Help Please

So I decided to take a slowdown type of break this summer from the blog and not do the insane Year-In-Reviews I did a year ago. I've enjoyed my time relaxing, but I definitely have a need to write something right now. Here is where you come in.

To my faithful readers: what would you like to read about for my next post? I don't want to do what everyone else is doing; rather, I would like to supplement what is already out there. Gann Matsuda is doing a fantastic job with interviews and the like. Rich Hammond always has something going on. KingsCast is still active over the summer with the Overtime videos.

Please let me know in the comments or email! I would really appreciate a jumpstart of some sort.

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Year-In-Review – 32 – Derek Armstrong

(lakings.com)God, I love those jerseys

Here we are on the last player review, thank god! I hope everyone has enjoyed them because they took me awhile to do. I’m pretty sure (like 99%) that I won’t be doing a series of this depth next summer, but I’m glad I took on the challenge this first time around. If anything, I might tackle the reviews in a more sweeping fashion instead of individually. But that’s many months in the future, so we shall see what my mood is like then. If you’re still reading these, you deserve some kudos for sticking with me as I trudged through the entire roster. Even though I DID miss one or two players, I believe I can give myself a nice pat on the butt for sticking with this plan. It definitely made the summer move along at a faster clip than I thought.

(AP)

Typical

On to Derek Armstrong. On the ice he was essentially a filler; he was the second line center eventually in on a permanent basis because Michal Handzus was unable to play in that projected position. Off the ice Army was one of the most approachable players on the team. At the end of the season he received an award for his community service efforts as voted on by the media. I believe that’s a testament to his character, which definitely gave him some exposure off the ice. On the ice was a bit different; he played in 77 games and had 8 goals and 27 assists for 35 total points. After a couple of months of tallying virtually no points, I stopped looking toward him for that type of contribution even though he was part of the top 6 forwards. I wasn’t too concerned about that since there were plenty of players who were helping to put the puck in the net. And really, it’s the Kings; what were you expecting? I think I even remember the game where he scored his first goal of the season. Was it one of the games in Colorado? I think it was, but I’m not going to go back and find out. Just take my word for it.

Even though he lacked an official leadership role, I saw his various actions after whistles as showing good leadership for the young players. Next season he will be one of the few remaining veterans on the roster and I definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see him wearing one of the "A's." I’m not saying that he will; I’m just saying that I wouldn’t be surprised. He has one more year left on his contract where he will make $1.6 million and then will become a UFA at season's end. Most likely he'll be sent on his merry way to search for greener pastures since he'll basically be ancient at 36 years of age (at the end of the season) when compared to the rest of the baby-faced roster.

I have nothing more to say. I’m going outside.

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Year-In-Review – 31 – Brian Boyle

Brian Boyle was one of three Manchester boys who made a showing in his limited time with the Kings. He stands 6’7” and will be a force to reckon with once he plays a full year with the Kings, which will definitely be next season. While in Manchester he played in 70 games getting 31 goals and 31 assists for 62 points. While up with the Kings he played in 8 total games getting 4 goals and 1 assist, and he also ended at a +4. Similarly to Matt Moulson and Teddy Purcell, his NHL debut was on the road, which caused his debut at Staples to be one to look forward to. I was definitely standing at the glass with Marie for that game, and when we saw Boyle in that dark jersey, the first thought in my head was, "Oh my god, Boyle’s HUGE!!!" He didn’t disappoint by scoring a goal in that game.

My height when I'm standing on a platform? Nice.

One of the many things that stands out during his time in LA is during one PK situation Marc Crawford sent him out just to take the faceoff. That was it; all he had to do was win the faceoff and then get back on the bench, which he did successfully. That small occurrence of finding out that a specialty of Boyle was winning faceoffs put a smile on my face and a reassurance in my mind that we'd have someone next season who the coach could go to with confidence.

After his all-too-short stint with the kings, he was sent back to the Monarchs to continue his studly season. One issue that had been repeated in different Kings' circles was that even though he was extremely large in stature he was a little soft on the ice. This is attributable to the fact that fighting is not permitted in NCAA play so that Boyle was not able to hone that skill even though his size could have easily allowed for the pounding of any opposition. I don't want him to become a jackass, not at all. Rather, he just needs to learn how to carry that air about him that deters opposing players from taking any liberties with him. This is also not to say that fighting should be his role, that's far from my thinking. I'd like him to continue learning in his center position and be an effective player on the bottom lines so that in the 09-10 season or beyond he can maybe set up shop on the 2nd line.

(AP)

Look how wee Phaneuf is!

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Year-In-Review – 30 – Dustin Brown

I think Dustin Brown has been my favorite from this past season. He completely encompasses what I believe a "power forward" to be. He's tall with a good weight to him, and he has some fantastic skill with the puck. He led the league in hits by a mile and was one of the highest point-getters on the team. He played in 78 games getting 33 goals and 27 assists for 60 points. Not quite a point-per-game player, but I have the utmost confidence that he'll soon get there without a problem.

The coolest #23

If I were a center, I’d want Brownie on my wing every time. I thought he was such a good partner for Anze Kopitar; he ran the boards on his side and dominated the opposition both in skill and size. He never hesitated to hit a player if it meant that his teammates would regain possession of the puck. He also never hesitated to hit a player if it was available to take. This was made most apparent by the fact that he led the NHL in hits at the season’s end with 311 with the next closest being Mike Komisarik with 266. Just as an aside, I really think that Brownie had more hits during the course of the season, but I'm just picking nits at this point. Anyway, for someone who put down players in every game he amazingly had only 55 PIMs. Along with Alexander Frolov, I thought Brownie flew under the radar a bit in terms of how other teams viewed both of them. With Kopi's zombie-like eyes taking the attention of the other teams, Brownie seemed to be free to make the plays and dish out the hits as he so chose. Granted the majority of playmaking was Kopi’s doing, Brownie definitely held his own out on the ice.

For me, he seemed to explode out of the gate from the very first game of the season. But I can even back up a bit and remember him at the Frozen Fury in Vegas last September. He was in that shootout and in every subsequent shootout thereafter. He ended up missing a few games during the season and I remember at least two of those games were during the Kings' 8-game roadtrip out into the eastern conference so that he could be back in LA for the birth of his new baby, Jake.

