Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down : Los Angeles Kings

The first month of the 2018-19 NHL season is completed and oh boy, was it rough for our Los Angeles Kings. Like where do I even begin? Maybe for this article, I should just write this ;

Thumbs Down to the entire Los Angeles Kings for their horrible play in October. The End. Nothing else to read here.

I may feel that way, okay I do feel that way, but I’m sure my Editor-in-Chief would hope that I write an article with more substance than that. Plus it’s great to vent so with that said, let’s give this a try and see where we end up? Here are my “Thumbs Downs,” and maybe, hopefully, I can find a positive “Thumps Up” for our Kings after this dumpster fire of an opening season month, plus one day in November. FUN!

THUMBS DOWN TO THE LACK OF DEFENSE

The Kings are leaking goals like how the house in Netflix’ “The Haunting of Hill House” leaks water. That’s not good. Especially when the Kings are the REIGNING Williams M. Jennings Trophy winners! You know, the award that goes to the goalie(s), (team) with the best-lowest goals against in the league. That was us. So how did we go from the best defensive team in the NHL last season, to the 6th worst team in the NHL with 44 goals against. The only teams ahead of us are Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Ottawa, and Calgary. The nauseating part is that two of those teams ahead of us that are supposedly “worse” than us, not only beat us and won, they gave us a BEATING and won. Ottawa 5-1, and Philadelphia 5-2. <This is usually when I smack my forehead in frustration and curse this wretched game of ice, sticks and rubber pucks that we all love so much>

Even the Kings bread and butter skill of killing penalties are taking a hit, as they are mid-table in 16th place overall with a percentage of 78.1%. So the P.K. (not Subban) is average at best. The offensive struggles the Kings are also suffering with and the injuries some players have doesn’t help either.

So what is wrong with our defense? Well for one, the Kings are too slow. What worked for the team during the “Golden Age of Kings’ hockey” from 2010 to 2014, (or some could argue, 2010-2016,” no longer works in today’s modern NHL. Yes modern. Then the name of the game was heavy checking, heavy puck possession, heavy coverage, heavy pressure, so heavy that the opposing teams would be completely physically and mentally worn out by the end of the game, or better yet, a seven-game playoff series, (just ask the 2014 San Jose Sharks). Then Pittsburgh won the Cup back to back in 2016 & 2017. And they did with speed on the wings and from the blue line and added contributing youth to help out their core, and played with a pure offensive attack mindset. With that, the rest of the NHL followed, and sure the Washington Capitals won the Cup last season as a  heavy team themselves, fair enough, but it doesn’t work for LA anymore and hasn’t for some time. the Kings are TOO SLOW. They’re slow in clearing the net. They’re slow in providing defensive coverage. They’re slow and sloppy when clearing the defensive zone. And let’s be honest, the team relies too heavily on Drew Doughty, (maybe even takes him for granted. Yeah I said it). And as great as he is, and he is great. He can’t do everything back there by himself.

According to Kings’ Insider Jon Rosen ;

“The Kings have allowed at least three goals in eight consecutive games and at least four goals in seven of eight. They have been outscored 14-5 in first periods this season.”

Ouch. Slow and sloppy. To be fair, the entire defensive roster (and team), except Paul LaDue are all in the minuses, by some do scream out. Dion Phaneuf, who was brought on to the Kings last year to help solidify our defense, which he did last year, as mentioned before they were the best defensive team in the NHL,  is a minus -9 so far this year. And I feel the intimidating presence he was last year, has all but faded away this year. At times, he seems invisible on that ice. Stanley Cup and Western Conference Hero Alec Martinez is a minus -6, (though Marty did score an awesome, deja vu like the game-winning goal against the NY Rangers), rookie Sean Walker is a minus -5 in 4 games played. Jake Muzzin and our best, Doughty, also have a minus -5.

Defensemen aren’t the only players who play defense for the Kings so let’s look at some of our forwards that normally help out in preventing goals against. Trevor Lewis minus -8. Tanner Pearson minus -7. Nate Thompson minus -5. Adrian Kempe minus -5. And our best defensive forward, two time and reigning Frank Selke Trophy winner, Anze Kopitar is at a minus -2, which isn’t bad really. It isn’t good either, but it looks great compared to the other poor numbers everyone else is sporting.

