Anatomy of the Kings' trying season - ESPN article by Katie Strang

[oilyfan]

Great in-depth article about the Kings' season, with a bit of a behind the scenes look.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/13...rly-flamed-out

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- It is a strange thing for the Los Angeles Kings, this abundance of time.

Captain Dustin Brown found himself volunteering at his son's school, officiating a kickball game (and showing zero reluctance to throw out a mouthy 8-year-old at first base). Defenseman Alec Martinez is trying again to pick up the guitar when he isn't hanging out with his 3-year-old mixed breed, Hank. Veteran defenseman Matt Greene can now accompany his pregnant wife, Alyssa, who is expecting at the end of the month, to her doctor's appointments.

"I'm not excited about having this time, but I'm excited about the possibility of using this time," Brown said. "To be in better shape, to be better prepared, to be everything that will make us champions again."

Following the summer of 2014, one filled with celebrations and fun but little time for rest and recovery, Brown returned to Los Angeles dreading the idea of lacing up his skates again. It felt as if they had only just left the ice, having dispatched the New York Rangers in five games in June to win their second Cup.

Asked about the now-infamous trash can incident, when the players reportedly barred Sutter's entrance from the locker room after a game, Brown essentially laughed it off. A version of that event definitely happened, he confirmed, though the intent was misconstrued. Brown said that sort of thing happens frequently, minor flare-ups throughout the course of a season. Lombardi told the media after the season that the incident happened in Tampa in February.

[polak]

Any mention of Gaudreau single-handedly dismantling their season?

(only a slight hyperbole)

[GreenLantern]

Stoll is destined for Edmonton again.

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by polak

Any mention of Gaudreau single-handedly dismantling their season?

(only a slight hyperbole)

Still one of the greatest games I've ever seen. 160 pound munchkin dominates monstrous league champs for Christmas. Never seen anything like it.

[DJones]

Everytime I think of Lombardi now I am going to picture him crying haha.

Stoll has 14 grams of drugs at a team party and yet everyone is acting like he made this huge one time mistake. Summer time for professional players is probably a gong show. Didn't realize Vegas takes that so seriously though.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by polak

Any mention of Gaudreau single-handedly dismantling their season?

(only a slight hyperbole)

There was this quote:

In the months leading to the Christmas break, team president Luc Robitaille could sense something was off. The club lacked verve. The boys were not showing that extra gear, the ability to finish a team off, gain the edge in overtime.

The Dec 22 game wasn't the only time it happened against the Kings this year, but it certainly was one of the best examples.

I also thought this quote was funny:

That, combined with their injuries, off-ice distractions, cap constraints (at one point they were forced to play with only five defensemen because of cap issues caused by the Voynov situation) and the uber-competitive Western Conference, and it was easy to see why the Kings buckled.

I can't imagine how a team with only five defensemen could possibly keep it together in the Western Conference

P.S. I also enjoyed the title in the URL: story-why-los-angeles-kings-spectacularly-flamed-out

[MrMastodonFarm]

Hope Hank isn't a human.

[Huntingwhale]

So Stoll had an 8-ball of blow and 8.1 (!) grams of MDMA in gel cap form in his swim shorts? 8 grams of M will give you something like 35 gel caps, and those would be massive doses. Either someone had their finger on the scale when weighing it at the police station, or he was supplying the whole pool party with drugs. Either way, crappy situation for him. But the Kings' downfall is to the Flames benefit.

[polak]

How is he not in jail with that many pills on him?

Intent to distribute all over that.

[Lil Pedro]

Losing Voynov all season was what really put them behind the eight ball

[mhsyyc]

Interesting but I was disappointed it didn't spend more time on the hockey related reasons for failure. The Voynov injury was important but they couldn't score and the couldn't beat the Flames.

As for Stoll I hated him from the day he wouldn't sign with us.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by polak

How is he not in jail with that many pills on him?

Intent to distribute all over that.

They don't count pills, they use weight, he was close to badness though,10 grams gets you 25k and a usually a year, an ounce gets you 300k and 5 years.

Something tells me he knew that.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by T@T

They don't count pills, they use weight, he was close to badness though,10 grams gets you 25k and a usually a year, an ounce gets you 300k and 5 years.

Something tells me he knew that.

I'm no expert in narcotic laws, but I'm pretty sure here that powder drugs that are in gel caps are considered to be intent to distributed because they are ''ready to sell' in consumable form. Similar to if you have a oz of weed, but they are all rolled up into joints. They are ready to go.

Either way he got off because he is rich and got a great Vegas lawyer. Wouldn't surprise me at all if his recorded amount got lowered just to avoid those charges you mentioned.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

I know someone who frequented the LA parties around the time of the last two cups. I don't think the Kings will have any troubles filling up their spare time. Apparently Jeff Carter knows how to throw one hell of a party. Now we know who was supplying him too!

[polak]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

I'm no expert in narcotic laws, but I'm pretty sure here that powder drugs that are in gel caps are considered to be intent to distributed because they are ''ready to sell' in consumable form. Similar to if you have a oz of weed, but they are all rolled up into joints. They are ready to go.

If you have a guy that sells J's I'm impressed.

[drewtastic]

For Lombardi, summer projects await....He has questions: How can our athletes become better conditioned, better prepared? How do we want to play, knowing the difficulty of sustaining our style of play throughout the course of an 82-game regular season? How can each player be better? How can we make sure to provide an outlet or a resource if said player is having a problem?

Put me onside with the fans who find it silly that the NHL continues to insist on an 82 game schedule, adding the pre-season and playoffs. So many good players miss time for no other reason than the frequency of games (one of the themes emphasized in the article). Even if their injuries are minor, without proper in-season rest between games, these injuries can become more significant as the year goes on. Imagine the quality of hockey we might see if players were less injured less often.

While I realize that players are well-compensated for the physical sacrifices they make, I wonder how many of them would be willing to take pay cuts in exchange for a shorter season. To have players quoted as not even wanting to look at their equipment after a Stanley Cup championship suggests that this might be something they'd consider.

With respect to the quoted material above, there needs to be a recognition that, sometimes, it's not about the individual and the individual's ability to adapt to the prevailing structure; that sometimes it's the prevailing structure that requires revision.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by polak

If you have a guy that sells J's I'm impressed.

The last time that happened was during high school

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by drewtastic

Put me onside with the fans who find it silly that the NHL continues to insist on an 82 game schedule, adding the pre-season and playoffs. So many good players miss time for no other reason than the frequency of games (one of the themes emphasized in the article). Even if their injuries are minor, without proper in-season rest between games, these injuries can become more significant as the year goes on. Imagine the quality of hockey we might see if players were less injured less often.

While I realize that players are well-compensated for the physical sacrifices they make, I wonder how many of them would be willing to take pay cuts in exchange for a shorter season. To have players quoted as not even wanting to look at their equipment after a Stanley Cup championship suggests that this might be something they'd consider.

With respect to the quoted material above, there needs to be a recognition that, sometimes, it's not about the individual and the individual's ability to adapt to the prevailing structure; that sometimes it's the prevailing structure that requires revision.

From a fan perspective, I'd love a 60 game season. But it will never happen. Money trumps everything.

[Language]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

From a fan perspective, I'd love a 60 game season. But it will never happen. Money trumps everything.

I think even a 72-76 game season would be reasonable. The playoffs wouldn't have to go into June either.