SB Nation - Wayne Simmonds

Kings @ Oilers, 12/15/09 - The 1st Place Kings?!

Derek Zona — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:30:18 -0000

via www.sportslogos.net

SBNation's Kings vs Oilers page

Battle Of California

The Kings Triple Crown Line:

Look at how awesome those yellow unis are. I know I'm being repetitive, but those should come back. Soon.

Yes, the Kings really are in first place. Astounding.

Kiefer Sutherland owns a bizarre portrait of Lucky Luc.

Wayne Simmonds has knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

Dustin Brown is ticked at Alexander Frolov if you were to read between the lines.

25 years of Kings draft picks:

The arrows indicate the picks traded to Edmonton for Wayne Gretzky. Los Angeles drafts have yielded 7 top five picks, 5 more top ten picks, 3 number elevens and Wayne Gretzky in the last 25 years. Rebuilding through the draft doesn't always work.

Los Angeles Kings Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Andrei Loktionov	shoulder	11/26/2009
Ryan Smyth	other-excused	11/18/2009
Brandon Segal	knee	12/02/2009

Poll

Robert Nilsson - allow him to crush 4th line opposition, or move him up and try to help Horcoff?

Kings Gameday: Replacing Wayne & I Heart Cliche

RudyKelly — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:34:10 -0000

Next Game

Los Angeles Kings
@ Vancouver Canucks

Monday, Dec 14, 2009, 7:00 PM PST
General Motors Place

Complete Coverage >

-Not to put a damper on the whole "Kings are in 1st place (and the Ducks are in last)" thing, but I'm still really bummed about Wayne Simmonds. There are injuries that you hate to hear about because it hurts your team (Ryan Smyth), and there are injuries you hate because you just feel bad for the guy. I feel bad for Simmonds. I mean, hes only 21 and he's been the driving force behind the team for 3 weeks, but now his whole season is probably lost. He'll be back in about 6 weeks but it usually takes a lot longer for a player to feel comfortable after a knee injury. Will he still have the same explosiveness? Will he still play with the same fearlessness? I don't know. I'm scared. Poor little guy.

-On the plus side, Simmonds' injury does open the door for yet another call up from Manchester to either play great or get injured in their first game. I really, really hope they end up calling Marc-Andre Cliche for a shot. If you don't remember, Cliche was one of the people involved in the Sean Avery trade and he was the shutdown center for Canada during the World Junior Championships in 2007. I have an unreasonable and unrequited love for Cliche and I am convinced he is going to take Jarret Stoll's place as the shutdown center for the Kings some day. Call up Cliche, so that I may unfairly credit him for fortuitous bounces and concoct elaborate scenarios to justify him staying up with the Kings.

-With Simmonds out I think it's only a matter of time before Alex Frolov is put back alongside Michal Handzus. Terry Murray loves spreading out the scoring and that line is going to look pretty weak unless someone is moved down to shore it up. Oddly enough, I kind of think the Kings should look at replacing Kopitar, not Simmonds. I think Fro and Justin Williams have a lot of chemistry together and the Kings should think about keeping them together. When Smyth gets back I wouldn't mind seeing:

Smyth-Kopitar-Purcell/Moller/Me

Frolov-Stoll-Williams

Parse-Handzus-Brown

Ivanans-Cliche (hooray!)-NOT Harrold

I don't know, just a thought.

Marketing Exec: "Well, we've been at this for 3 days and we still don't have anything. C'mon guys, this is important. If you can't come up with something then I'll find someone who will!" *leaves, slams door

Copy Writer #1: "Jesus, this is ridiculous. Guess we better start preparing our resumes."

Copy Writer #2: "I mean, what does he want from us? We're not geniuses. We've given him 30 different titles and we still can't find one he likes."

Copy Writer #3: "I know. Oh well, I'll put on another cup of coffee. ...Eek!"

Copy Writer #2: "What's wrong?"

Copy Writer #3: "Ahh, nothing, I just burned my hand a little. Boy, that was embarrassing. I think I squeaked instead of yelling."

Copy Writer #1: "Wait a minute... squeak... sequel... I'VE GOT IT!!! LET'S CALL OUR MOVIE 'THE SQUEAKQUEL!!!!'"

