The saga between the Kings and Mike Richards has ended now that the two sides have reached an agreement on his contract termination. Richards will be paid an undisclosed amount and the Kings will incur a cap penalty until 2031.
With Voynov heading back to Russia, Stoll signed with New York and the Richards’ issues behind us it finally looks like the Kings can move forward from the 2014-2015 campaign. The Kings missing the playoffs last season was not the worst thing that has happened. Most fans seemed to be almost okay with it. The general consensus is that the extended time off would give the team a chance to rest, regroup and regain their spots as a top team in the NHL.
The start of the year has been anything but smooth; our defense has looked soft, our forward play uninspired, lots of poor penalties, turnovers and just overall not good hockey. A much more troubling thought is that these Kings aren’t exactly what meets the eye.
I am part of the generation that was only exposed to the tail end of the excitement that made hockey a hit in Southern California. I wasn’t old enough to really get to appreciate Gretzky and Kurri, I was 8 years old when we lost to Montreal. I wasn’t alive to see the Triple Crown Line and I only know Jim Fox the broadcaster and not the hockey player. We have had fun teams before Lombardi, Demitra, Palffy, uh…Avery, but not like this bunch.
This Kings team is the first team I can call my own. I was excited when Taylor drafted Kopitar, I cursed Lombardi when he drafted Lewis (I’m sorry for doubting you Deano). I remember the debate whether to send Clifford to juniors or burn a year of his contract and let the 19 year old kid play. The rise and fall of Jack Johnson and the disappointing realization the Oscar Moller and Bud Holloway were really not good enough to be on a Stanley Cup contender.
(The only video I can find of this awesome play)
I have learned to appreciate hockey differently from Lombardi and Sutter and watching a game without Fox’s insight is never as informative. I have spent the last 10 years as a season ticket holder enjoying the crazy ride while dedicating countless conversations and life energy to this team, enough so that more than one female companion has told me that it’s either hockey or her.
We have formed an image of this team. Quick is our savior in net. Kopitar is the lovable leader and pulse of the team.
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/embed?playlist=95477&site=kings
(We all shared that moment of…”They didn’t really room together… Did they?”)
Dustin Brown is the hard working community man while Matt Greene is a tough guy leader who has the best sense of humor and drove a beat up jeep until he got married.
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/embed?playlist=106741&site=kings
The image of the Kings is what allowed us to easily dismiss and look past last season and our off-season woes.
And since the 4-0 win in Vegas it has been a sobering realization that there are some issues with the Kings.
Our defense is clearly lacking. We have replaced Scuderi, Mitchell and Voynov with Muzzin, Forbort, Ehrhoff, McBain, McNabb and Jeff Schultz. Jaime McBain was surprisingly sent down before the start of the year and Jeff Schultz looked very over matched in his only game with the Kings this season. Christian Ehrhoff who was signed to replace some of the speed lost on D has had numerous bad turnovers and I can’t remember the last time I saw a Kings D man get caught twice behind the other teams net in the same period. Jake Muzzin was given a spot on the first pairing alongside Drew Doughty and has made several plays that have brought back to mind Joe Corvo circa 2006, that’s not good. All of a sudden we find ourselves missing Willie Mitchell a lot more than we thought we would.
Our young leaders are no longer allowed to hide behind their youth. Justin Williams, Jarret Stoll, Mitchell all held people to a higher standard (keep your Stoll high jokes to yourself) on this team and our new non lettered and lettered leadership has to take the horns. Jeff Carter, Trevor Lewis and Kyle Clifford need to let their play lead by example and play puck possession hockey. Matt Greene has to be consistent with his play and be a bridge to the next generation of Kings D-men. Kopitar must be signed to a long term contract and Dustin Brown needs to continue his early strong play and hold guys like Lucic and Gaborik accountable.
Lombardi wrote a statement for the Times giving us a rare insight in just how much he has invested in this organization.
“Without a doubt, the realization of what happened to Mike Richards is the most traumatic episode of my career,” Lombardi wrote. “At times, I think that I will never recover from it. It is difficult to trust anyone right now-and you begin to question whether you can trust your own judgment. The only thing I can think of that would be worse would be suspecting your wife of cheating on you for five years and then finding out in fact it was true.”
I think anyone who has been a fan of this team over the last 10 years can understand Lombardi’s feelings. We have all formed our judgement and opinions of this group and it has been pretty close to perfect. These are our boys. Stoll, Voynov and Richards all broke the perfect image we have created for this group and it hurts. I do believe we have the right visionary in Lombardi to help the Kings battle these times and get us back to the team we want these guys to be.
– JD Dorfman
PuckTheDucks 