OffThePost.org

(Generation III)
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:23 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Wed Dec 13, 2023 1:26 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 3:47 am
Posts: 5191
Well this team sure seems to have gone through the rebuild phase in record team. Despite not having many years of top 3 picks like Colorado or Edmonton.

What I don't get is Vezina contender Cam Talbot. I don't follow other teams enough, and especially goalies. Presently he is sporting a career best .931 goals against. His history has been all over the place, good years, average years, poor years. Been pretty inconsistent over time and as a result bounced around a lot. Poke, whats up with him? Has he struggled with injuries, or is he one of those goalies that requires a very disciplined team system in front of him to do well? Curious about your thoughts?

_________________
Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 7:13 pm 
Offline
Un-Tenured Professor of Hockey
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:37 am
Posts: 26101
I had a bunch of stuff all typed up yesterday and then shit hit the fan at work (one of our Ethernet switches took the dirt nap and knocked out our Internet) so I had to scramble like hell to fix it.

Anyway, I'm still not buying the hype with the Kings. Rob Blake has papered over some of his more egregious errors with the signing of Phillippe Danault and trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois, but I'm not sure this team is truly a legit contender. It most certainly will make the playoffs and might even go on a big run IF the goaltending holds up, but I just don't see enough gamebreaking talent. Depth, yes, but both Doughty and Kopitar are about a decade past their primes. Fiala is a solid talent but I wouldn't put him on gamebreaker status.

Oh and they haven't had a plethora of high picks, but one they absolutely whiffed on their fifth overall pick in 2021 (I think it was that year) with Alex Turcotte. I'm kinda surprised he was a full-on bust. I thought for sure he'd be at least approaching the same level as the rest of that insanely stacked USNTDP team with Caufield, Hughes, Zegras, etc. Byfield is finally rounding into form, not sure what his ceiling is at this point. Time will tell with another high pick, Brandt Clarke.

Talbot is a weird one. By far the most successful University of Alabama-Huntsville Charger of all time (fun fact, I guess he was briefly UAH teammates with another goalie named Wyatt Russell, yep, that Wyatt Russell who's the son of Kurt Russell and is now playing a Marvel superhero) and has had one very erratic career. Did well as a backup in New York, got snagged by the Oilers and put in a few good years, then promptly imploded. His last season in Ottawa was beset by injury according to him, either way it wasn't good, and now he's in Los Angeles doing okay. Sure seems like the Kings have just resigned themselves to signing second-tier starters and trying to make them work rather than trying to develop a guy from within (their attempt to do so with Cal Petersen could not have ended worse) or spend large on a big name. I guess they figure with a deep enough team and McLellan's defensive systems they can get the job done. As said earlier, I'm skeptical but I'm curious to see if it works.

I don't mean to totally slag on Blake as an executive, as I have done in the past. Dean Lombardi left the Kings in absolute shambles, and Blake was forced by ownership to rebuild around #s 11 and 8 no matter what. That's led to a front office that had to take some ill-advised gambles, like Ilya Kovalchuk and giving money and term to the aforementioned Cal Petersen.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:36 pm 
Offline
Un-Tenured Professor of Hockey
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:37 am
Posts: 26101
LMAO the Kings were so hasty in releasing a statement that they initially posted one that wasn't finished.
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:57 pm 
Offline
Finally figured out how to change this!
User avatar

Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:54 pm
Posts: 11619
To me it reads that they're confident in Rob Blake, his GM & VP, not Hiller himself. :lol:

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group