While looking through my old posts, I found one I wrote awhile back when I saw the monstrosity the Kings rolled out with regarding a certain figurine set. And when I say "wrote," I really mean that I just posted the video. I was so speechless by it at the time, and, when I see it now, I realized that I had forgotten just how embarrassed I was by it. I can't even watch it again, but I will link it for anyone that wants to experience said embarrassment. Talk about painful.

After the dismal season closed, he was one of the Kings who went onto the IIHF World Championships where he made quite a showing, that is, if you were following the USA team. Team Canada sort of overshadowed the whole tournament in that it was IN Canada and then it had an all-star cast to go with it. Brownie was second to only one other American player on his team, Zach Parise. In my opinion, Brownie eclipses Parise both on the ice and in the cuteness factor. Brownie nearly led all the American players in ice time and in points production during the tournament, which really wasn't a surprise for me. I knew he was a good player, and he was just proving that again on a different stage.

(Team USA)

Brownie will again be on the top line with Kopi next season; of that, I'm positive. Who their left wing will be is anyone's guess. I really can't see anyone taking that right wing position away from our boy Brown. I'm not trying to stroke his sac or anything; I'm just stating a cold, hard fact. The 08-09 season is the start of his brand-new, bargain-basement 5-year contract. For next season, he will make...

*drum roll*

...$2.6 million. That's correct, for the low, low price of $2.6 million, you could have a fucking stud on your top line putting up points. He had signed this deal early last season and I wondered if he was thinking that he should have asked for more. My initial thinking was yes, but when you think about what he had done prior to the 07-08 season and given his age, I think $2.6 was reasonable. That being said, if he had waited as long as Patrick O'Sullivan had/has/ugh, then Brownie would have gotten MUCH MORE. There's no question about that. Add that to the fact that he had recently gotten married and brought a beautiful baby boy into the world. Considering that kind of security he wanted and with his potential still untapped, it was a good signing.

I'm definitely getting his name and number on my new jersey. I'm super excited for it.

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Year-In-Review – 29 – Kyle Calder

(Juan Ocampo/NHLI)

I’m not exactly sure what happened to Kyle Calder last season. He started out the season with a regular place in the lineup, but, by the end, he was a constant healthy scratch. He played in a total of 65 games getting 7 goals and 13 assists for 20 points. I'm not 100% positive about this, but I'm pretty sure that those games were front loaded on the schedule. When I first heard his name I thought, "Oh, he played in Detroit. He has to be good, right?" Yeah, that was a misconception on my part seeing as how he wasn't anything special whenever he hit the ice in a Kings jersey.

There are only two things that pop into my head when I think about him:

1) He had broken his thumb in November, which initiated the call up of my favorite, Matt Moulson. I was completely okay with this because Moulson's presence was much more noticeable than Calder's. I mean, Moulson put up points!

2) There was one game where my friend, AJ, and I were standing at the glass during the warmup, and who was staring at her every single time he skated by? That's right, Kyle Calder. Dude could not have made it any more obvious that he was staring at her, which provided me endless laughter and much embarrassment for her. And then he was scratched for the game, which made me laugh even more.

It's the summer and you may be thinking, "Where did he go? Seriously. Is he still even in LA?" The answer is: yes, Calder is still in LA and doing summer training at the moment. He will be in a Kings jersey next season with $2.8 million going his way. After that, he'll be a UFA in which, I'm sure, the Kings will let him test the free agent pool. Until then, I foresee Calder doing bottom line duty while being scratched at times. I'm really not expecting too much from him next season, which may provide me with some surprises if he does do well. But, really, I'm not holding my breath.

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Year-In-Review – 28 – Matt Ellis

It was pointed out to me by a faithful reader, Brad, that I had not done a review for Matt Ellis. My sincere apologies since the reverse alphabetical order for the forwards is now messed up. In any case, here's another short one for you!

(Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Look at that little ball of energy!

Ellis was the only player who started his year with a completely different organization while finishing up in LA. The Kings claimed Ellis off of waivers in the latter part of the season when the Detroit Red Wings tried to sneak him back to their AHL affiliate to help them in their run for the playoffs. He played in 35 games in Detroit getting 2 goal and 4 assists for 6 points. When he hit the waiver wire, the Kings quickly grabbed him up and, voila, we got an NHL-ready player without giving anything up! Sorry, Steph!

He proved to be an immediate change in the lower lines while even finding some time with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. It was my belief that when a player found himself on a line with Kopi and Brownie it was a sort of audition to see if he could produce with the top studs of the team. (Notables who were not a regular part of the top 6 were Ellis, Raitis Ivanans, and Scott Thornton.) Ellis played in 19 games with the Kings getting 1 shorthanded goal and 1 assist. He definitely didn’t take anything away from the Kings by being in the lineup. His contributions were exactly what were predicted, to do what he was doing with Detroit/Grand Rapids. We knew he wasn’t going to come in and be an offensive juggernaut, so he was a nice addition to the team.

We have Ellis for another year at only $470,000, which I think is a bargain. I’m sure he’ll once again bring back what we picked him up for, energy and spunk for the bottom lines. He’s gonna have to pick up some slack though since Jeff Giuliano was not re-signed by the Kings, which really made me sad. My PK Beast will be in Belarus next season playing for the HC Dinamo Minsk, so hopefully Ellis can be an adequate replacement, which I’m sure he will be.

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Year-In-Review – 27 – Michael Cammalleri

So if you haven't noticed, I've gotten really tired of these reviews. I'll finish them (I think), but I can't promise the quality of them to be great. I'm basically hanging on for dear life until the next season starts....

