LA KINGS OUTSIDER 2.0

"Reunited & It Feels So Good.." It’s no secret.  The Los Angeles Kings are floundering.  The Kings have won only two of their last ten.  The entire roster has struggled to score goals, averaging only 2.05 goals per game, dead last in the NHL. The Kings averaged 2.55 goals last season (25 th in the league).  Dean Lombardi did his best to bolster their anemic offense in the offseason.  Unfortunately, the results this season have been mixed at best. Fans were ecstatic when Dean Lombardi acquired Mike Richards prior to the Draft.  He was fantastic during the first two months of the season posting 20 points in 24 games.  Unfortunately, Richards has only 11 points in 29 games since suffering a concussion in early December.  PASS. Perfect, DL got a #1A center to compliment Kopitar.  Only box that needed to be checked was a top-line left wing… Dustin Penner.  His late-season struggles followed him into this season.  He’s got fi...

The $56-million man?!?! Terry Murray (6-3-2, 2.36 GF/G, 1.91 GA/G, 22.5 PP%, 86.1 PK%) Grade: C I only grade TM because I hated his decision to start Bernier vs. New Jersey.  I heard his explanation and still disagree.  I understand that he wanted Quick against the two division rivals but Quick and the Kings were on an absolute roll.  I’m a big believer in momentum and without a doubt the Kings had it.  The Kings played their worst game of the season in front of Bernier and got shutout by New Jersey. Jonathan Quick (6-1-2, 1.52 GAA, .947 SV%, 3 SO) Grade: A Quick has been outstanding for the Kings in the first month of the season.  Three consecutive shutouts earned him a Player of The Week honor already.  But don’t get too excited yet because Quick started off hot last October (7-1-0, 1.84 GAA, .936) only to never reach those numbers again for the rest of the season.  Jonathan Bernier (0-2-0, 3.55 GAA, .857 SV%, 0 SO) Grade: C I thought ...

Jack Johnson 2010-11 Stats: 82 GP, 5 G, 37 A, 42 PTS, -21, 28 PPP, 44 PIM   Signed through 2017-18; $4.35 million On the surface, Jack Johnson had himself a career year.  He appeared in all 82 games for the first time.  His 42 points were a career-high.  His 28 points on the man-advantage put him in the top-5 among blueliners.  But just a little bit of digging and you realize that Jack Johnson was absolutely brutal this year.  Fans calling Drew Doughty the biggest disappointment of the season are letting JJ off the hook way too easy.  JJ recorded a career low and team worst +/- rating of -21 following seasons of: -19, -18, -15.  Among Kings blueliners Rob Scuderi had the next worst +/- rating +1.  Only SIX NHL defenseman out of the 303 that qualified had a worse +/- and three of those defenseman were from the Ottawa Senators . Now, for those fans that don't believe in the +/- statistic; let's take a look at JJ's CORSI # of -2.39 and a REL ...

Jack Johnson Checks Mattias Ritola A little late to the show but check out some pictures I took at Thursday's 1-0 victory vs. Tampa Bay.  Check out some of my favorites after the jump.  And check out all of them on my Flickr page .

You Know It's Opening Night When All 20 Kings Are Standing On The Blue Line For The National Anthem The hockey season doesn't officially start for me until the home opener.  It's always fun to get reacquainted with the Kings equipment managers and training staff.  I didn't get there early enough for all the pregame fun outside of Staples Center but Chris Kontos over at The Royal Half did .  Kings won 3-1.

My Heart Wants America; My Brain Says It'll Look Alot Like 2002 Unlike the women's bracket; there's actually a competition taking place on the men's side.  The NHL-ice surface may give a slight advantage to the Canadians and Americans. There is so much offensive firepower from teams #1-#7 that staying off the penalty kill will be important for every team.  Imagine a Kovalchuk-Malkin-Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Gonchar Power Play....WHOA! Eight of the twelve countries have NHL starting goaltenders.  Any of them are capable of stealing a game.  Once the tournament reaches the quarterfinals and becomes single-elimination; their could be some huge upsets. And without further adieu; my predictions for Men's Ice Hockey at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. GOLD: CANADA - No country can match Canada's depth at every position.  With the games in Vancouver; too much is on the line for this team to fail. SILVER: RUSSIA - The trio of Ovechkin, Malkin and Kovalchuk should b...

Vinny to Hollywood? Vinny is so last year right?  Around this same time last year, everyone had Lecavalier headed to the Habs to help usher in a new century of hockey in Montreal.  Unfortunately for the Habs and the NHL; a deal was never worked out. Fast forward to 2010 and not much has changed.  The ownership situation in Tampa is still uncertain and once again Vinny is rumored to be on the market.  Guess who's interested?  THN Ken Campbell reports the Kings are.  And he's got names! It’s believed the Lightning would want a large package of players and draft picks for Lecavalier, along with the cap and salary relief they’d receive by dumping Lecavalier’s contract. The Lightning has apparently asked for defenseman Jack Johnson, right winger Wayne Simmonds, a prospect and several draft picks.   First off, it's great to finally hear the Kings mentioned as buyers.  For so long, the talks been what team's going to give us some draft-picks come the ...