So really, it comes down to this. The entire Los Angeles Kings’ team are all playing terrible defensively. A year after they were the best defensive team in the NHL and with pretty much the exact same team this year. This is inexcusable. But the players are too slow for this modern NHL, then it’s time to change things up, like the tactics for example. More on that later.

Notice I didn’t mention the goaltending or Dustin Brown? That will come later too, but first, let’s now talk about the WORST part of the Kings’ current form. As bad as the lack of defense has been for LA, the offensive part is even more horrible.

THUMBS DOWN TO THE SERIOUS LACK OF ANY TYPE OF OFFENSE

This is the part that makes me want to cry. But since there is no crying in hockey, (or was it in baseball?), there will be no tears, but there is a lot of anger and frustration. It is NO secret to anyone who follows the Kings, or the Western Conference, or the NHL that the Kings struggle with offense. Even though the Kings lost four one-goal games when they were swept in last year’s playoff series by the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, the Kings only scored 3 goals in that entire series. That is not good. This is why Ilya Kovalchuk was brought in by Kings’ Legend and general manager Rob Blake. To help out with the scoring. Here is what I wrote about Kovalchuk coming to Los Angeles, and my red flags about it;

“The Kings did pick up Russian veteran Ilya Kovalchuk to help with scoring. But here’s my concern. Kovalchuk is 35 years old and hasn’t played in the NHL or at the NHL level for 5 years now. And I don’t care what anybody says, the KHL level is nowhere near the grinding, speedy or punishing NHL level is, especially in the playoffs. Can Kovalchuk hold back father (or mother) time as Jaromir Jagr did? Or will he no longer have the legs like he used to? Time will tell but I’m definitely losing sleep over it. Which is why I was hoping the Kings would have picked up the younger and NHL ready Pacioretty instead from Montreal, which GM Rob Blake almost did, but “Patches” turned us down because he wanted more money. (DOH!) So, Kovalchuk, it is, and let’s just hope for the best.”

I still have my red flag concerns over Kovalchuk, especially when we get closer to the end of the NHL season and closer to the playoffs, (which is a pipe dream at this point). But Kovi is the least of my offensive worries since he currently leads the team in goals (4) and points (10). Only Doughty has more assists with 7. Brown just got back, so again, I’ll talk about him later, but it’s everyone else I’m worried about. Jeff Carter, (who hasn’t been himself since his nasty, freak accident that made him miss 3 quarters of the season last year), has 3 goals, as does Tyler Toffoli and Kopi. But Tanner Pearson has 0 in 12 games. And in some of those games, he was reunited with Carter and Toffoli to unite “That ’70’s Line”.  Alex Iaffalo, who isn’t known for his scoring has 2 goals in 12 games. Adrian Kempe only has 1 goal in 12 games. See where I’m going with this? And I haven’t even really dived into our bottom 6 yet, as that’s another problem the Kings had last season and needed to improve on. More scoring from the bottom 6. Kyle Clifford has 1 goal in 10 games and he isn’t going to score a bucket load of goals or magically become a faster skater. I love Cliffy, but he isn’t the solution and might not be a good fit for the Kings now. Trevor Lewis has 2 goals in 12 games, (that’s double than what Pearson has!) Lewis had a career year last year and is the “unsung” hero of the Kings, but he can only do so much. Nate Thompson has 0 in 12 games. I like Thompson, but he adds toughness, not points. Rookie Austin Wagner has 0 goals in 8 games and still needs more experience, so I’m blaming him at all, but he has no goals. Like last season, the Kings scoring are top line heavy and not enough help is coming from the bottom two lines. It’s time to put youth out there and keep them there. As I said, I love Cliffy and he has been a loyal soldier for the Kings. But he’s taking up a roster spot that could be given to Anderson-Dolan. It could be a roster spot taken from Mike Amadio. And there is no excuse for a former 24 goal scorer like Pearson to all of a sudden forget how to score goals. And Kempe has all the potential in the world but sadly, we are not seeing it fully. If anything, he is regressing. (And PLEASE stop taking those terrible penalties already!) Kopitar, our Captain, is back to passing the puck more instead of shooting it and back to having bad offensive habits. As my coach used to tell (yell at) us when I was a kid, “When you’re facing or are close to the opponent’s net. SHOOT THE PUCK! It’s not rocket science guys!”

All of this makes the Kings dead last in the NHL with 24 goals overall, (which is depressing). So yeah, nothing was fixed. It’s only getting worse. Huge “Thumbs Down!”

