Monday, January 25, 2010

GAMES THAT MATTER 1/25

Yesterday (1-0)
Season (1-0)


STL vs. CGY
BUF vs. VAN

Sunday, January 24, 2010

GAMES THAT MATTER 1/24

In bold are the teams the Kings would like to win for its effect on the standings.

Dallas vs. Colorado

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Kopitar has a hand in three unanswered as Kings top Wings 3-2

Anze Kopitar stepped up big tonight. With a slam dunk goal, a gritty one that I love to see, him crashing the net, and two second assists our team leader actually lead us tonight. I love Kopi and am a big beleiver in his huge contract. I think he's going to have a great career in Los Angeles and it's nights like this one when he shows us the special player he is. He just needs to do it every night. But he'll get there.

Also very pleased with the play of Brad Richardson. Sweet goal tonight. But the goal of the night definetely goes to Peter Harrold with the first Kings snipe shot in WAY too long. What a perfectly placed shot and of course, do everything of late man Wayne Simmonds was in on it with a perfect pass to set him up.

Quick was brilliant tonight. I thought that the Kings did a poor job tightening up defensively after the third goal. Quick saved their asses with an awesome treehousing job. Payback for Howard at Staples I guess.

Terrific effort overall and once again awesome determination by the Kings to rally. After the first couple goals that early it felt eerily similar to the most recent San Jose game. But the Kings continue to show us they're learning the lessons, this time tightening up and simply outworking the Wings. In a very hostile environment.

Seems like the fallout of the JJ vs. DL controversy turned out less toxic and bad for the team as I thought. Still think Jack will be on his way out next month and honestly wouldn't mind seeing it that much. Although, he has really picked up his game of late. As long as he's traded for the right player I'll be cool. I hope it turns out like Kyle Quincey. But, DL confirmed that he meant it as a compliment, so maybe we're all just making an issue out of nothing. I think if Dean is going to say anything at all and get himself into the situation, he should be man enough to just tell the world that he hates Jack Johnson, like everyone suspects.

Screw all that shit though, we're officially in 6th place as I write this at night's end. Thanks for the added patricipation in the polls and please keep coming back as I try to get this blog on the road. Which I hope will be similar to lakingsinsider.com with more opinions and heated comment boards. That's the dream anyway. Next up is lowly Toronto and maybe some future Kings.

Totally wrong on the lines tonight, way to go Terry Murray.

Let's go Kings.
SVIK 1/23

Tonight's Lineup vs. Red Wings

Richardson - Kopitar - Simmonds
Smyth - Stoll - Brown
Frolov - Handzus - Purcell
Parse - Moller - Segal

Scuderi - Doughty
Johnson - Harrold
O'Donnell - Greene

Quick

thanks to Rich Hammond and lakingsinsider.com for tonight's lineup.

Lets go Kings

Friday, January 22, 2010

Purcell to remain in lineup vs. Wings

Teddy Purcell, the King that nobody likes will be back in the lineup for a second straight contest. I'm not too disappointed as he played pretty well last night I thought, by his standrards. The reality is, he replaces Ivanans, so it has no impact on the outcome of the game. His career is obviously going nowhere however and if he's only going to get 7 or 8 minutes per game I'd like to see the Kings bring up Brayden Schenn to get his feet wet on the third or fourth line.

Wings, Kings Round 3 - - The Kings really need a win against Detroit. To be honest, they've dominated us in the first two matchups but I liked the progress we showed in firing 52 shots at Jimmy Howard in the last one. If Quick is solid and Kopitar doesn't get left at the hotel as of late, we should show that we're the better team when Detroit is missing three top contributors. Let's get it on tomorrow night. Go Kings.

Funny feeling that Frolov is going to score. Just wait and see.

-Svik 1/22

roi MOCK #1

1 St. Louis - DT Ndamukoung Suh (Nebraska) - - When you have a chance to land the best defensive prospect Mel Kiper has ever seen, you don't pass it up.

