GDT: 2022-23 Western Conference Quarter-Finals LA Kings vs Edmonton Oilers @7:00pm (EDM leads 3-2) 4/29/23

[King'sPawn]

The trolls and bad faith folks will be back when they can crawl in and disrupt discussions. I look forward to not having to read about them in the meantime.

 

[Schmooley]

The Doughty contract is going to be a huge burden on the Kings. This was the first year where you could very clearly see that he was no longer worthy of the $11m cap hit. It’s not going to be pretty to see Drew continue his decline for the next 4 seasons while making that much money.

What’s frustrating is seeing the return that Ottawa got for their guy before the wheels fell off (before this years renaissance).

No one wants to address it and its a bigger problem than we are making it to be. You cant play him nearly half the game anymore and expect to win it all.
They got to game 7 last year with Stetcher and everyone stepping up a couple notches.

 

[Schrute farms]

Axl/TKF/SN would say

“You aren’t true fans”
“Go cheer for the Ducks, Knights or Kraken”
“Anything can happen in the playoffs”
“Bad luck facing McDrai”
“The refs screwed the Kings”
“Byfield is to young to be expected to contribute”
“They had 100+ points with Todd”
“Not enough AHL seasoning” (SN exclusive)
“MMQB, Hindsight is 2020”
“If you all know so much why aren’t you GM’s or coaches”

You forgot -- one of the greatest regular seasons in Kings history with 104 points.

 

[ru4reals]

Axl/TKF/SN would say

“You aren’t true fans”
“Go cheer for the Ducks, Knights or Kraken”
“Anything can happen in the playoffs”
“Bad luck facing McDrai”
“The refs screwed the Kings”
“Byfield is to young to be expected to contribute”
“They had 100+ points with Todd”
“Not enough AHL seasoning” (SN exclusive)
“MMQB, Hindsight is 2020”
“If you all know so much why aren’t you GM’s or coaches”

"Have anyone of you guys even played the game to understand"

I've always liked this one. Not sure if these were the exact words or if any one of these guys said this but totally discrediting my three copper beer league titles.

 

[johnjm22]

The Doughty contract is going to be a huge burden on the Kings. This was the first year where you could very clearly see that he was no longer worthy of the $11m cap hit. It’s not going to be pretty to see Drew continue his decline for the next 4 seasons while making that much money.

What’s frustrating is seeing the return that Ottawa got for their guy before the wheels fell off (before this years renaissance).

I don't know about that. He was better this year than he was during the tank years like 18/19 and 19/20.

I would say this is the first year where his issues weren't because of lack of trying. And that's a concern.

 

[ujju2]

You guys probably aren't looking for respect in the handshake line, but what I can say is that I and most Oilers fans would have rather played any other Pacific team (including Vegas) than LA going into the first round. That's not a slight on any of those teams, but a testament to how well the Kings have played the Oilers over the past few years. This series was no exception, congrats Kings fans on a hard-fought series and season. Really hope we don't play you in round 1 again next year.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

You guys probably aren't looking for respect in the handshake line, but what I can say is that I and most Oilers fans would have rather played any other Pacific team (including Vegas) than LA going into the first round. That's not a slight on any of those teams, but a testament to how well the Kings have played the Oilers over the past few years. This series was no exception, congrats Kings fans on a hard-fought series and season. Really hope we don't play you in round 1 again next year.

Do us a favor and actually win the division then. We clearly can’t.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Doughty had a very good year, but he's aging

one sure thing you can do to expose aging players is play them stupidly huge minutes against the best players in the world in their prime, you could see him in 'conserve' mode for most of the series. And thats' on them for not putting together a 3rd pairing that wouldn't lose them a game.

 

[Bandit]

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the oilers once they’re facing a pk unit that can kill more than 40%.

 

[bland]

I've seen enough player bashing. I mean we went 0-3 with Fiala in the lineup and he performed well stats wise.

The only reason we lost is that the PK was horrendous and the coach had no solution for it. There is no excuse for it because we saw it last year too. Whoever thought the same formation would work this year should be fired.

The series was lost in game 4. There is no coming back from losing on home ice up 3-0. Leadership or lack thereof is also to blame.

The only thing I know now is that we can't be lead by Kopitar and Doughty anymore.

The only reason they lost is a complete lack of mental toughness.

Every game in this series was winnable, but when you willingly allow the opposition to set the tone and pace you have no business in the playoffs.

Fiala is a fine player, just the wrong trade at the wrong time. You need to allow your young players to take over the ownership of the team and take your lumps in that process. Continually pushing them further down the lineup to circumvent the growth process of a rebuild is gross mismanagement.

