Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down : LA Kings’ Edition 12/07/17

Guess who’s back with an all-new track, and no it’s not Jack Black! It is me of course, but having Jack Black write a “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: LA Kings’ Edition” article would be funny. I don’t think he’s a hockey fan though, let alone a Kings’ fan. Now Will Farrell is! As is Eric Stonestreet, (aka Cam from ‘Modern Family’), and Andy Lassner, who if you didn’t know, is a producer for the Ellen DeGeneres show. Maybe even bring in Matthew Perry, (Chandler from ‘Friends’), as well, since they all are die-hard Kings’ fans and extremely funny! (MAKE IT HAPPEN MARIO, (aka Mario Hicks, our Editor-in-Chief here at CaliSports News). Now that article would be an automatic thumbs up! And speaking of which, let’s look at who gets a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down in the Kingdom of our beloved Los Angeles Kings!

THUMBS UP TO WINNING STREAKS!

If you are a Kings’ fan and you are not buzzing from this current win streak that the Kings’ are on, then you should seek professional help! (I’m also looking at you Mike Milbury!) After being RED HOT in the month of October, and defeating the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in overtime at the Staples Center South…er…I mean Honda Center on November 7th, the Kings slumped to 2-6. If you include the loss to Nashville on November 4th, then the Kings were 2-7, which included losing four straight games against Tampa 5-2, San Jose (where the Kings blew a 1-0 lead) 2-1, Vancouver, (where the Kings blew a 2-0 lead), 3-2 and Boston 2-1. Six of those losses happened at home at the Staples Center. It’s safe to say that the month of November was being very cruel to our boys.

Yet, while we were on that losing streak after that Duck’s game, the Kings were still being competitive and battling hard in every game, as four of those losses, (five if you include the Nashville one), were only lost by one goal. The only exceptions, was the beat down the Kings’ took against Tampa Bay 5-2, and then losing 4-2 after having that horrible first period against the Vegas Golden Knights, where Jonathan Quick had the worst period and game of his career. So the Kings were still in it, to win it on those losses. Ironically, as the losing streak started after beating the Ducks, this current winning streak started with a cool bookend after beating the Ducks again, this time at home in an epic comeback from behind win, (you gottta LOVE the Hockey Gods’ scriptwriters), where the Kings were down 1-0 for most of the game, only to have the masked crusader, who wears the #23  jersey, score an epic tying goal with less then a minute to go in the game, and then have the annual “Kings’ Unsung Hero”, Trevor Lewis fake out Ducks’ goalkeeper Ryan Miller for the game winner in the shootout! (And somebody should have called the cops after that because the Kings totally STOLED a point away from the Ducks!). Losing streak over, and a winning streak begins, (not Batman Begins).

Now the Kings are back to being RED HOT after going 4 for 4 on another eastern road trip against some dangerously tough opponents that saw the Kings’ defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1, Washington Capitals 5-2, St. Louis Blues 4-1, Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 and then back home in LA this past Tuesday, defeating the Minnesota Wild 5-2! If you add the OT loss to Arizona from November 24th, the Kings are 6-0 1 on this streak, with six straight wins and 13 points in 7 games! Now that is one heck of a run. There are multiple reasons why the Kings have turned things around, such as having a focused and supporting coaching staff,  stellar goaltending, (more on that later), the return of Marian Gaborik, (more on him later as well), and his instant chemistry with Adrian Kempe and Lewis on the “Speed” line, (as well as with Kopitar and Brown as we saw against Minnesota). Plus the emergence of some rookies who are now more comfortable playing at the NHL level, having the best penalty kill and one of the best defenses in the entire NHL, the dominance of them during 3rd periods and more! To put it in more simpler terms, the Kings are on this win streak because of the total team effort from all four lines, three defensive pairings, goalies, and coaches. Win streaks do not last forever, unfortunately, but so far so good! Streak or no streak, if the Kings can keep playing at this level, I can guarantee you that they will win more games then lose them. These Kings have their swagger back!

Thumbs Up to Achieving Career Milestones

During the Kings’ game (and victory) against the Wild, two King’s players achieved some personal, career milestones, and both of them did it on the exact same goal. At 14:00 in the 3rd period, “The Ferrari” (not Ray Ferraro), Marian Gaborik scored his 400th career goal, and was assisted by Captain Anze Kopitar for his 500th career assist! “Gabbo” and “Kopi” also teamed up earlier in the game for Gaborik’s 399th goal and Kopitar’s 499th assist. Gaborik also did it against not only his former team the Wild, but the team that drafted him into the NHL, and who is still their all-time leader in goals with 219, game-winning goals with 43 and power-play goals with 59. He is also second for them in points, third in assists and fourth in games played. Gaborik has been a force for the Kings since he returned from injury, scoring 4 goals and 6 points in 7 games, and registering a plus-7. Here is what “Gabbo” had to say to the LA Kings’ Insider Jon Rosen about his milestone after the game;

“It feels definitely good. 400 goals, I’m very proud of it. Congrats to Kopi for his 500th assist. It’s kind of ironic his 500th assist assisted on my 400th goal, especially against my former team, as well. So, yeah, it feels good, for sure.”

