SB Nation - Jarret Stoll

Kings Gameday: Replacing Wayne & I Heart Cliche

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

Next Game

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

-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.

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)

Browse more photos »

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?

DD or JDD? Doppelgänger Dilemma

Bruce McCurdy — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:34:36 -0000

More photos » by Jeff McIntosh - AP

Devan Dubnyk

Browse more photos »

Lowetide asked me an interesting question the other day: if I were building an expansion team, which one of Edmonton's young goalies might I pick: Deslauriers or Dubnyk? Let's rephrase it slightly to put an Oilers spin on the query: if there were an imaginary expansion draft, which one should we protect?

While there's hopefully no expansion to worry about, the Oilers will essentially face such a choice next summer/fall, or pay a premium to put it off. For now there is no hard overlap between the two, but that day is coming fast. Dubnyk is two years younger than Deslauriers and pretty much Exactly two years behind him on the career curve. In fact the two have a whole lot in common:

Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (JDD) was born on May 15, 1984, the day of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals (Oilers 7, Islanders 2 :)). A long stringbean at 6'4, 200, he was drafted 31st overall in 2002, the first pick of the second round, acquired in the Jochen Hecht trade. (Pick #36, Jarret Stoll, also came courtesy of what turned out to be a pretty good trade.) He was the fourth goalie of his draft class to be chosen. The top 5 were #2 Kari Lehtonen, #25 Cam Ward, #29 Hannu Toivunen, #31 JDD, #34 Tobias Stephen. JDD appears to be a solid third in this group, behind Ward and the injury-plagued Lehtonen but ahead of the other two who fired and fell back.

Devan Dubnyk (DD) was born on May 4, 1986, when the hockey world was still trying to come to grips with Steve Smith's own goal. A longer stringbean at 6''5, 194, he was drafted 14th overall in 2004. He was the second goalie of his draft class to be chosen. The top 5 were #6 Al Montoya, #14 DD, #17 Marek Schwarz, #26 Cory Schneider, #37 David Shantz. A much less proven fivesome, befitting their younger age. Dubnyk is the fourth to get a cup o' coffee, but none have played as many as 500 minutes in the show. DD clearly ranks ahead of Schwarz and Shantz, and it's a toss-up among the others, with Schneider having the best hype. That said, today DD is the only one of the five in the NHL.

At a glance DD and JDD are mirror images of each other with Dubnyk being the longer, stringbeanier, right-handed one with the slightly higher draft pedigree and the slightly less-bumpy career curve.

Both broke into major junior in 2001-02 so let's start there after the jump:

	JDD				DD
Season	League	GP	Sv%	Season	League	GP	Sv%
2001-02	QMJHL	51	0.900	2001-02	WHL	3	0.838
2002-03	QMJHL	49	0.888	2002-03	WHL	26	0.907
2003-04	QMJHL	50	0.916	2003-04	WHL	44	0.917
2004-05	AHL	22	0.888	2004-05	WHL	65	0.912
	ECHL	11	0.940
2005-06	AHL	13	0.897	2005-06	WHL	54	0.912
	ECHL	6	0.899
2006-07	AHL	40	0.908	2006-07	ECHL	43	0.921
					AHL	4	0.855
2007-08	AHL	57	0.912	2007-08	AHL	33	0.904
2008-09	NHL	10	0.901	2008-09	AHL	62	0.906
2008-09	AHL	5	0.906
2009-10	NHL	6	0.920	2009-10	AHL	18	0.924

Dubnyk was the hotter shot, played in the Dub as a call-up at age 15 and a backup at 16. By 17, however, both were starters (44+ GP) in Major Junior. So let's reorganize our data there, recognize that Dubnyk is two years (less 11 days) younger, and match up their seasons by hockey age.

