Year-In-Review – 8 – Jack Johnson

Now that all the goalies have been reviewed, it's time to move to the defensemen. It might get a little hairy for these guys, but I think there's been enough time from the end of the season to now where I won't be too hard on them. So let's get to it.

If you said that the Kings’ defense had more holes than a block of Swiss cheese, you wouldn’t be too far off the mark. This is obviously the area where the Kings have struggled the most. It's hard to chastise the goaltenders when the Dmen have been lacking themselves. We had 9 defensemen dress this year; 2 of which started the year with the Kings but ended the year on different rosters and 2 that started the year in Manchester but were recalled to close out the year with the Kings.

Might as well start with the cream of the crop, Jack Johnson. One huge positive that we can take away from this defensive unit is the growth of Jack. I feel I was privileged to watch him grow into his role on the blueline. At the beginning of the season, I was unaware of who he was but very aware of his hype. Even though he wasn't drafted by the Kings, he is a cornerstone for this club, one that we can definitely rely on. His comfort level to the end of the year was also bringing out cheeky moves on the ice that I didn't realize he had I him. I'm hoping that he soon accompanies all those head fakes with some sassy finger-snapping. He was paired with Jaroslav Modry for the first half of the season. Since I was away at college for a couple of years, I obviously had difficultly following my team; so when I came back I found this collective fan-hatred for Modry and frustrated people questioning why JJ was being paired with him. Marc Crawford had Rob Blake and Lubomir Visnovsky paired together and it seemed to me that Modry was the logical pairing for JJ. The other options were Tom Preissing (Free Agent), Brad Stuart (Free Agent), and Kevin Dallman (sucks). With DL wanting “homegrown” players, wouldn’t you want to go with Modry too? He’d been with the Kings, knew the system, and was a veteran to whom JJ could learn from.

(AP)

Hopefully we'll see more of this next season

JJ played in 74 games this season scoring 3 goals and 8 assists for 11 points and amassed a respectable 78 PIM. He ended at a -19 but I'd rather give him a hug than yell at him for this. He won two awards at the end of the season (as voted on by the media): Best Newcomer and Outstanding Defenseman. JJ was understandably tentative in his offensive rushes at the beginning of the season because, at the NHL level, it's much more important to learn how to play your position than to try and rush your offensive output. He kept his offensive movements beyond the opposing blueline to a minimum, which caused me to wonder if he was actually the same Jack Johnson that was so cherished by the Michigan fans. He even stated in an interview that when his college team was down by a goal with a couple minutes left in the 3rd, he'd play the right wing. That hugely dominant player in the college ranks was not the same player here trying to protect our goaltender. But as the games and weeks went by, he got more comfortable in what he could and couldn't do; he also threw up a bunch of big hits while he was at it. The memorable one being the riding of Ryan Smyth that resulted in Smyth lying on the ice. Definitely not JJ's fault and you, sir, should tighten your helmet strap.

At the tail end of the season JJ dropped down to a knee and took a puck of his foot, which ended his season prematurely. This was unfortunate in that he was one of the last big bodies on the back end and I'm sure people were thinking that this put the final nail on the coffin for this season. But Blake and the recalled Jon Klemm were the last two Dmen over 6 feet and they made their presence known. This just reaffirmed that Klemm should be a defenseman and should never be put as a forward again, but I digress.

I'm very excited for JJ's continued growth with this club. Watching him take down opposing forwards and showing flashes of offensive brilliance makes me beyond happy that he's back there constantly learning. Because, really, where would we have been if he wasn't there? Hmm, we could have actually ended 30th in the league, gotten the #1 overall pick, and then could have had full control of who got Steven Stamkos (a.k.a. not the Kings). It's really funny to me to randomly stumble upon commentors from other teams talking about trading with the Kings. The names that usually come up are Dustin Brown, Michael Cammalleri, and Jack Johnson. Dude, you can have Cammy when his value goes up, but when we talk about untouchables in any trade talks, JJ and Brownie are at the top of the list.

"I'm Not A Puck Bunny" Podcast - Episode 16

This week, Finny and I were joined by southern California-native Brad Meyers formerly of the Deseronto Storm in Canada. We first go over some quick updates, review the rest of the Conference Finals, and then preview the Stanley Cup Final round. We were able to get a player's perspective on certain things that we (as fans) were wondering about throughout the first portion of the episode. In the latter half, we interview Brad and get his take on life as a hockey player trying to make his way to the NHL. There are serious questions as well as silly questions, so please don't miss out!

