Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: Los-Angeles-Kings

Kings Still Hungry For A Repeat Performance

by Paul on 05/22/13 at 07:52 PM ET
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from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

They're finding out that repeating is awfully tough.

"The physical part is obviously huge, but just the highs and lows that you go through, you got to be ready for that in your head," said Kopitar. "Last year we had lot more highs than we had lows. This time it's a little bit different. Mentally, it's challenging. You have to take it as a new day and prepare that way."

This a good test for the Kings, who have character and guts. It would be a shock if they didn't raise their game and step up to another level in Game 5 on Thursday at Staples Center.

This team still has the hunger.

"Absolutely, absolutely," said Williams, who appears to be playing banged up in this series. "We're professionals, we're here for a reason. That Stanley Cup, the big silver jug, is the pinnacle of success in our professional life. Regardless of whether you've won it once, twice, five times, come playoff time that's all you want."

more

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LA Kings Twitter Account Goes In The Wrong Direction

by Paul on 05/22/13 at 09:21 AM ET
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from Chris Foster of the LA Times,

The Kings' official Twitter account received a game misconduct penalty Tuesday … from the Kings' front office.

Kevin Ryder, of KROQ's "Kevin & Bean" morning show, handled the Twitter posts for the Kings' Stanley Cup playoff game against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. He took over after the first period, with embarrassing results for the team.

At one point Ryder made light of sexual assault when describing a play that happened in front of the San Jose Sharks' net when the Kings' Anze Kopitar was knocked to the ice.

continued and read more about this at Puck Daddy and The Sporting News.

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Kings Looking For A Road Win

by Paul on 05/21/13 at 03:12 PM ET
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from Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles,

Despite not having as much success on the road this season as the Kings did last season and losing Game 3 in heartbreaking fashion in San Jose, Sutter didn't believe that would be a factor in Tuesday night's Game 4.

"There's zero momentum," Sutter said. "Once you get in the playoffs, there's no momentum unless somebody is way better than somebody, which as you see, nobody is. There's zero momentum. If there is a carryover, you're probably not a playoff team anyways."

The Kings don't have to be as dominant on the road as they were last season in order to advance to the Western Conference finals. All they need is a win Tuesday to put them in position to close out the series back in Los Angeles on Thursday.

"We've played better at home but we can't rest and be comfortable with being a great home team," Williams said. "We need to be killers on the road. Coming back with a 3-1 lead is something we're certainly going to do our darndest to do."

more on the Kings...

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Hello? NHL?

by Paul on 05/21/13 at 02:47 PM ET
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from Ray Ratto of CSNBayArea,

We are not expecting a Gary Bettman sighting for Game 4 of the Los Angeles Kings-San Jose Sharks series Tuesday night. Or for Game 5 on Thursday, and probably not Game 6 on Sunday, either. And maybe not even for Game 7, either. We remain hopeful for Game 8, though.

Too bad, too. The one time the Bay Area would actually like to see him, he’ll find himself too busy tending to the three series that haven’t been designated as undercards.

And yes, this is still the undercard for whatever other series there is, because that’s the way the sport has always operated. Like the Stanley Cup itself, it is a series of rings, and the further away from the center you get, the less intriguing you are.

Yes, the Sharks are playing the defending Stanley Cup champions in a series that has had enough of everything yet not so much that people aren’t willing to watch more. But they are not members of the Original Six, like Chicago and Detroit and New York and Boston. They do not have Sidney Crosby, like Pittsburgh. And they do not have Canada, like Ottawa.

continued

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Morning Line

by Paul on 05/19/13 at 09:56 AM ET
Comments (6)

On whether he had a good vantage point of the goaltender interference call on Trevor Lewis:
“You know, I didn’t because I was watching Richards shoot it. I find it very tough to believe with a player as intelligent as Trevor Lewis that he’d run the goalie. I asked him. He said he got pushed from behind. I believe him, and I’m disappointed that the refs had enough confidence to make a gutsy call like that in the last whatever, 30 seconds in the period. It’s pretty impressive when you have enough gall to guess, because I’m going to look at the tape and I’m going to see if he got pushed, because I know what it’s like to drive the net. Sometimes it happens.”