Michael Cammalleri’s 07-08 season started with his session in arbitration as opposed to his first goal of the season, which was the first goal that was scored in the NHL in 07-08. There was such promise for Cammy to have the same output last season like the season prior that when it didn't happen, he was viewed as a disappointment. Unfair? You can judge him how you wish. In 63 games he got 19 goals and 28 assists for 47 points. Not a terrible output seeing as he was even out of the lineup with various injuries. At the beginning of the season, I saw the Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, and Cammy line as completely dominant and one that wouldn’t last. That line created a roster that was completely top heavy because Alexander Frolov was still injured and Patrick O’Sullivan hadn’t yet started his breakout season. So Cammy constantly found himself on either the top line or 2nd line. Neither was consistent, which is hardly shocking, and he never seemed to get in a groove. I won’t discount that he started out the season strong; he had 10 goals in the first 10 games, but after that, his production definitely trailed off.

I’ll give him props for coming to the defense of Kopi when other players were taking runs at him. But it just took that one instance where he came away with a rib injury that put him out for a significant amount of games. Once this happened there was a collective groan from Kings fans because the secondary scoring was going to become even more invisible. But in came Sully to save the day. With his rise in terms of personal growth and point production, Cammy sadly became somewhat expendable. He spent the rest of the season being invisible, which didn’t help in the constant speculation of his movement within the next season sometime.

He likes it down there

Cammy survived the frenzy of the trade deadline last season, which was a bit understandable because his trade value wasn't as high as it could have been. I figured he'd be sent on his way at the next trade deadline after he had shown he was still a player of worth by trade day 2009. Of course, I was incorrect in my feeble guess because once draft day hit Kings fans breathed a sigh of relief. I guess I shouldn't generalize because not every fan wanted him gone. I guess it was a bit of the mob mentality in terms of how Cammy was viewed. I wasn't sure he'd be good trade bait for the draft, so I was surprised when it happened. He was sent off to the Calgary Flames along with the Kings 48th pick. This gave us Calgary's 17th pick, which was sent to the Anaheim Ducks with our 28th pick. We got back from Anaheim their 12th pick which was in addition to Calgary's 2nd round pick in 2009. Can you say A+ for Dean Lombardi? With all this movement and another eventual move, the Kings picked up Colten Teubert who is as mean and nasty a defenseman as you can get.

I'm not sure how he'll do in Calgary, but I'm sure if he finds himself playing with Jerome Iginla, he'll definitely pot some goals against us. Maybe Elisha Cuthbert will grow tired of Dion Phaneuf and go for Cammy. Whatev. All's I know is that Cammy's departure opens up a spot on the second line for Teddy Purcell, which makes me smile.

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Year-In-Review – 26 – Alexander Frolov

At the beginning of the season Alexander Frolov was out of the lineup for a bit due to the ongoing injuries to his groin(s). (I’m surprised I never got a call to be his personal masseuse.) When he actually made it back into the lineup on a consistent basis, he obviously wasn’t one hundred percent in terms of his health. There was this certain tentativeness that he carried with him while he was on the ice and I saw him as being extremely delicate, which caused me mass amounts of nervousness whenever he had the puck. I felt like one harsh push or awkward check could have sent him back to the press box for a couple of games. But slowly and surely with each passing game, he became stronger and stronger on the puck until there basically wasn’t anyone on any team that could get him off of it. In the later stages of the pathetic season, whenever he got the puck he would just stickhandle like crazy and making the player who was covering him look like a little kid. I remember there’d be times where I’d just be sitting there shaking my head at how strong Fro was along the boards and in the corners. When I think of puck protection, Fro was definitely the player to watch on the team.

He played in 71 games getting 23 goals and 44 assists for 67 points. Amazingly enough, he was one of the few players who ended up in the positive side of the +/- column at a +2. I really think he flew under the radar to other teams because he wasn’t on the top line with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. But in the meantime, he was busy racking up his own points. I thought his assists definitely rivaled both Brownie and Kopi’s in terms of their consistency and reliability.

Hi....

His body type is very similar to Brownie and Kopi, but he just doesn't have the offensive flair of Kopi or the physical presence of Brownie. What he does have is the ability to make an opposing player look foolish. I think if I was defending against him, I’d just start verbally making cracks about his momma because there’d be NO WAY I could strip the puck from him.

Now that I’ve adequately stroked his… ego, I’ll say that he could have afforded to be a tad selfish. When the Kings would be set up in the offensive zone, more often than not he was more apt to pass than to take the shot. It was so frustrating to watch the constant movement of the puck; if one of them could explain to me why they’d rather pass 217 times before taking a shot, I’d really like to know. Call me!

(AP)

Even though he put up a good number of points, I don’t think he peaked in anyway last season in terms of individual performance. If he can stay healthy for all of next season, he could definitely give Brownie and Kopi and run for their money in the points department. Will next season be his “breakout” season? I honestly don’t think we need him to necessarily have an amazing season; he just needs to maintain his consistency and every season will be better than the next. We have him signed for a few more years, so he’s not going anywhere any time soon. And really, for how much he produces, we’re paying him pennies.

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Year-In-Review – 25 – Gabe Gauthier

Get ready for a short one. There were a number of call ups from Manchester last season. There were those that made an impact and those that didn't. Gabe Gauthier was one of those that could be put in the latter group. He really didn’t do much while wearing a Kings jersey, which was evidenced by his playing in only 3 games with no points to show for it. This was actually in stark contrast to what he did while donning a Monarchs jersey. In 61 games he notched 23 goals and 37 assists for 60 points. He actually ended at a -13. Hmm... well, he only played in 3 of the 4 playoff games and ended at a -6 with nothing to show for it. Surprisingly, for me, he went to the AHL All-Stars skills competition where he participated in the accuracy shot. He did well by going 4 for 6. In the actual All-Star game he had zero points but ended at a +3. While it’s always cool to hear that a Southern California boy has made it into the upper leagues of hockey, I need to be impressed by the play that got him where he is. Seeing Gauthier’s short stint with the Kings didn’t do anything for me. Then again, he did poorly when the Kings were doing horrendously. Story of the whole season.

He recently re-signed with the Kings for two years, which assures a veteran presence on an increasingly youthful Manchester squad. I guess I have no complaints about this since it’s clear what his role will be for those two years.

