Think of the L.A. Kings as Prince Hal. They're young and rambunctious (witness captain Dustin Brown's running into every Oiler on the ice in their last game, followed by his own demolition by Oilers captain Ethan Moreau) but underneath their green exterior they're carefully plotting NHL domination and an invasion of France.
Give them another season or two. You can't have a top six that includes Dustin Brown, Alexander Frolov, Anze Kopitar, Patrick O'Sullivan, and Jarret Stoll and a defense that includes Jack Johnson, Drew Doughty, Matt Greene, and Kyle Quincey--not to mention Jonathan Quick in goal--and not go somewhere. All of these guys are very young, but they're also very talented, and they'll only get better. Assuming the Kings can keep this core group away from free agent signings elsewhere, they'll be a force to be reckoned with in the near future.
I have no idea how the Thrashers will measure up. It'll certainly be interesting to see rookie offensive defenseman Drew Doughty and rookie offensive defenseman Zach Bogosian playing against one another. Your editor will make no predictions here.
Game starts at 7:30 West Coast time, which makes this a sexy funtime late-night game for us (10:30, in case you needed some help). Don't miss the "Under the Lights" feature on Ilya Kovalchuk beforehand at 10:00.
You might also enjoy this article by Mike Knobler, all about what the Thrashers do on long flights. Great article, but Knobler is clearly confused. According to our sources the Thrashers travelled by wagon to California, and the journey was full of river-crossings, buffalo hunts, and outbreaks of dysentery and cholera.
2 comments:
Isn't this the time when JA tells the team they CAN play like they did last night every night. Sure they got all the bounces, but you make your own luck out there. I'll bet there sore as fuck though, they were getting pounded physically.
They may of gotten hit, but at least they kept going. Surprising that the Ducks didn't try to start a fight at the end. A year or two ago I felt like they would've.
Darren Eliot talked about some kind of paradigm shift in coaching or something. I'm not too sure what he was on about as well as the rest of the Thrashers' board was talking about. Apparently, I think, Randy Cunneyworth has gotten more power in certain areas. Man, I don't know.
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