This team will not win anything under Rob Blake.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Doughty had a very good year, but he's aging

one sure thing you can do to expose aging players is play them stupidly huge minutes against the best players in the world in their prime, you could see him in 'conserve' mode for most of the series. And thats' on them for not putting together a 3rd pairing that wouldn't lose them a game.

DD has been in conserve mode all season. Ive asked several times has anyone see him at full speed carrying the puck all year? He settles everything down and makes breakout passes at a near stand still. On the PP he always receives the pucks, thinks passes. He is stuck in a mode he cant get out of. He had like 3 game upswing in March where he was assertive entering the o-zone and scored. Then went back to his lollygagging.

 

[johnjm22]

Fans and media like to hype up terms like "leadership" and "mental toughness".

The Kings lost because the Oilers are a better team. Sometimes it really is that simple.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Weren't we up 2-1 with a 3-0 1st period lead at one point?

We choked.

 

[BringTheReign]

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the oilers once they’re facing a pk unit that can kill more than 40%.

I hear ya, but it's not like they didn't also win the territorial battle 5-on-5. Korpisalo was the difference at even strength given their outplaying us 55-60% of the time.

 

[tny760]

Fans and media like to hype up terms like "leadership" and "mental toughness".

The Kings lost because the Oilers are a better team. Sometimes it really is that simple.

yeah it was a fun uphill battle but acting like it wasn't uphill is a bit silly

 

[AbsentMojo]

The only reason they lost is a complete lack of mental toughness.

Every game in this series was winnable, but when you willingly allow the opposition to set the tone and pace you have no business in the playoffs.

Fiala is a fine player, just the wrong trade at the wrong time. You need to allow your young players to take over the ownership of the team and take your lumps in that process. Continually pushing them further down the lineup to circumvent the growth process of a rebuild is gross mismanagement.

This team will not win anything under Rob Blake.

re Mental toughness: I think part of it Kopi is a passive leader both with his personality and as a player - and in general its a fairly passive roster. That sets the tone. There isnt a leadership group like the cup days where you had 5 or 6 guys that were tough as nails and you had no choice but be a part of that value system or be excommunicated.

The Fiala trade was a mistake from a team rebuild strategy perspective. Blake had the wrong coach for a rebuild, and 2 players from the cup years that want to compete now, so he converted assets into a scoring winger. But wing was the last thing the team needed - if anything he shouldve converted those same assets into 2LD, 1G and 3LD. So he got value on his assets for the wrong position. The trade can still be fine if he moves a wing for some those said holes on D and G... and then you look at it as an upgrade of someone like Arvidsson... but basically it was not smart move given the roster holes at the time.

 

[johnjm22]

re Mental toughness: I think part of it Kopi is a passive leader both with his personality and as a player - and in general its a fairly passive roster. That sets the tone. There isnt a leadership group like the cup days where you had 5 or 6 guys that were tough as nails and you had no choice but be a part of that value system or be excommunicated.

You can have all the leadership you want. It doesn't matter if the team you're playing is better than you.

 

[AbsentMojo]

You can have all the leadership you want. It doesn't matter if the team you're playing is better than you.

They arent exponentially better. Kings and EDM are same ballpark. Team with better mental toughness and good strategy beat out talent all the time. e.g 2012 LAK v Van.

 

[fsanford]

Weren't we up 2-1 with a 3-0 1st period lead at one point?

We choked.

Well that is when our goal tending decide to put down the drawbridge over the moat and let the pucks in

That and zero adjustments.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Weren't we up 2-1 with a 3-0 1st period lead at one point?

We choked.

3-0 whether series or game score activates the Koala implosion complex. Even if the Kings go up 3-1 in the series, I wouldnt feel confident they would close out the 4th game given the coach and last decade of history.

 

[Nasti]

0-3 with Fiala is not very different at all than 2-4 with [any other player]. Bonehead take to blame him

No one’s blaming him. But clearly, he wasn‘t “exactly what the Kings needed”.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Well that is when our goal tending decide to put down the drawbridge over the moat and let the pucks in

That and zero adjustments.

Riddle: why did the Koala have chronic back problems (answer obvious)

 

[Brownie to Pancakes]

No one’s blaming him. But clearly, he wasn‘t “exactly what the Kings needed”.

"Exactly what the kings needed" is a made-up undefined vague rhetorical concoction that doesn't mean anything

 

[Nasti]

"Exactly what the kings needed" is a made-up undefined vague rhetorical concoction that doesn't mean anything

Posters on here have literally used those words. Several of us have pointed that out already. They use it to justify the trade.

 

[chris kontos]

Exactly what the kings needed was LHD among other pieces