He will be returning periodically throughout the summer, so please email me or the podcast with ANY questions or comments and we'll be sure to send those Brad's way. The email is: imnotapuckbunny[at]gmail[dot]com


Check us out at our respective blogs and at http://imnotapuckbunny.podbean.com/

You can listen from the player under my picture to the left, subscribe to it on iTunes, or you can go to the above link and either listen from the site or download it.

As always please direct any questions, comments, complaints, thoughts, ideas, or rants to: imnotapuckbunny[at]gmail[dot]com.

Random Excursions & Scary Russian Men

It's funny what happens when you take random excursions during a lunch break. Especially on a random Tuesday, which happened to be today.

My friend, we'll call A. until she can think of a nickname, needed to go to this place to buy an item associated with one of Will Ferrell's many characters. So we took our lunch break and made the drive over to said place. Now on a Tuesday at 12:30 PM this place was definitely NOT hoppin' with the trendy LA crowd because (a) we weren't actually IN LA and (b) I don't make enough money to hang out with the "trendy crowd." But I digress.

We took a turn into the awesome (read: shady) parking lot and made our way inside. As we walked in, I looked to my immediate right out of habit to scope out the scene and to my surprise, there was someone in there that wasn't an employee. (As you might have guessed this wasn't an eating establishment.) So this person was standing there with his back to me and in my head I thought, "That... kinda... looks like Dustin Brown." I then took a couple of very conspicuous steps forward to get a better angle, and yes, and it was definitely Brownie.

I turn to my left to tell A. who the only other customer in the store was and we proceeded toward the merchandise. After spending some time perusing, she made the purchase and we walked toward the exit where Brownie was standing and all A. said was, "I'm gonna talk to him. Watch this." She walked right up to him and said, "Hello. I just want to say we're looking forward to next season and see you in Vegas." (Frozen Fury reference) His face turned into one gigantic smile and he said, "Thanks!" As we turned to walk out one employee said to him, "Next season? Do you play sports?" Whereupon he said, "Yeah, I play for the Kings."

Signed, sealed, delivered.

*****

Interestingly enough, I got back to work and immediately let my homie Cat know that I just saw my Power Forward at the store. About 30 minutes later, I get a text from her saying, "sergei zubov is at best buy. what do i do???" After much texting and waiting, I finally get her story, which is summed up quite nicely below.


What do you do when you see a totally awesome, very Russian, very frightening hockey player at Best Buy? I'll tell you what you do.

You run away.

I was at Best Buy today, heading to Geek Squad to get my iPod fixed. The line at Geek Squad was exceptionally long for a Tuesday afternoon at 4pm. I turn to look at the entrance (I'm one of those people that can't look in one direction for too long, I like familiarizing myself with my environment), and I see one Mr. Sergei Zubov step towards the carts, carrying...An iron? Okay, that's cool.

I spent some time meandering the store, debating on whether or not I could afford to purchase a 1TB external hard drive when I'm trying to save up for a trip, and also debating whether or not I want to walk up to Mr. Zubov and congratulate him on an incredible run this season. Connie had just told me about Dustin Brown, and right before I walked out the door I said "I hope I run into some Dallas Stars today to congratulate them!"

Yeah, I should have been more specific.

It could have been anyone else. Anyone else, I would have no fear walking up to them and congratulating them and thanking them. Sergei Zubov? Is too frightening. He seems like the kind of man who appreciates his privacy and the ability to walk around without people freaking out. I wanted to respect that, but I also wanted to respect him as a player and thank him for a wonderful playoff run.

I left Best Buy without an iPod (Geek Squad had to send it off for fixage), and sort of regretting not speaking to Mr. Zubov. Why couldn't it have been Marty Turco?

Cross-posted to HLOG

Year-In-Review – 7 – Jonathan Bernier

Here we are talking about the last goalie on our list even though he opened the season for the Kings. The apple of my eye, Jonathan Bernier. He started the pre-season and first 4 regular season games with the Kings before being sent back to his Junior team, the MANIEiacs, out in Lewiston, Maine because he was actually too young to be sent to the Monarchs. In the four regular season games he posted one (1) win, three (3) losses, a 4.03 GAA, and a .864 save percentage. We all know that these numbers weren't his fault; at least I don't. I blame these loses on the weak defense that floundered about in front of him. In that opening game in London, he was stellar in net and I remember thinking to myself that this could be The One. Silly, I know. But, whatever, you know you're thinking the same thing.

