In the final installment of the Los Angeles Kings Post-Season roundtable, the group discusses the needs of the Kings next season, the Free Agents available and the future of Brayden Schenn. What do you think the Kings need to make that next step?

If you missed a segment, check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

As expected during this roundtable, the subject of goaltending for the Los Angeles Kings came up. Here we talk about Jonathin Quick’s performance, whether or not Terry Murray trusts Erik Ersberg and if Jonathan Bernier is the future netminder for the team. Which goaltender do you think starts the majority of the games next season?

If you missed a segment, check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

The Los Angeles Kings Post-Season Roundtable discussion continues with Part 3. In this installment, the group breaks down the pros and cons of acquiring the Russian star forward Ilya Kovalchuk with some interesting arguments from both sides. Should the Kings go after Ilya Kovalchuk?

Miss a segment? Check out Part 2 and Part 1.

Now that the LA Kings season has concluded, it was time to sum up the season and talk about the future. That’s why we assembled some of the brightest minds in local media to talk Kings hockey. In this segment we talk about the coaching, line combinations, staying on message and Drew Doughty. Stay tuned for much, much more!

Part 4 of Gann Matsuda’s interview with Dean Lombardi is now up on HockeyTalk.biz and this one talks about Teddy Purcell. The Los Angeles Kings are clearly still high on him. What do you think?

JANUARY 27, 2010 — LOS ANGELES — On June 27, 2009, during the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft, then-Los Angeles Kings center prospect Brian Boyle was traded to the New York Rangers for a third round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Much was expected of Boyle, a 6-7, 248-pound center with a scoring touch who was selected by the Kings in the first round (26th overall) in 2003 NHL Entry Draft. At the time, former Kings General Manager Dave Taylor said that he would be a project, but in Boyle’s four years at Boston College, he excelled.

Even at the American Hockey League level, Boyle was a solid contributor offensively for the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings’ primary minor league affiliate, even though the Kings tried to convert him to a defenseman, an experiment that failed miserably.

But even with his great physical gifts, especially for a player with his size and strength, Boyle has still been unable to figure out, even with the Rangers, that he has to use his those gifts in order to succeed in the NHL, something the Kings tried to get him to learn.

Although Boyle showed flashes of the grit he will need to succeed at the NHL level, most of the time, he failed to win the physical battles along the boards and in the corners, or worse, was a spectator, just a few feet away.

Boyle’s four goals and two assists for six points in 51 games this season, along with his average ice time of just 8:26, indicate that he still has not learned that lesson.

Like Boyle, Kings right wing Teddy Purcell is facing the same challenges, even though he does not possess Boyle’s size and strength. But to this point in his NHL career, Purcell has been unable to add the necessary grit to his game and that begs the question:

If Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi could give up on Boyle because he could not play with enough grit, will he do the same with Purcell?

Probably not, at least, not as quickly.

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Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty has been making good use of his holiday time and has cranked out another story on the Los Angeles Kings. As always, he’s got some great quotes for players. So grab an eggnog and enjoy!

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Like the rest of the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Kings are now in the midst of the two-day Christmas break. But unlike children the world over who might have visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, the Kings are more likely to have visions of them reaching new heights with the return of veteran left wing Ryan Smyth to the lineup, along with right wings Wayne Simmonds and Brandon Segal, and defenseman Jack Johnson.

All four injured players were back on the ice at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California this week as the team skated in three extended practices during an eight-day break in their schedule.

“It’s always good to get your regular players back, there’s no question,” said head coach Terry Murray. “The energy is always higher, there’s going to be an impact on performance.”

Smyth, 33, suffered an undisclosed upper body injury, which has been all but confirmed to be a rib injury, on November 14 at Florida and missed fifteen games before being activated from injured reserve on December 18.

“It felt good to be out there with the guys and knowing there’s a little light at the end of the tunnel, knowing that Saturday [when the Kings skate at Phoenix] is coming right around the corner,” said Smyth. “So it’s exciting. Playing on a regular line and getting back to moving the puck again, it’s just a matter of getting into a game situation.”

Smyth was immediately reunited with center Anze Kopitar and right wing Justin Williams on the line that he started the season with, the most potent line in the league at the time.