(Now excuse me while I smack my head against this nearby brick wall before I type anything further,

… <Thunk!>

… <Thunk!>

…<Thunk!>

…<Thunk!>

Okay, I’m back. I’m in pain but to be honest, it isn’t as painful as watching our team try to score goals. For example, the game against the Flyers. In the 3rd period, the Kings had a chance after chance to score, but they weren’t clinical enough to get the job done. The Kings have the 6th worst power-play overall, and that’s an improvement because they were dead last until a few games ago. It’s always a struggle for the Kings’ to score, so why isn’t Blake fixing this??? Maybe Blake can’t right now because of roster injuries, sure, but maybe it is also because a certain system and style of play are still in control of this team’s tactics. Tactics that are not only unsuccessful this season, but unsuccessful in today’s faster NHL because they are outdated. And who controls the tactics? Well, that’s the head coach, John Stevens. Hmm, speaking of Stevens …

THUMBS DOWN TO HEAD COACH JOHN STEVENS

How ironic is this? Last year Stevens was responsible (or partly responsible) for an uprise in scoring by the Kings after coach Darryl Sutter was let go. (The now gone Pierre Turgeon also helped with that.) Now this year, Stevens is responsible (or partially responsible) for the team’s current downturn in scoring. So what worked last year, that isn’t working this year? That is a complicated answer, but here is one thing that really digs into me like a knife about the Kings’ offensive tactics, and it’s that they are still trying to play the “dump and chase” method. I have already brought up about how the Kings’ defense is slow and sloppy, but so are most of the forwards. To play an effective style of “dump and chase” in today’s modern NHL, you need speed, (not the Keanu Reeve’s classic film), and lot’s of it. The Kings don’t have it. So all that really happens is, the Kings have the puck, they dump it deep into the opponents’ defensive zone, and then skate in to retrieve it. Problem is, they lose the puck almost every time by not getting there fast enough. And when they do, the sloppiness kicks in and the Kings end up giving away the puck and now have to skate back (slowly) and defend. Sigh.

Blake has made some moves to help bring in or bring up some speedier players. Rookies Wagner and Anderson-Dolan for example. Yes, Jonny Brodzinski and Gabriel Vilardi are injured, but they really could be used right now. (Stupid injuries!) Anderson-Dolan and Amadio both recently got sent back down to Ontario, so they are not even on the team right now to help if they could, and they would help as they gain NHL level experience, but sadly you need more than rookies to make this work. Besides Doughty, the core of this Kings’ team is on the wrong side of 30 years old. With the exception of Carter, the core was never fast skaters, to begin with. During the glory years, (or just a few years ago), the Kings were able to use their size, strength and puck possession to wear out teams. The Kings were able to use their defense and elite level goaltending to suffocate the opponents’ offense. Those days are long gone. Now without the strong puck possession skill set, the Kings need to find a better way of entering and attacking the offensive zone and net, and dumping the puck isn’t working at all. Like not even close. So change the tactics Stevens and adapt! I respect that Stevens was a major part of those championships, Cup winning, glory years, by being the associate/assistant coach under Sutter, but like I said these tactics are outdated and something fresh and clever is needed and fast. Stevens is a part of that previous “heavy’ era, which is now obsolete in today’s modern NHL. Maybe a new coaching staff (except for Bill Ranford. He can stay,) is needed in order for the Kings to adopt a more offensively attacking system that is all the rage today? Or Stevens can try to change the tactics himself! Drop the “Dump and chase” and try something new. So yeah, change the tactics Stevens, or are you just a one trick pony kind of head coach? Something tells me you better figure that out fast before Blake does.

THUMBS DOWN TO INJURIES

Injuries are a way of life. Especially in sports and hockey is no different. Jonathan Quick had another lower-body injury, came back (too soon in my opinion) and then tore his meniscus (been there buddy!) during a practice. What can you do? Dustin Brown broke his finger and needed surgery for it during the last game of the pre-season. What can you do? As mentioned, both Brodzinski and Vilardi are injured. Vilardi’s back/hip problems go back to when he played for the Windsor Spitfire in the OHL when they won the Memorial Cup in 2017. What can you do? Unfortunately, injuries are normal and they are gonna happen, so I’m not gonna dwell on it. But they still suck anyway.

And finally some positivity!

THUMBS UP TO THE RETURN OF THE MYSTERIOUS MASKED AVENGER!

