Game 14: Kings vs New York Rangers 4:1

Puck pressure and timely scoring avert Kings losing streak

The very definition of puck pressure
(photo courtesy of www.gettyimages.com)

LA goals from: Brent Sopel (2), Sean Avery
NYR goal from: Shanahan

The pros: Perhaps it was the looming Haloween moon but the lucky bounces (see first Sopel goal deflected by a Ranger in front of goalie Lundqvist) and puck pressure came together on the same night for the Kings:

"We got the breaks, and the bounces went in tonight," said Los Angeles' Craig Conroy, who had two assists. "That's something we hadn't experienced this season. I think it came down to the little things. We talked about winning faceoffs and finishing checks. All of the little things added up for us in a positive way. Hopefully, we can turn this thing around."

Another solid outing by Mathieu Garon in goal (kept Shanny from scoring on 2-of-3 scoring chances, as far as I remember). It was also great to see the Kings not lose focus and bounce right back with the Avery goal.

The cons: There was no reason to let go in the third period (only four SoG). It remains a mystery beyond "War and Peace" how to get Mr. Frolov to go to war more often like he did last night. Does Lombardi need to lose another bet? ;)

'Quiet eyes' help lower GAA

Just a little note on science really catching up with what the casual fans knew all along: focus on the puck if you're a goalie and don't let those flinky moves of the shooter detract you.

The phenomenon is called goalie's 'quiet eyes':

"The researchers discovered these elite goalies focused directly on the puck nearly a full second before the shot was released nearly three-quarters of the time. They also concentrated on the ice in front of the stick when it came to a quarter of all shots. Their gaze was only on the body of the shooter 2 percent of the time".

Thanks go to Puckhead for the heads-up.

Lombardi standing by Kings' character

On second and third thoughts of a somewhat disappointed fan (with results, not intensity), the belief and confidence in a right, though bumpy, direction that GM Dean Lombardi expresses might be just what the doctor ordered. Sometimes it takes a real visionary to see past the wear and tear of 60+ minute effort with another L on the board:

"The whole thing is to establish a character and a work ethic, what you stand for, and that's not going to happen overnight," Lombardi said. "But I see a game like last night [at Dallas], it's a sign. I think we showed the character that I want to see."

On the whole I agree in principle that character brings long-term results to a much higher degree than raw talent does. It's just that it has not been easy to bear with the growing pains of this team on most nights. What I have been screaming for into the pillow lately is just one gutless but lucky Kings game with a few bounces and calls going our way and Kings ending up with a 5-1 happy win with three power play goals. Is *this* too much too ask? ;)

And no, it does not mean forfeiting the overall plan for having value-oriented, character guys who leave their heart and soul on the ice. It's just that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Hopefully, not Jack Mother******** Johnson when he's here for good in just over a year. In the meantime, let's play hard and enjoy it. I can almost hear the lucky bounces bouncing our way one day...

Games 12-13: Kings @ Columbus Blue Jackets 0:2, Kings @ Dallas Stars 2:3

Kings dominate but have little to show for it

Garon stopped what he could, but not Halpern's game winner
(photo courtesy of www. yahoo.com)

Los Angeles @ Columbus 0:2

LA goals from: none
CBJ goals from: Zherdev, Modin

The pros: The Kings made a hero for a day out of Pascal Laclaire, bombing his goal for 38 shots to no avail. Another good game from Rob Blake. First signs of visibility for Dustin Brown, clogging the crease, sending bodychecks and shooting on goal (six attempts).

The cons: Would anyone consider the Kings could actually fall flat on their faces like that in Ohio? Regardless of lack of luck, some scoring chances just must be converted. Period. Having said that, I still don't know how I feel about the "Kevin Dallman at center" experiment? Why not just put O'Sully in the middle - at least he's got some experience there to take him out of the early season funk...


Los Angeles @ Dallas 2:3

LA goals from: Rob Blake, Tom Kostopoulos
DAL goals from: Boucher, Barnes, Halpern

The pros: Very good first and third periods by the Kings, to a point where they almost made the comeback from the 2-3 deficit at the end of the game. Lucky PP goal by Blake to an otherwise unispiring 1-for-8 power play performance. Two won fights, one by Kostopolous (vs Ott) and Jeff Cowan (vs Barnaby). Solid performance by Mathieu Garon.

The cons: Another game, same net result. Scoring 1 or 2 goals per game is not gonna make it in the new NHL. Kings need a scorer to rise from within - the team needs to look for suitable candidates, but the bulk of the additional scoring should come from veterans. Says Cowan:

"We keep getting good effort. This is tough. But if we keep playing hard this will eventually turn around."

