cheechoo, and he killed us.



• For game two, I wrote nothing, and that didn't help.



• For game three, I wrote about a pattern of 1-goal deficits turning into 3-goal deficits, and the Ducks watched their deficit grow like clockwork.

My problem? I'm way too psychic. And I've been focusing entirely too much on the negative.

Tonight? In the spirit of "the first 3 games are irrelevant in the scheme of an 82-game schedule", I'm instead imagining some good results. Is this the game where the Ducks get goals from their actual goal-scorers*? Is this the game where the Ducks enter the penalty box at a slightly lesser rate**? Is this the game where the Ducks even vaguely resemble a salary-cap maximum team***? Is this the game where Ducks fans get to see what a power play goal-for looks like****? It totally could be!

* Thus far in the Ducks' season, the top two scoring lines have combined for one goal, the bottom two checking lines have combined for five, and the defense has contributed none.

** The Ducks have been shorthanded an average of 11:14 per game through the first three, and have allowed 6 PPGs to offset their 6 total GF.

*** The Ducks are t-27th in the league in terms of goals-for-per-game and 29th in the league in goals-against-per-game.

**** The Ducks are the only NHL team without a power play goal this season.

Feel free to leave your own semi-positive "Is this the game" hope in the comments. Bonus points for extra cynicism!

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Also, this is your 4-times-a-year reminder to read your Oilogosphere -- since internet blogging was invented, the Oilers have had the market cornered -- Battle of Alberta, Covered in Oil, mc79hockey, LoweTide, Black Dog Hates Skunks, Irreverent Oil Fans, Oiloblobosphere, Hot Oil, Copper and Blue -- and quite honestly, I am still leaving out some very good ones. Even if you read nothing but Oilers blogs, you'd get a full spectrum of what hockey fandom is all about. Don't tell that to Burke 'n' Lowe, though; I'd hate for my admiration to spill over to that tasty feud.

Prediction: I'm getting my expectations low enough now that this could end up the first game of the year that doesn't end with a proverbial gun in my mouth -- now that's positivity! Ducks 4, Oilers 2. Goals by four guys yet to put a puck in the net: Perry, Getzlaf, Pahlsson, and Kunitz.

Go Ducks? (!) .

Kings Gameday: Expectations

Los Angeles Kings (o-o-o, not last!) @ San Jose Sharks (1-0-0, booooooo)

7:o0 PST, FSN West & FSN Bay Area


The Kings are not going to make the playoffs. Theirr defense is too young and their goaltending is not quite good enough. Still, I feel better about this team than I did about the one last year and I felt better about that team than the one before that. That's progress, right?


Offensively, I think the Kings are going to score a pretty healthy amount of goals. Last year the Kings played 24 games against the Stars (6th best team defensively), the Ducks (3rd best), and the Sharks (2nd best). They still finished 12th in goals scored. The Kings are playing less games against the Pacific and more against the rest of the league so I imagine just that factor will allow them to score more goals. The Kings also improved their 2nd line center with the addition of Jarret Stoll and have better players at every bottom-6 position except for 3rd line center and 4th line right wing. I don't think it's out of line to expect the Kings to score 245 goals this season.


Defensively, the Kings are a disaster. Terry Murray may establish a better defensive system than the one (was there one?) under Marc Crawford, but the Kings are still going to let in a lot of goals. I'm going to look at the defense individually, like I did with the offense last year. I only care about 3 defensemen on the team: Jack Johnson, Matt Greene, and Drew Doughty. As long as those three improve from last year, I'll be happy.

In terms of goaltending, I just want to see one goaltender play more than 55 games. It's simple, but having a goaltender get more than 55 games means 1) he's doing adequate and 2) the Kings aren't going to use 7 goaltenders again. I just want a little consistency, is that too much to ask?


The Kings went 32-43-7 last season and finished with 71 points. According to Alan Ryder the Kings were the unluckiest team in the league last season and went half the year without 2 of their 2nd line players. I think the Kings will be better than they were last season, just like they were the year before. Hopefully there's a breakout year and the Kings miraculously make the playoffs, but things usually improve year by year. I guess that's what I have to hope for.

Prediction: Kings lose, 5-3. Goals by Brown (x2) and Richardson. Let's save that win for the home opener.

Hockey's On

We may disagree on who our favorite team is (Kings), who's better between Ovechkin and Crosby (Crosby), who the best looking CBC commentator is (obviously Kelly Hrudey), or whether Rob Blake is a weiner or not (well, apparently not, everyone knows he is), but I think we can all agree that hockey is awesome. And it's back.

