umm leafs allowed less goals than the caps did last year, do some research before posting nonsense...
The Los Angeles Kings look bad
- Thread starter Uncle Scrooge
- Start date
Paxton Fettel
Registered User
- Mar 3, 2006
- 7,238
- 309
from what I've seen Kovalchuk looks pretty good but the rest of the team is just so slow and useless.
You beat me to the punch Saw the Kings at the Jets home opener. 11 players go back to their SC years. Their issue is not coaching; the team is just old and slow, including Kopitar and Carter (who's lost a step), and Kovalchuk is not going to bring them into the play-offs. Doughty's a keeper though.
Eagle Fang
Less Defending, More Offending
- Oct 12, 2005
- 3,238
- 1,496
You are so wrong. The rest of the team is useless, but they aren't all slow.
These Are The Days
Oh no! We suck again!!
And look how far that defense (Gardiner in paerticular) got them in the playoffs. Watch the games and realize a 7 goal differential over an 82 game period is nothing to brag about before posting nonsense
The Caps defense played well when asked come postseason
Son of Petter
Who wants to walk with Elias?
How does a team rebuild when they have a core that is all over 30 (well, Doughty is 29) who are on multi-year expensive contracts?
It is interesting that many of the Kings players got married over the summer (5 I believe). Coincidence that they suck now?
Also, virtually every player lives in the south bay area. Being obscenely rich and living at the beach does not make for a hungry hockey team. And it shows.
It is interesting that many of the Kings players got married over the summer (5 I believe). Coincidence that they suck now?
Also, virtually every player lives in the south bay area. Being obscenely rich and living at the beach does not make for a hungry hockey team. And it shows.
kingsfan28
Its A Kingspiracy !
Everyone you listed won their 2 cups living in the South Bay and they even had a parade down the boardwalk. So don't say they can't win because they live at the beach, that's just horseshit!
Really? Those players were young and hungry back then. Now that are complacent and satisfied. They've made their money, won their cups, and have their lifestyle. Life is good. Hockey is not the passion it once was for them. You're no doubt in socal so you know the beach lifestyle. It does not breed intensity or desire. Back in 2012 and 2014, guys like Regher and Mitchell (who were not beach lifestyle guys) could set examples. Who sets the example now? The beach guys. And it shows.
KingsFan7824
Registered User
Not quickly, that's for sure.
I'm of the opinion that they've been low key rebuilding without tanking since losing to the Sharks in 2016. Depending on what they were giving up to get Pacioretty, that might throw a wrench into my theory, but I'm sticking to it. The Kovalchuk contract doesn't make them any worse off for the next 3 years than they otherwise would've been. It's not really an asset you can move, but they're not full on tanking. Mostly because they can't, due to the multi-year expensive contracts for older players that you can't really trade in a hard cap league where every GM is looking for the same young and cheap players. They have to ride out the Cup contracts, and if they happen to suck in any given year, then they suck. At least they have their 1st rounders if they suck.
That was always a running theory with Brown as his production fell off a cliff. Had so many young kids, that they took something out of him before he got on the ice. We didn't know how much he and Sutter seemed to not like each other, but, the family stuff was part of the theory. Same with Kopitar after he got married.
Also, going back to Quick re-signing after the Cup in 2012, damn near everyone that has signed a post-Cup contract has had a down year the next season, other than Gaborik in 14-15. He was actually good and productive that year. Quick, Brown, Kopitar, Toffoli, Pearson. They all took a step back in that first year of a new deal. Seems like Doughty might follow in those footsteps, as he's been not good so far. There might be 3 guys that have played ok so far though, so, we'll see.
Dr Quincy
Registered User
- Jun 19, 2005
- 28,697
- 10,544
It's amazing how every team not playing well blames it on the coach.
I think it's a psychological thing with fans: If you blame the coach, it's a quick fix and there is hope for improvement.
If you say it's 6 major pieces needed on the roster.... well that's a dim outlook.
But I've seen BUFF, PHI, LA, CHI fans (just off the top of my head) complain about their coaches. Even TOR fans often criticize Babcock and blame him for any trouble the team has.
I'd be interested in what fanbases here actually like their coaches?
JianYang
Registered User
- Sep 29, 2017
- 17,882
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I think virtually all coaches are crticized by their fanbase.
HF was not around in the mid 90s, but I imagine that even Scotty Bowman would have been blasted in his red wing tenure prior to the 1997 Stanley cup.
Winger23
Registered User
- May 3, 2007
- 5,759
- 622
None the less, he called bs on your statement saying they won, and twice at that. You can insert the young and hungry cliche anywhere.