I hope the Kings don't get discouraged by the lack of effect of their puck pressure before the results come. For one thing, Brent Sopel should be back for Monday game against the New York Rangers. He took a puck to the ankle in Minnesota.

Brodeur ties Plante for 4th all-time in shutouts

(photo courtesy of www.nhl.com)

Here's the bilingual recap of event in question: for these of you who prefer English and for those of you who could tackle Polish. At any rate, there's quite an excerpt from Martin Brodeur's autobiography available at ESPN website - I thought you'd want to have a look at:

"I play with a new stick every game, so the first thing I do at the rink is get my sticks ready. I'll use one for warmup, one to play and have three new ones on the bench. Some of the sticks I may use later for practice. I mark the ones I use in games on the knob with the date and the opponent, so if I give them away to friends, family or charity, that information is there on the stick. I give away more than a hundred sticks every season".

Great great goaltender and seemingly wonderful personality. Seemingly, 'cause I have not laid my hands on the whole book yet. But this might change. And soon :).

Reader poll

Let me take this opportunity, while I'm stuck up there in a 767 for the better part of the day tomorrow, to ask you, my international readership ;) - what do you think of this blog so far?

Rather than offer you several options in a regular poll, let me just pose another open question:

What could I do better (there's potentially lots of things, I know) to provoke your King & Monarch thinking?

I'd be more than pleased if you took a minute to respond in the comments section. I promise to respond as soon as I'm earthbound again.

LA needs a serious boost from its veterans

What is it: it scored three goals and added seven assists in fourty four man-games this year? You guessed it right, it's a four-headed veteran monster which so far is yet to raise its point-producing impetus for the Los Angeles Kings. The combo of Brian Willsie, Derek Armstrong, Scott Thornton and Tom Kostopoulos has been virtually nowehere to be seen since the beginning of the season. Lack of offensive production, apart from shaky PP play, is a single defining reason behind the Kings rather uninspiring start (8 pts in 11 games with a 3-6-2 record).

Thornton is probably the primary scapegoat here, and for a good reason. The rugged winger was rather invisible in a number of games, regardless of his over 11 mins of playing time and ca eighteen shifts per night. If he doesn't pick up the slack, Thornton will be on pace for his worst season performance since 2000. Best chance to get the veteran quartet going presents itself tonight in Columbus where the Kings will have a chance for their only second win on the road this season.

Scott Thornton has been fighting shadows so far this season
(photo courtesy of www.yahoo.com)

Game 11: Kings @ Minnesota Wild 1:3

Kings and Ivanans took the beating from the Wild
(photos courtesy of www.yahoo.com)

LA goal from: Brian Willsie
MIN goals from: Rolston (2) , White

The pros: Not too many apart from the third period when three goals down already. Good penalty kill (Minny went only 1-for-7).

The cons: Abhorrent power-play (0-for-7) which could really change the momentum of the game early (five chances in the first two periods). Lack of offensive production from veterans, namely Scott Thornton and Willsie (notwithstanding the goal, albeit his first this season), leaves too much work for younger forward, which they cannot handle. To make matters worse Raitis Ivanans narrowly lost a bareknuckled fight with Boogard.

The Kings really need to bounce back on the road against Columbus, if they want to create any kind of momentum before the upcoming home games.

Kings awards are here! (for games 1-10)

Let's hand out some King stars for the first ten games, shall we?

*** Winner ***

Anze KOPITAR, C - sudden emergence and production of this first Slovenian product in the NHL did not go unnoticed. 11 points (including 3 goals) in 10 games, as well as third-best on the team (and first among forwards) TOI (over 22 min/game). His defensive play is often overlooked, but especially in the last two games of the period in question, Kopitar did bring his d-force up the notch (especially coming out of the zone with the puck). Overall, very natural team leader and sudden, albeit unquestioned offensive creator.

** Runner-up **

Brent SOPEL, D - this is what Kings were *really* getting when they traded Grebeshkov and Tambellini for him last year. His knee is back to 100% and it shows. Nifty moves, one heck of a slapshot and some heads-up passing make him pretty much a complete package, and at that noticeably better than veteran Rob Blake.

*Third place*

Michael Cammalleri, C/RW - leading goalscorer for the Kings with 5. Very active in the offensive zone, however loses out on backchecking effort in the neutral one. Needs to shoot still more, especially bringing the puck in.


Honorable mentions:

Craig Conroy for defensive effort, which often escapes the headlines, Lubo Visnovsky for powerplay set-up and bringing the puck up the ice, and Mathieu Garon for the only shutout and overall solid play.

And who would YOU recognize for the first ten games, ladies and gentlemen? Don't be shy - the comments section is dying for some traffic ;).