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Year-In-Review – 24 – Michal Handzus & Jeff Giuliano

I feel the same way

Michal Handzus signed with the Kings last summer for four (4) years at $4 million per with a no-trade clause. Apparently he was brought in to be the 2nd line center but was never able to regain his form last season from the major surgery he had. He surprisingly played in all 82 games getting 7 goals and 14 assists for 21 points. He spent almost all of his time in the 3rd line center role, and I was never really impressed with anything that Handzus did. Apparently he's known for having "soft hands," but he also had a soft playing style. This was put to the test when Raitis Ivanans was out of the lineup due to injury and Chris Pronger decided to take a run at Handzus after the horn blew to end a game. This pissed me off for two reasons: (1) it’s obvious that Handzus isn’t one to throw down his gloves and (2) Ivanans was probably sitting in the press box punching walls wishing he was out there. This was just another instance that so bluntly illustrated to hockey fans that Pronger is a jackass. Even Dustin Byfuglien knew that he didn’t grab a fighter when he took hold of Lubomir Visnovsky. No punches were thrown in that instance because Byfuglien isn’t retarded.

The only really positive that I can take out of his being on the Kings last season was that by the middle-end of the season he was set in the 2nd unit of the PK with Patrick O’Sullivan. Although there definitely were times when I thought that both players were looking more for the shorthanded opportunity than trying to successfully kill the penalty. The thing that absolutely killed me about Handzus was that his faceoff numbers were horrible. HORRIBLE. I don’t even want to go back and look at any numbers, it was that bad. I don’t get it; wasn’t that something he was supposed to be good in? Bleh, anyway, we have him for 3 more years, so hopefully he can get back on the horse and figure out how to win some damn faceoffs.

For the love of god, Handzus!

Moving onto someone I hearted last season: Jeff Giuliano started the season over in Manchester but eventually found a permanent place on the roster when the Kings were sucking (to be blunt). In Manchester he played in 23 games getting 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points. With the Kings he played in 53 games while posting zero goals and 6 assists. He definitely provided a much-needed spark when he got to LA. He eventually found a place on the 1st PK unit and I was pretty happy about that. He seemed to genuinely want to kill off every single penalty he was out there for. He wasn’t afraid to dive headfirst into an oncoming shot. His spark led me to make this sign for him just to make sure he knew his efforts weren’t going unnoticed.


Bottom line, I realize that he wasn’t the best player, but I loved all that he did on the ice. He was a 4th line energy player and that’s exactly what he did. He played the shutdown role well and you won’t find too many complaints here. He even had a penalty shot against Miikka Kiprusoff. As a complete aside: there have been remarks all season about his appearance. Let me just say that I’ve seen him in street clothes sans the helmet and he’s definitely a good-looking fellow. The helmet does absolutely NOTHING for him.

That's unfortunate

Sadly, for me, he was not re-upped for next season by the Kings so he signed a one-year deal with HC Dinamo Minsk in Belarus for the 08-09 season. I was bummed when Ron Hextall said that he was not a priority to being re-signed, but I have accepted that fact now. I have no clue who’s going to replace him because after the top two lines for next season, it gets kind of hazy as to who could play in those positions.

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Year-In-Review – 23 – Raitis Ivanans

Raitis Ivanans is the resident role player (read: enforcer) for the Kings. Last season he played in 73 games getting 6 goals, 2 assists for 8 points, and ended with 134 penalty minutes. In the beginning of the season it was clear what Ivanans’ role was, but once the Kings drifted out of playoff contention, Marc Crawford started moving him around the roster more and more. This caused me frustrations at first, but when it was clear that the Kings were going nowhere, I really didn't mind Ivanans getting more ice time. But there were definitely instances where I would wonder why he decided to pick a fight when he did because the timing wouldn't quite work with what was going down in the game. I forget which game it was exactly, but he started fighting with a guy about five minutes into the first period. Really? Why?

I think he didn't play in all 82 games because of the Rob Blake slapshot he took to the face. It was unbelievable; the man didn't even fall down. His hands shot to his face and he skated over to the bench. I can't even imagine what that must has felt like. Not just a puck flying at your face, but with Rob Blake's power behind it. It frightens me to even think about. I can't pinpoint the exact game, but it was in November sometime and when he returned he had to wear a full face shield to protect his face while it healed. He now has 4 titanium plates in his cheek! What a man's man.


So it's no secret that he wasn’t the best skater, and yeah, he wasn’t the most skilled player, but I really thought he deserved more than 5 minutes of ice time per game. This slight frustration caused this post, but it wasn’t like I wanted him to get top line time. I just wanted him to get some more ice time in general. Later in the season when he started to find himself on the same shifts with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, I was nervous because I didn’t think that Ivanans could keep up with the other two. But he showed that he could actually do more than participate in some fisticuffs, which was a relief. I mean, we couldn’t really complain at that point because we were in the cellar and he really wasn’t holding back Kopi and Brownie by being on their line. In the January Ivanans signed a two-year extension with the Kings, which I thought was a very good signing. He is hugely popular with the fans and we definitely need him in the lineup. Speaking of, this quote is from a recent interview with Daniel Carcillo of the Phoenix Coyotes and it definitely put a huge smile on my face.

"I fought Raitis Ivanans in L.A. even though I really didn't want to. I'd scored a nice goal and was kind of revved up and skating around being an idiot. Wayne told me, "If he comes out, I want you to come right off the ice." Sure enough, on my last shift, Ivanans came out looking for me. He's a pretty scary guy: 6-3, 263 and incredibly strong. But I didn't listen to Wayne because I thought it would be cowardly to back down. We traded punches, he hit me on the forehead and I went down. It was quick, but it was one of the worst beatings I've taken in hockey."

After the season ended, he traveled to Canada for the World Championships with some of his Kings teammates. He joined the Latvian team and did what he does best. Although in looking at the stats sheets, I thought he should have been given more ice time seeing as he was one of the few NHL players on the roster. But what do I know. Anyway, I'm glad he'll be back with the Kings for the next two season. I shall be looking forward to the many fights we'll be graced with in the future.

This was after he fought Ryan Getzlaf while playing Team Canada

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Year-In-Review – 22 – Anze Kopitar

What can I say about Anze Kopitar. He is the face of the Kings. When other teams come to play the Kings, the first name that pops into their heads should be “Anze Freaking Kopitar.”