	JDD				DD
Age	Leagues	GP	Sv%	Age	Leagues	GP	Sv%
17	QMJHL	51	0.900	17	WHL	44	0.917
18	QMJHL	49	0.888	18	WHL	65	0.912
19	QMJHL	50	0.916	19	WHL	54	0.912
20	AHL/ECHL	33	0.911	20	ECHL/AHL	47	0.918
21	AHL/ECHL	19	0.898	21	AHL	33	0.904
22	AHL	40	0.908	22	AHL	62	0.906
23	AHL	57	0.912	23	AHL	18	0.924
24	NHL/AHL	15	0.902
25	NHL	6	0.920

There are a lot more similarities than differences on those career curves. Thanks to the Oilers' inexplicable decision to suspend AHL operations for two seasons, JDD's development was more retarded -- using the word carefully -- than was DD's. Deslauriers was on the outside looking in especially in his 21-year-old season, whereas Dubnyk was still in junior that 2005-06 season, then got an everyday gig in the ECHL the next year which didn't hurt him a bit. By his own 21-year-old season he was backing up JDD in Springfield, and getting a reasonable split (37%) of the ice time, over which the Oilers had finally regained control. As a result DD has substantially more games in the lower league, all in one season, whereas JDD spent parts of two seasons in the ECHL and spent a little more time on the bench at whatever level. Thus even though Dubnyk has just begun his 23-year-old season, his pro experience is already a little greater than JDD's was at the end of his equivalent season. To summarize:

	JDD				DD
Age	Leagues	GP	Sv%	Age	Leagues	GP	Sv%
17-19	Major Jr.	150	0.908	17-19	Major Jr.	163	0.914
20-23	Minor Pro	149	0.909	20-23	Minor Pro	160	0.911

So Dubnyk appears to have a slight edge, with a little more experience at both levels and a slightly greater Sv%. While far from perfect, Sv% is the best single measure we have of goaltender performance. It seems probable that quality of team will affect that Sv%. The two only played on the same team for one full season (2007-08 in Springfield) and little pieces of a couple of others. JDD has the better Pts% ("winning percentage") of the two, .511 to .475 in their last 3 years of junior, .507 to .447 in their first 4 years of pro. Some would argue that JDD is therefore more of a winner; others would counter that DD played on worse teams and if anything that makes his superior Sv% that much more impressive.

Beyond that are the non-save effects, the "soft skills" which are so difficult to measure. I’m talking about game management skills, rebound control, puck retrieval and distribution. At the NHL level I estimate these skills or lack thereof might be the equivalent of a bump in a goalie’s Sv% by as much as ± .005. I’ve seen enough of JDD to lump him in the group I call "chaos goalies"; he better be a good stopper, cuz a sweeper he is not. We know less about this aspect of DD's game; what do the scouting reports say? If he’s a "control goalie" that’s another arrow in his quiver; if on the other hand he’s much worse than JDD, he won’t be able to play in this league.

For now Dubnyk faces two realities. He may be a little further than Deslauriers at the same point in his career, but in real time he’s two years behind. JDD has the 16 games of NHL experience, and the 90 games on the bench and all that accrues to that; he’s the NHLer. DD is where JDD was two years ago, called up for a cup of coffee but not guaranteed to even get a game. Last night we saw the two together in the NHL line-up for the first time, but come game time JDD responded to the challenge in a big way, posting a 36-save shutout. He wants to keep Dubnyk on the bench. (That said, if Khabibulin needs a few more days I personally would like to see the two split the upcoming back-to-back games.)

The other reality is that the club has committed to Nikolai Khabibulin who theoretically will be the starting goalie for the next 2.7 ± 1 years. If the idea – or should I say the ideal – is to gradually grow a youngster into the starting role à la Warren Moon and Tom Wilkinson, the timing may actually work in Dubnyk’s favour. JDD will enter his UFA years in 2011; Dubnyk is eligible to do so in 2013, just as Khabibulin’s hefty pact expires. If Dubnyk blossoms, the Oilers will be in position to pay him then.

Still, there’s precious little to choose between the two long stringbeans. By next fall Dubnyk will be in the exact same position that JDD was last year, out of options and needing to clear waivers. In JDD’s case we saw the undesirable result: a three-headed monster in the crease and a lack of roster flexibility elsewhere. As things shape up now, Oilers will face the exact same situation next fall.

In a perfect world, the organization will reach a decision over the summer or by the end of training camp. In a perfect world, they will deal one of the youngsters for an asset that will help the club elsewhere. And in a perfect world, they will make the right choice of which one to keep. My distant early guess is that will be Devan Dubnyk.