2 Detroit - DT Gerald McCoy (Oklahoma) - - Gerald McCoy picked the wrong year to come out. Suh ruins everything for him. He's still a baller.

3 Tampa Bay - S Eric Berry (Tennessee) - - Eric Berry flat out kills people, is a tremedous athlete, and has wide receiver playmaking ability. If the Bucs can't score on one of the DT's they'll be more than content with Berry.

4 Washington - QB Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame) - - The Skins missed on Jason Campbell but Clausen should become a stud in red and gold. Him or Bradford here will be the argument of the draft, but I'm going with Clausen because of his superior arm strength.

5 Kansas City - T Anthony Davis (Rutgers) - - Davis is a huge man that moves like Antonio Gates. A definete top five talent.

6 Seattle - QB Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) - - Matt Hasselbeck is washed up and Pete Carroll will look to find his next Heisman trophy winner.

7 Cleveland - CB Joe Haden (Florida) - - The total package at corner. With both the QB's gone this is the logical selction for the Browns.

8 Oakland - T Russell Okung (Oklahoma St.) - - The Raiders need a franchise tackle. The problem is, Okung isn't one. It is Al Davis though.

9 Buffalo - WR Dez Bryant (Oklahoma St.) - - They need more offense.

10 Denver - DE Derrick Morgan (Georgia Tech) - - Outside of Dumervil, the Broncos are dismal in the front seven. Morgan is a beast that will help turn the Josh McDaniels experiment around.

11 Jacksonville - DE Jason Pierre-Paul (South Florida) - - A freak of nature who is a local star that will help sell tickets.

12 Miami - OLB Sergio Kindle (Texas) - - Vintage Bill Parcells 3-4 speed rusher.

13 San Francisco - T Trent Williams (Oklahoma) - - Another Sooner who lost out on a boatload of money for a fun 7-6 season.

14 Seattle - S Taylor Mays (USC) - - If you doubt Taylor Mays just wait for the combine. And, duh, it's Pete Carroll picking here.

15 NY Giants - ILB Rolando McClain (Albama) - - A tough guy that the Giants (the softest team in the world) really need.

16 Tennessee - DE Carlos Dunlap (Florida) - - The Titans ends will be grandparents soon. They could use another stud at the position most important to their defense.

17 San Francisco - S Earl Thomas (Texas) - - Outside of Patrick Willis, their defense is terrible. SOS

18 Pittsburgh - RB CJ Spiller (Clemson) - - It's impossible to pick what the Steelers will do in the draft and quite honestly it's just weird to see them at 18.

19 Atlanta - OLB Ricky Sapp (Clemson) - - I have him earlier than any other place on the web, but I think his stock will rise in the next few months.

20 Houston - DT Brian Price (UCLA) - - Apparently, they need a DT and he's the third best.


If your team picks after 20, stop being greedy and go watch the playoffs.



Thursday, January 21, 2010

Kovalchuk, worth a King's Ransom?

Ilya Kovalchuk is a wonderful player. We can ALL agree on that. YES, I would like to see the Kings add a legitimate mega star like him, we all would, but the problem is the sad old adage that to make money, you must spend money. I think that Waddell is going to overhype the shit out of Kovy when he dangles him to all the big fish at the deadline and drive the price TOO HIGH. Guys, the last rumor was Simmonds and Doughty for Kovy. Two words, no way. Simmonds is really maturing and Doughty is our rock.

Now, obviously that was only a rumor and we all know that ultra conservative DL would never even think about making such a deal. The reality is, the Thrashers asking price for Kovy may just be too high for anyone to bite. Why sell the farm when we can join a bidding war for the russian's services on July 1. Let's get real. If it's Teubert, Hickey, Schenn, Voynov and any other prospect except Bernier, I would be willing to part with three of those guys AND some picks. We could really use Kovalchuk and if we honestly think we can win the cup, he would ideally orchestrate that.