-Dustin Penner of the LA Kings via Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider

Watch the interference call below, I have advanced the video to the time when the play started...

Continue Reading »

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  Tags: dustin+penner

Quick Could Face League Discipline

by Paul on 05/19/13 at 09:27 AM ET
Comments (2)

via TSN,

The Kings were beaten on a goal by Logan Couture after the Sharks played the entire 89 seconds of overtime on the power play. The Kings were received penalties for both hooking and goaltender interference in the final minute of regulation play.

After conceding the game winner, Quick immediately skated out of his crease and was visibly upset.

Quick was assessed a 10-minute and game misconduct after the whistle. According to multiple reports the penalties were for abuse of an official.

According to Rule 39.5 of the NHL Rule Book a game misconduct for abuse of an official may be subject to supplemental discipline.

Watch the only reply I could find of the incident and you can stop watching once you see people chasing a soccer ref.

 

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  Tags: jonathan+quick

San Jose Hade A 3-2 Lead With Just Over Two Minutes Left When…

by Paul on 05/17/13 at 08:03 AM ET
Comments (10)

this happened...

 

then this...

Continue Reading »

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Kings Continue To Impress

by Paul on 05/15/13 at 05:26 AM ET
Comments (1)

from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

That swagger comes from rediscovering the ways in which the Kings found success last season.

Jonathan Quick stingy in net? Check.

A blue-line corps led by Drew Doughty, Robyn Regehr, Rob Scuderi and Slava Voynov balancing swift puck-moving abilities with strong physical play? Check.

A suffocating penalty kill? Check.

Rolling four forward lines without hesitation? Check.

And while Quick no doubt will continue to receive most of the attention for yet another gem on this night -- a 35-save shutout, boosting his playoff save percentage to .953 -- to me another important catalyst on this team once again is Mike Richards.

For a second spring in a row, the second-line center is bringing it at playoff time.

more

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Video- Raffi Torres Hit On Jarret Stoll

by Paul on 05/15/13 at 05:16 AM ET
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from Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider,

Darryl Sutter declined to offer specifics on the nature of Stoll’s absence, though he pointedly indicated it wasn’t because he was being rested.

“You know what? I didn’t play Jarret in the third period, and he wasn’t resting, so that pretty well tells you, doesn’t it? If you ask that question about injuries every day, you get here early, see who’s on the ice, see who’s not, and you know. That’s who’s available and who isn’t,” Sutter responded to a question on Stoll’s status.

Both Torres and San Jose coach Todd McLellan downplayed the incident.

“To be honest, I didn’t really think it was even going to be a penalty,” Torres told reporters after the game. “They called it charging, but I don’t feel launched myself. I took a step and a half and glided into him. Obviously, he was leaning over. I still feel like I got shoulder to his shoulder, and then it looked – because he was leaning over – that I came up a little high…I hope he’s all right.”

“A clean hit, not even a charging penalty in my opinion,” McLellan said.

more and watch the hit below...

Continue Reading »

Filed in: NHL Teams, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: jarret+stoll, raffi+torres

Something New For The Kings, Home-Ice Advantage

by Paul on 05/14/13 at 05:22 PM ET
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from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,

Looking at the bigger picture, no Kings team has had home-ice advantage since 1992, a span of 16 straight series.

Although this will be a new wrinkle for the Kings, they shouldn’t be thrown off-stride. They will take a 10-game home winning streak into Tuesday’s game, including a three-game playoff home win streak. That equals a club record previously done eight times.

Players said Tuesday that having home-ice advantage won’t lead them to relax or in any way change how  they approach this series against the No. 6 Sharks.

“You’ve got to win everywhere to win,” center Colin Fraser said. “All season long we talked about having home ice and it came down to the last day of the season and we didn’t get it, but we get it in this round. You’ve got to take advantage of it. Starting at home is nicer and we’ve got to get off on the right foot and win our games at home.”

Team captain Dustin Brown said players’ mind-set might need to adjust a bit.

more

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