Murphy...err...Murray postgame quotes
Here's what Kings coach Terry Murray had to say after tonight's game...
Question: Any word on Jack Johnson?
MURRAY: ``The word that I got, just a minute or so ago, is an upper-extremity injury. He's going to go to the doctor and get evaluated tomorrow, and we'll have more information then.''
Question: Anything in terms of how serious it might be?
MURRAY: ``No. I was not told to what degree the injury was. Maybe even I wasn't told exactly what it was. It was just very quickly, when I was in the coaches' office before I came in here.''
Question: Did he try to give it a go there at the start of the second period?
MURRAY: ``He did. He tried to come back and get going. It happened on that play when the puck was flipped into the air and he was trying to knock it down just inside of our own blue line. Hopefully there's nothing serious.''
Question: How frustrating is it when you lose by one and you get two taken off the board?
MURRAY: ``Well, the two taken off the board, that's the way it is. Goals that are scored when you're in the crease are not allowed, and you're not allowed to kick the puck into the net. So that's a ruling that's thoroughly reviewed by the league, so I don't have any problem with that. Those things always have a tendency to work out in the long run. The 1-0 game was... I really liked the way we played, especially in the second half of the game. The third period was tremendous. We started to see something that I haven't seen yet, and that was that compete for each other, playing hard for your teammates. There was a lot of blocking shots and playing real hard and heavy on pucks on the boards and in front of the net area. It was great to see that. That's kind of a bar that's set, and I'm going to try very hard to keep them to that level. It's something to build on.''
Question: Your thoughts on O'Sullivan?
MURRAY: ``O'Sullivan's a very skilled player. I haven't got a good read on him yet, but he's a very skilled player. He handles the puck in traffic with high speed. He sees the ice to make plays. He took it to the net the one time, to the goal line, and threw it off the goaltender's right pad and had a little rebound and he just about got to it. I'm hoping that the next game, he does get to that kind of a play. He's a special kind of player, there's no question. Some of the things he attempts to do, you can see that there's a lot more in there and that it's going to start to happen for him real quick.''
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About Rich Hammond
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
I know they didn't win, but can you imagine POS not being on this team, he's the missing persons on the first line.
We're such a half ass organization that we can't even get our OWN coaches name right.
Somtimes it's embarrassing being a Kings fan.
want to point out one little thing at the end...one of the last good rushes by the kings was ruled offsides...it wasn't. you can clearly see that simmonds got the puck into the zone before handzus's skate. bummer. and unfortunately, no one even bothered to challenge the call. oh well.
Some previous comments have been too nice. Fact of the matter is the Kings have 1 goal in six periods of the regular season. I don't care if it's the Sharks. Their defense was not playing to its fullest potential yet it still looked dominant and a journeyman NHL netminder in Brian Boucher, with his sixth team, shut them out. With the exception of Kopi making a handful of extraordinary passes, I didn't see anyone move the puck well enough to create any scoring chances and our PP is a joke. I hope it's still early, but I saw a lot in this game of what I saw all last season. LaBarbera can't give up that goal. And we're really in trouble if we have to rely on Moulson or anyone else to kick pucks in the net to light the lamp... (and then hope the refs will give us a break.)
I thought I heard David Courtney say "Murphy" but I figured I heard wrong, and wrote it off to all the concerts I attended in the 70's
Look at the bright side guys. The Kings have as many points as the Quackers, and they've given up twice as many goals as the Kings.
Anze, good news, it is early...I checked.
After only two games, there are some positives such as the PK and the team commitment to shot blocking. I can't remember the last time I saw so many shots blocked by the Kings. The only area of the game that really looks weak is their neutral zone play. But that area of the ice is where the chemistry of a team is really relied upon, so nothing surprising there...The only thing I would like to see different is to see POS on the top unit. But I'm sure that will come as he gets up to speed. I don't think the PP was that bad, both disallowed goals were with the extra man. Patience will make all of our lives as kings fans easier...its gonna be a long season of hard lessons and progress...
Anze - Are the comments nice or realistic? When a new defensive system is brought in, defense is taught first. If you were to say that there were defensive breakdowns in the first game, then I would agree with you. I do not believe you can spend a significant amount of time on offence until the defensive responsibilities are completely understood. I would imagine it will take 12 to 15 games for most of team to feel comfortable. The questions we should ask are include: Is the defensive zone coverage improving each game? Did the team fall apart after giving up the first goal? Is LaBarbera showing any signs of being an NHL Goalie? Thoughts?
Anze,
Let me break it to you now, so you don't have heartache all season....
The Kings aren't winning the Stanley Cup this year. In fact they are almost certain to miss the playoffs this year.
Most people here, thankfully, have realistic expectations for this team. What we want to see is improvement. Last night was much better than the night before, so we are happy to see that. Sure we all had hope that they might steal one, but we are also realistic.
This season is about improving a very young team and building structure, consistency and a commitment to winning. If that is going to be too hard to watch, then you should probably take a year off.