Coyotes got jobbed.com big time

Speaking on weird arena names... The Phoenix Coyotes just set the bar higher (lower?) than it was ever before.

They sold the naming rights to their arena to

(drums)





Seriously - what's next? "Welcome to Gangbang-dot-com Arena! Bring your kids for great family entertainment!"? Puhleez :).

Bad bad choice of sponsor, if you ask me. Then again, what do I know - it wasn't me who were offered nearly 30 million for ten years by jobing.com...

Game 9-10: Kings vs Anaheim Ducks 2:3 OTL, Kings @ Colorado Avalanche 1:6

Ryan Getzlaf dekes his shootout shot over
sprawled out Mathieu Garon for the Ducks win
(photo courtesy of www.pe.com)

Game 9: Los Angeles Kings vs Anaheim Ducks 2:3 OTL

LA goals from: Lubo Visnovsky, Mike Cammalleri
ANA goals from: Shannon, Penner, Getzlaf (SO winner)

The pros: Great start of the game, utter domination of the Ducks in period one. Two-goal lead that a more experienced team should be able to keep. Huge offensive and defensive effort by Anze Kopitar. Very few penalties from both sides. Good physical play of Dustin Brown on Pronger.

The cons: The lost lead and ensuing shootout loss. Unfortunate play by Mathieu Garon that resulted in a tying goal on a shot that was sailing wide left of the goal. A real heartbreaker of a game, given that for the first time this season the Ducks looked lost at times.

Says Garon on the unfortunate Penner shot:

"Maybe one in every 200 shots like that in practice goes in. You try to reach a little too far and just try to hit it a little bit, and instead of going wide, it goes in."

Game 10: Los Angeles Kings @ Colorado Avalanche 1:6

LA goal from: Derek Armstrong
COL goals from: Hejduk (2), Liles, Svatos, Stastny, Brunette

The pros: If this was supposed to be how the Kings bounce back from a heart-breaker, we need to try again. It does not show in the boxscore, but Dan Cloutier played really well.

The cons: Defensive indifference and questionable calls by the refs resulting in several 5-on-3 powerplays by the Avalanche really did this game in. The Kings really played like they were suffering from high altitude nausea in this one. If you look closely at most of the Colorado goals, the term "lucky bounce" springs to mind pretty naturally.

"We allowed too many chances and two many power plays to a team that can capitalize on them," said Los Angeles coach Marc Crawford. "Probably a result of playing a second game in two nights."

Just when I set off to watch 'Hawks in action

Got my plane tickets and hotel reservation in Chicago safely deposited on my desk. The November 2 date features the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings game in red in my calendar. I already checked how much time it's going to take us to get from the hotel to the United Center (which should be less than 30 minutes).

And then it hit me. The key 'Hawks did not manage to stay healthy long enough for me to see them live. Martin Havlat is out with a sprained right ankle for another 2-3 weeks, Nikolai Khabibulin broke his finger and is not coming back for another 2 weeks, while Michal Handzus just got the season-ending ACL tear...

Oh, well - I'm gonna go see this game anyway. Watch your backs, Brent Seabrook and Lasse Kukkonen - I'll be watching *you* since all the other guys I wanted to see are out :).

United Center in Chicago
(photo courtesy of www. nhlfr.fr)

Flyers replace arrogance with trust

John Stevens behind the Philadelphia Phantoms bench in AHL
(photo courtesy of: www.comcast-spectator.com)

By now you have read all the stories about Ken Hitchcock's dismissal and Bob Clarke resignation as the Philadelphia Flyers turned their recently crappy world upside down. My last word on Hitch and Clarke is that arrogance never pays in the long run. Hitchcock has been blamed for sticking with the worn-out schemes and strategies, signing dinosaur players long past their primes and inability to get through to the players in almost any other way than raising his voice. As witnessed by Simon Gagne:

"When I had 'Hitch' the first year, it was my fourth year in the league and it felt like my first year, so it was pretty tough. He's very tough, very demanding on you. Sometimes it's very tough to play under that kind of pressure".

While I do not have anything against putting *some* pressure on your players and setting their backsides on fire from time to time, it's been proved scientifically that people you work with (even as well paid as the NHL players) require various stimuli to be most efficient. Fear resulting from coach's arrogance has certainly been administered in large doses in the Flyer locker-room, but I wonder where Hitch would have been now if he had redesigned his attitude towards players in time.

As for Bob Clarke - well, take his comments on the latest "me-against-the world" episode. I'm talking about the Ryan Kesler offer sheet thing. Blaming everybody else for getting on you for your breaking the unwritten (yet observed) rules of conduct in the NHL is an epitome of arrogance.

