The Kings stumbled after taking a 2-0 series lead and now face elimination after Edmonton's impressive 3-1 victory on Tuesday. It's win or go home Thursday.
They lost this series in Edmonton. The emotional and physical toll of losing the way they did in game 3 and 4 were on full display last night. It was the result I feared and pretty much expected. Also I felt from day 1 the loss of Jeannot was larger than anyone was saying. It is a major reason Hiller lost confidence in the 4th line. This will be the hardest exit of the 4 Edmonton series to stomach.
I agree with your assessment. One point, though: Jeannot played a key role all season, but if losing him made them collapse, then they're not as deep as they thought they were. And yes, this would be the toughest exit because expectations for them were much higher than what they've done.
I’m not sure if we lack the depth or Hiller made the mistake of losing confidence in them. Same for 3rd defensive pair. I know it’s too early for this question but you get 105 points in the regular season and lose for the 4th time in a row in the first round . As an organization where do you go from here?
I feel so bad for these players. They've played their guts out. They've done everything they were told. I will never question their commitment, their discipline, their willingness to battle, or their ability. They are good enough to win the next game, and maybe they will, and maybe they will even win the series. The Oilers did it last year, down 3-2 and flying to a potential last game of the season needing a win on the road... (This pregnant pause is elephant twins)
Who is going to prepare them? Who is going to search among his arsenal for a new combination of weapons? Who is going to find the key weakness in the Oilers to exploit?
Is it the guy that thinks players can't be tired at the start of games late in a playoff series, after he burned them out with excessive ice time? Is it the coach that just cannot admit he drained the life-source out of them with ridiculous disparity of use, with insulting lineup choices, with bizarre bench decisions?
Luc, Blake, Hiller and Newell Brown have had all year to get these guys ready. If the 4th line isn't good enough to use, they've dug their own grave. If the leaders are burned out after 4 games so badly they can't do anything "good enough" then the coach has mishandled them, severely.
When you are attacking the press, you are losing. When the whole world cannot understand what you are doing when they can accurately describe why it doesn't make sense, you are wrong.
I didn't like after game 3 when Hiller called a reporter emotional, for asking an obvious question about mistakes. I especially didn't like after game 4 when he mocked that same reporter. The irony is that in his mocking the reporter he said words to the effect of, "We were this far off on an empty net goal, if Q chips that puck out..."
Yeah, coach, if. If. That is just another version of, "We were right there."
"If" didn't happen. And now we're at the brink of disaster, and having the Kings become the laughing stock of the league.
Kopi deserved better than what Blake has done. The fans deserve better than Luc's endless nepo squad; even his son is on the payroll providing the music on video packages as "Jesse Fury".
The team credo is "legacy moves us forward." To me that translates to "we will never leave." Am I doomed to watching a legion of 90's players run this team forever?
Kopitar has served nobly. Doughty too. By this point, the Kings should have been able to develop the players who would succeed them as team leaders, but that hasn't happened. They're both playing more than they should, to the point where they become ineffective. The Kings have spent time drafting and developing but apparently don't trust those players they've developed when it comes to crunch time. Something is wrong there.
I am very unimpressed with the Kings handling of the development of the "kids". This goes back years. They are so sheltered that when you need them they are unprepared. You are setting them up to fail playing Lewis all season... not to hate on him as a player, but it's the perfect example of what's going on.
I think it has to be worth sacrificing some regular season Ws for... I remember the Lakers had a season with a bunch of injuries and were forced to play "the kids" all year. They were a beast when they all came back for the playoffs. (This goes back to Kobe/Shaq I think...)
Watching the various third periods of these games (and the first in Game 5), I was reminded of the 1980s when the Russians came to play the Kings. They looked like they were of a different size and were playing a different game.
That first period last night was mind-boggling. Credit to the Oilers for quickly realizing what they need to do and for making the necessary adjustments. The Kings don't seem able to do that.
I recall a comment by Reggie Jackson when the Angels lost a critical playoff game. "When you have your opponent down, stomp on his neck." That's what EDM did. They saw what worked and continued it.
I'm so glad Helene is now on Substack. The best understanding of every aspect, be it positive or constructively critical of the Kings. I'm curious to see what happens with Rob Blake now. If he is 'let go' due to another playoff failure I'll consider it an ok trade off. Players like Kane and Perry or pretty unsavory characters..... especially Kane with his past personal issues, but given their tight cap issues, Edmonton goes that direction as seemingly no other team wanted him. The goal he scored, One Against Five to tie game four said everything you need to know. One Against Five.