Copy Writer #3: " The Squeakquel... why, that's genius! You've done it! We're saved!"

Copy Writer #2: "To The Squeakquel!"

Copy Writers #1, 2 and 3: "Huzzah!" *clink coffee cups together

***

"'Joe,' our driver, was willing. His name was not really 'Joe,' but that's what we'd been instructed to call him. I had talked to the FoMoCo boss the night before, and when he mentioned the driver he was assigning to us he said, 'His real name is Steve, but you should call him Joe.'

"'Why not?' I said. 'We'll call him anything he wants. How about Zoom?'

"'No dice,' said the Ford man. 'It has to be Joe.'"

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I don't know why but that kills me every time I read it.

Prediction: Kings win, 4-2. Goals by Parse, Kopitar, Doughty and Moller.

Kings Of The West Pay The Canucks A Visit

Sean Zandberg — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:20:21 -0000

KINGS (21-10-3) at CANUCKS (18-14-0)

GAME TIME: 7:00 PST

TV: Sportsnet

THE OPPOSITION: Battle Of California

UPDATE (5:00 PM): Wellwood on being a scratch:

"There are some workhorses in here that somehow are battling every shift, every day, and you notice it in their personalities off the ice, that's for sure," Wellwood said. "That doesn't seem to be my strength.

"That's the challenge for me … I am laid back and when I get frustrated I can pull back instead of, you know, pushing forward.

"Obviously that can get me into trouble sometimes." -The Province.

Ugh. Woody can't compete at a consistent level and needs tough love to force him to do so. Hate to say it, but this will never change, unless, you know, he gets a lobotomy.

UPDATE (1:46 PM): Bieksa on the Kings: "We're looking to keep the score down, we're not looking to run and gun with them and if we key on their top guys we should be successful." - Vancouver Sun

UPDATE (12:47 PM): Tweeted by CTV Sports: Kyle Wellwood says he is playing tonight. Alain Vigneault says Woody is a game-time decision. No love. Nope. No love.

UPDATE (11:02 AM): The Canucks have recalled Aaron Rome today. He finished a 7-games conditioning stint and scored 6 goals and 7 points for the Moose. I like this guy. He should slot in over Mathieu Schneider, IMO.

UPDATE (10:53 AM): Dan's the man! Daniel Sedin has been named the NHL's 2nd star of the week. Kings' Jon Quick was the first star.

Funny piece in the Sun today about how Alain Vigneault can finally tell the Sedin twins apart. When asked how he could he said:

"I wouldn't know." All I know is I can finally tell them apart and I can't figure out how come it took me four years. For me, right now, they don't even look alike."

********************

If somebody would have told me back in late September that the Los Angeles Kings would be perched on top of the Western Conference standings 34 games in I would have asked them what kind of pot they were smoking. But that is what is happening. The Kings are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games played. The last time they lost in regulation was on November 26 against the...Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks also

beat the Kings 2-1 in a shootout on October 29. ~~Roberto Luongo~~ Andrew Raycroft was solid in that game and Mikael Samuelsson scored the tying goal in regulation and the winning goal in the shootout.

Oh, Samuelsson, where have you gone? He had 14 points in his first 16 games as a Canuck, but only 7 points in his last 16 games played.

We were warned that he was inconsistent. Now we are seeing it first-hand.

The Canucks are off to a flying 2-0 start on their long homestand. They stopped the red-hot Wild in their tracks on Saturday, but this will be the first time in 3 games they face a rested team who has not played back-to-back. Jonathan Quick is smokin' right now. As Canucks.com puts it: he is 7-1-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in his last nine starts for the Kings.

The Kings will be without Wayne Simmonds for a while as he suffered a lower body injury against the Stars last game. RudyKelly at Battle of California called Simmonds the Kings best player over the past 2 weeks. This brings joy to my heart. He has 9 goals and 20 points in 33 games this season, nearly matching his total of all last season.

Look down the Kings' scoring leaders though. There are plenty of guys who can put up points.

I wouldn't think that Alain Vigneault would change the lineup, but I, like many of you, am wondering why he is playing Darcy Hordichuk for only 4 or less minutes per game. Why not fill that spot with someone else (and no, not Wellwood)?

