icarus
12-28-2004, 03:28 PM
Los Angeles Kings: 15-15-4-2; 36 points, tied 8th in Howe Conference; 116 GF/101 GA
Four points separate fourth place in the Howe Conference and eleventh. In this very tight playoff race, the Kings find themselves just barely in 9th place and out of the playoff picture. Yet luck has not been Los Angeles’s friend so far, as of the eight teams in the logjam the Kings have the second best goal differential (+15). The team one point behind them, Anaheim, has a goal differential of -15 by comparison.
The Kings have had a tale of two lines so far this season. The top line of Tanguay-Peca-Kolnik has disappointed, while the “second line” of Leclerc-Gomez-Holmstrom has been very impressive. The Kings expect to do some minor tweaking with the lines after Christmas and should have something like this as a starting lineup:
Tanguay-Peca-Bergeron
Leclerc-Gomez-Holmstrom
Tucker-Halpern-Mayers
Axelsson-Mowers-Letowski
(Vermette-Higgins-Weinhandl)
Hatcher-Timonen
Brewer-Hedican
Skrastins-Girard
(Mezei)
Cloutier
Noronen
The Kings will continue to play a defence first style and rely on their very good penalty killing, led by Peca and Halpern. Offence comes from turnovers and quick transitions.
LA has been very quiet indeed on the trade front this season. GM icarus commented as follows as to why this is:
“We’ve been working for two-and-a-half years to achieve a certain team chemistry. Our vision all this time has been to have a team that is competitive now, and at least as competitive in the future. This philosophy requires having a good, young core of players. We feel we’ve achieved this objective with guys like Tanguay, Gomez, Bergeron, Brewer, and so on. Our future players include the likes of Phaneuf, Malkin, and Toivonen. It would be counterproductive to trade away guys age 25 or younger, even though they are in high demand. Our older players are also important to us, as they are crucial to our current team’s success. We will consider trading them provided that (1) the trade doesn’t open a new hole in our depth chart and (2) the return improves our team now. So we will trade but not just for trading’s sake; the moves we make have to make sense. We want to move up in the standings but most of the offers we’ve had haven’t made much sense since for the most part we are happy with the constitution of our roster. But let it be known that all trade offers are considered and responded to.”
Let us now examine some of the details of the LA Kings’ pre-holiday season.
Individual positives:
Scott Gomez: 28 assists (tied for 7th in CPHL); 37 points (24th in CPHL, 9th among CPHL centres)
Matthias Weinhandl: 29.0% shooting pct (1st in CPHL)
Mike Leclerc: 27.8% shooting pct (4th in CPHL); 2 hat tricks (tied for 2nd in CPHL)
Dan Cloutier: 2 shutouts (tied for 4th in CPHL); 1694 minutes (5th in CPHL)
Team statistics:
Power play: 16.2% (15th)
Penalty kill: 88.7% (3rd)
PIM per game: 18.5 (tied 22nd)
Goals per game: 3.41 (13th)
Goals against per game: 2.97 (7th)
Shots for per game: 28.1 (14th)
Shots against per game: 26.5 (tied 11th)
Player grades:
Scott Gomez: A. Gomez has exceeded expectations by leading the team in scoring and posting the second highest plus/minus on the team.
Tomas Holmstrom: A. Holmstrom has quietly posted enough points to be second in Kings’ scoring. Solid contributions on the surprise Leclerc-Gomez-Holmstrom line.
Alex Tanguay: B-. Tanguay was rather disappointing for LA’s top line, as he was expected to carry the offensive load. However his defensive play has been suspect and only in recent weeks has Tanguay begun to show the offensive prowess required of him.
Mike Leclerc: A+. Leclerc’s 17 goals firmly establish him as the team leader in the department, to the surprise of most. His six powerplay goals also lead the team, and his defensive play has been very impressive.
Mike Peca: C-. As the first line centre, Peca was expected to produce more offense than he has, especially playing alongside Alex Tanguay. The numbers have not been earthshattering, but even more disappointing has been Peca’s awareness in his own zone. He has a team worst -6; shocking for a so-called defensive player.
Eric Brewer: B. Brewer leads the Kings blueline in scoring, and has been solid. He has logged a lot of ice time.
Darcy Tucker: B+. Tucker has been a welcome addition to LA, potting more goals than expected and generally performing well in his role as an abrasive presence.
Kimmo Timonen: C. Timonen has been rather disappointing as he was supposed to be the big offensive weapon on the blueline. His offensive numbers have not stood out. Furthermore he has made some notable gaffes as the team’s number one defenceman.
Patrice Bergeron: B-. Bergeron is a young player and so not too much has been expected of him. Nevertheless, he is capable of better numbers and, inexplicably, he takes way too many undisciplined penalties, as he did last year.
