alt="LA Kings Insider with Rich Hammond" />Need to catch up on today’s news and notes, on a busy day? Please check out my LAKings.com notebook. Thanks for reading!
Also, there’s this stat courtesy of Nick Nickson. Drew Doughty is the 12th defenseman in Kings history to record at least 50 points in a season. The list, in chronological order, goes: Gary Sargent, Doug Halward, Larry Murphy (three times; club record 76 points in one season by a defenseman in 1980-81), Jerry Korab, Mark Hardy, Steve Duchesne (four times), Rob Blake (four times), Paul Coffey, Alex Zhitnik, Mathieu Schneider, Lubomir Visnovsky (twice) and Doughty. Doughty is the second-youngest to reach 50 points. Murphy was 19 years, 320 days old when he reached 50 in 1981.
Wow…I didn’t remember Hardy having that kind of gun.
Steve Duchesne,Theres a name that I really miss.I still have his autographed stick.It’s the one I’ve ever got autographed.I know,I’m such a dork.
I missed something”It’s the only one”
Anyone out there been following the Matt Cooke saga? The hit on Marc Savard was ghastly. But….. hey, that’s ok. Really not a problem at all actually. Savard might well be out for the rest of the season, Cooke is a repeat offender, and the verdict is……. (drum roll…………………………….)…. No Suspension!!!!
I feel angry. I feel very angry actually. What Sort Of A League Is This?!!!!
@number 6, I hated seeing that hit,because of the end result.You can’t fault the NHL for not suspending Cooke,Just hope that they can find a way to clean it up.So that those kind of hits don’t happen again.
@number 6,
Where ‘ya been?
http://www.lakingsnetwork.com/hammond/?p=4521
I think there is a split decision here; lotsa comments, though…
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy, ha ha I missed out.Had to actually do some work.
@Dominick,
Good for you!
I should follow your example…
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, with a nickname of “hardly any defense”?
They play again in a couple of days, justice will be served.
Quite a list of defensemen. A number, including Murphy, Sargent, Duchesne, Blake (and Sydor) came from within the Kings system.
Hope the Kings do a better job hanging on to defensemen then they used to.
Sargent was everything you could want in a defenseman. If I recall he was lost to back issues.
Also, I think if the Kings had their act together could have had Duchesne, Murphy, Sydor, Zhitnick and Blake all playing together at one point in time. Even Gary Galley was around then.
OK, so I took a dqay to get here and read whats going on. I wanted to post on each thread but don’t think anyone will be back there to read it. So here it is.
Bako & Quisp – I think this is the first time I’m agreeing with Cristobal. We would all love to see JB in net, he is our future, right. But lets think reasonably. He will be gone when Quicker gets back. period. DL has made it perfectly clear that JB needs to stay in Manchester and compete for the championship. He needs to learn how to win under pressure.
Quisp, you made a remark ” if Quick gets hurt JB will be starting” HOG Wash. your saying play him in case… please. EE is our back up going into the playoffs. Everyone here is complaining that he isn’t game ready, he hasn’t played in so long…. Well, here we are, its his time, this is the back ups job. we need him to have game time going into the playoffs. your already putting Quicker in IR just to see JB play… shame on you.
I want JB to play as much as you all do. But pull your heads out and think realistically and what is best for our team going into the playoffs. EE needs the time in net this time of the year, he needs to have the trust and confidence of the team. Bringing up JB now and start him is the wrong thing to do. I hope TM sees this and does the right thing.
My 2 cents…
GO KINGS
3 points of interest from the Hawks game.
1. Sharp has 13 goals in 15 games against the Kings
2. Hawks only have one goal this year on 5v3 PPs.
3. The Kings game was the first game this season the Hawks had all of their players available (no one on injuried list). We played their best squad.
@jet,
And, they did a good job to keep the game within reach.
@KingzzFan,
“your already putting Quicker in IR just to see JB play… ”
Are you being intentionally stupid? Nowhere is Quisp ‘hoping’ that Quick gets hurt just so JB can play.
Quisp is working out a hypothetical situation. It’s one that that’s disturbing to contemplte, but it’s possible. And besides: The roster limit has been lifted. Bernier can stay with the team without Quick going on IR.
I’m not entirely sure I agree with Quisp, because I think DL’s priority is for Bernier to ride with Manchester all the way through the playoffs. But really, he has a point, and it’s worth thinking about: If Quick is seriously injured down the stretch, is Ersberg, who hasn’t given Quick enough of a run to play more than a handful of games all season, and who has looked adequate at best when he as played, going to be the goalie who takes the Kings through the playoffs? I can already envision the virtual lynching that DL and TM will receive for giving up on the playoffs.
thank you sharks!
