The Train Is Pulling Up To The Station

The Kings have been playing atrociously lately, which is not news. Their inconsistent play has made me one sad panda. I texted KMS2 this morning saying, “I have officially boarded the Fire Marc Crawford Train!!!” But once I calmed down, I realized that I haven’t fully boarded said train, rather, I have bought my ticket and am waiting for the train to pull up. My reasoning is this: this is the third 5-game losing streak the Kings have recorded this season and they are currently on a three-game road trip. I will fully board this train if they get zero points in these next two games. If they lose all three in this road trip, that would make it a 7-game losing streak and I’d upgrade my ticket to first class and ride in style.

I can’t tell you how embarrassing it was to listen to Detroit (25-6-3) absolutely dominate my poor team (12-21-2) last night (I think I would have hung my head in utter shame if had actually watched this on TV). Hearing Cammy get a penalty in the first minute of the first period and then have Hank score at 0:59 was ridiculous. How fucking predictable this has become. Not only are the Kings on a losing streak, but they have to play the NHL’s best team? Way to rub salt in the wounds, scheduling committee. But wait, I shouldn’t place the blame on you since you could not have foreseen the Kings sucking this much 35 games into the season. How could you, with a promising crop of players and a boatload of new free agents. But how do you think it makes me feel when I ask a Canadian buddy what he thinks of Aubin and the response I get is, “He’s a bag of crap.”

This reminds me of a very straight forward question Keith asked in Episode 7 of KingsCast, “Slippery Slopes.” He said, “If Dean Lombardi is so good at signing prospects and drafting, why is he so terrible at signing free agents?”

What is interesting to me is that it seems as if there are trade rumors constantly circulating. Talk about players, gossip about GMs, and the like, but I haven’t heard or read anything coming from Camp Lombardi. Is something going on behind the scenes that no one knows about? There has to be; DL can’t be sitting in his office okay with any of this. He’s been quiet this season and I’m wondering why. Am I correct in assuming that he’s waiting for the end of this small roadtrip to fire Crawford?

As I see it, Crawford has 2 guaranteed days of employment left. If he comes back to LA with two more loses, he’s gonna be packing his bags and hitting the road. I think I was the last person to jump on this train; I guess I was holding on to some non-existent hope. Stupid me; Crawford has taken this talented group of players and done nothing with them. There are so many new faces on this team and he really hasn’t given them time together to gel with each other. The whole line-changing again and again and again and again has got to stop. Next thing you know, we’ll have Aubin centering the top line!

This team needs a leader; someone that can challenge these guys because it’s obvious these players aren’t responding to jackshit. Things that have pissed me off thus far:

1) Our defense looks slow and disorganized. And aren’t the D-men supposed to switch sides on the PP? Vish looks awkward out there on the point.

2) I don’t know who made the final decision to send back Moulson, bring in Gauthier, and hold onto Klemm, but that was piss poor decision-making. Gauthier did absolutely nothing and, really, neither did Klemm. Why did Crawford put him out there as a forward when he’s a defensive defensemen? Why the fuck didn’t you just keep Moulson? Klemm is a left-handed shot as is Moulson. Honestly, what was Klemm giving you that Moulson wasn’t? Out of those three players, only ONE showed any promise, and that was the one that was sent back prematurely.

3) Why the hell does the PK suck so badly? Why do they always look like they’re back on their heels and afraid to challenge? And for that matter, why does the PP look weak too? Stop passing so goddamn much and take it to the net!

4) THANK GOD Bernier was sent back to Lewiston. I think I would have cried if he was on this team right now. He would have been destroyed trying to back this team up. But he's safe down there in the Juniors; look for him on Team Canada!!

What exactly is going on with the lines of communication on this team? It is apparent to me that Crawford is sending out bad non-verbal signals to go with his verbal messages. Or maybe it’s the tone with which he talks. Tone and inflection can change the meaning of a message entirely. What the hell is he doing in that locker room??

So the question here is this: Is Dean Lombardi going to give the city of Los Angeles a fabulous Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa gift and fire Marc Crawford?