(AP)

He finished his second full NHL season and demonstrated why he is the top line center, which I’m sure was never a doubt in anyone’s mind. He admitted in a few interviews that he was afraid of falling victim to the “sophomore slump,” but he held his own and was never invisible. He played in all 82 games and racked up 32 goals and 45 assists for 77 points. He had a great year in terms of his own improvement, and he was so great to watch. He had the ability to move his big frame with such finesse and ease while being equally strong on the puck; basically, the best of both worlds. Even when the Kings were having an especially horrible game, you could always count on Kopi making a showing somehow. But I will note that there was a stray game or two where I remember thinking, “Man, even Kopi isn’t looking good.” He should be commended for his accomplishments last season because he improved immensely on an individual level while trying to carry a team that was going in the opposite direction.

He is definitely the type of leader who leads by example. His point production was rivaled only by Dustin Brown, his linemate and seemingly life partner in that they were hardly ever out on the ice without each other. I really can’t express just how awesome Kopi is as a player and subsequent team representative. That being said, seeing him out on the ice during the All-Stars Game warmed my heart. Here was the face of my franchise on a huge national stage getting the attention he so rightly deserved. It definitely made a boring game a bit tolerable.

Kopi-tastic

After the season ended he went on to represent Slovenia in the World Championships. He is the only NHL player who hails from Slovenia, which meant that his name was the only recognizable name on that roster. Just like he was the face of the Kings last season, he was Team Slovenia in the Championships. He logged the most ice time, had the most points, and basically carried the entire team on his shoulders. The most telling stat that I found was that his average ice time for each shift was longer than everyone else's on the team, which included the defensemen.


This summer produced one of most ridiculous trade rumors involving Kopi that I’ve heard in awhile. Kopi to Chicago with Martin Gerber and Andrej Mezsaros in return from Ottawa? That deserves a punch in the face. I’ve already expressed my thoughts here so I’m not going to go into that again. I feel lame that I don’t have more to say on Kopi, but how many words do I need to use to tell everyone that he’s as solid and as consistent as the next NHL superstar. He will be with the Kings for many years to come and I’m curious to see how much money will go his way once we lock him up long term. I also see him wearing an "A" next year, no doubt.

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Year-In-Review – 21 – Matt Moulson

I honestly have nothing negative to say about Matt Moulson; he is a favorite of mine and I will openly admit that. When you think about the roster, it's amazing to see how much individual success the younger forwards had. Moulson definitely had that type of success last season and he's only going to go up from here.

Surprisingly, there was a post that I had written about him around the time when he was first recalled by the Kings back in November that has been one of my more popular posts. I think out of all the Manchester boys and Junior prospects mentioned from this past season, he’s been the most searched for in this space (even more than Teddy Purcell). I’m not sure why exactly, but it’s nice to know that there are people all over North America who have noticed his play on the ice. Perhaps his being drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins or his attending Cornell University has added to his search numbers. In any case, I’m glad people are curious about him, which I’m hoping translates to realizing that he has the potential to be a solid and reliable NHL player.

(AP)

Love these guys

He played in 22 games with the Kings accumulating 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points in a short amount of time. He was recalled a total of four times last season and was subsequently reassigned four times. The first recall occurred on his birthday after Kyle Calder had broken his thumb. Every time I saw that he was reassigned I essentially raised hell. I couldn’t understand why the Kings would reassign him when he was CLEARLY doing better than all of the lower tier players on the roster. I mean, he scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game! When did Derek Armstrong score his first goal of the season? (Note: That definitely wasn’t a knock on Army as a person. He’s awesome.) Moulson proved in basically all 22 games that he belonged on the roster. With Ladislav Nagy constantly in and out of the active lineup at that point in time, Moulson was also in and out of the Kings lineup. My anger concerning the constant movement of Moulson actually began earlier when Marc Crawford insisted on using Jon Klemm as a forward instead of his normal position of defenseman, which ABSOLUTLY KILLED ME. And speaking of, I don’t think I did a review for Klemm... whatever. This accumulation of nonsense really turned me into a crotchety person who would fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. Well, it wasn't that bad... really....

Meanwhile back at the ranch (and by "ranch," I mean, Manchester), Moulson played in 57 games tallying 28 goals and 28 assists for 26 points. He ended the regular season at a +5 and had only 29 PIM. In the playoffs he played in all 4 games getting 2 goals and, like Teddy, ended at a -9. To me, a -9 during a 4-game sweep by the best team in the AHL just tells me that Moulson and Teddy were getting the most minutes per game. I was happy with Moulson's production in Manchester after being shuttled back and forth so many times last season.

The Kings have re-signed him for 1-year with terms undisclosed and my first reaction to this signing was utter, utter relief. In looking at the depth for next season, the 3rd line is where he would most likely start. My guess is that he'd be successful with working as a shut down-type of player who has the ability to notch some points as well. I can see him as Calder’s replacement in that type of role. Calder had an off year with his deflection skills due to his lack of ice time, and I remember some of Moulson’s goals were of the dirty quality around the net. If I recall, Calder became a consistent scratch with Brian Willsie filling that spot. So Moulson replacing Calder/Willsie? Sounds like a great idea!! Who knows where he could actually end up by season's end, but I'm sure as hell excited to see another young face on the roster.

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Year-In-Review – 20 – Ladislav Nagy & Brady Murray

When one thinks about free agent signing busts, the name Ladislav Nagy should come first. He was signed for just one year at $3.75 million; he played in 38 games tallying 9 goals, 17 assists for 26 points. He started off the year within the pool of free agents that Lombardi signed but ended the year with the strangest neck injury. Apparently there’s always been this mild sort of hype surrounding Nagy in that he had potential, which he could never quite grasp year after year. But the dude is 29 now, if he hasn’t achieved said potential by now, I don’t see him doing it when he’s in his 30s. So he came into the season with the aforementioned hype and inconsistently delivered while in the lineup. The only game I can really remember him being in was the New Year’s game where the Kings blew out the Blackhawks 9-2. Nagy tallied 5 points and was a stud; but that was it.

Aww, Lubo's in the background!

