LA KINGS OUTSIDER 2.0

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 ...

Jonathan Quick Is A #1 Whether You Like It Or Not  About a year ago to the day, I wrote the following in my 2009-10 Season Review: Goaltending post . The Kings may start out with a Nashville-type split in goal to start next season but it’ll be Bernier’s net by the All-Star break.   So that didn't quite happen.  Jonathan Quick proved that last year was no fluke.  Jonathan Bernier finally stepped into the NHL full-time as Quick's backup.  The tandem provided the most solid goaltending the franchise has seen in decades.  They combined for another 46 wins, .914 SV % (10th), 2.39 GAA (6th), and 9 shutouts on the season.   JONATHAN QUICK 2010-11 Stats: 61 GP, 35 Wins, 2.24 GAA, .918 SV%, 6 Shutouts Signed thru 2012-13; $1.8M Whether it was the embarrassment of his performance down the stretch and in the first round against Vancouver last season or the footsteps of Jonathan Bernier behind him; Jonathan Quick arrived to training camp on a mission....

Jonathan Quick Has Struggled In January I‘m with every other Kings fan that’s frustrated with this team’s inconsistent play this season.  I decided to look at some monthly splits; hoping that the stats would shed some light on why the Kings have looked so terrible.  Instead, I found something a little more interesting: the team’s statistics through 46 games this season fall right in line with last season’s averages. The Kings had some expectations going into this season.  The next Chicago Blackhawks was repeated more than once by the so-called 'experts.'  DL failed to acquire an impact forward.  Instead, he made a couple lateral moves/slight improvements looking for ‘the right fit.’  He replaced Frolov with Ponikarovsky.  O’Donnell with Mitchell.  And proclaimed that Scott Parse was the next Kris Versteeg.  Nothing ground-breaking. He put it on the ‘core’ group to improve and take their games to the next-level.  It looks like they...

I use to collect hockey cards.  ALOT of hockey cards.  More hockey cards than any kid should have.  I quickly learned that 1990-91 was the year to collect.  You could pull rookie cards of superstars like Jeremy Roenick, Mike Modano, Alexander Mogilny, Curtis Joseph, etc.  It looks like alot of trading card companies including Upper Deck will release a set with a vintage look from 20 years ago . I've been playing around with Photoshop and decided to give it a shot with my own pictures on a couple custom cards.

Kopi's Ready For Halloween (PHOTO: ESPN)  THE GOOD Kings score two goals this weekend and manage a split .  Can't really complain about that. The Kings throwback jerseys on Saturday were awesome.  Jonathan Quick's pads and mask were great too.  I like his throwback mask more than his current one.  I was really hoping to see some names but the Kings didn't permanently add names to the back of their Road uniforms until the NHL required them for the 1977 season . Kopitar wasn't seriously injured from an unintentional high-stick in the corner from Manny Malhotra that led to Kopi receiving 15 stitches on the outside; four on the inside, and the loss of a fake tooth.   Brayden Schenn looks like he belongs and should grab that open slot on the second-line any day now .  Kyle Clifford seems to have lost all that aggression that earned him this opportunity.  He may be on his way to Barrie before the week is over. Jarett Stoll dominated the faceo...

This will be the first-installment of my Season In Review.  My thoughts on each player's 2009-10 season and what to expect in 2010-11 from them.  I've also included my Fantasy Projections for fun .  In honor of Dean Lombardi; we'll start from the net out.  The Kings goaltending this year was great at times and terrible at others. And when I say Kings goaltending; I really mean Jonathan Quick. Terry Murray admitted to possibly playing Quick too much to secure a high-seed in the playoffs. That decision hurt the Kings more than it helped them down the stretch and ultimately cost them in the playoffs.   Read the rest after the jump...

Far Too Much Of This From Quicker Kings players along with the coaching staff were available to the media Tuesday and Hammer got some great quotes from head coach Terry Murray on the series, the season and everything else . I thought his most telling remarks were regarding the goaltending situation . “Maybe (I) played (Quick) a little too much down the last month. But at that point, I had already made a commitment to him, and maybe had backed away, a little too far, from Ersberg being able to jump in and get some rhythm to his game and give us those solid games that would have spelled relief for Quick. And I thought about that, long before we got to the end of the year." MAYBE you played Quick too much?  MAYBE you backed too far away from Ersberg?  The season's over now.  Let's be real here.  Stats don't lie.  Read my take after the jump...

Bobby Lu Did Alot of This Eight Goals?!  I'm speechless! The Kings came to play.  Henrik Sedin was lost without his twin brah.  And the Kings capitalized on their chances with a little help from Bobby Lu. Jonathan Bernier played well enough for the victory (although the two goals shortside were  a bit disappointing). Roberto Luongo was bad.  In his defence, he was probably five goals bad.  Not eight.  A few pucks actually bounced the Kings way and they took advantage overwhelming the Canucks. Dustin Brown fed off all the support and love I gave him in my last blog post; Netting his second career hat trick; capping off a four point night for the Kings captain. And the Kings 5-on-3 PP!  Did anyone see how they set it up?  No more UMBRELLA!  Overload.  Overload!  Overload!  I saw good movement and some nice backdoor chances created.  Didn't score but it looked alot better than before.  I'm pretty sure Terry Mu...

After watching the Kings hold on in two games against Colorado.  Watching them get dominated by the Blues.  And then get dominated again tonight versus the Stars on home ice.  I came to one conclusion. The Kings are tired.  Some would say the Kings are catching some bad breaks with officials.  That might be true but the Kings have been back on their heels for a while.  Time to step up their game.  Soon. This group has never been in this position before; playing games that mattered in late-March.  And it's beginning to show. It's been widely discussed that Jonathan Quick hasn't played this many games.  And it's becoming clear he hasn't gotten his game on track since that extended Olympic break. Drew Doughty looked outstanding in the Olympics.  Since returning; he looks spent.  I've never seen him turn the puck over more than once in a game.  It's become more frequent with each game. I don't know what they're going to do....