King Anze and Los Angeles take down Pittsburgh 5-2

Hooks Orpik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:47:01 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

about 1 month ago: Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11), of Slovenia, and Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) keep Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Bill Guerin (13) from scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

Browse more photos »

Penguins vs Kings coverage - Penguins vs Kings boxscore

Coming into the game, the Los Angeles Kings were a buzzsaw. 5-0-2 in their last seven; and after tonight they've scored 5+ goals in five of the last seven games. They showed why, with superior zone time, cycling, shots on goal. Usually all the aspects the Penguins outmatch others, that's what LA did to them tonight, and they pulled away late in the third period to get a deserving result, a 5-2 victory.

Right off the bat in the first period, the Kings collected a puck in their zone and rushed it up the ice, Justin Williams crissed, Anze Kopitar crossed and Kris Letang was somewhere in the middle. That's not a good equation. Kopitar showed the skill that's why he's currently the league's leading scorer when he stepped up, smoothly went to the backhand and beat Marc-Andre Fleury cleanly for a goal.

The next shift the Penguins put Jordan Staal out with Chris Conner and Matt Cooke. On a breakout Jay McKee (of all people) ended up driving towards the net. Conner dropped the puck to Staal who slapped it to the net. It found paydirt 1-1.

The very fact a defensive defenseman like McKee finds himself in the position to be a little ahead of the play and ends up driving to the net just shows how much the entire team has bought into the system that Dan Bylsma wants them to play. When Jay McKee is your lead force center driving the net and a guy like Jordan Staal knows to pull up, everyone's clicking, everyone's on the same page. In a nutshell that's why Pittsburgh's had so much success since Bylsma took over.

In the second period Brooks Orpik took a shot that Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby waived their sticks at. Kunitz got a piece and it was enough to beat Jonathan Quick. IT was 2-1 Pens after two, despite being out-shot and generally out-played they took a lead into the second intermission. It wouldn't last though.

In the third Kopitar would tie it. He beat Crosby on a faceoff and found Williams for a shot. The shot found Kopitar behind the net (as the puck always seems to find the good ones) and he popped out for the easy stuff in to tie the game at 2.

Following a real sloppy power-play by the Pens (what else is new recently), Dustin Brown made a great pass to Jarret Stoll and he buried it. 3-2 Kings. The very next shift the Kings kept the pressure up, Craig Adams was no match for Alexander Frolov and he fired a pass out that bounced around and Michal Handzus got the goal, with Wayne Simmonds right there to get it too. 4-2 Kings just like that.

And in the "piling it on" folder, the Kings got zone time, they cycled well and drew a penalty. With the extra man they got some great passes, caught the Pens running around and Stoll made a great pass to Dustin Brown for an easy slam dunker. 5-2 Kings.

The goalies really settled down after two goalies in the first 1:10 of gameplay, for a while at least. Fleury stopped the next 24 shots, and the only way the Pens beat Quick was a deflection out front. MAF got victimized in a flurry in the 3rd, but let's absolve him because the Kings applied a lot of pressure and outworked a lot of Pittsburgh players to get their goals.
It's not even that Kopitar scored his two goals: the way he did it was almost effortless and very skillful. If he played in the eastern time zone he'd be one of the most hyped players in the game. He's definitely one of those guys like a Rick Nash or Ilya Kovalchuk that is worth watching any chance you get. A supremely talented player and Kopitar put on one of the best performances tonight that I've seen all season.
It should be noted that Kris Letang played 24:49, and though Kopitar made him look foolish twice, he escaped with an even plus/minus rating. Fellow youngster Alex Goligoski logged 21:32 of ice-time and was a +1.
Not to say the usually solid four more defensive defenseman (Jay McKee, Brooks Orpik, Martin Skoula and Mark Eaton) deserve all the blame; but that foursome combined to have a plus/minus rating of -7 (all were negatives except McKee). Pittsburgh's not going to win many games under those circumstances, especially with the power-play not clicking.
Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin combined for 10 of the Pens total of 23 shots on goal. Guerin got a couple wonderful feeds but couldn't convert (including one that hit Quick's pad and then the post). Can't knock those two for a lack of effort, but the results generally just haven't paid dividends.
Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis and Ruslan Fedotenko -- three veteran wingers all relied on for contributions didn't fare as well. That trio combined for almost 47 minutes of ice-time but only got one shot on goal (Fedotenko's) and weren't dangerous. They were flat out overmatched by their counter-parts in guys like Stoll, Brown and Frolov.
Tough night for Craig Adams too. While he registered a game high 8 hits (including one on Matt Greene that dislodged the glass), Adams was a -3 and lost 9 of 12 faceoffs.
As far as diminutive forwards with the first name of Chris go: Conner > Bourque. Maybe it's because Conner's two years older, maybe it's because he's got 54 more NHL games, but whatever the reason, Conner seems more poised, a better skater and makes better decisions with the puck.