He was so determined. This Kings team has been the best in quite some time, but when push comes to shove, there is no Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, Justin Williams or Jonathan Quick to inspire and lead. I Love Kopi and Doughty, but they are well past their best.
In my opinion the Kings need a GM who actually has a Vision for the team, even if it means temporarily sliding backwards, to resume a partial rebuild that Blake stopped prematurely.
Thanks for your kind words. I'm curious about the future of Blake and Hiller, too. This was a very good regular-season team that hasn't been able to adjust to the higher tempo and unforgiving nature of playoff hockey. Gotta question their development process, too, if they're so reluctant to trust the kids who have come through the pipeline.
Thanks Helene! So happy to hear back from you. I used to email you from London when living there and most recently last year wrt the ____ (no adjective coming) PLD trade. You and I are on exactly the same page. Wrt Hiller, I do wonder if he could benefit from the experience from this year's playoffs. But I have to believe that a new GM might want to go in another direction. There is no way that Rob would be allowed to make another coaching change. He's already on his fourth.
It's so true....playoff hockey is an entirely different animal. The one benefit that I can see from not advancing yet again would be that the organization would move on from Blake - so long as it's not Bergevin. Dean believed his own press and pushed too hard for a third cup. But in terms of building a culture he was extraordinary.
As far as development goes, I appreciate the focus on a 200ft game, but when it morphs into what we saw in games three and four, that becomes the clear down side. Btw, I just don't have any confidence in Blake's negotiating capabilities. If it comes down to it, I wouldn't re-up Gavrikov. He was good this year no question. But I think the entire fanbase is fed up being locked in the purgatory that is the muddy middle.
Great game plan coming in - jumping to leads in all those games - to only collapse in a shell by not crossing the red line in the third period. Now the Oilers have figured out a solution to the King's breakout and dominated G5. Serve Hiller.
The "passing" problems really showed up in this game. All year the Kings have had difficulty executing a decent passing game. The passes are weak, and there are too many poorly directed "bounces" off one stick to another. I was envious watching the Oilers' strong, accurate passing. Why can't the Kings practice this?
And all that emphasis on getting home ice has come to nothing -- we have to win a game on the road. It probably shouldn't have been such a focus in the first place.
Not to mention that Hiller is exhausting the top lines by hardly playing the fourth line at all.
Unfortunately, for Los Angeles, the more things change the more they stay the same. They are once again, being out muscled, out hit, and out grinded by the Edmonton Oilers. At some point, the leadership needs to be addressed. Kopi has won exactly squat since getting the "C" and Doughty owns this as well.
The defense of Anderson Has been underwhelming the fourth year in a row, and again, Drew Doughty is an absolute shell of the hockey player he once was, bad ankle or not. Yet the coach continues to ride him hard when he’s clearly 2 to 3 steps behind the play game in and game out.
Hillers decisions should be questioned because they’ve been borderline incompetent this postseason, Yet he gets defensive when Dennis Bernstein asks him the very thing that the entire hockey world can see. He's terrified to use his fourth line and bottom defenders, so he taxes the top 9 and top 4 until their tanks are clearly empty.
If this reverse sweep plays out as expected, heads have to roll. We’ve talked about it for four playoffs in a row, with Blake having zero playoff series wins in 11 years and getting smacked around by the dragon from Alberta four straight times.
After Thursday, it’s time for pink slips. I'm talking Blake, Emerson, Bergy, Luc, Murray, etc. The entire surf club, gone. That includes Sturm in ONT because the German in Ontario is not the answer to the enigma that is the Los Angeles Kings.
By this stage of their rebuild, they should have developed players who could replace Kopitar and Doughty as they neared the end of their careers. They have not done that. Those two are standouts but the Kings have nothing close to them in the pipeline. Hiller and his team are too defensive in every way. I doubt there will be a full housecleaning but they need to fix things.
Great article Helene, this team was built wrong by Blake, he retooled instead of rebuild, handed out too many NMC’s, this team should have started with a core of players around the same age that would have been coming into their prime now, each fighting for one another and cap room to spare, giving them the ability to go out and sign big gritty defenseman and coveted bruising forwards. He also drafted early on with the lie about the “New NHL” where smaller speedy players were supposed to be the new shiny car
One small point, regarding the NMCs: it's standard practice for an agent to request that for a client. If the Kings didn't offer them (or modified clauses) they'd be at a disadvantage in competing with other teams for free agents, and for retaining their own players. They're part of the collective bargaining agreement, and agents use them to give clients some semblance of control.
