If you were at Staples Center last night, I’m sorry. The Los Angeles Kings didn’t come out to play. Instead the San Jose Sharks steamrolled the Midget Kings to take control of the NHL lead. Because Detroit also lost, the Kings remain 8th in the Western Conference. “Enjoy” the highlights.
When you sit-down with Dean Lombardi, you’re in store for a very sizable interview. And Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty knows that better than most. Here is part three of his exclusive sit-down with LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi. Check it out!
LOS ANGELES — Since the 2002-03 season, winger Alexander Frolov has been a top six forward for the Los Angeles Kings. A highly-skilled player, Frolov has a definite scoring touch, good hands, and he can pass the puck as well as anyone. The 27-year-old native of Moscow, Russia is also strong along the boards and in the corners and has an uncanny ability to protect the puck once he gets it.
The 6-3, 208-pound winger, who was selected by the Kings in the first round (twentieth overall) in the 2000 National Hockey League Entry Draft, had his best seasons in 2006-07 (35 goals, 36 assists for 71 points) and 2008-09 (32 goals, 27 assists for 59 points). In his six seasons in the NHL prior to the 2009-10 season, Frolov has scored twenty or more goal in each season, except for the 2002-03 season (fourteen goals), his rookie year.
Frolov has displayed flashes of brilliance, but has been an enigma throughout his career because it is evident that he is capable of reaching another level, but does not seem to have the mental makeup to play at that level, night in and night out.
But is Frolov really that good? Is he skilled enough to be a forty-goal scorer?
At this point in his career, Frolov’s aggravating knack to be the best player on the ice in several games only to completely disappear for another stretch of games indicates that the answer to that question is a fairly resounding “no.”
Indeed, expectations for Frolov were probably too high to begin with.
“I think the first premise, that he should be a forty-goal scorer—he had those thirty-goal years, but don’t forget, there’s a big difference between being a thirty-goal scorer on a contender and a thirty-goal scorer on a bad team,” Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi said during a recent interview. “That’s the first thing you want to be careful of.”
“When you’re building, you ask [yourself], where does he fit on a good team? When he’s young, yeah, he could be a forty-goal scorer,” Lombardi added. “But those thirty-goal years, I’m not sure they translate into forty [on a contender]. Actually, the guy who’s a 25-goal scorer on a contender, often times, is a better player than a thirty or 35-goal scorer on a bad team.”
Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.
KingsCast invaded Staples Center for Tip a King 2010 and got interviews by Raitus Ivanans, Oscar Moller, Jim Fox, Scott Parse, Ice Captain Debbie and Bailey. It was a great day for the Los Angeles Kings fans. If you were there, what was your favorite experience? How many Kings autographs did you score?
It was a rough start for the Los Angeles Kings this afternoon. The Boston Bruins were in town and played some nice physical hockey. The Kings came from behind in the third period after being down 3-1 and it was enough to go to a shootout. Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown both scored in the shootout and the Kings remain in playoff contention in the Western Conference.
When the LA Kings play the Anaheim Ducks, you know it’s going to be a spirited game. In this episode we break down the game, give some thoughts on the fan atmosphere and crown a new Fan of the Game. Question of the Day: What would you re-name the Kings/Ducks rivalry to?
Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty is right back at it with his exclusive sit-down with Los Angeles Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi. This is a great read to take you into the weekend!
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings started the 2009-10 season on fire, as did center Anze Kopitar.
The Kings were scoring goals in bunches, as the line of left wing Ryan Smyth, right wing Justin Williams and Kopitar were torching just about every opponent they faced.
Kopitar was largely responsible for that, as he opened the season on a serious tear with fourteen goals and seventeen assists for 31 points in the team’s first 21 games (October 3 – November 14, 2009).
Indeed, with Smyth going hard for loose pucks and consistently parking himself in front of the opposition’s net, Kopitar found himself with more room to maneuver in the offensive zone, giving him more scoring chances.
But it was much more than Smyth that made Kopitar the scoring terror that he was early in the season.
Off-season conditioning and strength work added muscle and endurance to Kopitar’s 6-3, 222-pound frame. That gave him more speed and power to get past defenders and to help him win more loose puck battles.