Matthias Weinhandl: A+. Weinhandl has had a limited role on the team but has made an impression. He is second on the team in terms of powerplay goals scored and leads the entire league in shooting percentage.
Derian Hatcher: B-. After a very slow start, Hatcher began to turn his game around in December. He is now showing the defensive skill, leadership, and occasional offensive flair that was expected of him back in October.
Jeff Halpern: B. Halpern is barely noticeable, which is not necessarily a bad thing for a defensive specialist. His play on the penalty kill has been laudable, now let’s see if he can be more of a scoring threat in the second half.
Bret Hedican: A. Hedican has exceeded expectations, as he leads the rather impressive defence corps, and the entire team for that matter, in plus/minus with his +15 rating.
Karlis Skrastins: B. Quiet presence, performing almost exactly as expected, although the numbers could be a little bit better than they are.
Jonathan Girard: B-. Good news: Girard has scored most of his goals on the powerplay. Bad news: he only has four goals. The Kings would like to see more offensive flair from the young shooter.
P.J. Axelsson: B+. Axelsson has performed admirably for his fourth line checking role. He has been dangerous on the penalty kill, scoring two shorties.
Jamal Mayers: C. Mayers is risking losing his 3rd line checking role, as his linemates have outperformed him. Terrible shooting percentage.
Juraj Kolnik: C-. Kolnik has had the dream opportunity of playing on the top line with Tanguay and Peca, and only has six points to show for it. I don’t care what his rating is, he is meant to be a scorer and he has not made the most of the opportunity. Look for someone else to eat up his minutes.
Trevor Letowski: A-. He was meant to be an extra forward, but in recent games where he has drawn into the lineup (accidentally) he has produced. He’s making a strong case to be a regular starter.
Mark Mowers: B+. Mowers has two shots and one goal in limited duty. He will have the chance to show more of what he can do as a starter after Christmas.
Branislav Mezei: B-. As the 7th defenceman, Mezei has not looked out of place but still shows rust when he draws in. Hopefully he can show his defensive awareness a little better since the Kings keep losing rearguards to injury.
Dan Cloutier: B. Another player who started slowly, Cloutier turned the tide in November and clawed his way up to having a winning record and two shutouts in the process. This is what was expected of him. Now can he take it to the next level?
Antoine Vermette: C. Very limited duty thus far in the CPHL this season, and has shown nothing really to suggest he deserves to be here over someone else.
Mika Noronen: B-. Noronen has a 2-3 record, but played very well in his two wins. He should continue to improve and perhaps one day overtake Cloutier as the starting netminder for LA.
Four points separate fourth place in the Howe Conference and eleventh. In this very tight playoff race, the Kings find themselves just barely in 9th place and out of the playoff picture. Yet luck has not been Los Angeles’s friend so far, as of the eight teams in the logjam the Kings have the second best goal differential (+15). The team one point behind them, Anaheim, has a goal differential of -15 by comparison.
The Kings have had a tale of two lines so far this season. The top line of Tanguay-Peca-Kolnik has disappointed, while the “second line” of Leclerc-Gomez-Holmstrom has been very impressive. The Kings expect to do some minor tweaking with the lines after Christmas and should have something like this as a starting lineup:
Tanguay-Peca-Bergeron
Leclerc-Gomez-Holmstrom
Tucker-Halpern-Mayers
Axelsson-Mowers-Letowski
(Vermette-Higgins-Weinhandl)
Hatcher-Timonen
Brewer-Hedican
Skrastins-Girard
(Mezei)
Cloutier
Noronen
The Kings will continue to play a defence first style and rely on their very good penalty killing, led by Peca and Halpern. Offence comes from turnovers and quick transitions.
LA has been very quiet indeed on the trade front this season. GM icarus commented as follows as to why this is:
“We’ve been working for two-and-a-half years to achieve a certain team chemistry. Our vision all this time has been to have a team that is competitive now, and at least as competitive in the future. This philosophy requires having a good, young core of players. We feel we’ve achieved this objective with guys like Tanguay, Gomez, Bergeron, Brewer, and so on. Our future players include the likes of Phaneuf, Malkin, and Toivonen. It would be counterproductive to trade away guys age 25 or younger, even though they are in high demand. Our older players are also important to us, as they are crucial to our current team’s success. We will consider trading them provided that (1) the trade doesn’t open a new hole in our depth chart and (2) the return improves our team now. So we will trade but not just for trading’s sake; the moves we make have to make sense. We want to move up in the standings but most of the offers we’ve had haven’t made much sense since for the most part we are happy with the constitution of our roster. But let it be known that all trade offers are considered and responded to.”
Let us now examine some of the details of the LA Kings’ pre-holiday season.