This season has seen a strong return to form by Captain “Kopi”, who now has 15 goals, 19 assists, 34 points and a plus-10 in 29 games. Kopitar is now the 5th player to have reached that career assists milestone while playing for the Kings, after Marcel Dionne, Wayne Gretzky, Dave Taylor and Luc Robitaille. Kopitar is now rubbing shoulders with some very fine and legendary Kings’ royalty.

When head coach John Stevens was asked by Rosen on who would get to keep the milestone puck, Gaborik or Kopitar, Stevens answered jokingly, (at least I think jokingly);

“Yeah, the guys were asking who gets the puck, so I told them I’d take it.”

Gaborik confirmed with Rosen about coach Stevens’ ‘offer’;

“Yeah, we talked about it a little bit. Kopi said to keep it. Johnny came in and said it’s going to stay with the organization. [Laughs]”

Congratulations and two big thumbs up to Marian Gaborik and Anze Kopitar for their amazing achievements!

Thumbs Up to the Kings’ Stellar Goaltending Duo

You’ve heard the phrase, “You just can’t get good help these days,” right? Well in hockey, that phrase should be changed to, “You just can’t get a stellar goaltending duo for our team these days.” Or something along those lines. Goaltending duos used to be a major thing in the NHL, and you do still see them today, but just not as often. Some would go on to win the Stanley Cup like former King, Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog with the Edmonton Oilers, (who won it three times together), or come close to winning one like Arturs Irbe and Kevin Weekes of the 2002 Carolina Hurricanes, or others that were strong during the regular season like Patrick Roy and current Ducks’ (annoying) color commentator Brian Hayward and Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halek of the 2012 St.Louis Blues. The Kings haven’t been big on platooning the goalies in more recent years, unless of course they find a gem in a quality back-up goalie, which they have by signing free-agent goalie Darcy Kuemper this past summer.

The last time the Kings’ had a reliable and solid backup goalie was Martin Jones, as Jhonus Enroth and Jeff Zatkoff weren’t consistent enough, (or in Zatkoff’s case, was a disaster). Peter Budaj doesn’t count, as he never truly was a backup goalie for the Kings. When Quick got injured during the first game of the season last year against San Jose, Zatkoff was on the bench, while Budaj was still with the Ontario Reign. When Quick was placed on the injured reserved list, Budaj was then called up and became the number 1 goalie in Quick’s longtime absence. After missing three quarters of the season, Quick finally returned and Budaj was traded to the “Bolts” for the Vezina Trophy nominee, Ben Bishop. So Budaj doesn’t count, but Bishop does, and he too was very (disappointingly) inconsistent with his short time as a King, after having a 2-3 2 record with a horrible 2.93 GAA, and an even worse (but better then Zatkoff’s), .900 save percentage. (OUCH!) So not since “Joner” was traded away to Boston, (and then traded right away to San Jose, <sigh>), have the Kings had the luxury of having two solid goaltenders until this season.

After missing most of last season, and excluding his terrible performance against Vegas, Quick is back as the Jedi Master we all know and love, complete with making some gravity and logic-defying saves, (or as I call it on Twitter, #VINTAGEQUICK saves!) And with Kuemper stepping up when he is needed, with the exception being his poor performance against Nashville, Kuemper has been complete ‘light’s out’. With Quick’s 2.20 GAA, 2 shutouts and .929 SPCTG, and Kuemper’s 1.72 GAA, 1 shutout and .944 SPCTG, the Kings’ net has become an impenetrable fortress and one very strong reason why the Kings have been doing so well this year,… so far at least. Keep it up, boys!

THUMBS DOWN TO DREW DOUGHTY FOR STIRRING UP THE FREE AGENCY POT… AGAIN!

We all love Drew Doughty. We all know the amazing player he has become and how important he is for the Kings. We also know that when he speaks, he does so without a filter, and we usually just register it as, “Dewy being Dewy.” Unfortunately, Doughty has come out and mentioned to different members of the media, now at three different times, that he “may not re-sign with the LA Kings.” He first brought this up in an interview in Toronto last summer, while promoting his sponsor, Lays Potato Chips, which he also filmed a commercial for, (and proves me right once again, that out of all the professional sports athletes out there, hockey players make for the worst actors. Am I right?) Here is the article I wrote about it last June, (about Doughty possibly contemplating free agency, not about hockey players being the worst actors).

The Canadian media went insane over his comments, especially the Toronto media and fanbase, who started predicting that Doughty was going to leave the Kings and sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent. Sigh. When Doughty came back and clarified his comments with that he loves LA, and wants to stay there, Doughty stirred that same pot again recently when talking to Craig Custance of The Athletic. Here is what Dewy had to say about him becoming a free agent, (and I have added a link to the full interview and article with The Athletic for those interested, but a warning. It’s a pay news site;

“I know, I’m going to talk to [Erik] Karlsson back and forth, kind of see what money he’s looking for.”