But when Smyth went down with a rib injury and missed six weeks starting in mid-November, Kopitar went down, too, virtually disappearing from the scoresheet. In fact, from November 11 (a few games before Smyth was injured) to December 7, Kopitar did not score a goal—a thirteen-game goal-scoring drought.
Since November 16, the first game Smyth missed due to the injury, Kopitar has scored just four goals and has added ten assists for fourteen points in 26 games, way, way off the 1.48 points per game pace he set to begin the season.
Conventional wisdom has been that Smyth’s absence was the primary reason for Kopitar’s huge slump. But don’t try telling that to Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi, even though he was scratching his head about the situation as well.
“I can’t deny that I’ve asked myself if one guy [could make that much of a difference],” Lombardi said during a recent interview. “I’ve got to admit I was a little confused by that myself. I did the same thing you did. I talked to hockey people and asked, ‘is it possible that one guy who was leading the league in scoring then gets six points in thirteen games, [could be because one player (Smyth) goes out of the lineup]?’”
Lombardi then went to an expert for help.
Read the rest on Frozen Royalty
The Freeway Faceoff was on tonight at Staples Center as the slumping Los Angeles Kings took on the surging Anaheim Ducks. The Kings started this game out 9th in the Western Conference and finished the game strongly. Jonathan Quick earned his first shutout of the season. Both teams played very physical. After a big hit on Oscar Moller, Drew Doughty and Brad Richardson dropped the gloves showing why this year’s Kings team has some character. Enjoy the highlights!
On behalf of myself and Chris, KingsCast is proud to be partnering with ticket broker viagogo for Los Angeles Kings tickets. As you know, we have never partnered with anyone before and never endorse a company that we don’t believe in or personally use on a regular basis.
But, the good folks over at viagogo are a site that has a wide variety of sports and concert tickets at venues across the country at very low prices. In the past, we have personally used other services to get last-minute tickets on the cheap. However, it looks like viagogo is going to be one of the premier ticket brokers on the market as they are undercutting the competition.
So, if you need tickets to the Los Angeles Kings (or any other sports franchise, for that matter), click on the big purple box on the right and enjoy the event! Has anyone used viagogo before and, if so, how was your experience?
Disclaimer: A portion of ticket sales purchased through viagogo by way of KingsCast will go to our site.
Put down the coffee and disconnect from your NSFW sites as Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty has published Part 1 in his exclusive interview with LA Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi. Take a look and feel free to leave Gann Matsuda a comment to get further insight from him.
LOS ANGELES — Anyone who follows the National Hockey League knows that Atlanta Thrashers superstar left wing Ilya Kovalchuk’s contract expires on June 30, 2010, and that the Thrashers risk losing him if they are unable to sign him to a contract extension prior to that date.
To this point, the Thrashers have been unable to reach an agreement with Kovalchuk, who many believe is waiting to test the free agent waters in July, and rumor has it that Thrashers general manager Don Waddell is testing the trade waters to try to make sure that if Kovalchuk refuses to sign, that the Thrashers will, at least, get something in return.
That has led to furious, wild speculation in recent days regarding teams that may be in the running for Kovalchuk’s services, and the Los Angeles Kings, with their young, up-and-coming team with enough salary cap room to fit Kovalchuk into their plans, are rumored to be among the favorites.
Many Kings fans are drooling all over themselves, both figuratively and literally, at the thought of seeing Kovalchuk in a Kings jersey. But the question is:
Will Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi pull the trigger?
Before looking specifically at that question, it should be noted that, like any NHL general manager worth his salt, Lombardi always has his eyes and ears open for any deal that will improve his team.
“I’m always looking for the next piece,” Lombardi said in a recent interview. “We’re right on schedule. I met with the owner back in July. We talked about if he was happy with our record. This is the way I saw it, this is my projection on what we’re going to need to be a contender, if everything came together the way I thought. To get to the next level, these are the three things we need to have.”
Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.
Well, it’s not like a top team in the league was in town last night but the Los Angeles Kings still managed to look like an unorganized beer league team. Jonathan Quick like Jason LaBarbera last night letting in four softies. Sure, the Kings managed to make some what of a game out of it by staging a late-game almost-comeback but, in typical 2008-2009 LA Kings fashion, they circle the bullseye and miss it completely. Enjoy the vid!