Enters John Stevens, a former Hitchock's right-hand assistant. And instantly, he brings over trust and belief in his players:

"Stevens already has a natural trust and respect with many of the second- and third-year Flyers from coaching them with the team's American Hockey League affiliate, the Phantoms. Stevens coached the Phantoms to the Calder Cup championship in 2005 with current Flyers center Jeff Carter, goalie Antero Niittymaki and defenseman Freddy Meyer.

"I think there's a fine line between holding people accountable and letting them play," Stevens said".

"Fine line". The mere sound of the phrase, when spoken out loud with a Texan slur, is only a bit different from what the Flyers used to hear from Hitch and Clarke: "Firing line". But it makes a whole world of difference in Philyy these days.

I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed for Stevens' attitude and methods to work in the NHL. Prove Hitch wrong and you're my boy, John!

Paramedic Mike O'Connell

Better late than never when you consider it's really a pre-season story:

Former Bruins G.M. Mike O'Connell is now a pro scout for the L.A. Kings and was at a preseason game in Atlanta when Ranger scout Frank Effinger had a seizure and collapsed. O'Connell administered CPR until paramedics arrived, likely saving Effinger's life.

In a world where so many of us, laymen, would abstain from administering medical help in hope not to deteriorate the victim's well-being, O'Connell should be praised for courage and skills.

And yes, different courage and skill set he used when he traded away Joe Thornton, while with the Boston Bruins.

Monarchs respond to critics, win two away

Not more than two days ago both inside and outside sources were in two minds regarding the reasons for the lack of Monarch scoring. Coach Mark Morris went even as far as to claim that, similarly to the parent team:

"his young team would score by committee. The lack of a league scoring leader might be a predicament a coach cannot fix. Rather, resolution may come from general manager Ron Hextall via trade or other acquisition. He has said there are some "lines in the water" toward that end."

So helped by the schedule makers, the LA affiliate went on the road in search for the cure and came back winning and scoring. Both times.

Ryan Murphy, RW scored twice to help beat the Springield Falcons 4:2, with Tim Jackman and Petr Kanko chipping in with one apiece. Jason LaBarbera restored order in the net with a 23-for-25 save performance.

A day later in Providence, star RW Lauri Tukonen put on a clinic scoring twice, inluding an OT winner for a 3-2 edge. Eric Werner had three assists, while the power play turned out a steady effort with three overall goals (3-for-11). Matt Moulson scored his first professional goal.

The Monarchs will get much needed rest for a week now, before squaring off against the Worcester Sharks on Saturday, October 28.

Injury and suspension update
Captain defenseman Brendan Buckley has been upgraded to day-to-day with an upper body injury. He will likely require another week of rehab. John Zeiler missed both road games due to two-game league suspension for instigating a wrestling match with Providence Steve Leach.

Game 8: Los Angeles Kings @ Phoenix Coyotes 4:0

Power play explosion brings feel-good victory in the desert

Mathieu Garon shuts the Snakes out big time
(Photo courtesy of AP/Rick Scuteri)

LA goals from: Alex Frolov, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Mike Cammalleri
PHO goals from: none

The pros: First game this season where power play clicked (all four goals were score with a man advantage) and was effective at the same time. Great effort by Mathieu Garon, saving 40 Coyote shots for a shutout. Very positive outing by Rob Blake. Penalty kill fluid 100% with a lot of sacrifice. First goal of the season from Brown.

"It seems like it's always easier when you get a couple-goal lead," Garon said. "Tonight, we played awesome. The defensemen in front of me, they blocked shots. I don't think [Phoenix] got any rebounds."

The cons: Hardly any. Granted it was only Phoenix, but the trip to Arizon can be a confidence builder before Sunday's home game against Anaheim Ducks.

Games 6-7: Los Angeles Kings vs Detroit Red Wings 1:3, vs Minnesota Wild 1:2 (OT)

Kings clip only one point off non-Pacific leaders at home

Craig Conroy misses the net against the sprawled-out Manny Fernandez.
(photo courtesy of www.gettyimages.com)

Game 6: Kings vs Detroit Red Wings 1:3

LA goal from: Sean Avery
DET goals from: Lang (2), Draper.

The pros: Reasonably good game by the Kings overall, with some sloppy moments that lead to goals.

The cons: Non-existent power play execution (0-for-8). Seems like a lot of shots are taken by the likes of Rob Blake and Lubo Visnovsky, but most of them are either off target or get blocked. Cloutier made his patented mistakes on both Lang goals (angle shot to a near post and no extra effort on the breakaway).