Overall, no excuses, the Kings worked very hard, played a superior game, got some solid goaltending and deserved the win. They displayed all the usual tenets of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, but did so with better skill and execution from top to bottom. One can't help but wonder what the outcome would have been if Pittsburgh was fortunate enough to have their four key injured players (Malkin, Gonchar, Kennedy, Talbot) but let that take nothing away from the display LA put on. Sure would be nice to see a seven game series between these two teams, but that is a long ways away.

Pittsburgh's franchise best of seven straight road wins to open a season is now history, but they still have a big chance to have a winning west coast road trip if they get the result in San Jose on Saturday. The Sharks are no easy task, so time to put this one behind us and move north in California to see what can happen.

Kings Make the Most of Coyotes Mental Lapses, Beat Phoenix 5-3

OdinMercer — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:27:58 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

about 1 month ago: Los Angeles Kings right winger Scott Parse, left, checks Phoenix Coyotes center Matthew Lombardi, right, to the ice in the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Browse more photos »

The Phoenix Coyotes were off their game tonight, allowing the LA Kings several chances that they shouldn't have been able to convert and taking some bad, bad penalties in the 5-3 loss. The officials weren't helping either with several marginal calls that even had the Kings wondering what was going on. The early penalties certainly didn't help the Coyotes defensive game as they shied away from hitting after getting interference and cross checking calls on pretty standard plays. Pair that with the Coyotes taking 2 Too Many Men on the Ice penalties and it just seemed like the Coyotes' heads weren't in the game.

The First period wasn't bad for the Coyotes as the team outshot the Kings 11-4 in the opening period. they were largely in control. Shane Doan potted an easy Power Play goal halfway through the period after Robert Lang put a shot off of Jonathan Quick's blocker and the rebound landed on Doan's stick. From our seats you could see Doan's eyes get nice and big as he lifted the puck into his open side of the net. The guys did fairly well, but in the locker room, they must have thought they were going to roll over the Kings like they did in the season opener, because it wasn't the same team after intermission.

The second period looked somewhat like the first in that the Coyotes led in the shot total, but this is the point where the Refs started handing out penalties like candy to the Kings. The Kings have been the only team so far that we seem to do this terribly against on the PK. They scored twice against us on the Power play in the period. First Dustin Brown got a nice goal on which Ilya Bryzgalov didn't really have a chance. Anze Kopitar beat the PK defense and Jim Vandermeer had to cover both him and Brown. Kopitar took it to the outside and made a perfect pass after Bryzgalov committed for an easy goal. Bryz was visibly angry after the second goal of the night went in on a slap shot on a 5 on 3 power play for the Kings. The Kings did a good job of passing back and forth, but Jarret Stoll was able to slap it past as Bryz was screened a bit by both a Kings player and Adrian Aucoin. Radim Vrbata was able to tie the game up less that a minute later though as he got Quick to commit to the save and Vrbata lifted it over his leg and in.

