Winding down the Season

Only a few games left in the season so might as well milk out some thoughts while I can.

After the 1st period I thought we were in store for a rock em sock em hate filled, fight filled game-by todays NHL standards I guess I was right.

In all seriousness- For a game that had no scoring the 3rd period was pretty exciting. Thought the Kings had a couple of chances to win it then but thats alright.

I dont know if Im ready to jump on the fire Kompon bandwagon. DL traded our best scoring Dman and then traded our best pure sniper in Cammi-I mean what did he think would happen? Its like entering your Ford Taurus in the Daytona 500 and thinking you will finish in the Top 10.

Some player thoughts

Jon Quick- he look like he was tiring in the last couple of weeks but tonight looked very very sharp of course being he got the SO its kind of a stupid capt obvious type statement. That said-Quick is quietly on pace to have one of the best seasons recently for Kings goaltenders. Sure its like saying Moe was the smartest Stooge but its something. Scary to think he may set the record for best season by a Kings goalie who the Kings actually drafted. Go down the line and any notable Kings goalie was always acquired via trade.

Kopitar-Sweet SO goal. Highlight variety for sure.

Brown-Not sure whats going on with him but he is not the same player he was the first half of the season.

Williams-Im going to question the trade until he does something next season but scoring the OT winner is certainly something to build on.

Drewiske-I like the kid.

Harrold- Good steady fill in type of player who just logs way too much time for my liking.

Now some thoughts on DL- As mentioned earlier I will question the OSullivan trade big time until Williams can show something for a prolonged period of time. Same goes with the Cammi trade. That said-In goal we now have Quick, Ersberg, Bernier, and Martin Jones waiting in the wings. Funny it doesnt seem all that long ago we were hoping the russian goalie Volchov or Pauli Jaks was going to be the savior. I mean to think weve got 4 goalies in the system who are credible is a huge step in the right direction.

Looking at D its even more impressive-has this Franchise ever been in a position going into the next season with the top 5 Dmen solidified? Doughty, JJ, Quincey, OD, and Greene while not mind blowing certainly credible. The battle for the 6th spot is going to be just that-a real legitimate battle. Figure Drewiske, Teubert, Hickey, and Voynov all going to really have to step up to make the squad. This will probably be the best competition for a roster spot that we have seen as a Franchise.

At Forward-well thats going to be another story. DL said he wanted to build from the nets out and while there has been many a debatable moves one cant really say he hasnt kept his word in that area. That said barring a blockbuster move or luring a UFA scorer, I think while we will be more consistent in scoring goals-its never going to be anything thats going to dazzle. As it stands I think we will improve but whether it will be enough to make a big difference Im not sure.

Looking back on some of the preseason thoughts and predictions I made-the one that really seems off base now is Brown. I thought for sure we'd see him with a handful of fighting majors and at least 80 pims. As far as wearing the C, it really looks like it may be something that he wasnt ready for or maybe just doesn't understand what a good Captain does. To be fair-maybe hes never really had the mentor type to tell him or give him some type of example. Im not badmouthing him- he could be playing with an injury or god only knows whats going on behind the scenes and its unfair to critique him based on some over inflated prediction but some forum jockeying bloviating loudmouth like yours truly.

All I can say is Just Wait Until Next Season-which really should be the Kings official Motto.