Game 7: Kings vs Minnesota Wild 1:2 (OT)

LA goal from: Patrick O'Sullivan
MIN goals from: Rolston, Gaborik

The pros: Potentially the best game this season by the Kings, constant pressure on Fernandez, several good scoring chances. First ever NHL goal by O'Sullivan. Excellent PK, which kept the division leading Wild off the boards.

The cons: The Kings could not capitalize on the scoring chances. More movement on the power play, but with no results, though.

"The proof is in the pudding," forward Michael Cammalleri said. "No matter how many chances you create, you realize that at some point you have to score. We've done some good things in the last couple games. We've got some point shots through and battled in front of the net, but it's not enough."

Cloutier makes NHL.com frontpage

(photo courtesy of www.cbc.ca)

Yeah, I know, there's the optimistic POV that says "at least a King made it there", but to tell you the truth, having watched some of the early season performances of Dan Cloutier I hardly know what to think. He came in advertised as a feisty competitor while given what I've seen he seems like he does not care about some of the more difficult shots. Like he thought he'd block the 90% of the regular bombs from the blueline, power play slapshots and close-range dekes, while he'd simply give up on the ones that require an extra effort from him. Just like the opposite of the Luongos and Kiprusoffs of this world who feed off most amazing stops. Dan would have none of this.

Moreover, he will give up bad-angle shots while covering the near post inadequately to stop short wristshots from an angle. He continues to baffle the Kings defense with odd "spit-it-out" rebound that ends up more dangerous than the original shot. And yet somehow, he's a thirty games winner in the NHL. Not once. Not twice. Three times in a row and relatively recently. He's a mystery to me. His mind and attitude are, at least:

"Everything has been fine so far," Cloutier says, although his record might suggest otherwise. He has gotten off to a sluggish start in L.A., going 1-2 with 3.34 GAA and .884 save percentage in his first three games".

Clearly, an optimist, right?

"We'll wait and see how the body feels and then go from there," Cloutier says. "They say the first six months to a year is the toughest to get over. So far it's been good, so hopefully I can build on that. At the same time, Matty (Garon) is one of the best at that position and he's going to push me, so I think we make a great tandem. Every night Marc is capable of putting a goalie in that can steal a game."

Good-natured boy, always prone to compliment his colleague, Mathieu Garon, isn't he? Dan "Mystery" Cloutier... He'd better start turning out to be a magician. We've had enough of mysterious crossword puzzles between the pipes in LA. To the extent that somehow the mere word "mystery" spells "trouble". I'm a plain guy, Dan. Just shut them out, the pucks. Keep them away as often as you can and there's no mystery to the job. Please - you can start with the Minnesota game.

Monarchs drop two at home

Ned Lukacevic makes a move on Bruin goalie Brian Finley

(photo courtesy of: www.unionleader.com)

The Manchester Monarchs are beginning to suffer from the void up the middle. To the extent that they moved nominal wingers Lauri Tukonen and Jeff Giuliano to center to patch up the riddle made up of strong wings and weak pivot.

“We aren’t blessed with guys with an enormous amount of experience at the center position,” said Monarchs coach Mark Morris. “We’ve got guys taking turns doing the job in the middle, a very important position. I think the stability that a real solid centerman gives is essential. We’ve tinkered a little bit. We’ve given opportunities to guys like Tukonen, Noah Clarke and Giuliano, but if you ask any of those guys their normal position is not in the middle.”

Another move was made to bolster the struggling defence as Shay Stephenson was getting ice time on defence in the season opening games. The moves did not exactly pay immediate dividends as the Monarchs dropped a close game vs Providence Bruins 0:1 on Saturday October 14, and then followed up with a losing cause against the Portland Pirates 4:5 on Sunday.

They don't play again until Friday October 20, when they hit the ice in Springfield against
the Falcons.

Looks like tidbits from another installment of coach Morris' quasi-blog should be preached and practised in the upcoming games if Manchester does not want to lose sight of the conference leaders. While the power play and the penalty kill have been more than adequate, avoiding penalties is one of the minors the Monarchs need to major in:

"[...] we need to stay out of the box. There is a fine line between playing with an edge and taking needless penalties. The latter has been a sore spot in our game in the early going".

Let's see if the team can play hard and clean in Springfield.

Jonathan Bernier is an entry-level deal King

(photo courtesy of www.ronssportsphotography.com)

Some call him the second coming of the Kings 'tending stallwarts such as Kelly Hrudey and Rogie Vachon, while others consider him the most over-rated player taken in the first round of the 2006 draft.

In any instance, 18-year old Jonathan Bernier got the vote of confidence from GM Dean Lombardi and signed an entry-level contract. With young puck-stoppers such as David Taylor, Yutaka Fukufuji, Barry Brust and Bernier, Los Angeles seems to be set in goal for years to come.