His season was cut short due to his mysterious neck injury that seemed to come out of nowhere. I’m not really sure what to make of it because there was no real explanation for it. What I did know was that it occurred about a month or so before the trade deadline passed so that he couldn’t be traded. I’m not sure what exactly his appeal would have been to other teams had he not been on IR, so I can only speculate on what "could have been." His presence in the latter half of the season was basically nil, so I’m fine with him slipping out of LA unannounced.

Brady Murray made an even shorter appearance with the Kings this year than did Nagy. He played in 4 games (1 goal) at the beginning of the season with the highlight being when they played the St. Louis Blues and he "faced" his father, Andy Murray. I have hardly anything to say about this kid except that he’s been a part of the Kings organization for a long time. I’m not sure what his projection is slated to be but I do know that he won’t be on the big club’s roster next year.

Wasn't that nice of the photographer to get both in one shot.... *yawn*

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Year-In-Review – 19 – Patrick O'Sullivan

Broken bone in his face, losing teeth, and becoming a badass.

Check, check, and check.

Patrick O’Sullivan’s growth this season was really one of those rare occurrences that management wishes would happen to all of their young prospects. This season my Sophomore Stud was one of the few to play in all 82 games. He blew all expectations by scoring 22 goals and 31 assists for 53 points. He actually had the most shots on net with 220 (followed closely by Dustin Brown with 219). His growth on the defensive end was definitely noticeable and he fought his way up to the top line. When Michael Cammalleri was placed on IR due to a rib injury, Sully stepped up to the plate and delivered. He didn’t exactly render Cammy obsolete, but he did prove that the Kings were fine without Cammy’s sniper shot and, therefore, was expendable once the trade deadline came around.

While he was proving that he belonged with the young guns in the lineup, he was also displaying his defensive abilities. His backchecking abilities became better and he became noticeably stronger on the puck. If there was one thing I could point to that was less than stellar, it was something that he’d do game after game (it seemed); it’d be the same move while leading the attack into the offensive zone. He’d get the puck, get across the offensive blueline, and leave the puck for someone else on his team. The problem with this was that, more often than not, there would be no one immediately behind him to grab the puck, so that a turnover would occur even before the Kings were able to create any offense. This caused me endless frustrations because you could just see it coming; you knew that’s what Sully was going to do. At the same time, it’s easy for me to be sitting at home or in the upper bowl critiquing his play. And really, if that’s the only thing I’m critiquing, I think we’re lucky.

His defensive efforts were rewarded at the end of the season when he was named the Best Defensive Player on the team by the media. It really couldn’t have been anyone else getting this award. Brownie and Anze Kopitar are definitely great defensive forwards, but Sully showed his badass-ness with his ability to chase people down with strides that appeared short and choppy but that were actually extremely efficient. This was also put on display when he gained more and more ice time on the PK. By the end of the season he was in every PK situation with Michal Handzus and it seemed that every time they were out there, one of them would be prowling for that shorthanded opportunity to make a split second appearance. When it did, whoever got the puck first pounced on it and drove as fast as he could to the other end of the ice. This resulted in 3 shorthanded goals for Sully and 3 for Handzus.

(Los Angeles Kings)

Is that really how he tapes his stick?

There is actually another thing I can mention about Sully that isn’t exactly 100% positive. But before I go into that, I’m going to backtrack to create a better chain of events. At the beginning of the season, whenever the Kings made it to the shootout, the three shooters were always Kopi, Brownie, and Cammy. As the season progressed and as the roster started to develop, I noticed that whenever Alexander Frolov would have a great game, he’d be placed in the shootout in lieu of Cammy, which I completely agreed with. Around this time when Fro was getting some shootout attention, it was clear that Sully also had some sick skills with the puck and totally deserved a spot in the shootout as well. With Brownie and Kopi in there every time (which is how it should be) that third spot was open to whoever had the best game out of Fro, Cammy, and Sully. When the latter started to kick ass in the shootout, I would commence my bitching and moaning whenever he wasn’t the third shooter. Even when he was the 4th shooter, I would still bitch. Anyway, I started to notice that he’d take the shot the same way every time he was out there. He would pick up the puck, shift to the right, pick up speed, and once he got past the hash marks, he’d wrist it between the goaltender’s right leg and right arm.

Same move. Every time.

It became predictable and it was amplified by the fact that when he started doing interviews, he would talk about how he had used that same move in the shootout since he was a kid. I thought announcing that was a bad idea and it was proved as such when the Kings played the Ducks in the game that went to the 6th round of the shootout. He went for the same shot and Jonas Hiller flat out denied him. It may have worked against Marty Turco in early January, but it won’t against Jonas Hiller in late March. So I hope Sully has learned his lesson in that you shouldn’t blatantly give away your move like that. I’m sure teams would have figured it out soon anyway; but, perhaps his talking about it accelerated it a bit. In saying that, I’m sure he’ll bust out some more sick moves next season in the shootout.

After the season finally came to an end, Sully and Brownie traveled to Canada for the IIHF World Championships to represent USA Hockey. I wrote some posts on the tournament on all my Kings who were in the Championships. Sully had another great showing in an international tournament, so congrats to him.


Even though the Kings didn’t draft Sully, he still proved that the youth movement is the direction this franchise should be headed. Lombardi’s philosophies are working and I’m glad that Sully is now considered a part of this pain-inducing process. I don’t think I ever viewed him as a defensive liability, but he definitely has stepped up his overall game and is displaying top line skill. He improved immensely as the season went along and I expect him to be one of the top flight players on the roster next year.

As of today, Sully still has not re-signed with the Kings. Apparently his agent and the Kings are still deciding on how much Sully is worth when compared to other players around the league who are of similar caliber. In Episode 1.6 of Kings World Podcast I predicted that Sully would get a 5-year deal with the payout as such; $3 million, $3, $3.5, $3.5, $4. This would take him to UFA status and would include a no-trade clause for the first three years of the contract. I didn’t like the inflated contracts that GMs were handing out like candy on July 1st, so I’m curious to see how close I actually get to the contract terms whenever the Kings and Sully decide to consummate their relationship on a long-term basis.

I'll keep you posted...

