How Many Days Til Christmas?

I feel a bit like a kid waiting for Christmas to come.  It's right around the corner, school is out,  and all of the presents are sitting under the tree just staring at me.  I know it won't be long, but I just can't stand the anticipation anymore.  "When do we get to open presents?"

As Kings fans, we are in a relatively nice situation.  There are a bunch of presents sitting under the tree.  The team has played some pretty decent hockey up to this point, which kind of leaves us wondering, what if...?  Can't these kids hurry up and develop?  Can't they just grow and learn faster?  Patience sucks.

In my last blog, I hinted that it might be time for Byfield to move up and center for Carter and Athenasiou.  That got me thinking.  Should they maybe bring Rasmus Kupari up to play on the right of Villardi and Andersson?  If they did that, then why not at least give Turcotte a chance to center Fagemo  and Brown (It's not time for him to leave the lineup yet).  

Would this increase our finishing and playmaking?  Probably.  At what cost?  I have to keep reminding myself that some of these kids may not be ready to defend themselves yet.  The NHL is a fairly nasty place for grown ass men, many of whom have a nasty streak.  Turcotte was bounced around a bit in the World Juniors Tournament, as he played against older and larger players.  He was still effective, highly effective, but that wasn't the NHL.  Also, we have to consider the defensive consistency.  The fastest way to loose a bunch of games in the NHL is to not take care your own end.

Kupari, Byfield, Fagemo, Turcotte, Kaliyev, Bjornfot, and more are all busting their rear ends to end up with the big squad.  They are going to have to take someone's spot.  They are going to have to force Blakey and Lucky to send some really good players, or even grizzled vets packing.  The team is playing decently, and I would hate to see that ruined.  However, one has to wonder if we could get better.  

It is important to note that I wrote this prior to tonights game, and it would appear that the boys heard my thoughts.  Their effort tonight demonstrated that they are going to make it very difficult for the kids to break through.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who Is the Most Improved King?

Image
  Sometimes surprises are sweet.  One of the most interesting stories in hockey is the development of the so-called role players of the Los Angeles Kings.  Too bad the Toronto Hockey League Network would never know this, because they can’t see past the blue haze of their favorite sons. Our gain is their loss, and a lot more losses for Kings’ opponents.    Earlier this year, I felt like there was one stand out as The Most Improved player.  Now the water is muddied by the continued, almost astonishing, improvement in play by multiple players. I have to start out with a player that drove me nuts last year, Mikey Anderson.  Game after game last year he made bad pass after bad pass and appeared to be a human turnover.  His play moving backwards in our zone was pretty good, but he really struggled to see the ice and make timely decisions to get the team out of the zone.  Largely that problem was solved over the summer.  Anderson has been ...
Read more

Vilardi Must Help

Image
The bad news is that the Kings need some help.  I know, not exactly an astute observation, especially since we are watching other teams play in round two from our couches.  They need scoring.  The good news is that Gabriel Vilardi appears ready to step in and get it done. Vilardi, the first round draft pick from last year, had been projected as a top four pick.  For one reason or another, he dropped.  He dropped all the way to 11, where the Kings happily snapped him up.  His summer and subsequent fall were plagued by injuries.  Maybe that is what kept teams from picking him up, or maybe it was his supposed lack of skating ability, a denigration that I find hard to give too much credence too.  Either way, neither his injuries, nor his supposed lack of skating could keep him down forever.  In the second half of the season, he was a juggernaught for the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. In 32 games, he tallied 22 goals and 36 assists, nea...
Read more

The Potential Is There

The Potential Is There       On Thursday night the Kings faced a Columbus team that is fighting for a playoff spot in the hotly contested Metropolitan division with a scant 17 points separating the top from the bottom.  The Blue Jackets came out firing, and the Kings came out ready for a nap.  For twenty minutes, we watched the good guys in the black jerseys chase the visitors around the defensive zone.  Breakout after breakout was a complete disaster.  I was a bit disheartened as this has been a major problem since the holidays.       Luckily, the fans got to see a different team come out for the second period.  The Kings were flying, denying space and creating turnovers.  Then, a role player, a new to our team role player stepped up.  Thompson unleashed a wicked shot over the pad and rang it off the post.  The Kings were back in the game.  Later, Iafallo and Pearson responded with tip ins.  A grim night...
Read more