Games 4-5: Kings vs Dallas Stars 1:4, 1-4

Kings drop two straight against Stars at Staples

(photo courtesy of www.yimg.com)

Derek Armstrong takes a beating from Stephane Robidas,
representative of the Kings downfall against the Stars

Game 4: Kings vs Dallas Stars 1:4

LA goal from: Raitis Ivanans
DAL goals from: Miettinen, Modano, Morrow, Lehtinen.

The pros: Some (former) Kings played quite well that night, they were just wearing the visitor white/gold/green uniforms of the Stars...

The cons: Shaky drama called the first period continues for goaltender Dan Cloutier. This time he got a bucket full of ice-cold water from Miettinen some 19 seconds into the contest. Cloutier does seem to suffer from the Mikael Tellqvist-like long warmup syndrome. If shot upon early and often (like the Stars did) , he's susceptible to letting in weak shots. Most of the team were flat-footed though, anyway, and it might be true that even Rogie Vachon himself would not have made a difference between the pipes.

"Tonight we just got sand kicked in our face," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "We did not have the type of passion that we needed to play with. The team was not ready to play at the start of the game, and that is my fault."

Game 5: Kings vs Dallas Stars 1:4

LA goal from: Michael Cammalleri
DAL goals from: Morrow 2, Ribeiro, Lehtinen.

The pros: Same result though much more sure-handed goaltending from Mathieu Garon. Another good thing is that the Kings do not meet Dallas until October 28.

The cons: Similar PP effort as last night (1-for-8) with declining PK efficiency (3-for-9 for the Stars) are never a recipe for success in the NHL. Playing Mike Weaver against a Pacific powerhouse is alway a questionable roster move.

Kings need to get out of the funk and quickly against the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, October 16:

"We have to learn from our mistakes," said Cloutier, who gave up three goals on the first 12 shots by the Stars. "We can't sit back and think about the bad things."

and

"The team is a little bit fragile," Crawford said. "We're not playing with a lot of confidence at this point in the game."

Call of the Wild wooes Jacques Lemaire into extension

(photo courtesy of www.startribune.com)

It's true the guy has been misjudged and taken for someone he is not (as a coach) quite often over the years. Those of us in the media who have "dumped and chased" coach Lemaire might as well follow the example of twincities.com columnist Tom Powers and eat the crow:

"On June 20, 2000, the lead story on the sports page was that Jacques Lemaire had been hired as coach of the fledgling Minnesota Wild. Down a bit from the banner headline was a column written by yours truly, wondering if Lemaire was the right choice for the job. My reasoning:

"This is not a young coach who can roll with the expansion punches."

For six years I've seen that column every time I've attended an event at the Xcel Energy Center. It's hanging in the media workroom. It used to be right near the door, where you couldn't miss it. Now it rests much higher, over a row of work cubicles. You'd have to climb up on a chair to read it. That's good.

I've had a slip-up or two over the years. Misjudging Lemaire is one of them. I figured he'd be in and out of here within a couple of years, bored and frustrated by a ragtag expansion team.

Well, I might take a bite of that crow as well, while I'm at it. I admit I definitely did not like some of the on-ice tactics that the former Minnesota Wild teams have applied under Lemaire. One explanation was that he had simply fitted the style to the personnel he used to have at hand. The 2000-2005 Twin Cities teams were made mostly of grit, stamina and backchecking.

The outlook for this season is different, though. Minny has acquired the likes of Pavol Demitra, Mark Parrish and Kim Johnsson to boost the already offensively potent lineup featuring Marian Gaborik, Brian Rolston and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. From the casual observer's vantage point they already managed to open up the ice and the scoring chances (and scoring itself) seem to come about in bunches.

And this is the real test of coach Lemaire. He already proved his worth (and earned the extension through 2010) in designing defensive patterns. Now comes the offense and taking the Wild deep into Stanley Cup playoffs on the shoulders of the young guns.

It is only then that the rest of the hockey world joins Tom Powers and myself at the table as crow saute will be being served.

Mark Morris on butterflies...

(photo courtesy of www.clarkson.edu.
Coach Morris [on the left] with his former players
from the Clarkson University)

Butterflies in the stomach, that is. And to be more precise - before and during his inaugural AHL game at the helm of the Manchester Monarchs.

It's not necessarily the Monarch coach's personal blog, per se, but it has a similar feel to it. In my mind, the New Hamphire's Union Ledger is seizing a very good opportunity by making their pages available to inside sources within the Manchester AHL team. Well, the column is *called* Inside Source, for starters.