I don't know why everyone is complaining. The Kings looked like a different team than the night before..Kopi was incredible with the passes and Doughty did way better.. Labs made some fantastic saves with few rebounds. The goal let in was a great shot but was on the soft side. He deserved to be in there. Think about our defense and still trying to figure each other out while Labs stepped up to the plate. I think they did very well and learned from mistakes against a very very skilled experienced team..Moller again impressed me with his wicked wrist shot and hustle to help the D. He was on Thorton like a bum on a bologna sandwich..That guy has absolutly no respect for vet players on other teams..I think it was Thorton or Roenick he spanked quite a few times..I love this kid!!!
Remember last year Ottawa was out of the gate like 10-1 and then did miserably the rest of the year. From an 0-2 start - it can only get better...right?
It is a process scoring goals would be good too - but Pittsburgh stunk even when Crosby first arrived - they built with what they had.
(If all that fails we still hold down the 30th spot - which would give us best chance at 1st overall pick...but it might be too early to say that...right)
I was encouraged by the performance last night, except for the continuing struggle to get the puck through the neutral zone. The Kings still seem to freak out as soon as they get the puck and not connect well on passes. Dumping the puck in to the SJ zone was a victory in itself, when they managed to do it. Last night two of the D-men passed the puck back and forth in their own zone during a power play, which was embarrassing. So, they were seemingly getting outnumbered even with PP. This may be a function of being so young and inexperienced. But, clearly, there are many bright spots to build on (especially Sully, who despite rust, looked very good and stood out). I agree that Moller is really great and is a great spark plug. I hope he sticks past nine games. I am curious to why Boyle only got 5 or 6 minutes of ice time. I thought that he proved himself last year. It's not going to get any better against Anaheim because they have got to be hungry. I have to put in a good word for the NHL's internet offering of games. It is really good. You can watch four games at a time, and they post all kinds of stats and chat availability in real time, as well as archiving games so if you miss it, you can call it up from archives. Also, the camera angles are really exciting and from time to time, you can control the cameras yourself with special feature. I live in an area where you can't get any Kings games. So, this was a lifesaver for me even if it wasn't good. However, it is much better, in my opinion, than the Center Ice package, for example. Many kudos to NHL for this really excellent site! Last night, most of Phoenix's rookies sensations scored their first NHL goals or points. They look really good and have integrated the rookies really well. I think they're gonna surprise some people this year.
Last night's score in my mind forever will remain
KINGS 0
Sharks 1
REFS 2
Overall, significantly better than game 1 in many ways. They still outshot the Sharks which is an accomplishment, especially after Saturday. The defense played pretty well all things considered. Only two of the Kings d-men out there were here last year, so their improvement was a good sign. The rest of the lines are still getting used to each other too. The Sharks not only have one more game of experience so far in the season, but a couple seasons behind them as the team they are now. Considering the lack of experience the Kings have together at this point, I was happy about their play and only expect it to get tighter and grittier. O'Sullivan looked great for not having made training camp. Doughty is exciting to watch already. One more good thing was that they seemed to really contain Thornton and Cheechoo.
One thing though, and I guess it was because there weren't really a lot of shots or anything, was how quiet Staples Center was. The guy behind me said he thinks the fans are just in 'survial mode,' and my dad thought everyone was sort of just holding their breath. Makes sense. I guess we are for the most apart on the same page in terms of expecting the worst, hoping for the best.
wavesinair - I saw the bogus offsides call and have stated that the officiating is shite in the NHL. TWO bad disallowed goals and how you can blow that offsides at that stage especially, is beyond me. The Kings need to file a complaint.
I thought the Kings were great last night. I do think the Sharks were a bit non-chalant in the first 2 periods before really trying to choke the Kings out in the 3rd. Roenick set the tone for them in the 3rd by trying to throw some checks and mix it up. The Kings responded very well, however. I was impressed that they took the opening goal in stride and continued to work on their own game. Also, I saw a lot of heart in every player. I am starting to worry about Armstrong, however. He seems to be lacking in game-shape and though I would never doubt his heart, I wonder if he should be playing 2 nights in a row at this stage in his career. I'd like to see him take a player/coach role with the Kings and pick his spots for playing. We need his attitude and experience, but I also worry about him getting injured due to fatigue and the slow-down that comes with age.
The only negative I have from last night is the unwillingness to shoot. The last power play the Kings had was wasted with too much passing in the SJ end. At that point, and with a young team, the puck needs to be flying towards the SJ netminder with reckless abandon. While this can be easily remedied, it was a bit frustrating as the Kings could have stolen a point with a fortunate bounce. Besides that, it was mostly positive.
Give it a rest on the goals called back. On both goals the situation was correct for the call. Brown was in the crease and the ref made the decision instantly. If you watched the video Rich posted on the league's presentation of rules for the players, this situation was covered. Therefore the refs would be watching for this early in the season. On the second goal, there was a distinct kicking motion. An assumption that the puck changed direction under the goaltender's leg via a stick blade rather than a skate or leg pad is not irrefutable.
Therefore a goal called back has no more affect on the play than a puck shot into the audience.