Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down Kings Edition
- Updated: November 11, 2018
It’s been an eventful week for the Kings. Since Jeff contributed his thoughts last week, the Kings fired their coach, (hey Jeff, are you psychic or something? Because the day after mentioning Stevens as a thumbs down he got fired. Hmm…) they won the first freeway faceoff of the season, then went straight back to forgetting how to score goals. Here are my thoughts on what the Kings did right, and wrong, this week.
Thumbs up: Willie Desjardins
I mean I would have loved to get Coach Q (the timing on that was so, so close! We couldn’t have waited a week to fire Stevens? Even a few days!) I still don’t know what the Blackhawks were thinking. (Actually, I do – the GM was thinking ‘hey, I’ve screwed up the salary cap here, how can I blame it on the guy I don’t get along with? Wait until the 3-time Stanley Cup Champion has lost enough games in a row that it would look justified. Yeah, let’s do that.) But I completely understand what the Kings were thinking. They have too much talent to be at the bottom of the standings, and since you can’t fire your whole team, a coaching change makes the most sense. Sure, by all accounts he’s a standup guy, but the Kings success last season came from their first 12 undefeated games. They were the first team to lose a game in regulation. And that would have come from anyone who wasn’t Sutter. Don’t get me wrong here either, I adore Sutter and the two Cups we got from him. But he was grinding the team too hard at the end of his tenure so any new coach would have been a refreshing change. And now they need another one because whatever the reason, things just weren’t working this season. Sure, they’re still not… But in a different way that can still be fixed. (We hope the Kings haven’t dug themselves into too big of a hole!)
Desjardins has already improved the Kings neutral zone control, which was seriously lacking. He’s improved the speed of the team. He’s changed the emotion of the team, something fans had seen severely muted this season. In the 1-0 loss to the Flames, I saw a team who didn’t get the start they wanted but didn’t give up. Campbell bailed them out time after time, and while what they were trying to execute wasn’t working, they were trying. It’s been three games, give Desjardins a chance and I think he can whip them into shape. And if you’re still concerned, his contract only lasts to the end of the year. So if it turns out he can’t do what we hope he can, well we’ve already tanked the first fifth of the season and Quick is out so we haven’t lost too much. And if no one else snaps up Quenneville, we have that option too. (Please hockey Gods, hear my prayer.) Sure, we lost the last two games. But. The team I saw played with more confidence and gusto than I’d seen under Stevens this season. They need offense but as a defensive first team, in those three games they’ve given up 4 goals, and an empty net goal which I don’t count. Compared to the 37 goals against in 8 games, I’ll take this any day. This is the King’s core and it’s come back.
Thumbs Down: Power play
Something Desjardins has admitted he hasn’t gotten to yet (give him time, it’s been three games), this should be at the top of his list. Their percentage shockingly isn’t dead last, that’s reserved for the Chicago Blackhawks at 12.5%. The Kings sit at 26th, with a 14.8%, only because when Dustin Brown came back he parked himself at the net and had 2 power play goals in his first game back. (He also has 2 shorthanded points, can’t say enough how much I’ve missed him in the lineup.) But since then, the power play went back to being many unnecessary passes, players out of position, and no way to set up a good play. It’s to the point that I don’t even get excited. Can we give them back? Because at least with 5-on-5 the other team can’t ice the puck.
Thumbs Up: Kovalchuk
Jeff already talked about my two other favorite players right now, Dustin Brown and Jack Campbell, let’s celebrate Ilya Kovalchuk, who is leading the Kings in goals (5), tied with Doughty for assists (9), and obviously given those two stats, leading in points (14). He’s been on a line with Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli and that’s been working very well. He’s not hitting the top 10 in the NHL, but let’s face it, no one on this team is going to be right now. He’s cracking the top 30 in points for the Western Conference, so that’s something. More than that, I’m just enjoying watching him play. He’s stepped up for the team, he’s taking shots, he’s generating chances, and he’s reliable.
Thumbs Down: Tanner Pearson
In 82 games last season, Pearson went 15, 25 (40). In comparison, in 74 games Jake Muzzin had 42 points. Not to rag on Muzzin, I’ve actually been enjoying him this season, but he’s a defenseman. His job isn’t to score. Pearson’s is. This season he has 1 assist. Do you know how many other players only have 1 point? Anderson-Dolan, Walker, LaDue, and Amadio. Even Forbert has 2 assists. There are 6 players who have no points and Thompson is the only one who that might be concerning for, but all the other things I’ve seen him contribute, I don’t mind. He’s like a Trevor Lewis in that sense. He does what we need him too. Pearson is averaging 20.4 minutes per game, he’s only winning 20% of faceoffs (he’s not usually a faceoff guy so again, not super concerning but you add it all up…) He’s on the power play. He’s averaging 0.06 goals per game. Last year the Kings signed Pearson to a $3.75 million contract. I had high hopes for both he and Toffoli but right now he’s not living up to that contract. Whatever snake bit him, whatever curse was laid upon him, I can’t wait for it to get out of his system. We need offense. Badly.
That’s my take on the week. I’ll leave you with my biggest thumbs up: Chris Sutter has reappeared on the Kings Dance Cam! Life can’t be that bad when Chris Sutter dances. It’s a treat.
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