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Year-In-Review – 18 – Teddy Purcell

Teddy Purcell was one of the Manchester Boys who made it to the Kings roster a couple of times last season. I can’t actually remember how many times he was recalled because it seemed players were getting recalled and reassigned everyday around the third quarter of the season. The short and sweet version is that Purcell is a tall, lanky badass who won the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award for the AHL’s most outstanding rookie of the 07-08 season. His call ups to the Kings were a terrible tease by the management because our future looked too good to send back down to Manchester. But send him back, they did, and while Kings fans are salivating at the thought of all those prospects everyone is name dropping, they seem to have forgotten just how awesome Purcell was last season.

With the Kings he played in 10 games getting 1 goal, 2 assists for 3 points, ended at a +2, and had no PIM. The moment he stepped out onto the ice in a Kings jersey, he has impressed. He’s got some skills with the puck and definitely showed LA why he was the AHL’s badass rookie of the year. I’m still amazed that he went undrafted and that the Kings actually got him! I know this review is for only this past year, but it’s difficult to look only at this year when I know his potential is sky high. One thing I noticed was that Purcell got the majority, if not all, of his ice time at even strength with the Kings. I’m wondering if he played on specialty teams while in Manchester because I thought that he deserved some time there with the Kings because he was doing really well at even strength. I really don’t see any downside to his being on the Kings roster. He is more than ready to be in LA next season and I absolutely cannot wait.

While with Manchester he played in 67 games accumulating 25 goals and 58 assists for a whopping 83 points; he ended even in the plus/minus column and had 34 PIM. He went to the AHL All-Star Classic where he was able to display his awesomeness on an even bigger scale. He recorded a hat trick AND got the game-winner in the shootout, which eventually led to him being named the game’s MVP. In the Calder Cup playoffs, he played in 4 games getting 0 goals, 3 assists for 3 points. Interestingly, he ended at a -9, but thinking back on it, the Monarchs were full of rookies and they were playing the best team in the AHL (Providence Bruins) in that first and only round. And, hey, it’s the Kings; having a horrible +/- is normal.

This Newfoundland boy is going to be on the roster next year and I have a feeling that he’s going to be on the right wing of the 2nd line. It’s hard to see him NOT being in the top six forwards. His skill level is too high to be placed any lower than that. This actually presents an interesting phenomenon that I don’t think I’ve seen before on a line; this is with Jarret Stoll taking the 2nd line center position. Alexander Frolov, Stoll, and Purcell are all right-handed shots. And really, that’s going be the hottest line in the NHL. Hands down. I’m gonna have to make sure my panties don’t fall off when they hit the ice.

Good god....

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Year-In-Review – 17 – Scott Thornton

Scott Thornton was a veteran forward who wore an “A” on his sweater last season, and while I’m sure he had some influence off the ice for the younger players, I wished that he had more of an on-ice role. He played in 47 games getting 5 goals, 3 assists for 8 points, ended up at a +1, and had 39 PIM. Even though his numbers don't reflect it, I felt that he was a player who came to play every night whenever he was in the lineup. He played in just a couple less games than Brian Willsie, but I can remember more of his shifts. There’s a certain presence that one can have while out on the ice and I felt that Thornton was one of those types of players. In saying that, I definitely felt bad for him whenever I saw that he was a "healthy scratch."

(AP)

I always wondered what type of leadership role he was having over the younger players when he was a constant scratch. I remembered thinking many times, "How much influence can he have if he’s not out on the ice on a regular basis?" According to Ron Hextall at the Kings Roundtable, we, as fans, have to remember that just because Thornton was a healthy scratch didn’t mean that he wasn’t suffering from some sort of nagging injury. At the same time, when he was scratched, we had to go without his grittiness on whatever line Crawford threw him out on. I’m not saying that he was an elite player whose role was on the top line, but there was a sort of undeniable extra spark whenever he was in the lineup. He definitely threw down a few times and held his own as an older player. I recall he was INSENSED when the Kings were playing Chicago and Dustin Byfuglien grabbed Lubo to have a go. I remember Jim Fox saying he thought that Byfuglien realized he didn’t grab a fighter so that they were instead just grappling with each other. But as someone who is able to win his fair share of fights, Thornton wanted nothing more than to rip Byfuglien’s head clean off .

(AP)

Not Byfuglien, but he's about to get wacked.

I believed he made noticeable difference whenever he was out there and he definitely deserved more ice time, but to think that he was too injured to take any extra ice time he could have been given is really unfortunate. When it was announced that the Kings’ last game of the season would possibly be the last of Thornton’s career, I was pretty bummed. That last game is customarily Fan Appreciation Day where the players give selected fans the jerseys off their backs. When it was Thornton’s turn, the person receiving his jersey was actually his wife. I thought it was definitely fitting that the Kings brought her out for this occasion. She had been with him since he was playing in Juniors and for her to be there at the end was a classy move by the organization.

To Scott, I had hoped your last season in the NHL could have ended better, but thanks for your efforts on every shift. I hope I’m not alone in saying that I wished you could have been healthier to take more shifts because we needed it.

(AP)

Awww

His retiring from the game and departure from the Kings leaves us with another hole in the lineup. I can’t even really pinpoint which position Thornton played with whichever line because of Crawford, but I will say with certainty that someone in his early 20s will be taking his place.

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Year-In-Review – 16 – Lauri Tukonen

One thing that really bothers me about Lauri Tukonen is that he has the same first name as Christian Bale's character in Little Women. You know, with the weird facial hair and the mad crush on Winona Ryder but then later has to love the youngest sister, Meg, in order to stay somehow connected with this estrogen-dominated family. Those crazy kids.

Christian Bale = HOT

Lauri Tukonen = NOT

So sad.

He looks confused here. It's probably because he is.

Anyway, if you don't recognize this kid's name, that's okay, I wouldn't expect you to remember him. He had the most non-memorable game probably in his career this year. He was recalled for one game, probably because management decided, "What the heck, we're doing so terribly right now, why not bring up a young 'un and make him feel like crap." Done and done. In a terrible game against the Coyotes, the team played terribly, vis a vis, Tukonen sucked balls. It's amazing just how much the Coyotes owned the Kings this year. Simply amazing.

