Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Kings Gameday: Don't Feel Bad if the Kings Beat Your Team

Los Angeles Kings (yuck) @ Calgary Flames (23-17-8, 7th in West)

6:00 PST, 1150 AM


One annoying thing about being the worst team in the league: you never beat someone. Every time the Kings win, fans of the other team will decry their team’s lack of effort, or complain that the team was caught looking ahead, or some other gibberish. Just think about it: the Kings have already cost one GM his job, the Maple Leafs started looking for a change after losing to the Kings, and this article was written after the Oilers got their asses handed to them. It gets kind of frustrating.


Look, I get why it happens. People look at the standings, see the Kings are in last place, and just assume their team will win; when they don’t, it must be because they didn’t try hard enough. But the Kings aren’t your typical last place team, at least in my opinion. Sure, we’ve lost 7-0 to Nashville, but the Kings have also blown out a few teams. They’re inconsistent, but if everything is clicking the Kings can be a pretty devastating team. Some times you’re going to lose to them, but other times you’ll roll over them easily. That’s just how it goes. Against Edmonton, Dustin Brown and Lubomir Visnovsky both scored and Anze Kopitar had 2 assists. It wasn’t a fluke that the Kings beat Edmonton; the fluke is that they haven't done that more often.

***

Something kind of cool: I was listening to the game on the radio and Nick Nickson said, “Now Handzus’ line is heading out on the ice.” I knew exactly who he was talking about. That hasn’t happened very often this season.

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Where does Cammalleri play when he gets back?

1) Cammalleri resumes playing with Kopitar and Brown, while O’Sullivan plays with Handzus and Calder. Purcell is sent back down.

2) O’Sullivan centers a line with Frolov and Nagy while Cammalleri plays with Kopitar.

3) Cammalleri centers a line with Frolov and Nagy.

I’m not sure what the best solution is to this little quandary. I’d like to see Cammy with Frolov and Nagy, but I’m not quite sure if Cammy can still play center. I think having your best players play together is a good idea (Armstrong can center the 4th line, where he’s actually above average), but we’ll have to see what Crawford thinks. It should be interesting.


***


Because why not:




Prediction: Kings lose, 3-2. Goals by Kopitar and Frolov.

8 comments:

Marie said...

I think #2: Cammy on the 1st line with Kopi and Brown. O'Sullivan moves back to the 2nd line with Fro and Nagy and Armstrong moves to the 3rd or 4th meaning Guiliano or Purcell gets sent down...or Thornton can sit out another 321,432 games.

Anonymous said...

No way does Cammy go back with Brown and Kopitar. We finally have a number one line clicking and O'Sully has been playing like shamrocks are shooting out of his ass. I think he goes with Fro and Nagy, or possibly Handzus goes up and plays with those two. leaving Cammy with Purcell and Calder. I don't like that though because Handzus and Calder have some forchecking chemistry, they should stay together. Anyways, Wilsie's horrible ass will be back to ruin Christmas soon enough.

Doogie2K said...

Speaking as an Oilers fan, I really don't think it's a monumental upset when the worst team in the conference beats the second-worst team in the conference.

And on that note, Go Kings.

Connie said...

I like #3. Sully has earned his stripes.

kms - I don't think Giuliano can be sent back now. I think he'd have to pass through waivers since he's been here so long.

Rudy - The more teams put out their back up goalie against us, the more I get annoyed. But then, if we end up beating them and that goalie gets pulled, I'm happy. Such a love-hate relationship.

Anonymous said...

I vote #3. And where's the f-bomb in this post? I always look forward to profanity in your posts. Must be all the winning.

Earl Sleek said...

the fluke is that they haven't done that more often.

Yeah, I'm surprised myself the Kings don't win more.

Still, count on the L.A. Times for pointing out the bright side: "They no longer have the fewest victories in the league." Sure, they're 30th in the standings, but not last in every category!

And where's the f-bomb in this post?

Rick "the fuck" Nash is awesome.

Kent W. said...

From what I've seen of the Kings, Im pretty surprised they're the worst in the league as well. I think once you guys gets rid of Crawford and the younger pieces mature a bit, the Kings are going to surprise the hell out of some people. Heck, the Flames only won the last game thanks to a herculean effort by one of the best wingers in the league.

as for always hearing how your team won thanks only to the oppositions "bad play", trust me, I've been there. For almost a whole decade. The Flames were so bad at one point I remember snot-nosed Much Music (MTV) "VJs" habitually taking shots at them. Those were unpleasant times, let me tell you. And there were no "Kopitars" on our horizon to give us hope either (Just Val Bure). *shudder*

Connie said...

I have a sneaking suspicion Crawford's gonna be here for a loooong time.