If there was a way to put Helene Elliott behind the bench, I would do it!
😇❤️🐶🐶
Thanks...but no thanks! Too cold behind the bench!
They lost this series in Edmonton. The emotional and physical toll of losing the way they did in game 3 and 4 were on full display last night. It was the result I feared and pretty much expected. Also I felt from day 1 the loss of Jeannot was larger than anyone was saying. It is a major reason Hiller lost confidence in the 4th line. This will be the hardest exit of the 4 Edmonton series to stomach.
I agree with your assessment. One point, though: Jeannot played a key role all season, but if losing him made them collapse, then they're not as deep as they thought they were. And yes, this would be the toughest exit because expectations for them were much higher than what they've done.
I’m not sure if we lack the depth or Hiller made the mistake of losing confidence in them. Same for 3rd defensive pair. I know it’s too early for this question but you get 105 points in the regular season and lose for the 4th time in a row in the first round . As an organization where do you go from here?
Good question!
I feel so bad for these players. They've played their guts out. They've done everything they were told. I will never question their commitment, their discipline, their willingness to battle, or their ability. They are good enough to win the next game, and maybe they will, and maybe they will even win the series. The Oilers did it last year, down 3-2 and flying to a potential last game of the season needing a win on the road... (This pregnant pause is elephant twins)
Who is going to prepare them? Who is going to search among his arsenal for a new combination of weapons? Who is going to find the key weakness in the Oilers to exploit?
Is it the guy that thinks players can't be tired at the start of games late in a playoff series, after he burned them out with excessive ice time? Is it the coach that just cannot admit he drained the life-source out of them with ridiculous disparity of use, with insulting lineup choices, with bizarre bench decisions?
Luc, Blake, Hiller and Newell Brown have had all year to get these guys ready. If the 4th line isn't good enough to use, they've dug their own grave. If the leaders are burned out after 4 games so badly they can't do anything "good enough" then the coach has mishandled them, severely.
When you are attacking the press, you are losing. When the whole world cannot understand what you are doing when they can accurately describe why it doesn't make sense, you are wrong.
I didn't like after game 3 when Hiller called a reporter emotional, for asking an obvious question about mistakes. I especially didn't like after game 4 when he mocked that same reporter. The irony is that in his mocking the reporter he said words to the effect of, "We were this far off on an empty net goal, if Q chips that puck out..."
Yeah, coach, if. If. That is just another version of, "We were right there."
"If" didn't happen. And now we're at the brink of disaster, and having the Kings become the laughing stock of the league.
Kopi deserved better than what Blake has done. The fans deserve better than Luc's endless nepo squad; even his son is on the payroll providing the music on video packages as "Jesse Fury".
The team credo is "legacy moves us forward." To me that translates to "we will never leave." Am I doomed to watching a legion of 90's players run this team forever?
Kopitar has served nobly. Doughty too. By this point, the Kings should have been able to develop the players who would succeed them as team leaders, but that hasn't happened. They're both playing more than they should, to the point where they become ineffective. The Kings have spent time drafting and developing but apparently don't trust those players they've developed when it comes to crunch time. Something is wrong there.
I am very unimpressed with the Kings handling of the development of the "kids". This goes back years. They are so sheltered that when you need them they are unprepared. You are setting them up to fail playing Lewis all season... not to hate on him as a player, but it's the perfect example of what's going on.
Exactly. They should have progressed to the point where they had too much skill for Lewis to have a regular role anymore.
I think it has to be worth sacrificing some regular season Ws for... I remember the Lakers had a season with a bunch of injuries and were forced to play "the kids" all year. They were a beast when they all came back for the playoffs. (This goes back to Kobe/Shaq I think...)
Watching the various third periods of these games (and the first in Game 5), I was reminded of the 1980s when the Russians came to play the Kings. They looked like they were of a different size and were playing a different game.
That first period last night was mind-boggling. Credit to the Oilers for quickly realizing what they need to do and for making the necessary adjustments. The Kings don't seem able to do that.
I recall a comment by Reggie Jackson when the Angels lost a critical playoff game. "When you have your opponent down, stomp on his neck." That's what EDM did. They saw what worked and continued it.
