Matt Murray has been a Kings fan since the late '80s, when Wayne Gretzky grabbed headlines by defecting to the West Coast. Since then, he has been a card-carrying bandwagon member as the club soared in popularity with their sole Stanley Cup appearance to their position near the bottom of the Pacific. But things are looking brighter, as he is anxious to witness the rise of the new Kings.
Is anyone really surprised?
L.A.'s hockey season started Friday, with the Kings visiting the new Honda Center. The result was about what I expected. Ducks win. But, the Kings made a game of it early.
L.A. came out of the chute, guns blazing. They outshot the Ducks, 22-10, in the first period. They wound up with 44 shots on the game. They lost by one. Scoring three goals against a Stanley Cup contender? Not too shabby.
Anze was impressive, with his first two NHL goals coming in the second. He was on fire, just crashing the net and taking shots. His first goal made Giggy look foolish.
Cloutier looked average, really not much of an improvement over Garon or LaBarbara. He didn't show me that he was worthy of that bizarre extension the Kings signed him to. My guess is Garon gets the nod Saturday.
Avery had no penalties? Huh? Who is this imposter? Could we be seeing a new leaf turned by Sean?
Special teams? *sigh* Not too special.
For the first game of the season, with an overhauled roster and two rookie forwards, I think the Kings did just fine. O'Sullivan seemed a little nervous, and wasn't on the ice a lot, but he's got a lot of expectations he has to fill. After all, he was traded for Pavol Demitra. The sooner he slows down and realizes his talent, the better he'll become.