Barnyard Miracles! Bobby Ryan turns from a Duck to a Pig

Poor Bobby Ryan. The kid picked one slot behind Sidney Crosby hasn't had much opportunity to shine on an NHL stage. He played in his first 25 NHL games last year, including 2 in the Dallas series, and after a strong camp this season, was demoted yesterday to the AHL Chops mainly for salary cap reasons.

This is a situation that it's a bit tough to write about, because there's several unknowns at work here: (a) Bobby Ryan's bonus clauses -- thanks to NHL secrecy, I have no idea what Ryan would need to do in order to earn his $1.1 M in bonuses, though I'd guess they pertain to NHL-level achievements. If Ryan started on the Ducks, though, the $1.1 M would count against the cap as potential achievements, and I can't say at what point these bonuses become unachievable. (b) Bobby Ryan's potential -- I've liked what I've seen out of the kid in limited exposure thus far, but Ryan's played most of his hockey completely off my radar. I assume the kid is good, because of draft position and all, but really it's all question marks until it happens on NHL ice. (c) the Anaheim Ducks' need -- This is a biggie -- the Ducks will have Getzlaf-Perry and Morrison-Selanne on their top two lines, and Chris Kunitz will definitely get one of the open wing spots. There's plenty of bodies for the bottom lines also -- Pahlsson-Moen-Niedermayer + Sutherby-Marchant-Carter + Parros-Ebbett-May. Assuming somebody can handle a cushy promotion, I'm not that worried about forward depth this year. There's no Doug Weights or Todd Bertuzzis that need to be hidden in the top lines, at least.

On July 1st, when Corey Perry signed his 5-year contract, I wrote a post looking at how various wingers did next to Getzlaf-and-Perry. It wasn't a fabulous study, but it did show a trend how a "banger" like Brian Sutherby, Brad May, or Jason King got better results than a "scorer" like Kunitz or Bertuzzi. Getzlaf and Perry have always thrived with a Fedoruk-type on their wing, and perhaps that will be the forward solution this year; last night Travis Moen got an audition on the top line (and congrats to Teemu on the hat trick -- fucking awesome). Anyways, forwards can be a discussion for another day, but I don't get the sense that the Ducks need Ryan desperately to become any NHL-level hero just yet.

And that's probably why I shrug at the news that Ryan has to wait his turn to make an NHL impact. I'm always a guy who's in favor of over-sheltering young talent, for maturity reasons and for salary-impact reasons. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry can be a quick example here. When they were brought up to the NHL, it was in a no-pressure situation: 4th line minutes with Fedoruk watching their back, and not a ton of scoring was needed out of them. Even when they got sent down to the AHL for a month or so that first year, that lowered the pressure even further -- they weren't in any Calder Trophy race, for reasons outside their control. Year Two was stepped up a notch -- they were in cushy 2nd-line spots but more scoring was expected (and delivered) that year. And now they're affordable NHL stars.

If Bobby Ryan is really a future cornerstone of this franchise, what's not important to me is the NHL impact he makes in the next two years; he probably needs to do enough to demonstrate he's on the right path, but it's important to remember -- the more NHL achievements he gets, the more expensive his next contract becomes. I don't want him winning any Calder Trophy (which is safe anyways, since he plays on the west coast), and I'd rather not see any 90-point years just yet. I know it's twisted in a way, but holding back Ryan is probably good for the kid and good for the franchise. And I am kind of encouraged by this Bobby Ryan quote about the downside of contract bonuses:

"You just want to warn guys that it could be something that comes back to bite you. I'd waive 'em in a heartbeat if I could – take it down to the league minimum or whatever it would be. When it's right there in front of your face and it's a couple hundred thousand dollars that's hurting you, it's tough."

If this kid can somehow get that team-friendly-contract notion in his head now, I'm feeling pretty optimistic. Now don't get me wrong -- I'm hoping Ryan kicks ass in the AHL and forces Burke to put him in the big leagues a la Be a Pro; I expect he'll be easier to promote later in the season when bonuses become unattainable anyway. If he plays well enough, Bobby Ryan can be this year's trade deadline day pickup, and hopefully enjoy a relatively pressure-free transition into this league, just like Getzlaf and Perry did before him.

Color me an optimist; Go Ducks.