And by mysterious, I mean Dustin Brown of course. O’Captain, forever and always will be my Captain, and what a breath of fresh air it was to have our good ‘ole number #23 back out there scoring a goal, getting 7 hits (whether he had a stick or not), and providing some much leadership on that ice to a team that forgot what leadership was. Now we can’t treat Brown as the savior. But having him back will be a huge step in the right direction for our Kings. Hopefully, the re-combined line of Iafallo, Kopitar, and Brown will still have that scoring chemistry that they displayed last season, and if they do, then everyone else on the team should watch closely and take notes. And yes, I’m definitely talking to you Toffoli and Pearson. You guys are in your prime. You’re not the young, inexperienced pups you were in 2014. It’s now time for you guys to take off and lead this team by the horns. And THEN when all else fails, Brown, Carter, and Kopitar will be there to help out. And hopefully Kovalchuk too. Watch Brown. With his returned confidence, he plays with a passion and aggressiveness that is second to none on this team. He wants to win and knows what it takes for that to happen. He does nothing but bleeds the royal colors of our beloved Los Angeles Kings. So learn from him Toffoli and Pearson. And learn from him Kopitar, because Dustin doesn’t need a letter on his chest to be a leader for this team, on or off the ice, but officially, you do HAVE the “C” on yours. So lead! And we need you, Carter, to be who you were before. Let this spark plug of Brown’s return rejuvenate you back to the Carter we all know and love! If anything, who has suffered more as a Kings’ player than Dustin Brown and yet here he is, still kicking some ass on that ice. Wake up Kings, and follow this man! And for that Brownie not only gets a thumbs up but is also the …

CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK, OR THE MONTH, OR WHATEVER – DUSTIN BROWN and JACK CAMPBELL!

Brown has only played two regular games so far this season. Go figure but he’s been awesome. Now let’s talk about the goaltending. As mentioned Quick is hurt and I think the Kings brought him back from his original lower body injury (from this short season so far) too soon because when he returned, he just seemed off. His body language, his timing, tracking the puck, confidence, something was off. And with the surgery he just had, we probably now know why. I have suffered a torn meniscus injury and had surgery for it, as well as ACL reconstruction surgery on both my knees, so I get how you think you can play while injured. And I don’t blame Quick for that. He’s a warrior and warrior’s battle. In his stead, is Jack Campbell, and I think he has been great. He still makes mistakes but he has also made some spectacular saves that have kept the Kings in games they probably didn’t deserve to be in. If anything, with Quick out, Campbell is being thrown to the wolves since his teammates forgot how to play defense, and score, and lead, and … so bravo to Campbell. He’s finally in the big time and it’s his time to shine. Hopefully, his teammates and coach can smarten up and help him out, so this experience doesn’t burn him out or destroy his confidence. Like it did when he was a part of the Dallas Star’s system. But so far so good from Campbell … and Brown!

—

Okay, so there you have it. My “Thumbs up and down” for our LA Kings. Do you agree with my picks? Do you disagree? Who are your “Thumbs up and Thumbs down” picks? Let us know in the comments below.

Now I do realize this was a heavily negative (and depressing) article, but I have to call it as I see it. But there is still a LOT of hockey left to be played and anything can happen during a long NHL season.  So now that I have vented, I will stay cool and open-minded. I’ll even #Believe. Well at least until the next game I see Stevens deploy the archaic “dump and chase” tactic. Sigh …

… <Thunk!>

… <Thunk!>

… <Thunk!>

Okay, I’m 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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One Comment

1. 

   Todd S. Jenkins

   November 4, 2018 at 11:44 pm

   I read this after John Stevens was let go. I’m not really happy about his departure, mostly for sentimental reasons (his wife was the one who connected our sled hockey program with the Kings and got us a full-on sponsorship). The head coach is always the easiest fall guy, whether or not he holds responsibility for the downturn. But I agree that their present strategy is not working, and Stevens has to own much of that. Another issue seems to be a lack of maturity and leadership in the locker room; funny how things picked up again the second that Dustin Brown got back on the ice. It raises questions about Kopitar’s efficacy as captain. Worst of all, I am more than leery of Willie Desjardins as interim coach. This is a guy who couldn’t get the Canucks into the playoffs his last two years in Vancouver, and barely got the Canadian Olympic team onto the podium in their own national sport. I have zero confidence in his ability, so I hope that the players themselves will take the initiative and right the ship.