Here is some insights from coach Morris about what went on:

It was encouraging to see our team respond under the pressure of the shootout. Three guys came up with big goals. I put Petr Kanko in for the shootout because he had just scored a goal that was disallowed and he had something to prove. I wanted to give him another chance and end on a positive note. It paid off.

I encourage you to read the rest for your pleasure... Now, the next step would be to mike the coach during the game with the online stream of his feedback to the players. Yeah, I know, but I can dream, can't I?

Cashing the Czechs on Blackhawks top line

(photo courtesy of AP)

I have been very impressed with what little I have seen of the Chicago Blackhawks play this season. One of the features no-one can miss is the all Czech top line, consisting lately of the newly acquired left-winger Martin Havlat, two-way center Michal Handzus and fleet-footed right-winger Radim Vrbata.

Boy, are they fun to watch. Havlat has definitely caught new wind in the wings this fall, he's all over the place, including his roads less travelled: the boards. Handzus (looking a tad stranger in colors other than orange and black) continues to have great vision, tape-to-tape passing skills and active backcheck. Vrbata does not bear down to bigger guys, either. The early season success of the Blackhawks (including the season openening trumping of the Predators) is largely due to these three amigos from Eastern Europe. If they keep on going, getting my tickets for the November 2 game vs the Detroit Red Wings might become no small feat.

Game 3: Kings vs New York Islanders 4:2

Kings overcome own weaknesses and beat the Isles

(photo courtesy of www.gettyimages.com)

Michael Cammalleri's snap wristshot ties the game at one apiece

LA goals from: Michael Cammalleri, Tom Kostopoulos, Brent Sopel and Alex Frolov
NYI goals from: Park, Yashin

The pros: End of period scoring had huge impact on the outcome of the game. First Sopel 3-2, than Frolov, putting away the game. Very good night offensively from Derek Armstrong (on the heels of the good news about Alyn McCauley's knee operation). Another night with 40 shots on goal from less-than-obvious guns (Scott Thornton - 6, Patrick O'Sullivan - 5, Sopel - 5, Armstrong - 5, ). Anze Kopitar's assist on Frolov goal keeps the Slovenian point streak alive at three.

The cons: Another instance of not clicking power play, though with 2-for-12, there is some progress. Only 9:01 TOI for struggling O'Sullivan. Decent, but not spectacular play of goaltender Dan Cloutier. Park's first goal was soft and again bounced wierdly off Cloutier into the net:

"The first one hit me in the ribs and, if you're against the post, there is only one place it will go, in the net," said Cloutier, who stopped 18 shots after Yashin's goal.

The Kings will entertain the Dallas Stars on Thursday night in Staples.

Alyn McCauley's knee gives in

Grrr, bad news from the Kings' health department. Two-way center and PK specialist, Alyn McCauley will have to go under the knife:

"McCauley will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his knee today and will miss at least two weeks. McCauley had surgery on the knee after last season, and was limited to non-contact drills and skating during training camp. Coach Marc Crawford said an MRI exam Sunday revealed that McCauley had a small piece of cartilage floating in the knee".

That means the Kings up the middle will continue to go with Anze Kopitar, Craig Conroy, Derek Armstrong and adequate fourth line center ;). Too bad - I was hoping to see Alyn with a crown on his chest sooner than in November...

Season opener in Manchester

The Monarchs luckily won their home opener against the Worcester Sharks 5:4 (OT shootout). That was "A First!" for the new head coach Marc Morris:

“Whatever it takes,” smiled Morris. “A win's a win no matter how you slice it.”

The full game report at New Hampshire's Union Leader has also this quote from Jason LaBarbera, who made 42 saves on the night and kept the team in the game:

“I hate those (shootouts),” laughed LaBarbera. “It doesn’t matter how many times you do them they’re not fun for the goalie. Fun for the fans and fun for the guys on the bench, but not fun when you’re personally involved.”

I thought LaBamba was so big and tall he could virtually slide to his side on a shootout attempt and cover 3/4 of the net by himself ;). Then again it would not have been any more fun, would it?

Other important game notes from the UL:

Healthy scratches were G Yutaka Fukufuji, LW Dany Roussin and C Gabe Gauthier . Injury scratches were C Matt Ryan (stomach) and D the newly elected team captain Brendan Buckley (upper body) .

Benching Gauthier as HS makes me scratch my head: why would you bench of very few two-way centers this team has? Especially with Ryan already out?

Monarchs next game is at home on October 14 against the Providence Bruins.