It's Not the Fall That'll Kill You, It's the Landing

The Kings reportedly offered a contract to Sandis Ozolinsh and he turned them down. If that's not bottom I don't know what is. That's it, right? Is Marek Malik going to come to my house and kick me in the nuts while screaming, "Anze Kopitar is inferior to Jonathan Toews?" I'm not sure I can take any more indignities. You may have noticed that I haven't actually written a whole lot about the Kings since training camp started, but what can I say? They still haven't signed a veteran defenseman, they're still below the salary floor, and Patrick O'Sullivan is still out of camp. The Kings had to kill a 5-on-3 this weekend and used Drew Doughty and Thomas Hickey to kill it. The scary part? They were the best options available because Greene and Johnson had just been out there. The Kings' defense is Bill Paxton in Aliens bad and there's not a person out there that's going to fix it. Bret Hedican or Adrian Aucoin or Andreas Lilja isn't going to prevent this team from sucking.


I'm coming around to the idea that the Kings are going to be very, very bad this season. Could someone hit me with their car and put me in a coma for a year so I can avoid this season? I'm not kidding.


Update: Whatever.

The Case for Patrick O'Sullivan

-Patrick O'Sullivan scored 53 points last season. The first half of the season, O'Sullivan played with Michal Handzus and Kyle Calder on the third line. He didn't get any power play time and was limited to the penalty kill (where he performed admirably). It wasn't until Mike Cammalleri got hurt near the end of December that O'Sullivan started playing with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. In the 38 games O'Sullivan played in 2007, O'Sullivan scored 17 points; in the 42 games he played in 2008, O'Sullivan scored 34. That pace spread over 82 games comes about to 66 points. That's pretty good for a 23 year-old.

-O'Sullivan came up through Juniors and the AHL as a skilled, sniping forward who could potentially step into a top line role. The Kings instead started O'Sullivan on the 3rd line to help teach him both defensive play and a little humility. O'Sullivan responded beautifully, turning himself into a tenacious defender while still keeping his scoring touch. That's the kind of player you want to keep around no matter what.

-O'Sullivan was the 2nd most likely forward to be out on the ice when the Kings were a man down (behind Michal Handzus) and was the only bright point on an otherwise abysmal Kings' penalty kill. O'Sullivan had 3 short-handed goals last season without compromising his zone coverage.

-Do you ever wonder what Labarbera's insides look like?.
-What? No.
-...Me neither.

-O'Sullivan played the most special teams of any forward on the Kings. He was the Rob Blake of forwards, averaging over 2 minutes a game on both the power play and the penalty kill. On the power play O'Sullivan seemed a little uncomfortable integrating himself with everyone else on Kopitar's unit after Cammy got hurt, but that could be the result of little practice time. When Cammy came back O'Sullivan moved to play with Frolov and seemed much more comfortable since he was used in a shooting role.

-You're going to hear (from me) that O'Sullivan doesn't deserve much money because he's really only had one season in the NHL, but whose fault is that? O'Sullivan scored 19 points in 44 games as a 20 year-old; if the Kings had kept him up all season instead of sending him down so they could play Brian Willsie more, he would have had a 40-point season. O'Sullivan took his demotion like a man and killed in the AHL while he was there, then came up the next season and played excellently. O'Sullivan sacrificied personal gain to help the Kings get better; now the Kings need to pay him for that.

Overall, Patrick O'Sullivan is a very good two-way forward and is only 22. I think a good comparable for what Patrick O'Sullivan might become is Jason Pominville, a point-a-game player that plays on both special teams units. O'Sullivan was raised by an abusive, over-possessive father and has battled that to become one of the better young players you're going to see in this game. The only reason he hasn't show more is because the Kings haven't allowed him to do so; pay him what he'll be worth and let him show you that it was a good investment.

Non-hockey update: It's Saturday and this was boring so here's Norm MacDonald's roast of Bob Saget for you to enjoy. I love Norm.

What Now? Part 4

There seems to be a lot of confusion in Kingsville recently. Basically, no one knows what the hell is going on and no one has any idea what Dean Lombardi is thinking. Lombardi recently did an epic 7-part interview with the Press-Enterprise that can clear things up somewhat, but he's kind of all over the place and I know you people hate reading so I'll try to explain things a little bit.