But, we're simply not good enough to sell our future to Atlanta, for one player. That is the bottom line.

Now, a dream scenario because these are just so fun to create. The Oilers will definetely be out to sell contracts at the deadline, they suck. Dustin Penner's name comes up. He's putting up career numbers and he would fit perfectly alongside Fro and someone like Zus or Stoll. A big body that can chip in scoring wise, he could be the missing piece to the puzzle. Adding ANOTHER Ryan Smyth player will make us ridiculously deep. Nine "top 6" forwards. Damn...

And, he's only making 4 mil, which means we would, financially, not even need to give away any NHLers. Let Fro go in FA and sign two more Rob Scuderi's next off season and get ready for a 2011 parade Los Angeles.

- - LATER DEVELOPMENT - -

Jack Johnson is "irate" with his general manager. The day after the highest of highs, this news comes out. This drama could only happen in Los Angeles.

It's officially clear that Dean Lombardi hates Jack Johnson as a player and probably also his "YEAH DUDE" personality as well. Lombardi called Johnson's alma mater Michigan "the worst hockey program at coaching and developing kids in the nation" and called out Jack's former coach Red Berensen. Jack of course came out defensive, which is fine, but please not in the media. He fired jabs right back at his boss, which is not always a smart thing to do to the man that signs your checks.

I don't want this to seem to big. They're grown men and I don't think this will be like Avery and the Stars. But, from a hockey standpoint, and now a personal one. If a King will be on the move in February, it's going to be Jack. Accept it. Hey, who really cares? He's a perennial minus player, and he's got a cannon but always misses the net. His agent is tough and his contract is up after next season. Get rid of him and set the precedent that players can not call out the organization. But, please DL, grow up and be a professional. You can't say one of your players "sucked" publicly. Are you serious?

The Kings will not practice today as they prepare for tomorrow night's game in Detroit. This time, if they take 53 shots again, they will actually WIN. No. 7 versus No. 8, huge game. Lets go Kings

Shout out to Sean Avery, ex fan favorite, for standing up for bitchy Marian Gaborik (who was destroyed by Carcillo). He fought 3 different Flyers to protect his ace, gotta love the fire. Phaneuf should be very grateful for HIS sloppy seconds after last night. What a baller.

1/22
Kings beat Buffalo 4-3 in shootout

The Kings showed the resiliency, competitiveness and will to win that us fans have been waiting for years to see tonight. Dean Lombardi's creation is officially coming together and this is not only a playoff team but a team that will play deep into the spring.

As unqualified as I am there are some fairly obvious reasons to be extremely optimistic:

1. We just defeated arguably the best team in the East which also happens to employ the league's finest goaltender. All of this with our best player, Anze Kopitar, nowhere to be found. Where was he tonight? What did he do? The man that contributes more (scoring wise) to the team than any King, was able to watch his teammates completely pick him up as we beat another great veteran team yet again. And yes, I know Kopi scored in the shootout, on a beautiful move I might add, but come on, he was outside in the rain tonight.

2. Drew Doughty is the man! Doughty will be the youngest player on the world's most elite team this February. He earned first star honors with a couple nifty assists and picked up Rob Scuderi in winning a footrace very late in the game to preserve the tie. He is a stud. Period. Every good team needs a rock, and he is going to be one to rely on.

3. They just have it. Whatever it is, I've been watching this team for 10 years and I've never, ever had such a good feeling about what it is they were doing. Moving into the 7th spot tonight with the help of Chicago beating the Flames, could be leading to the feeling but I truly believe in these guys. They're just gritty. They had their heart broken twice tonight and still out battled a bona fide cup contender. And adding this to 3 wins against San Jose, and wins against Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington and a 2 to zero season lead over the surging Ducks shows that we are absolutely for real.

The bottom line is, the game in Detroit this weekend is the biggest one we've had in a long ass time. Let's go Kings

-SVIK 1/21