COMPARATIVE STATS

GOALS PER GAME AVERAGE: Canucks 4th, Kings 6th

GOALS AGAINST PER GAME : Canucks 9th, Kings 21st

5 ON 5: Canucks 3rd, Kings 16th

POWER PLAY: Canucks 2nd, Kings 11th

PK: Canucks 27th, Kings 28th. WTF??

SHOTS PER GAME: Canucks 12th, Kings 22nd

SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME: Kings 4th, Canucks 10th

FACEOFF WINS %: Canucks 11th, Kings 21st

If you are scoreboard watching tonight: The Red Wings play the Coyotes at home tonight. If the Wings win they bump Dallas out of 8th spot. If they lose in OT and the Canucks win, there will be a 3-way tie for 8th with Dallas having played one less game. I want to see a Wings loss in regulation and a Canucks victory to tie us with Dallas. Piss off Bertuzzi!

Pick 'Em: Best Capitals Draft Pick of the Decade

David M. Getz — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:00:27 -0000

by Nick Wass - AP

View full size photo »

Readers who venture outside the friendly internet confines of the the Rink may have noticed that, in anticipation of ~~the end of the decade~~ 2010, Puck Daddy has been compiling the best and worst of the last decade, including the ten biggest goon moments, the best and worst contracts, and NHL's best and worst decisions. Yesterday saw Ryan Lambert of The Two Line Pass take a look at the five best and five worst draft picks of the last ten years.

Being a Capitals blog we figured it would make for some interesting discussion to ~~pilfer the idea~~ alter their framework every so slightly to suit our favorite team and take a look at some of studs and duds of recent Washington draft classes. To make things a little more interesting, we decided to eliminate lottery picks, which in essence means no Alex Ovechkin, no Nicklas Backstrom, and no Karl Alzner.

To start things off, let's take a look at the five worst:

5. Jakub Cutta (Defense, 2nd round, 61st overall, 2000)

Cutta was billed as a guy with an ideal frame, but a project nonetheless. At the time of his draft people knew there were questions about his skating, his ability to move the puck out of the zone at the next level, and whether he would ever use his 6'3'', 214 frame as effectively as possible. The problem was, nothing ever really panned out. The skating never became NHL caliber, there wasn't any offense to speak of as a pro, and while Cutta laid out a big hit every once in a while, he was far from an intimidating physical force. All told Cutta saw action in eight games over the course of three seasons with the Caps, earning himself a minus-5 rating. By 2006 Cutta would be back in his native Czech Republic, and he's been splitting time between his homeland and Russia for the past few years. It's not always fair to look back and evaluate a pick using 20/20 hindsight, but the fact that Paul Martin was taken with the 62nd pick certainly doesn't make this one any easier to swallow.

4. Josh Godfrey (Defense, 2nd round, 34th overall, 2007)

Yeah, it's still early, but thing don't look very good for Godfrey, who's now in his second season with the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays. Part of us wants to say that the blue line is stacked at Hershey, that Godfrey's still young, and that he was drafted as an offensive defenseman who would have to spend a lot of time working out the kinks in his own end before he had a chance at the NHL. Another part of us says that guys who spend more than one season in the ECHL don't usually do much at the NHL level - and that's not enough for someone picked 34th overall. The fact that, other than Kings prospects Wayne Simmonds and Oscar Moller, no one picked after Godfrey has seen much NHL playing time helps keep him from rising on this list - for now.

3. Keith Seabrook (Defense, 2nd round, 52nd overall, 2006)

Also an offensive defenseman, the Capitals were hoping Seabrook would one day be a powerplay quarterback, or at least an offensive threat from the blue line. However, Seabrook underwhelmed offensively, first by scoring 13 points (two goals) in 37 games at the University of Denver and then by scoring 17 (four goals) in 59 games with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen - all while failing to make marked progress in his own end. In 2008-09 Seabrook finally became the offensive force people thought he was capable of being by registering 55 points (fifteen goals) for the Hitmen, but questions persisted about whether it was because he was growing in to his talent or because he was an overage player. Currently in the Calgary Flames organization, Seabrook still has a chance to become an NHL player, but never came close to getting a contract, let alone a game, with the Caps.