It seems to me, from interviews and other shit I've culled over the past year, that Lombardi's original plan was this: scrap together a core centered around Cammalleri, Frolov and Visnovsky and go with that until Johnson and Kopitar are older. Preissing and Handzus would work in that core and then transition to a lesser role as other Kings' prospects came up. This obviously didn't work. Cammalleri got hurt and Visnovsky sucked and the Kings finished 2nd to last. Lombardi realized that the Kings wouldn't make the playoffs as currently constructed and decided to trade Cammalleri (who would probably leave the team next year) and Visnovsky (who would be too old when the younger players are in their prime) for players that will be with the team when the younger core is ready.

People are upset because they thought the Kings would make the playoffs this upcoming year; the bungling of free agency and the failure to sign Stuart or Orpik has made it clear that it's not going to happen. The Kings aren't good, but they aren't rebuilding anymore either. Their reserve list is full of promising young prospects and they have no tradeable assets (unless someone really wants Derek Armstrong). There isn't anything the Kings can do except wait, and I think that kills some people.

Next season, the Kings will learn a lot about who they are and who deserves to stay with the team. We'll discover if the 1st wave of prospects (Boyle, Moulson, Purcell and Piskula) have panned out and then determine which prospects will be available to acquire a good defenseman. Then the Kings will be ready to make the playoffs and start ascending the ladder. This year will be hard, but believe me, it'll be worth it. Worst case scenario, the Kings land either John Tavares or Victor Hedman. Not bad.

Lombardi has fucked up a couple of times in his tenure, but his overall vision has been excellent. He came to a team that had a potential superstar and he built a team that will have a great supporting cast when that superstar is in his prime. He's acquired 2/3rds of our core for the future (Bernier and Johnson), he traded for Patrick O'Sullivan, he signed Ted Purcell, and he's drafted excellently in the admittedly short time period we can evaluate. All the other stuff doesn't really matter because the core that will lead the Kings to the playoffs is intact. I mean, look at Dan Cloutier: if he had come to the team and played like Roberto Luongo, it wouldn't have mattered. They wouldn't have won the Cup. What Lombardi is doing is biding time until the young guys on the team have matured, and his way is the best way to win a Cup. There's still pitfalls to be traversed, like signings said young guys and hoping none of them develop a cocaine addiction and all that, but the idea is sound. The Kings will be very good in a couple of years and it'll be fun and I'll make fun of the Ducks and the Sharks all the time, I swear. Until then, though, we wait. Hey, we're Kings fans; waiting is what we do.

Welcome to the Todd McLellan Era

Tomorrow at 11:00 we will start the Todd McLellan era. He has cancelled his trip to Atlanta and the Detroit Free Press has reported that he has signed a 3 year contract. Can I be happy with someone who I have never seen? Well..yes. This was the guy I was rooting for the whole time. The only thing I know about him is his Detroit pedigree and he coaches the offense and power play for the Stanley Cup champs. That is enough for me. I didn't want a "retread" like Tortorella or Quenneville even though they are proven winners. I will have to do some more research on McLellan but looking at his resume, he is a proven winner...in the minors. I am curious to see what kind of style he is? Player's coach? Hard-ass? hopefully he is a combination of the two.

So, did I miss anything?

I haven't seen a lick of G1, and aside from what I'm bound to see in highlight reels, I don't really intend to watch it. I got the gist of it off my cell phone, and as it's a "write it off" game, I'll be much more effective with untainted eyes. Still, it had to have been hard for Ducks fans who did watch, or even attended the game. Sorry, folks. Lucky green shirt wasn't available, but it will be there for game two (which personally I'm calling "game one").

Still, Duck fans, chill out. It's like none of you have ever seen Mighty Ducks Part 2 before.

First off, there's no team more Icelandish in the NHL than the Dallas Stars and their collection of Finns + Norstrom; of this there can be no doubt. Meanwhile you have the Ducks, fresh off their triumphant championship at the end of the first film, who start the sequel way too overconfident and get sloppy. Iceland demolishes them in the preliminary game, crashing them back down to earth, and they have to dig deep to re-establish the identity that made them great. I don't want to spoil the end of the movie (or the series) for you, but if you've got any old-school Mighty Duck jerseys, you might want to bring them in case the team switches uniforms for the 3rd period.

Historically speaking, G2 will be the breaking point. The Ducks have never lost a series when they have taken at least one of the first two games; they have never won a series when they started 0-2. That's flimsy, of course, but what else is there to do but take a deep breath, say a little prayer to the lucky green shirt, and hope for an improved effort in G2.

Or as I'm calling it, "G1". Go Ducks.