Pretty bad night for the kings in the standings
Colorado, Calgary and Detroit all won…
we’re on SIX points infront of the 8th seed now and SEVEN points in the playoffs…getting scary!
@josh e.,
Scary indeed, but also adds to excitement especially if we make it.
@USHA#17, Murphy is definitely a kick in the nuts and to think about a GK around that same time named Billy Smith…
@jet, So Jamie Kompon is the Hawks PP coach, too?
@josh e.,
Even if we drop down, it’s most important that the teams that are in, continue to beat the teams that are out. After that it’s all just about home ice advantage.
Or, if the Kings win a certain number of games they’re going to be in no matter what other teams do and right now I think we’re right around .500 hockey or less needed to get a spot in the playoffs. Any spot, that is. See this LGK link for more if you want:
http://www.letsgokings.com/bbs/f4/kings_playoff_chances_stats_update-155541.html
There’s like 9 pages just go to the last page for the latest.
@vindogla,
Oh and of course thank you TonySCV.
@USHA#17,
OD’s first tour of duty with the Kings was around then too. Maybe your just naming guys we drafted?
@vindogla,
Easy now, we moved up to #6 in the league on PP.
Well, I guess you can still harp on the 5v3 PP numbers.
@KingzzFan, Bernier > EE
We need to win & Bernier gives us the nest chance.
End of story.
@josh e.,
Here are the actual facts:
We are 7 points in standings ahead of 9th, but actually we have an eight point cushion with a game in hand.
Detroit has played one more game and has 7 fewer wins. If they tied us in points we would win the tiebreaker of more wins, so they need to beat us by a point. 7 point difference actually means 8 point cushion.
Even if we get only 2 wins of each 5 game segment, Detroit would need to go no worse than 10-4-1.
Or, to put it another way, we are playing at .629, meaning that so far, league wide against all teams good and bad, we are getting .629 worth of possible points. With 16 games left that means we would get 20 points if we played at normal pace, and Detroit would need to get 28 of 30 possible points.
The combined winning percentage of our remaining opponents is .529, so even if we calculate using their winning percentage we would get 17 points, giving us 100. Detroit would then need to get 24 of 30 possible points, going no worse than 12-3, or 11-1-2.
Sure, we could fall out of the playoffs, it is possible, but if you are a fan of this team you should have well enough confidence to believe they won’t.
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy,
BUSY is the response to that one my dear BakoCAkings guy who I always enjoy tooing and froing (no pun intended) with….. though that Would have been a good pun, no?
@luc20rules,
Yep, just the drafted players.
Thank goodness the era of trading for has beens and ruined confidence may have passed.
Writers who demanded a “Kovalachuk” fix may not understand the long terms consequences.
IMO benching Ersburg and playing Bernier would be backsliding…look at the number of ex-King goalies currently playing/starting for other clubs
Maybe TM’s decision yesterday of not declaring EE the starter right away is his way of challenging EE. In the end if he chooses EE to start tonight that should get him to play with a chip on his shoulder…and yet give him confidence that he’s the one who earned the spot over the kid in manchester that everyone is talking about. It might be the right kinda swagger we want in our backup goalie…
Maybe…
… on the other hand if we get JB in nets i’ll be excited but it makes my whole theory rather moot.
@Player-X,
Whew, your analysis is quite a relief.
But…where there is a King’s Team there is a way.
I wonder if the Kings will play .500. They added two players to the mix and now Williams has to come up to speed…on the top line no less.
These intangibles can throw this stretch in any direction and really ramps up the excitement, at least for me.
Dare I say…if the Club gets in I give then a fair chance to sneak into the second round. I like the potential match ups (but still wonder about Colorado)
@USHA#17,
Where ther is a King’s Team there is a way, yes.
A way to WIN.
Time to molt the aged skin of disappointment.
@vindogla,
Lets see, Pulford era, a short lived Triple Crown era, team #99, and the short lived Allison-Deadmarsh team.
All the other years were experiments in how to win GM drinking buddies and give away ruined rookies and disheartened vets.
@Player-X
After all those years it just hard to get used to following one of the top teams in the league.
I did dare say it, through. Second Round!
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
Jerry Effing Korab???
Dying to know who’s getting the start tonight Rich.
Who really knows. I have to believe TM will do whats best IHHO. I can’t remember any instances where he has made a really bad coaching decision. I really believe in this guy!
@Old Codger, On one of his post-game interviews, I think I almost saw him smile.
I posted on another comment area that the Kings would have to go through Phoenix, Chicago and SJ to get to the cup. Of those teams, I fear the Coyotes will be the hardest to eliminate.
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
His stats were probably 3G 47A. ;-)
@Old Codger, I was thinking CHI would be the toughest with their speed, but PHX would be a tie or a close second.
….and Smyth WANTS to meet them first in the playoffs! Wonder why?