(AP)

That save was probably really sweet.

While he was in Lewiston he ranked 2nd out of 22 goalies in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He recorded 18 wins, 15 losses, with a 2.73 GAA, and a .908 save percentage. His numbers are actually better than the goalie ranked number one, but Bernier played in just 34 games while the other played in 46 games. The reason he didn't play more games was because he was invited to be in the Russian Super Series for Team Canada where he was one of 3 Canadian goalies and played in 2 games (and replaced Steve Mason, CBJ prospect, halfway through the 2nd period in another) in that rotation. He was then invited to be on the World Junior team, which was held in the Czech Republic for 2008. He played on this squad with Thomas Hickey and Wayne Simmonds. They moved through the tournament only losing once and faced Sweden in the Gold Medal game where they came out the victors in overtime while facing other Kings prospects, Oscar Moller and Niklas Andersen. Bernier was not in net for this last game. He and Steve Mason had been splitting the time and for the medal rounds coach Craig Hartsburg went with Mason. It was interesting how much buzz this situation created in that both goalies were equally capable of being the #1. I'd rather not talk about that because, in the end, it didn't matter. The Canadian boys won the gold medal and they're all better for it.

(Team Canada Roster)

Way too cute

Going back up to Lewiston, Bernier finished out the rest of the season getting the Defensive Player of the Week from March 3rd to March 9th. He then got Player of the Month for March 2008. But I think the coolest thing about his stay in Lewiston was that he started his own fundraising program for the Maine chapter of the Alzheimer's Association called Bernier's Saves to Remember. Through this program (starting from November 30, 2007) he donated $8 for every save that he made while in a MAINEiacs jersey for the remainder of the 07-08 season. At the end of the season he ended with 758 saves and, with an anonymous donation of $100, the total came out to $6,164.

Update: Please check out the first comment by Q-Girl with her explanation of Bernier of the Russian Super Series and check out her blog Of Moose and Men talking all things QMJHL.

After his team was taken out of the QMJHL playoffs in the first round, he was sent to Manchester to help them in their push for the playoffs and in the first round. The Monarchs ended up being swept by the top AHL team in the league (Providence Bruins) with 3 games going in to the OT frame. You can check out his Monarchs stats here.

As we are all aware, Dean Lombardi is all about “homegrown players” and I wholeheartedly agree with him, which is why my Baby Bernier Watch has been up since the inception of this blog at the beginning of the season. I’m not sure if Bernier is aware just how much he is being counted on to be this franchise’s goaltender for years to come. I feel like the pressure is building even before he’s even found a solid place on the Kings’ roster. I’ve already seen Bernier (#45) jerseys being worn at Staples Center. But I won’t lie; I’ve been one of those fans who is placing much hope in his play between the pipes. The question for next year will be, will Bernier be cultivated some more and find that top spot in Manchester or will he fight his way onto the Kings roster? I would absolutely love to see him with the Kings next year, but only if the defensive core gets their collective asses together. To conclude, I eagerly await his permanent arrival under the California sun, but I definitely don't want my highly touted prospect to be questioned a la Carey Price.

Kings In The 2008 World Championships Part VII

Last Kings Ousted In The Championships

(Team USA Roster)

Brownie is so freaking adorable! Sully looks like... a nerd.

Dustin Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan of the US were officially taken out of the IIHF World Championships on Wednesday, May 14th by Finland 3-2 in overtime. Despite having the most ice time of all the US forwards at 21:21, Brownie didn't make too much of a splash on the score sheet. He had 4 penalty minutes (interference and slashing), had 3 shots on net, and was even in the plus/minus column. Sully had only 14:20 of ice time, 4 shots on, and was a -1.

Going into the 3rd period, the Finns were up 2-0 and with about 5 minutes to go, Phil Kessel and Drew Stafford scored and tied the game up sending it to OT. But at 3:59 of the OT frame, Finland scored to win and advanced to the medal rounds while the US was sent home.

On Sat. May 17th, Finland played Sweden shutting them out 4-0. With this win, the Finns earned the Bronze Medal in the World Championships. Canada and Russia will play on Sun. May 18th for the Gold Medal. For coverage on that, check out Scarlett Ice.