The wheels came off in the third though as the passing was everywhere, the team stopped preventing the Kings from entering the zone, basically everything that has won them games seemed to go out the window. Early in the period Jared Stoll and Scott Parse got a turnover and came in on a 2 on 1. Parse made a nice pass to Stoll who faked Bryzgalov and streched in just past him for Stoll's second of the night. Wayne Simmonds got the 4th for the Kings as the Coyotes stood around waiting for a delayed penalty to be whistled. The puck just sat there in front after being deflected and he drove it home. Several Coyotes in the area, but no one bothered to put a stick on it. Good on SImmonds, but that was just a breakdown by the defense that allowed it to happen. It was unacceptable. Doan then came alive again and tried to win the game all on his own, scoring a pretty goal while holding off Jack Johnson and put it 5-hole on Quick. THe Coyotes kept trying to get something going with Doan getting another good chance shortly after, but couldn't make anything happen. Then with just over a minute remaining the Coyotes took anothe too many men penalty so they diodn't even really get much of a chance with the goalie pulled. Dustin Brown did take it down and put it in the EN a split second before the horn sounded to finish it 5-3.

It was a very disappointing game as the Coyotes started off looking alright even if a few passes went wrong. The penalties in the second period semed to really take the momentum away and made the Yotes wary of hitting really anyone after marginal cross-checking and interference calls. I hope this was just a case of looking past an opponent before a road-trip and not some larger problem.

Next Game: Monday @ New York Rangers

Wings beat Kings 5-2; Lidstrom Nets 1,000th Point

joehass — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:24:40 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Chris Osgood stops Justin Williams as Brad Stuart looks on.

Browse more photos »

A balanced attack, with five goals from five different players, helped the Red Wings defeat the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena.

After spotting the Kings an early 1-0 lead on Derek Brown's first goal of the season, Detroit roared back with two goals in the second. Jonathan Ericsson lit the lamp past Jonathan Quick at 3:33. Five minutes later, with Los Angeles a man down for too many men on the ice, Nicklas Lidstrom's shot was tipped off the stick of Tomas Holmstrom to make it 2-1.

In the third period, the Red Wings were down a man when Jarret Stoll pulled down Kris Draper. The official waited a beat to make the call, infuriating Stoll, but off the ensuing faceoff, Lidstrom set up Henrik Zetterberg for his first of the season. It was Lidstrom's 1,000th point, earning him a standing ovation at the TV timeout. After Justin Williams brought Los Angeles back to within one, Kirk Maltby's slapper from Todd Bertuzzi put Detroit back up by two. With Quick pulled for the extra attacker, Brian Rafalski exited the penalty box and put the puck into the empty net for the final goal of the night.

Player of the Game: Nick Lidstrom. Two assists tonight, the second making him the eighth defenseman in NHL history with 1,000 points, gives it to him.

Let's Do Some Lines

RudyKelly — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:25:21 -0000

More photos » by Jason Redmond - AP

From left to right: Yay!, Boo!, Yay! (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

Browse more photos »

In the first period, the first line of Smyth-Kopitar-Williams dominated play, scoring three goals in only 6 minutes of ice time. Smyth had the first goal, a nice deflection of a Jack Johnson shot. Then Justin Williams scored, again on a nice deflection, this time of a shot by Drew Doughty. Then Anze Kopitar got in on the act, burying a cross-ice pass by Ryan Smyth and finishing a beautiful breakout started by Kopitar himself.

In the second period, the second line of Frolov-Handzus-Simmonds tagged the Wild for another goal. This one was started off a turnover caused by Alexander Frolov, which was collected by Meat Train Simmonds. Meat gave the puck back to Fro, who waited and waited until Michal Handzus found a hole in the defensive coverage. Handzus received the pass, fought off a defender and put the puck through the 5-hole and into the net. The line was on the ice for about 15 1/2 minutes of even-strength time and once again paired up against the other team's top line and once again did not allow an even-strength goal.

In the third period, the third line of Purcell-Stoll-Brown iced the game with a pretty goal on a 2-on-1. The odd-man rush was caused by Dustin Brown, who managed to get the puck through a Wild defender after a bad pass and relayed it to a streaking Jarret Stoll. Stoll slipped a pass through a Wild defenseman to a wide open Ted "Bailey" Purcell*, who slammed the puck home. Brown had a great game last night, while Purcell had an outstanding defensive effort.

*My brother sent me a text last night that said, "When Purcell scores he should ride around on an ATV." I think that's a good idea.