2. Joe Finley (Defense, 1st round, 27th overall, 2005)

The Caps would eventually sign Finley in the summer of 2009, but his future seems to be up in the air. After playing as a forward in camp, Finley's back on the blue line with South Carolina this season. If Finley ever makes it to the NHL, it's almost certainly going to be in a limited role as an enforcer...and you don't aim to draft a part-time enforcer in the first round. 36 of the first 45 players taken in the 2005 draft have played in the NHL, and has four of the five and seven of the ten taken after Finley. The issue at this point wasn't the talent pool. It was the selection.

1. Sasha Pokulok (Defense, 1st round, 14th overall, 2005)

How could it be anyone else? There's no way the Caps should have been picking 14th in 2005, but they sure didn't do themselves any favors in picking Pokulok. Billed as a physical specimen with skating ability and offensive upside, Pokulok was beset by concussion problems each of his three years in the Capitals organization. In the end, Pokulok wasn't able to stick in Hershey, let alone Washington, earning himself the dubious (and unfortunate) title of "Worst Capitals Pick of the Decade".

Honorable Mentions: Steve Eminger, Ted Ruth, Maxime Daigneault, Boyd Gordon

Now that that's over, let's take a look at the five best:

5. John Carlson (Defense, 1st round, 27th overall, 2008)

He's played just three games at the NHL level thus far, but is there any reason to think Carlson won't be a very, very good NHL defender? With size, skill, and smarts he's bested every challenge thrown his way since the draft, finishing second in the OHL in scoring among defensemen and second among rookies last year, and registering 18 points in 24 games for the Bears this year. Carlson may very well be a top pairing guy in the very near future, and in a league that prizes two way defensemen as highly as the NHL does that's a heck of a return on the 27th pick.

4. Johnny Oduya (Defense, 7th round, 221st overall, 2001)

Hey, we said these guys were going to be Capitals draftees, we never said anything about whether the team signed him. With only one point and an minus-1 rating, Oduya's slumping this year but he's nonetheless a legitimate top-four guy defenseman in the NHL, something that can only be said for a handful of the 200 players taken before him.

3. Alexander Semin (Left Wing/Right Wing, 13th overall, 2002)

At September's Capitals Convention members of the team's scouting staff were insistent they'd been lucky with Semin, who has grown three inches and added thirty-five pounds since the time he was drafted. Even if there was some luck involved, Semin is a elite offensive player who may just be the most naturally talented guy in the NHL. Picking thirteenth overall you expect to get an NHL caliber player - but getting a guy with Semin's ability in that spot is a steal. He might not have the career top 2002 pick Rich Nash will, be there's no doubt Semin was the most talented player available at the this spot - and your GM picking that guy is all you can ask for.

2. Semyon Varlamov (Goalie, 23rd overall, 2006)

We'd be lying if we said there wasn't a part of us that was still scared Semyon Varlamov was going to burn out (insert obligatory Jim Carey reference here), but what he's doing at his age, well, that just doesn't happen very often. The Capitals get credit here for being willing to use their first round pick to take a netminder in what was regarded as a weak draft between the pipes. The next time you want to criticize George McPhee for going off the board, remember that sometimes the risk pays off.

1. Mike Green (Defense, 29th overall, 2004)

Twenty-ninth overall isn't exactly scraping the bottom of the barrel, but no one expected this. Fifty-one goals and 159 points in his last 180 games, a historically great season, a Norris Trophy nomination at age 23, and comparisons to Paul Coffey would make Green a great pick just about anywhere, but at the end of the first round it's practically criminal. Thank the Lord the Stars saw something they liked in Mark Fistric.

Honorable Mentions: Mathieu Perreault, Oskar Osala, Braden Holtby

While the issue of the worst draft pick seems pretty cut-and-dry (seriously, if anyone thinks it's someone other than Pokulok, we'd love to hear why), the best pick is up for debate - and we want to know what you think. Vote in the poll, and let us know who you picked in the comments section.

Poll

So, who's the best Capitals draft pick of the decade?

Coyotes at Kings - Game #31 Preview - Remember When We Owned the Kings?