That generalization may often be true, but the coaching is the problem every so often. Look at the difference that Sutter made after taking over LA midway through the 2011-12 season or that Sullivan made after taking over Pittsburgh midway through 2015-16. I'm as critical of LA as anyone and think that they need a lot more than just a different coach, but a different coach is near the top of the list.
Stevens was a bad decision in the first place, promoted for all of the wrong reasons: he'd been with the team for 8 years, his system would be similar to the departing coach's, he was the GM's friend and the players supposedly wanted him to be coach (which should've been a big red flag by itself). The organization has become a bit of a country club in recent years, promoting people who are next in line and/or are friends/alumni, rather than hiring the best people from outside of the organization (which was done with Lombardi and Sutter and worked out well).
Stevens is a nice guy, but that's part of the problem. The players are too comfortable with him (no wonder that they wanted him as their coach) and have heard everything from him before. You can see that in their play on the ice. They need a coach from the outside to come in, give them a new look and crack the whip. The roster has many problems that still need to be addressed, but, even with them, the team should be better than this.
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Sol
Smile
- Jun 30, 2017
- 22,989
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No one is disputing that but I take issue with saying their team is proof defense wins championships.
And Toronto played terrible and lost in the 3rd period of game 7.
kingsfan28
Its A Kingspiracy !
So I guess the cold weather cities is where intensity and desire is bred, right? Just look how many cups ALL the Canadian teams have won in the last decade, and in Minn, Buff too. All those cities have nice areas and the players can become equally complacent.
The problem with the Kings is they're caught between a style that was pounded into them for 8 years, and a new NHL style they haven't adjusted to. This also includes no high end draft picks [pre- Blake] and guys who were drafted who skills aren't made for a faster league. We call that "all will and no skill" Lombardi picks. Steven style of play isn't helping either. It's a modified Sutter system that still relies on too much defensive and not enough creativity to score.
so suddenly Doughty, Kopitar, Carter, Toffoli, Pearson, Muzzin, Quick, Kovalchuk, Martinez, et al, have all "lost it" at the same time? LA has LOTS of skill but very little effort or motivation to use it. The most likely causes for that are (1) a terrible locker room, (2) giving up on the coaches, or (3) lack of hunger or desire. I'm going with #3. Ironically, they've reverted to the same country club retirement home atmosphere that Lombardi decried when he first arrived. No easy solution to fix it given the long term contracts in place for the core of the team.
Raccoon Jesus
Todd McLellan is an inside agent
I'm going with #2.
Not sure how many games Stevens is allowed to say "I don't know" in the pressers before he gets canned, but one of our usual rumormongers is also alluding to player friction.
I have a strong doubt that a #1 C coming off an MVP caliber year and a #1 d-man coming off a Norris caliber year and a Conn Smythe winning goalie coming off his 2nd best season ever as well as a bunch of experienced auxillary parts just suddenly exited their prime and forgot how to hockey all together at once.
When everyone sucks, that's a pretty clear finger pointing back at the coaching, particularly damning when said coach suggests the cockiest asshole in the league isn't hockeying hard enough and every player is basically saying "I don't know either" or "I guess we just suck." And for those pointing out their last year, let's not forget that their play started amazing and slowly descended from #1 possession team in the league to below average by the end of last year to absolutely in the tank now. They've gone from trouble scoring to trouble scoring AND defensing AND generating any productive possession.
well, your theory will almost certainly be put to the test because things cannot go on this way much longer. It worked when Sutter replaced Murray. Not sure lightning will strike twice though. Beyond coaching, Blake & co have to quickly figure out who the passengers are and TRY to get them off the team. Has there been scuttlebutt about the players giving up on the coaching? Normally, one hears that before a coaching change is made but I don't recall the players going public about coaching issues in the past year or so.
Raccoon Jesus
Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Yeah, I don't think anyone is expecting it to, only to not get completely outclassed all over the ice night after night. Our expectations were already pretty commonly 'bubble team' so it SHOULD be hard to fall short of that but Stevens is sure finding a way.
I agree it goes beyond coaching, but I also think that's the biggest problem, and it's also the only way to reinject value into players yet-to-be-moved which will surely happen as well.
It almost sounds like they need to rehire Lombardi and Sutter!!
MikeGrier99
Registered User
- May 20, 2017
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Honestly I think having the beach nearby is an advantage. The California teams have had an epic last decade. I'll take the beach and lots of sunshine over Edmonton's freezing cold and potential for seasonal depression. A Canadian winter takes a bit out of you.