The Kings won last night because they had better forwards than the Minnesota Wild. The Wild tried to avoid the fate of the San Jose Sharks by splitting up their top line to get away from Fro-Hand-Meat, but the result was that they didn't have one line strong enough to stop Smyth-Kopitar-Williams from running roughshod over their defense. Then, while the Wild were focusing on matching up with those two lines, the Purcell-Stoll-Brown line snuck in a goal to put the game away. Terry Murray has been doing an excellent job of balancing his lines and has used his 4th line sparingly since the top 3 lines are soo effective. The only 4th liner who saw any extended time was Brad Richardson in the 3rd period, who had a very good night. It'll be interesting to see how the Kings fare on the road, when the opposing team gets last change, but right now I'm not too worried about any of our top 3 lines. Holy hell, when was the last time I said that?

The defense was better with the return of Sean O'Donnell. Both power play goals you can pin on Davis Drewiske, and I can't say I understand why he was out there in the first place. Granted, Sean O'Donnell and Jack Johnson were in the box for both goals, but it seemed like Murray would have put Drewiske out with Rob Scuderi no matter what. I know Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson both play the power play, but there's no reason Drewiske should be out on the penalty kill over either one. I think that might change by Saturday.

Jonathan Quick had another game where he let in some goals but overall didn't look bad. He had a one-timer and two deflections right to the stick of a Wild player and he didn't have much of a shot on any of them. His rebounds were a little out there, but he doesn't usually have that problem. Hopefully he can get a save percentage over 90% in a game sometime soon.

Good day all around: Dodgers win because Matt Holliday tried to catch a baseball with his vagina, Kings win, Jim & Pam get married... man, who needs a life when you can watch TV?

My absolute favorite moment of yesterday happened during the Dodgers game. Loretta's up with the game on the line, tension everywhere... and I couldn't stop laughing when I saw this:

What the hell is (I think it's) Orlando Hudson doing? It's like he's moving the ball onto Loretta's bat with his mind. Maybe he noticed Manny was picking his nose and is trying to let us know. It's not like he looked like that for a split second, either; he held that face for like 4 whole seconds. I don't know, I thought it was hilarious.

Kings Gameday- Ballistic: Sleek vs. Kelly

RudyKelly — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:01:22 -0000

Los Angeles Kings vs. Phoenix Coyotes

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West

Left to right: Earl, Rudy, Rudy's pec's

As you all know, Earl and I hate one another. Maybe it was the time I slept with his sister, or the time I slept with his mom, or the time I slept with him... the point is, we don't like each other. We begrudgingly work together because, for some reason, ranting and cursing only goes well when it's balanced by puns and cartoons. Things finally boiled over recently, however, and we almost came to blows. Cooler heads prevailed (his, because I would destroy him) and we settled our latest disagreement with a bet.

The bet is simple: if the Kings finish higher than the Ducks, I win.

If the Ducks finish higher than the Kings, I don't win.

It's the 2nd greatest bet of all time, behind the bet in Can't Hardly Wait (I'm Freddy Prinze, Jr.). The terms of the bet? Simple, yet devastating: sig change. If I win, Earl has to change his signature to something embarrassing for the entire off-season. If Earl doesn't lose, I have to change my sig to something like, "The only things smoother than Corey Perry's skating skills are his balls on my chin."

And this is where you come in.

We are asking you, our smokin' hot readers, to come up with some ideas for good signatures that I one of us will wear in shame at the end of the season. Post your ideas in the comments and we'll have a vote when I one of us loses in April. My original idea for Earl was, "I sure do deserve a 'pun'ch to the face," but I know you can do better.

-The Kings have decided their 4th line for tonight's game and I'm this close to being excited. They're playing Brad Richardson at center, Trevor Lewis at right wing... and Ivanans at left. Whatever. I'm still trying to run down whether or not Trevor Lewis is a wing or a center, since he's always played center but has switched over to wing this entire preseason. Oh, if only anyone important returned my e-mails!

-The Kings have a new goal song, finally ridding us of that atrocious song that has plagued rinks across the country. (You know the one, the one that kind of sucks.) They basically ripped off the "Hey! Hey! Hey hey hey!" part of the Rangers' goal song, which is fine because that is the best part of the best goal song in the world. Hey!

-If Shane Doan and Ryan Smyth collide while battling in the corner, do they turn into maple syrup?