OdinMercer — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:45:09 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

9 days ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Scottie Upshall (8) scores against Minnesota Wild's Niklas Backstrom (32), of Finland, in the second period during an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Oh how I pine for the days of yesteryear. When the Kings couldn't buy a goal. When the purple defense was laughably porous. When no matter who they put in goal it wasn't enough to keep us from beating them. Those days have passed it seems, but not all is lost. While the Kings may be making a charge towards the top of the division, the Coyotes too have come out of the basement and are clawing their way up the standings. If no longer destroying the Kings every single time we face them is the price to be paid for overall success then I'll take it! Though I'm not quite ready to concede this game just yet...

FIVE FOR WINNING

PK vs. PP
The Coyotes have managed to deny their opponents on the last 18 power play chances. An 0 for 18 chances looks pretty great for one of the work penalty killing teams of last year. However. Against the Kings in three games this year the Coyotes have allowed them to score on 6 of the 12 chances they've had. Something is going to give tonight. Either the Coyotes will have tightened up and figured out the PK better or the Kings are going to go to town yet again as they are lights out against pretty much everyone on the power play, especially at home where they're 5th in home rink PP% at 24.5%

Can Taylor Pyatt's Scoring Streak Continue?
After a less than spectacular start Taylor Pyatt has been on fire the past three games getting a goal in each one. He's come up with a patented "Hold off the defender with one arm and tip the puck 5 hole move" Where he pretty much does exactly that. Though last game he got an incredible one timer from a Shane Doan pass that he beautifully weaved through two Wild defenders

Bryzgalov for Vezina?
Okay, maybe it's a little early for that, (Though not by much) but I don't think Coyote fans could have expected or wanted much more out of Ilya Bryzgalov so far this season. He leads the league in shutouts with 4. He's among the best in both save percentage and Goals Against Average. The defense has been there, but he's gone from a goalie that was suspect in the eyes on many fans, to the guy that's carried this team into contention. He'll need to be good again tonight as the Kings have been one of the few teams that have been able to score on the Russian. They've managed to score 7 goals in Bryz's 2 starts.

Get the Jump On Them Early
Sure it's always nice to get the early lead, but it will be critical to do so tonight. The Kings are coming over a hard fought 5-4 overtime victory against the Sharks last night and will (hopefully) be at least a little tired. The bigger reason though is that the Kings have shutdown teams late in games from making comebacks in the 3rd. If the Kings take a lead into the final frame they've won in all 13 instances.

Defrost the Power Play
While our Penalty Kill has been solid. Our Power Play has been ice cold. THough we've managed to put together our 5 game winning streak. We've done so without a single power play goal in the last 18 chances. Every goal we've scored in the past 5 has been at even strength. THat says a lot for how our team is working the 5 on 5, but we have to start converting some of those shorthanded chances if we want to climb up the standings any more than we already have.

Key Players

Shane Doan

#19 / Right Wing / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-1

Weight: 224

Born: Oct 10, 1976

Shane Doan has been racking up the assists lately but the team could use some more goals from him. Los Angeles seems to be the team for him to do it against as he's scored 3 goals in the 3 games against the Kings so far in the season series.

Wayne Simmonds

#17 / Right Wing / Los Angeles Kings

Height: 6-2

Weight: 183

Born: Aug 26, 1988

Wayne SImmonds has come a long way since last season when he was getting checked all over the place by Shane Doan. Now he's developing into quite the player for the Kings. He's riding a 6 game point streak in which he's been 4-4-8 and on the season overall he's 9-10-19 and an astounding +13. He's one of the players to keep an eye on with Ryan Smyth still out of the lineup.

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kurt Sauer	other-excused	10/07/2009

Los Angeles Kings Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Andrei Loktionov	shoulder	11/26/2009
Ryan Smyth	other-excused	11/18/2009

Kings Gameday: I'm Going to Poll You

RudyKelly — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:31:44 -0000

More photos » by Lori Shepler - AP

What's more amazing: this goal or the lady's expression in the background? (AP Photo/Lori Shepler)

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Next Game

Phoenix Coyotes
@ Los Angeles Kings

Thursday, Dec 10, 2009, 7:30 PM PST
Staples Center

Complete Coverage >

So I was texting my brother during the game on Monday (the one against Calgary) and I described Simmonds as a "train made of meat." He texted back, "You're retarded, that doesn't make any sense; Simmonds is obviously a train that carries meat" I told him that wasn't intimidating at all, unlike a train physically made of meat. He said, "Who the fuck would that scare?" and I replied, "I don't know... vegetarians?" The point is, if we're going full bore with this Meat Train thing, we need to decide this: is he a Train of Meat (stupid), or is he a Meat Train (awesome)? This is very important.

