LA Kings: Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down With JD Stylz
- Updated: October 12, 2015
After almost 6 months (which felt like 6 years) without LA Kings hockey, the Kings were back … and back to their sloppy and uninspired playing ways. Sigh. It wasn’t pretty but not everything was all bad. Here are my thumbs up and thumbs down opinions of what went down this past week of LA Kings hockey.
Thumbs Down to the Kings losing their first 2 games.
As reported by my colleague Emily Redenbach with her game recaps, the Kings started off the new season going 0-2 against the Martin Jones led San Jose Sharks and top contenders for next year’s number 1 draft pick Phoenix … I mean Arizona Coyotes. The long-awaited showdown between Quick and Jones wasn’t much of a showdown at all as the Sharks were in it to win it while the Kings…well…forgot that they were playing a game that day. With exception to the first 5 minutes, the Kings were completely flat, losing to Jones and the Sharks 5-1. The Kings improved their possession game and intensity for the next game but still lost to the inferior Coyotes 4-1. The Kings play Vancouver next at home on Tuesday and hopefully they can find their groove and find a way to get the puck into the net (more than once a game) before they already find themselves too far behind in the Pacific Division standings.
Thumbs Up to Dustin Brown
If their was a silver lining in these losses it was the return of the Captain Dustin Brown playing like a man possessed. Forget that he only has 1 assist to show for himself after these 2 games (but hey, that’s more than some of his teammates) but Brown showed a fire and hustle that was no where in sight last season. Brown also almost destroyed Logan Couture with a football tackle from hell. Welcome back Captain!
Coach Darryl Sutter also took notice and promoted Brown back up to the “first” line with his 2014 Stanley Cup winning line mates Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik. Which brings us to the player he replaced …
Thumbs Down to Milan Lucic
Call me unfair here as I’m sure it’s not easy for someone to jump to a new team and then be expected to gel immediately with his new teammates but let’s also keep in mind that the teammate he was expected to gel with the most was someone named Anze Kopitar. In the 2 games they played together (plus the pre-season) the lack of chemistry was obvious. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the chemistry won’t come with time. It is only the first 2 games of the season after all but so far it’s not working at all. Sutter agreed and bumped Lucic to the Jeff Carter line with Tyler Toffoli (which isn’t a bad thing at all, actually it’s kind of awesome but poor Tanner Pearson). Sutter dropping the lines in a blender a la Terry Murray isn’t new though.
My main criticism for Lucic is for the incident with the Sharks Logan Couture near the end of the opening game of the season. Couture low checked Lucic and “Looooch” didn’t like it. He didn’t like it so much that he chased after Couture (who was now making a line change) from across the ice (a BIG no-no in hockey) and then attacked Couture in what seemed like a “Flying” elbow from behind. I’m shaking my head as I write this.
Regardless as Kings fans how we feel about Couture, Lucic’s play was selfish and foolish. He already has a poor reputation from his playing day’s in Boston were many felt he was too emotionally unstable in the way he plays, which leads to bad decisions on the ice, or in other words, it costs his team his services due to penalties, a match penalty or worse. Team first Milan. Always. Luckily the NHL let this one go and Lucic wasn’t suspended a game but he won’t be so lucky next time.
*For those wondering why Brown would get a thumbs up for his hit on Couture while Lucic gets a thumbs down, it’s easy. First Brown is getting a thumbs up for his improved play and hustle, not the hit on Couture but if we’re to speak about the hit on Couture then here it is, Brown’s play happened in an instant. There was no time to think. Lucic made the decision to chase after Couture (even though the play was still going on in the Kings’ zone) after he got hit and attack him. He had intent. Foolish.
Thumbs Up to Dean Lombardi
As reported by my colleague Lori Hultin, as well as LA Times reporter Lisa Dillman, the Mike Richards saga has finally ended. Richards will get his money and the Kings will keep their cap space (sort of). Minus the cap recapture penalty for the next 5 years which the Kings were going to pay ANYWAY whether they won the arbitration against Richards or not, and another cap penalty which is annual payments to Richards’ until 2031. Yes 2031. Sooooo why the thumbs up for Lombardi then? Well because Lombardi proved yet once again that he is the smartest GM in hockey today. Yes the Kings will be paying Richards until 2031 but the annual amount that goes off the cap is going to be an incredible amount less than what it would’ve been if,
A) – the Kings lost the arbitration to Richards and had his whole remaining $22 million contract back on the cap. That would consist of anywhere around $2 million to $4 million of cap space gone in a season, for a player not even on the roster for the next 10 years. Can you say, “Bye, bye Kopi extension?”
B) – Richards stays on the team (before the contract was terminated) but continues to decline in his play and can’t properly make the team (i.g. gets sent back down to the farm) and has an annual cap hit of $5.8 million dollars. Ouch. If Richards was still playing like it’s 2012 than sure but obviously that ended back in, well 2012 so no.
Or for you sci-fi fans out there, C) – Lombardi buys a Delorean and goes back in time to the summer of 2014 and uses the amnesty buyout on Richards before it expires. That would mean that Richards still gets his money and the Kings don’t get penalized on the cap…but since time travel is still impossible then this scenario is for fantasy purposes only.
The way this saga ended up getting settled as sad as it still is because Richards was a big part of the Kings 2 Stanley Cup victories, the Kings are going to have more cap space available per season now than they would’ve had with the other 2 alternative scenarios (we’re ignoring scenario C). Props to Lombardi for finding a best case solution for the team in this sad mess. How many other NHL general managers would’ve got themselves out of this corner and survived? Most would’ve just bought Richards out the conventional way but that way leads to a higher cap hit penalty (see my A scenario). Lombardi just pulled a Houdini here and now the doors are open to finally get that deserved Kopitar extension completed. We all win with that.
Los Angeles Kings MVP of the Week
That also goes to Dean Lombardi. He’s neurotic, he’s emotional but he’s a genius and darn it, he loves the LA Kings. This guy bleeds for his team and players. He learned from the Slava Voynov and Jarret Stoll incidents, hence the new LA Kings Conduct Awareness Programs and the hiring of former NHL player Brantt Myhres to help aid and assist the players with the pressures and temptations of the lifestyle that comes with an NHL player in Los Angeles. The Richards saga deeply affected Lombardi but he will bounce back and the team can only benefit strongly by that.
Okay Kings fans, who got your thumbs up and thumbs down for the week? Who is your MVP? Let us know in the comments below! GO KINGS GO!!!
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