-Speaking of Smyth, I don't know how to boo without sounding like the old lady from Princess Bride so I'm not sure how to properly show my displeasure towards him. I'm thinking I might give him the snoot salute. "Boo, Ryan Smyth, and again I say boo!"

-There's still no concrete word on what the special team lines are going to be, so it'll be interesting to see what the Kings throw out tonight. On the penalty kill I think the Kings will run Stoll-Brown and Handzus-Frolov units, with Kopitar, Williams, and Simmonds getting minutes if needed. It's interesting, the Kings have like 9 guys that can play short-handed. Oh, that's not interesting? Scew you buddy.

On the power play, I imagine the Kings will run Smyth-Kopitar-Brown-Doughty-Stoll, with Frolov-Handzus-Purcell-Johnson-Williams comprising the 2nd unit. I'm not a big fan of having a forward on the backend on both power play units, but then again I'm not a big fan of Flash Forward so what do I know.*

*I don't get this show. I've watched the first 2 episodes and the were just the worst. The acting was terrible, the humor was weird and inappropriate, and why the fuck are people driving home the day after a global disaster? I don't get shows like 24 or Lost either, so I think it's my problem. Everyone I knows seems to think it's pretty good. Oh well, at least there's Community.**

**I almost cried I was laughing so hard at the end of the last episode when the Dead Poet's Society teacher made his big speech and then started climbing a tree. Also, "I will have... a birthday cake!"

-Things you learn from NHL 10's Be a Pro Mode:

+/- is bullshit. Seriously, I have one foot on the ice when the other team scores and it's my fault?
Fuck coaches. B- in team play? I have 5 points tonight asshole! I'm demanding a trade.
Having teammates is the worst. I dance around Jay Buowmeester, fake a shot, slide the puck over to Ryan Smyth... and then he misses a wide open net. Goddammit. (That's 8.)
I'm a child. I don't care how many games I play, hitting another player after the whistle and then chasing the ref around the rink when he appears is funny as hell.
I'm also an asshole. I never knew this, but apparently I'd get like a thousand penalty minutes if I were a skater instead of a goalie. I'm supposed to be a sniper but I keep fighting. Hack my leg? I'll kill you!
Michal Handzus will always be overrated. I don't know what it is about Handzus, but he always gets overrated in video games. The guy can't skate 10 feet without giving away the puck in real life, but put him in a video game and he's a superstar. I think he has 10 goals in the 3 games I've played with him. It's probably because he makes over $4 million dollars a year so people assume he's awesome.
Seriously, +/- is bullshit. I'm blanketing my guy at the point, how the fuck am I supposed to prevent that goal?????? I'm demanding a trade.

-Kings game tonight. I'm trying to think of a Kings team I've liked as much as I like this one, but I'm coming up with a blank. I mean, I hate Ryan Smyth, Jack Johnson is a douche bag and Peter Harrold is terrible but other than that I love everyone on this team.

Kopitar's the future.

Justin Williams looks like the villian in a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie.

Ted Purcell is tantalizingly talented and I hope for the best.

Dustin Brown is the captain, bold and moral.

Michal Handzus looks like Beeker from the Muppets.

Jarret Stoll... he's there.

Alex Frolov is my high school girlfriend.

Wayne Simmonds is the meat train.

Raitis Ivanans eats shoes.

Brad Richardson is probably of Norwegian descent and is thus cool in my book.

Trevor Lewis is a big mother fucker and will hopefully be a badass shutdown player in the future.

Drew Doughty once made a mistake; he said he wasn't amazing when he was 7.

Sean O'Donnell is an angry old goat who once kicked an ogre's ass.

Matt Greene is a future angry old goat.

Rob Scuderi is an angry goat.

Davis Drewiske... is also there.

MEAT TRAIN!!!!!!!!

Jonathan Quick makes amazing saves and has giant ears.

Erik Ersberg gets carded when he goes to R-rated movies.

Terry Murray always looks like a meerkat when he thinks he's spotted a grub. The meerkat Terry Murray, not actual Terry Mur... wait, hold on.

Yep, I think this may be my favorite Kings' team of all time. Maybe it's coloring my predictions for this season, but I do honestly think the Kings are going to make the playoffs this season.

The Kings have a mountain to climb.