After practice ended on December 21, the three remained on the ice, with Smyth feeding Kopitar and Williams for one-timers and then working on a couple of other drills.

“[We were] just getting connected again,” Smyth explained. “It’s been awhile. You’re just doing the little things. You’ve got to play to your strengths.”

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Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty has a new story up on HockeyTalk.biz and, as usual, he’s rocking the interviews and analysis of the Los Angeles Kings performance. It’s a must-read as I know we’re all anxiously awaiting the Kings return to the ice.

LOS ANGELES — Over the vast majority of their history, the Los Angeles Kings have traditionally played poorly in December, so often that many fans resign themselves to the inevitable “December Swoon.”

But this year’s Kings have been a big surprise. To be sure, they have done anything but swoon as their 7-2-1 record for this month (going into action on December 19), indicates. With four games left to play this month, the Kings are guaranteed to have a winning record in December, a rather shocking fact for many Kings fans.

Even more impressive, the Kings have earned a 9-5-1 record since veteran left wing Ryan Smyth went down with what is believed to be a rib injury on November 16. Compare that to recent seasons past when the loss of a key player would have sent them free-falling in the standings, it is rather apparent that there is something very different about the 2009-10 Kings.

“We’re doing all the little things and getting timely goals,” said goaltender Jonathan Quick.

“You could look at as some nights, we seem to be doing it with smoke and mirrors and other nights, it seems like it’s the mark of a good team, or a team that’s maturing and getting better—you don’t have to bring your best effort every night,” said defenseman Sean O’Donnell. “Just find a way to win. We’re starting to get confidence and learn to win the games that aren’t pretty. We’re starting to get on a nice little roll here.”

“Even though our penalty-killing hasn’t been great, when we’ve had to kill one, we’ve killed it,” added O’Donnell. “When Quick has had to make the save, he’s made the save.”

Check out Gann’s latest story on HockeyTalk.biz

Is Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty writing positively about Brad Richardson? That’s right, folks, the guy we all wanted on a one-way ticket to Manchester is playing some good hockey right now. Teddy Purcell, however, isn’t. Here’s the latest from Gann.

LOS ANGELES — After losing three of their first four games without veteran left wing Ryan Smyth, things looked quite bad for the still young Los Angeles Kings and their survival in the Western Conference playoff race.

During that stretch, the Kings allowed twelve goals while scoring just eight. To be sure, their defensive play, which was a major strength last season, had finally been exposed with Smyth out of the lineup.

“We’ve got to tighten up defensively,” defenseman Matt Greene said on November 22. “In this league, you’re not going to win games with the old run-and-gun—you’re not going to win championships. That’s something that needs to be addressed immediately, that commitment to defense and to taking pride in not giving up goals.”

“We just have to play with more confidence and make a commitment to defense,” Greene added. “We have to know our assignments. You have to know what you’re doing on the ice before you get out there. A lot of this game is read and react, but there’s a lot that’s structured, too, just knowing where you need to be. That’s what we have to get back to—knowing your job and doing it.”

Discipline in terms of playing within their system has also contributed to the Kings’ poor defensive coverage.

“Sometimes there are mental lapses out there,” Greene explained. “That’s what we have to eliminate so everyone’s on the same page, so you know where your partner is going to be or where you line mates are going to be. That’s how you play within your structure.”

Much of the talk since Smyth suffered the dreaded “upper body injury” that will keep him out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks has been that if the Kings can play .500 hockey until he returns, they should be in good shape for a playoff run.

But few believed they could do it.

Nevertheless, to the surprise of just about everyone, the Kings are 4-3-0 going into their December 5 matinee contest against the St. Louis Blues at Staples Center.

So far, so good.

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Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty chimes in once again on his regular column at HockeyTalk.biz about Rogie Vachon’s exclusion from the Hockey Hall of Fame. This is a very important article to read in that, as fans, we need to make our voices heard and get Rogie where he needs to be…in the Hall. Read on.

LOS ANGELES — Many hockey fans in the Los Angeles area have at least heard of Rogie Vachon. They may know that he was the best goaltender ever to wear the jersey of the Los Angeles Kings. But few know of his accomplishments with the Kings and with the Montreal Canadiens prior to his arrival in Southern California.