Like Doughty, the Ottawa Senator’s superstar defenseman, and two time Norris Trophy winner, Erik Karlsson‘s contract will also expire at the end of the 2018-19 season. Doughty continues;

“I don’t know if he’s going to re-sign with Ottawa, I don’t know if I’ll re-sign with LA. You just never know what’s going to happen.”

Good grief. Now in all fairness, Doughty does also say in the interview that he loves playing in LA and would like to win more Stanley Cups with them, but he also mentioned how much he loves to play for the Leaf’s head coach, Mike Babcock, who coached Doughty on the Canadian National Team for the 2010 Vancouver & 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, and the more recent 2016 World Cup of Hockey. So now was the pot not only being stirred again, the Canadian media, especially Toronto’s, are now salivating from the mouth because of the crumbs Doughty threw at them, especially after highly praising the Leaf’s head coach, of the idea of having him test free agency and possibly play for the Leafs or some other Canadian team.

Now here is my problem with all this. Doughty’s contract doesn’t expire at the end of this season, which would be in July 2018. It expires in a year and a half/season and a half in July of 2019! Yes, 2019! Why is Doughty constantly talking about possible free agency now, and teasing the possibility of playing for a different market, a Canadian market no less, when he still is contractually obliged to play a major role with the Kings until that time at the very least. (By the way, did I mention that his contract expires in 2019! Like we are still in 2017 right now! What the hell, Dewy?)

If Doughty was doing this to hint at GM Rob Blake to re-sign him, and with a major raise, sooner then later, talks can’t be legally had, and a deal can’t be legally done, until Doughty is eligible for an extension at the end of this season. So why create this major distraction now? Especially when re-signing with the Kings, or signing somewhere else isn’t even possible yet, and when the Kings are playing strong hockey again and could be a contender for the Cup this season? Why stir up the media, who only now are going to be asking him the same questions, “Are you staying with LA? Are you leaving LA? Are you going to Toronto?”, from now until the summer of 2019. That’s a long time to be dealing with this unnecessary drama. Just focus on your game Dewy and your team, which both have been playing and doing great so far and less on throwing some needless crumbs to some rabid media pigeon groups up here in Canada. More importantly, stop planting the seeds of doubt and doom that you are creating for the team and in ALL of our heads. We Kings’ fans stress enough already and don’t need to go into a panic over this right now. Even if you are purposely just preparing us for the worst, like way ahead of time, or you’re just ‘Dewy being Dewy’, just play the great hockey that you play. Worry about your contract in the summer and during your last year of your current contract with the Kings. Give us Kings’ fans until then at least.

Side-note – Now I don’t know what’s worse? Doughty being honest that he might not re-sign with the Kings when (or if) he becomes a free agent, or Milan Lucic, who was not very honest when he told us all year that he wanted to stay in LA, and doesn’t even need to look at free agency. Oh and that it wasn’t about the money, only term for security. That is until he signed with Edmonton instead, totally for the money and term, after turning down both when the Kings’ offered it to him before he became a free agent. Let me know what you all think is worse in the comments section below.

MVP – MARIAN GABORIK

With so many players to choose from, it is really hard to pick one player to be the MVP. But if I had to choose one, I’m going with Marian Gaborik. His return from injury has been solid, and so necessary since Jeff Carter is still going to be out for a few more months due to his injury and surgery. As mentioned before, Gaborik has 4 goals, 6 points, and is a plus-7 so far in 7 games. It also doesn’t hurt that he scored his 400th NHL career goal too! So welcome back “Gabbo!”

Honorable mention … THE REST OF THE ENTIRE TEAM! GO KINGS GO!!!

Feel Good Moment of the Week or Month, or Whatever!

The “Feel Good Moment of the Week, or Month, or Whatever”, is … whenever NBC Sports’ hockey analyst, Mike Milbury is made to look foolish. Of course, he does that very easily to himself and does it all the time, but after going on a tirade about the Kings not fooling him because they hadn’t beaten anyone important, the Kings are now on a 6 game winning streak that had them defeat the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, all while on the road!

Milbury, you were a clown as a player. You were a complete joke as a general manager and team president, and you are horrible at your job as a hockey analyst. No sir, it isn’t you that isn’t fooled, it is us Kings’ fans. You don’t fool us with your moronic nonsense and warped opinions. No, you don’t fool us at all, and you should be punished by you hitting yourself over the head with your own shoe during the entire next telecast. I bet for the first time since NBC brought you on, that would actually make the ratings go up!

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Alright! What did you all think of my Thumbs Up and my Thumbs Down picks? Do you agree or disagree? Do you have your own picks for a Thumbs Up or Down that I didn’t mention, or think someone else should be the MVP, or something else for the “Feel Good Moment of the blah, blah, blah”? Let us know in the comments below! We would love to hear from you!

I have been JD Stylz, and now I am out of here!

GO KINGS GO!!!

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time

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