Let's climb it.

You are Bold, Yes...

RudyKelly — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:24:29 -0000

But are you Daring?

Bold Predictions

-Anze Kopitar will score 80 points or more.

-Wayne Simmonds will score 30 points.

-Justin Williams will play less than 60 games.

-Ryan Smyth will make me say, "Goddammit," over 100 hundred times. (I'm already at 7.)

-Jack Johnson will score over 30 points and I will still hate him.

-Either Ryan Getzlaf or Scott Niedermayer will miss more than 15 games.

-The Sharks will trade for Dany Heatley, strip their captain of his responsibility, change the culture in their locker room... and lose their first game to the Avalanche.

-Ted Purcell will not score more than 42 points.

-Sean O'Donnell will begin as a #2 defenseman this season and end as a #6.

-Thomas Hickey will be a breakout player this season.

-Alex Frolov will do everythng right and yet still get criticized.

-Rob Scuderi will be the new scapegoat.

-Corey Perry will miss time when he is beaten half to death... by his own team.

-Jonathan Quick will play well this season.

-Jonathan Bernier will be the Kings' starting goaltender by the end of the year.

-No one will understand the reference I made in the title.*

*I don't understand why Doritos abandoned that ad campaign. I thought it was hilarious. Take this commercial as an example. It was the 3rd best food ad campaign after the glorious Emerald Nuts campaign and those creepy Cheetos commercials.

-Jarret Stoll will score 20 goals this season but still no one will like him.

-Joe Thornton will go on a scoring tear and will be seen around town with a 19-year old man named Slade.

-Michal Handzus will miss games with an injury.

-The Kings will be on the power play and pass it between their two defenseman before taking a weak shot from the the blue line that is easily blocked. The Kings will get the rebound and repeat. (Wait, that's not bold.)

-Richard Clune will only play 40-45 games this season and yet have over 10 fights.

-Raitis Ivanans will play more than 65 games and yet have less than 10 fights.

-Trevor Lewis will play limited minutes but his season will still be considered a success.

-Peter Harrold will play more than limited minutes but his season will be considered a waste.

-The Kings will be out of the playoffs most of the year but will make a post-Olympic run to the playoffs.

-The Dallas Stars will start off strong but then realize their season rests on the shoulders of Marty Turco and Alex Auld. They will then tumble, tumble, tumble.

-The Anaheim Ducks will miss the playoffs.

-The Kings will lose in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual champions: the San Jose Sharks.

-After finally getting over the hump, Sharks fans will somehow become more insufferable.

Kings Pre-Season Gameday: Feel the Excitement!

RudyKelly — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:17:05 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

"Watch out, a bee!" "Oh no, I'm allergic!"

Browse more photos »

Los Angeles Kings vs. San Jose Sharks

Citizen's Business Bank Arena- Ontario, CA, 7:30 PST 1150AM

The Kings have their 2nd, 3rd, something preseason game tonight against the San Jose Sharks. Smyth-Kopitar-Williams are getting a break tonight, as is Michal Handzus, while Jarret Stoll is still out with olditis. Rich Hammond is reporting the lines as follows:

Purcell-Moller-Brown
Frolov-Loktionov-Simmonds
Clifford-Schenn-Lewis
Ivanans-Cliche-Segal

Johnson-Drewiske
O'Donnell-Doughty
Campbell-Mullen

Quick
Bernier

So basically, it's the 2nd line (at least until Stoll gets back), 2/3rds of the 3rd line, and Raitis. The only real interesting thing to me is that this is the 2nd time Marc-Andre Cliche has centered the 4th line with Ivanans, giving me misguided hope that he has a shot at making the team. Which led to this thought: if Marc-Andre Cliche and Marc-Edouard Vlasic go into the corner to fight for the puck, how do they decide who gets it? I like to think they'll joust for it, with Cliche and Vlasic riding Ivanans and Shelley as their respective noble steeds.

On defense, Matt Greene and Rob Scuderi get a break, while Quick will probably play all game in goal.

On the Sharks end... whoops, forgot, I don't give a fuck.

Prediction: Some guy will score, another will do that one thing where they kinda wave their hand at the puck, and some guy will do... you know, that thing, with the stick.