Even fewer know that Vachon’s accomplishments rank him among the greatest goaltenders to have ever played the game, yet he continues to be denied the honor of being inducted into the hallowed halls of the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF).

A close look at Vachon’s career statistics shows that he ranks ahead of a considerable number of goaltenders who were inducted into the HHOF years ago (for details, see Time To Right A Wrong: Hockey Hall of Fame Must Induct Rogie Vachon).

“If there was anyone who deserves to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame who is not—if you look at his numbers, a Vezina Trophy, three Stanley Cups, and the fact is, he wasn’t just the second fiddle on that [Montreal Canadiens] team,” said Brian Kennedy, who featured Vachon in his new book, Living The Hockey Dream. “He shared the goaltending duties with Gump Worsley in that Vezina season and they won the Cup that same season, let alone everything he did for the Kings in the mid-Seventies.”

“There is no way we can keep that guy out of the Hockey Hall of Fame,” added Kennedy.

Vachon got his start in the National Hockey League with the Canadiens in the 1966-67 season, back when the league still consisted of its Original Six teams.

“They called me up with nineteen games to go and, at that time, the coach never told you who’s going to play that night,” said Vachon. “The tradition was that the trainer would come in just before the warm-up and give the puck to the goalie who plays.”

“That night, the trainer gave me the puck, so that was a bit of a shock,” added Vachon. “Especially during the warm-up when I was trying to settle down. On top of that, my first shot in the National Hockey League was a breakaway from Gordie Howe from the blue line in.”

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Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty chimes in with his regular column on HockeyTalk.biz. It’s a good read, especially now that we’re at .500. Can the Kings recover from this?

LOS ANGELES — After getting off to a hot 4-1-0 start to the still very young 2009-10 National Hockey League season, the Los Angeles Kings find themselves in the midst a three-game losing streak as they head to Dallas on October 19, the final game of their six-game road swing.

Indeed, after winning four straight games for the first time since October, 2007, the Kings have hit the skids during their longest road trip of the season, and Kings fans have already begun to jump ship, writing the Kings off for yet another season.

Given the team’s woeful history of mediocrity and with the Kings having failed to qualify for the playoffs since the 2001-02 season, fans have earned the right to be skeptical.

Nevertheless, the 2009-10 Kings are still a better team on paper than they have been at any time in the past three seasons and with the team only eight games into the season, is the growing skepticism warranted?

If you focus on their woes in the face-off circle, inconsistent goaltending from both Erik Ersberg and Jonathan Quick and the fact that the first line of Anze Kopitar, Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams has cooled off a bit from their smoking hot start, the answer is yes, it is time to be skeptical. At the very least, these are causes for concern.

But the Kings’ top line is still light years ahead of anything their top forward lines accomplished last season and the team is tied for fifth in the league in scoring as of this writing. Oh…there’s also that little thing about them having played just eight of their 82 games.

Under the circumstances, while the early naysayers may be proven correct down the road and although there are reasons to be concerned, it is still way too early to write the Kings off for the season.

One of the biggest factors, assuming the Kings shore up their weaknesses, is the production of their first line, as Kopitar, Smyth and Williams came out of the gate on fire, combining for ten goals and fifteen assists for 25 points in the team’s first five games, averaging five points per game.

But during the current three-game slide, the top line has generated just two goals and four assists for six points, averaging just two points per game.

To be sure, the top line has cooled off considerably, and Williams being one of eight players who were ill going into their game at Columbus on October 17 (a 4-1 loss) did not help matters.

Even though the top line has re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, they could easily rise again.

“I’m just glad that things are going the way they are,” said Kopitar. “Everything seems to be in place right now. We’ve been building the chemistry and it’s really good to see it come through.”

“You’ve got three skilled guys, but you’ve also have three guys who work hard, and you have to put the work before the skill if anything’s going to come out of it,” said Williams. “If we keep getting our chances, game in and game out, then we should be successful together.”

Kopitar is off to fast start, leading the Kings in scoring with four goals and eight assists for twelve points in the eight games…

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