(iihf.com)

The coolest #23 EVER

"I'm Not A Puck Bunny" Podcast - Episode 15

Tonight we were joined by Steph from No Pun Intended, Cat from the Untypical Girls, and Sherry from Scarlett Ice (for a short while). We are well into the Conference Finals where I find myself the only one really interested in the Eastern Conference, which is a shame. Sherry helps out a little bit with the Eastern series, but I don't really get too much else from the other girls because of their west coast affinity. (Finny keeps herself busy during recording with updating the Squee Cup) Then Cat and Steph talk about their respective teams in the west. We discuss the appearance of Fabian Brunnstrom and what I now call him. I then touch a bit on momentum and how it's changed in the 3rd round of the playoffs.

We then end with some shoutouts and a preview of our guest for next week, Brad Meyers, a hockey player from So Cal who has been playing in Canada with the hopes of making it to the NHL. Please email me or the podcast any questions you may have for him as I will be grilling him for any and all answers and random opinions on whatever I feel like asking. =) P.S. He's a Kings fan. So send some questions!


Please check us out at our respective blogs and at http://imnotapuckbunny.podbean.com/

You can listen from the player under my picture to the left, subscribe to it on iTunes, or you can go to the above link and either listen from the site or download it.

As always please direct any questions, comments, complaints, thoughts, ideas, or rants to: imnotapuckbunny[at]gmail[dot]com.

Kings In The 2008 World Championships Part VI

Sully & Brownie Spank Norway

Team USA romps Norway 9-1 in the final game of the qualifying round. The players notching goals were Dustin Brown, Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, Paul Martin, Zach Parise, and Brandon Dubinsky with a hat trick. For this showing, Brownie actually doesn't dominate the US in ice time. The player with the most ice time was Patrick O'Sullivan! Brownie got 13:12 of ice time (0:52 average) compared to Sully's 18:48 (0:59 average). But from here Brownie dominated Sully in all other aspects of the score sheet. He got 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots on net, ended at a +2, and had 2 penalty minutes for slashing. Sully had 1 assist, 4 shots on net, was even in the plus/minus column, and had 2 penalty minutes for tripping.

Something else that I can't quite understand in looking at the stat sheet was this. These are the stats for the top line for the US. Why the freak do the Dmen have shifts that are 10 seconds LESS on average than the forwards?? Shouldn't it be the other way around? I mean, I know I'm not watching the game, but c'mon, what's going on here?!


The US blasted Norway with 48 shots while Robert Esche faced only 18. The Norwegian captain Tommy Jakobsen said, "Simply, today we got spanked."

The US currently sits in 3rd place in the Qualification Round in Group F. They will play Finland (2) on Wed. 14th and the winner will go on to play either Canada or Norway in the Gold Medal game. If the US losses on Wednesday, they will play for the Bronze Medal.

Lost On The Score Sheet

Just like the heading says, Raitis Ivanans had another no show in terms of numbers produced, but that doesn't mean he wasn't contributing in other ways. I can attest to this notion being that I am (and most likely the reader is) a Kings fan. What's on the ice isn't always reflected on the stats sheet. Although, when it is... I just want to bury my head in the sand. But I digress. On Monday, May 12th, Latvia lost to Germany 5-3 and there were penalties galore. Maybe this is why Raitis had only 4:45 of ice time since he's not a special teams guy, by any means. But the game was sprinkled with penalties until the end of the game when an apparent melee broke out and one guy got 2 minutes for "Illegal or Dangerous Equipment." Again, not sure what that is. (I would like to see what causes a ref to make that call and for "fisticuffs").

This was Ivanans' (Latvia) last game of the tournament as they did not place in the top 4 of the Group (F).

(iihf.com)

Ivanans taking care of business

Lubo and Kopi

So where are Lubomir Visnovsky and Anze Kopitar now that the tournament has gone further into its rounds? After checking out the stats sheets, it appears that since Slovakia was ranked last in Group C after the Preliminary Round, they were sent to the Relegation Round. Same thing happened with Slovenia in Group B and was sent to face Slovakia in the Relegation Round (best of 3) where Slovakia won in 2 games. This means that Slovakia gets invited back to the Championship tournament in 2009 in Switzerland while Slovenia is relegated to Division I.

Slovenia played 5 games in this tournament and lost.... 5. I recommend telling Kopi he's awesome and will kick ass next season the next time any of you see him. Guy can't catch a break! So both Lubo and Kopi are officially done in the tournament.

Why Ticket Master Sucks

Today marked an important day for all LA Kings fans. The pre-sale tickets for Frozen Fury XI opened today at 10AM. What’s the Frozen Fury, you ask? If you don't know, let me enlighten you.

For the past 10 years, the Kings have held a pre-season game in Las Vegas against the Colorado Avalanche</