Weekend season (and home) opener for LA

(photo courtesy of www.gettyimages.com)

Game 1: Los Angeles Kings @ Anaheim Ducks 3:4

LA goals from: Anze Kopitar (2), Lubo Visnovsky
ANA goals from: Perry, McDonald, Getzlaf, Kunitz

The pros: Huge first NHL game from Kopitar with a highlight reel first goal when he took on Chris Pronger and beat him to the puck. High level of energy and commitment for the new regime. A lot of line juggling by coach Marc Crawford to best address opponent strategies. Lots of shots on goal, which will be preached by coaches. Very good outing from Sean Avery.

The cons: Shaky defensive play of Rob Blake. Invisible Scott Thornton. Inability to shut down the opposing team. Several "stupid" penalties.


Game 2: Los Angeles Kings vs St. Louis Blues 4:1

LA goals from: Lubo Visnovsky, Alex Frolov, Mike Cammalleri, Brent Sopel.
STL goal from: Rucinsky

The pros: Another winning home opener with a sellout crowd. Control of the game (if not dominance) especially in the first and third period. Unselfish play from Anze Kopitar. Great goaltending performance from Mathieu Garon. Very good chemistry between Frolov and Kopitar.

The cons: Powerplay 1-for-10, very inefficient for the second game in a row. Dustin Brown nowhere to be found.

Kings' presence in the SoCal community

I am posting this just not to lose track of some of the moves the Kings are making in order to gain (regain?) more community and media exposure for the upcoming season.

It comes on the heels of the LA Times decision to abandon Kings coverage of the away games. Decision which I cannot comprehend, to be honest.

Anyway, this is what I found in the Post Gazette just the other day:

"[...] the Kings see the need to expand their fan base by winning and working. During the summer, the Kings doubled -- from two to four -- the employees in their fan-development staff and launched a new grassroots marketing strategy designed to target kids who might not otherwise be exposed to hockey.

For the first time, the Kings will significantly cut back their advertising, particularly in terms of newspaper ads and billboards, and divert their resources to more hands-on endeavors, including clinics at local rinks and donation of equipment. The goal is simple: to make hockey fans out of the area's youth, and by extension get their parents involved in the sport and make all of them into Kings fans."

Seems like a very good idea and another reason I hate NOT to live in SoCal this winter...

Kopitar debut quote

(photo courtesy of www.gettyimages.com)

"Before the game I tried not to get too nervous. It's just one night. I try to be consistent every night."

Says Week One Slovenian sensation Anze Kopitar, who centered the first line, at age 19, in the first two regular season games for the Kings.

Scary, huh? He followed up his two-goal NHL debut at the Anaheim Ducks with a three-assist home opener vs St. Louis Blues. How much more consistent he wants to get? Scary, indeed :)

What did Cloutier *really* mean?

Depending on where you sit on Kings' competitiveness this year and the leadership abilities of LA goaltender Dan Cloutier, you probably found yourself in one of the two camps that were formed as a result of this Cloutier comment after the season-opener loss to the Ducks on Friday:

"We have to give this Ducks team a lot of credit. They're one of the best teams in the league for a reason, but we came in here and hung with them for most of the game".

Now, some of the die-hardest Cloutier proponents think he *meant* that the Kings should feel good about themselves and a narrowly-lost game because the Ducks are supposed to be so much better (and projected to go deep into the play-offs next spring) and the Kings still managed to make it a close away game.

Then again, there is a camp made up of Cloutier's opponents, who claim Dan *meant* that the Kings' reason to be happy about themselves was not that they could go ahead and beat the Ducks (which they did not), but rather they they had managed to "hang in there". This camp claims Cloutier focus is diverted from winning a game to making a favorable impression in a lost-cause loss.

Hmm, I know that Dan's not exactly the most exuberant guy out there and not as Alpha-doggish as I would like him to be, but his leadership qualities and fighting spirit are unquestioned by someone, who knows him long and well - his coach Marc Crawford:

"We got Dan from Vancouver, he was a competitor. But he has become so much more complete as a goaltender," said Crawford, who was Cloutier's coach in Vancouver. "His movement is now on par with some of the top goaltenders in our game."

The Vancouver experience (as well as his fight with Tommy Salo when Cloutier was donning a Ranger uniform) seems to indicate the man is hardly defensive about his team and role. Here's Cloutier:

"I think playing in a Canadian city, you don't have a choice but to go out there every night because if you don't, it is only going to make things worse."

I agree I'm in the first camp on this one. I find his comment pretty realistic and while perhaps a little ambiguous, it bears no signs of premature yielding to the opposition. I'm gonna give Cloutier the benefit of the doubt here and hope he's got his goalie pants (and pads) on fire next time the Kings face Anaheim.

And what do you think he meant?

(photo courtesy of www.cbc.ca)