Anyway, Tukonen recorded one shot on net and then he was sent back to Manchester. Hope you had fun in LA this year! All two days...

I shouldn't laugh at the foreign kid.

Because this is a review for just this past season, I realized that I had nearly nothing to write about this kid. But while I was looking through Getty Images, I realized that he had so few pictures that all of his mug shots were up on the one and only page for him. So I saved them and complied them all into one convenient image for you all. I don't think I've laughed more while compiling a quick collection. Maybe it was because it was kind of a Tukonen; Through The Years that made it utterly hilarious. I'm sure it's just the way each individual picture was taken, but he looks like he's shrinking as the years go by. Also, his hair is getting more and more emo. Someone should help this kid out.

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Year-In-Review – 15 – Brian Willsie

As we move along with the Reviews for the forwards, I'm not ignoring what has been going on for the past couple of days. I'm doing the exact opposite in fact; I can't stop thinking about what has occurred and it really just has been a sad and disappointing past couple of days for me. But celebrating among family and friends on the 4th had been a good getaway for me. That being said, we're going to move along with the reviews. I really hope that I can get all of these done before the summer is over actually.

To reiterate my first Review on the forwards, I'll be writing these alphabetically and in reverse order. So we move along to Brian Willsie.

I think out of all of the players on the roster, he's the one that did almost nothing on every shift. There's not one thing I can remember that he really contributed to the games he was playing in because, as with every fringe player, he was scratched for a good number of games. Hilariously enough, when I looked at the Kings website for Willsie's stats, he wasn't even on the list!


If you take a close look, even Lauri Tukonen was on this list by playing ONE GAME!!! HAHAH!!!! I guess the web programmer feels the same way about Willsie as I do. So, thank you, web programmer, for providing me with a good round of laughs. I had to venture over to Yahoo sports to check out what he posted for last season. So he played in 53 games and got 4 goals, 8 assists for 12 points, and ended at a -8. 53 games?? Really? I can't even remember how any of his goals looked. I'm really trying... but I got nothing...

The one thing that I CAN remember, and the one thing that I will always associate with Brian Willsie was that faithful day on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008. This was the game in which the Kings took the Ducks to the 6th round in the shootout near the end of the season. After the 1-1 game went into OT, I was already envisioning who I wanted to see out on the ice for the shootout. My top three were Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, and Patrick O'Sullivan. At that point in time, I was sick of seeing Michael Cammalleri in the top 3 with Sully having to come in the 4th round to win the game. Well, my wish had been granted, Sully was the 3rd shooter. But then Cammy was the 4th, and Alexander Frolov was the 5th. I had not expected the shootout to extend this far and had no clue who Crawford was going to send out onto the ice. IMAGINE MY SHOCK WHEN BRIAN WILLSIE HOPPED OVER THE BENCH. After 65 minutes of hockey, he had only played 5:54 spread over 8 shifts. He had absolutely no business being out on the ice at that point in time. Who would I have chosen next?

Lubomir Visnovsky.

Rob Blake.

Derek Armstrong.

Hell, Kevin Dallman.

Per Assistant GM, Ron Hextall, Willsie was in the top 3 shooters while with the Washington Capitals. Who knew! But how much is that weighed against how he was doing during the prior 65 minutes? According to Crawford's gut feeling, none. The only other fact about Willsie that I will remember is that he was Alexander Ovechkin's roommate when AO was a rookie.

I just tried to look at NHLSCAP.com to see what he was making last year on his 1-year contract signed last summer. Wouldn't you know it, he's not on this page either! He seems to be disappearing a la Nowhere Man style. Odd.

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Year-In-Review – 14 – John Zeiler

The time has come to take a look at the forwards. Joy. The 07-08 season was filled with random line combinations and foul language escaping my lips, but there definitely were bright spots here and there. It's been said so many times that it's becoming cliche, but the youth of this team is promising and they will be the ones who will take over this team in the coming seasons. Man, that sounds so promising, it really does. But will that be the truth? It's questionable when we take a look at the goal scorers, wannabe goal scorers, and energy guys from this past season.

I originally wanted to organize these players by lines and start at the bottom, but I realized that it had gotten so muddled on the 3rd and 4th lines that my order would just seem random. So I'm going to tackle this feat going alphabetically and in reverse order. Why not, who's really reading these anyway? Anyhoo, here goes nothing.

You think he got past that BJ? HA!

John Zeiler... right off the bat, I could say with confidence that he was definitely a fringe player on the team this year. He was supposed to be here to provide a spark on the lower lines, but, really, he was lots of suck. He played 36 games getting zero goals, one assist, was at a -6, and had 23 PIM. I will admit, he was able to throw up some hits, which would get the fans riled up. But when I really looked at how the hits were going down, I realized that he wasn't doing well in that department either. I can remember plently of instances where he would be running after an opposing player who was trying to get possession of a loose puck. Once said player would get near the boards, Zeiler would make him eat glass.

Loud noise. Crowd cheers.

But I honestly believe that he threw those kinds of hits because he couldn't skate fast enough to beat the other guy to the puck. He had these short,choppy strides that annoyed the hell out of me; talk about inefficient! Anyway, so he'd get out-skated to the puck, and the only way for him to even have a chance at gaining possession was for him to lay the dude down. That, to me, isn't skill. If you want an example of how hitting SHOULD be done by the boards, look at Dustin Brown. Zeiler isn't even in the same league as Brownie. Literally. The coaching staff sent him back to Manchester because he couldn't handle the pressure out on the ice. What was my reaction? Laughter... and relief

I really don't have too much else to say about him. After realizing what he was "contributing" to the team, I hated whenever he was out on the ice. He did nothing for me. Who knows where he'll end up next season. Saying that his showing this past season was less than impressive is an understatement. It makes me laugh (and Marie cry) to see that he's signed until the 2010-11 season. If he can't do something to improve his overall game, he'll be stuck in the minors for a long time. He's only making half a million for the remaining years on his contract, but I'm still annoyed that he has to get paid that amount. But, you never know, he could shock the hell out of Kings fans and have a breakout year, a la Patrick O'Sullivan.

HAHAHA!

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