Individual positives:
Scott Gomez: 28 assists (tied for 7th in CPHL); 37 points (24th in CPHL, 9th among CPHL centres)
Matthias Weinhandl: 29.0% shooting pct (1st in CPHL)
Mike Leclerc: 27.8% shooting pct (4th in CPHL); 2 hat tricks (tied for 2nd in CPHL)
Dan Cloutier: 2 shutouts (tied for 4th in CPHL); 1694 minutes (5th in CPHL)
Team statistics:
Power play: 16.2% (15th)
Penalty kill: 88.7% (3rd)
PIM per game: 18.5 (tied 22nd)
Goals per game: 3.41 (13th)
Goals against per game: 2.97 (7th)
Shots for per game: 28.1 (14th)
Shots against per game: 26.5 (tied 11th)
Player grades:
Scott Gomez: A. Gomez has exceeded expectations by leading the team in scoring and posting the second highest plus/minus on the team.
Tomas Holmstrom: A. Holmstrom has quietly posted enough points to be second in Kings’ scoring. Solid contributions on the surprise Leclerc-Gomez-Holmstrom line.
Alex Tanguay: B-. Tanguay was rather disappointing for LA’s top line, as he was expected to carry the offensive load. However his defensive play has been suspect and only in recent weeks has Tanguay begun to show the offensive prowess required of him.
Mike Leclerc: A+. Leclerc’s 17 goals firmly establish him as the team leader in the department, to the surprise of most. His six powerplay goals also lead the team, and his defensive play has been very impressive.
Mike Peca: C-. As the first line centre, Peca was expected to produce more offense than he has, especially playing alongside Alex Tanguay. The numbers have not been earthshattering, but even more disappointing has been Peca’s awareness in his own zone. He has a team worst -6; shocking for a so-called defensive player.
Eric Brewer: B. Brewer leads the Kings blueline in scoring, and has been solid. He has logged a lot of ice time.
Darcy Tucker: B+. Tucker has been a welcome addition to LA, potting more goals than expected and generally performing well in his role as an abrasive presence.
Kimmo Timonen: C. Timonen has been rather disappointing as he was supposed to be the big offensive weapon on the blueline. His offensive numbers have not stood out. Furthermore he has made some notable gaffes as the team’s number one defenceman.
Patrice Bergeron: B-. Bergeron is a young player and so not too much has been expected of him. Nevertheless, he is capable of better numbers and, inexplicably, he takes way too many undisciplined penalties, as he did last year.
Matthias Weinhandl: A+. Weinhandl has had a limited role on the team but has made an impression. He is second on the team in terms of powerplay goals scored and leads the entire league in shooting percentage.
Derian Hatcher: B-. After a very slow start, Hatcher began to turn his game around in December. He is now showing the defensive skill, leadership, and occasional offensive flair that was expected of him back in October.
Jeff Halpern: B. Halpern is barely noticeable, which is not necessarily a bad thing for a defensive specialist. His play on the penalty kill has been laudable, now let’s see if he can be more of a scoring threat in the second half.
Bret Hedican: A. Hedican has exceeded expectations, as he leads the rather impressive defence corps, and the entire team for that matter, in plus/minus with his +15 rating.
Karlis Skrastins: B. Quiet presence, performing almost exactly as expected, although the numbers could be a little bit better than they are.
Jonathan Girard: B-. Good news: Girard has scored most of his goals on the powerplay. Bad news: he only has four goals. The Kings would like to see more offensive flair from the young shooter.
P.J. Axelsson: B+. Axelsson has performed admirably for his fourth line checking role. He has been dangerous on the penalty kill, scoring two shorties.
Jamal Mayers: C. Mayers is risking losing his 3rd line checking role, as his linemates have outperformed him. Terrible shooting percentage.
Juraj Kolnik: C-. Kolnik has had the dream opportunity of playing on the top line with Tanguay and Peca, and only has six points to show for it. I don’t care what his rating is, he is meant to be a scorer and he has not made the most of the opportunity. Look for someone else to eat up his minutes.
Trevor Letowski: A-. He was meant to be an extra forward, but in recent games where he has drawn into the lineup (accidentally) he has produced. He’s making a strong case to be a regular starter.
Mark Mowers: B+. Mowers has two shots and one goal in limited duty. He will have the chance to show more of what he can do as a starter after Christmas.
Branislav Mezei: B-. As the 7th defenceman, Mezei has not looked out of place but still shows rust when he draws in. Hopefully he can show his defensive awareness a little better since the Kings keep losing rearguards to injury.
Dan Cloutier: B. Another player who started slowly, Cloutier turned the tide in November and clawed his way up to having a winning record and two shutouts in the process. This is what was expected of him. Now can he take it to the next level?
Antoine Vermette: C. Very limited duty thus far in the CPHL this season, and has shown nothing really to suggest he deserves to be here over someone else.
Mika Noronen: B-. Noronen has a 2-3 record, but played very well in his two wins. He should continue to improve and perhaps one day overtake Cloutier as the starting netminder for LA.