***

Also important: tonight's game. The Kings are only 3 points out of first in their division, but Phoenix is only 4 points behind LA. The Kings are coming off a pretty emotional game but it's important for them to buckle down tonight and play tight defensive hockey. Most importantly, they need to make sure they're making crisp passes out of their own zone because Phoenix likes to jump in on mistakes any chance they can get.

***

If Sharks fans were mad last night, how mad are they going to be when Patrick Marleau signs with Los Angeles in the off-season?

Prediction: Kings win, 3-2. Goals by Meat Train, Frolov and Kopitar.

Poll

Is Wayne Simmonds an actual train that carries meat, or is he a train made out of meat?

Week in Review

RudyKelly — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:39:51 -0000

More photos » by Danny Moloshok - AP

It's good to see Diamond Dallas Paige is still up and about. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)

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Tuesday: The Kings call up Andrei Loktionov (yea!) and Brandon Segal (who?*) for their Western Canada road trip. Great expectations are had by all.

*Segal actually had a great week: he didn't score or anything, but he had a few good opportunities and threw his weight around nicely. I think he's locked up a spot for the foreseeable future.

Wednesday: Andrei Loktionov (no!) separates his shoulder and will miss 4 months. The Kings win in a lackluster effort for both them and the Oilers, 3-1. Goals are by Wayne Meat Train Simmonds (yea!), Matt Greene (wha?), and my main man Alexander Frolov.

Thursday: The Kings get handled by the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1. They have a few great opportunities but Roberto Luongo was excellent in net and holds the Kings to one lone goal, scored by Meat Train Simmonds (yea!!).

Friday: I go to the Ducks-Blackhawks game with Earl, his brother and a buddy of his. It was terrible: not only did the Ducks win, not only did Corey Perry extend his scoring streak, not only did the Blackhawks not score, but Kyle Calder (boo!) played well. Kyle Calder. Damn Earl for saying I was going, I think it was motivation. Also, it was funny that I went to the game with a bunch of Ducks fans and had to explain why they some times call off icing.

Saturday: The Kings play the Blackhawks and are fairly mediocre. They win the game on the back of Jonathan Quick, who followed up a solid week with a spectacular game against the Hawks. Quick stopped 22 of 23 against the Oilers, 30 of 33 against the Canucks, and 32 of 33 against the Blackhawks (he was also 2-for-2 in the shootout). Quick obviously read my criticism of his play and responded accordingly.

The Kings' lone goal in regulation was scored on a pretty play by Wayne Meat Train (yea!!!), who overall had 3 goals and an assist on the week. Simmonds, Dustin Brown (yea!) and Jack Johnson (eh) were the 3 stars for the week, while the traditional stars (Kopitar, Doughty, Williams) all took the week off. The Kings managed to gut through 3 pretty tough games to pick up 2 wins, but they can't score 5 goals in 3 games and expect to win 2 of them every week.

Overall, the Kings did what they needed to do: they played tough, defensive hockey and counterpunched when they needed to. This felt like a middle of the season episode, like that episode of Mad Men where they focused on Pete Campbell when he raped the au pair across the hall. Those episodes are great and are sometimes the best ones of the season, but the Kings need their stars to continue the season-long arc and get to the playoffs.

Edmonton - Los Angeles post-mortem: frustration

Bruce McCurdy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:43:24 -0000

More photos » by John Ulan - AP

Shawn Horcoff and the Oilers couldn't find any room against the Kings on Wednesday, suffering a 3-1 regulation loss on home ice and losing star forward Ales Hemsky in the process. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Ulan)

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It's a hopeless feeling when it's still bloody November and you're already resigned to your team being out of contention. But that's exactly how I feel right now. Frustrated.

Another night, another winnable game lost in regulation, another key player sidelined with injury. For at least the third time this year we saw an Oiler leave a game after being sent head first into the boards on a hit from behind. This time it was none other than Ales Hemsky, not only a key to Edmonton's offence but a key to making Oiler games fit to watch. This one certainly wasn't after Ales was helped off, a victim of Michal Handzus's cheap and dangerous crosscheck that catapulted him into the end boards. For which, predictably, Handzus was given a 2-minute slap on the wrist, returning to play a key role on the game-winning goal. Meanwhile, in Washington Alex Ovechkin was given 5 minutes for a much less dangerous hit on agitator Patrick Kaleta, who never missed a shift. But if it's an Oiler who is showing his numbers, it's open season out there. Frustrating.

It also hurt to see Matt Greene cap a splendid game by scoring the winning goal in the dying minutes. Greene became the third recent ex-Oiler to score a game-winner in Rexall in this calendar year, joining Raffi Torres and Marty Reasoner who also scored late tie-breaking goals to send the faithful grumbling into the night. If those bums had scored while they were here they might never have been traded in the first place. Greene was all over the scoresheet with 6 attempted shots, 4 hits, 5 blocked shots, +2, and of course that game winning goal. He was a much greater force in this game than Lubomir Visnovsky, the guy Oilers traded Greene AND Jarret Stoll to obtain. Frustrating.

Worse was that the winner came in regulation time in a game both teams seemed to be nursing to OT. But in a few seconds what was left of the first line lost their composure and their shape in Oilers' end, with all 5 guys being sucked over to Wayne Simmonds' side of the ice opening the door for Greene to walk in and blast the best shot of his Rexall Place career. So the Oilers came away with nothing, dropping a point to conference rivals Minnesota, Colorado, and St.Louis, all of whom were rewarded for managing to "lose" their games in extra time. Frustrating.

Oilers were once again dominated on the shot clock, allowing double digits in each period while never managing more than 8 shots themselves for a final margin of 35-23. It was another tough night for Liam Reddox, outshot 7-0 in his 7:18 at even strength with another atrocious Corsi of -10. In the last 3 games Reddox has been on the ice for just 7 attempted shots by the Oilers and a staggering 46 by the bad guys. After his recall Reddox showed just enough to make me care about him, but has not resembled an NHL player of late. Frustrating.

Jeff Deslauriers played moderately well, making many fine stops among his 33 saves but undoing his work by absolutely seiving in a long slider from Simmonds which tied the score in the second, then getting beat clean by Matt Greene of all people with the game on the line. Frustrating.

So now Oilers are 4/5 of the way through the home stand with an uninspiring 2-2-0 record, a tilt against the powerful Sharks looming. It's been five long weeks, 16 games and counting since the last time the squad won 2 in a row. Did I mention I'm getting frustrated?

VIDEO: Panthers' McArdle vs. Kings' Simmonds, 11/16/09

Whale4ever — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:30:07 -0000

Get the impression Kenndal likes it in The Bigs? Thanks to HockeyFights.com via YouTube.

Kings Gameday: What Do You People Want From Me?

RudyKelly — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:53:26 -0000

Next Game

Los Angeles Kings
@ Florida Panthers

Monday, Nov 16, 2009, 4:30 PM PST
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Look, leave me alone. I've been moving and I haven't had TV or anything so I haven't really been able to watch the last 2 games. I listened to the Thrashers game (at least until 6-0 when I angrily turned it off)* and completely missed the Lightning game, which sucks because Wayne Simmonds introduced someone to the Meat Train and Rob Scuderi got hurt and a goal was called back in overtime and the Kings won in a shootout. But yeah, I was moving so I can't fill your head with tantalizing visions of Earl going down on a guy or vivid tales like the time I farted in the shower and water was running down my crack so I thought I had pooed for a second. Nothing to see here, folks.

*It sucks when you're listening to a game in your car and something goes wrong because you can't really get angry. You'll yell, "Fuck!" and then raise your hand to hit something but there's nothing you can really hit and so you'll just kind of freeze before you angrily twist the dial on your radio, but the knob is like an inch big and doesn't take much effort to turn so you end up using way too much force and slamming your hand against your window or something.

But anyway, the Kings lost Rob Scuderi so Randy Jones is playing. There, now you can go back to forwarding cat videos or whatever the hell it is you people do when you're not pestering me for information. God, the pressure of this job sometimes. Man, I need a break.*

*Puts on worn VHS of 3 Ninjas, unzips pants

Prediction: Kings win, 2-1. Tomas Vokoun has 50 saves, Quick has 10.