I'm so glad Helene is now on Substack. The best understanding of every aspect, be it positive or constructively critical of the Kings. I'm curious to see what happens with Rob Blake now. If he is 'let go' due to another playoff failure I'll consider it an ok trade off. Players like Kane and Perry or pretty unsavory characters..... especially Kane with his past personal issues, but given their tight cap issues, Edmonton goes that direction as seemingly no other team wanted him. The goal he scored, One Against Five to tie game four said everything you need to know. One Against Five.
He was so determined. This Kings team has been the best in quite some time, but when push comes to shove, there is no Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, Justin Williams or Jonathan Quick to inspire and lead. I Love Kopi and Doughty, but they are well past their best.
In my opinion the Kings need a GM who actually has a Vision for the team, even if it means temporarily sliding backwards, to resume a partial rebuild that Blake stopped prematurely.
Thanks for your kind words. I'm curious about the future of Blake and Hiller, too. This was a very good regular-season team that hasn't been able to adjust to the higher tempo and unforgiving nature of playoff hockey. Gotta question their development process, too, if they're so reluctant to trust the kids who have come through the pipeline.
Thanks Helene! So happy to hear back from you. I used to email you from London when living there and most recently last year wrt the ____ (no adjective coming) PLD trade. You and I are on exactly the same page. Wrt Hiller, I do wonder if he could benefit from the experience from this year's playoffs. But I have to believe that a new GM might want to go in another direction. There is no way that Rob would be allowed to make another coaching change. He's already on his fourth.
It's so true....playoff hockey is an entirely different animal. The one benefit that I can see from not advancing yet again would be that the organization would move on from Blake - so long as it's not Bergevin. Dean believed his own press and pushed too hard for a third cup. But in terms of building a culture he was extraordinary.
As far as development goes, I appreciate the focus on a 200ft game, but when it morphs into what we saw in games three and four, that becomes the clear down side. Btw, I just don't have any confidence in Blake's negotiating capabilities. If it comes down to it, I wouldn't re-up Gavrikov. He was good this year no question. But I think the entire fanbase is fed up being locked in the purgatory that is the muddy middle.
Great game plan coming in - jumping to leads in all those games - to only collapse in a shell by not crossing the red line in the third period. Now the Oilers have figured out a solution to the King's breakout and dominated G5. Serve Hiller.
The "passing" problems really showed up in this game. All year the Kings have had difficulty executing a decent passing game. The passes are weak, and there are too many poorly directed "bounces" off one stick to another. I was envious watching the Oilers' strong, accurate passing. Why can't the Kings practice this?
And all that emphasis on getting home ice has come to nothing -- we have to win a game on the road. It probably shouldn't have been such a focus in the first place.
Not to mention that Hiller is exhausting the top lines by hardly playing the fourth line at all.
The Oilers play with pace. They learned how to rattle the Kings. The Kings haven't adjusted well, if at all.
Unfortunately, for Los Angeles, the more things change the more they stay the same. They are once again, being out muscled, out hit, and out grinded by the Edmonton Oilers. At some point, the leadership needs to be addressed. Kopi has won exactly squat since getting the "C" and Doughty owns this as well.
The defense of Anderson Has been underwhelming the fourth year in a row, and again, Drew Doughty is an absolute shell of the hockey player he once was, bad ankle or not. Yet the coach continues to ride him hard when he’s clearly 2 to 3 steps behind the play game in and game out.
Hillers decisions should be questioned because they’ve been borderline incompetent this postseason, Yet he gets defensive when Dennis Bernstein asks him the very thing that the entire hockey world can see. He's terrified to use his fourth line and bottom defenders, so he taxes the top 9 and top 4 until their tanks are clearly empty.
If this reverse sweep plays out as expected, heads have to roll. We’ve talked about it for four playoffs in a row, with Blake having zero playoff series wins in 11 years and getting smacked around by the dragon from Alberta four straight times.
After Thursday, it’s time for pink slips. I'm talking Blake, Emerson, Bergy, Luc, Murray, etc. The entire surf club, gone. That includes Sturm in ONT because the German in Ontario is not the answer to the enigma that is the Los Angeles Kings.
By this stage of their rebuild, they should have developed players who could replace Kopitar and Doughty as they neared the end of their careers. They have not done that. Those two are standouts but the Kings have nothing close to them in the pipeline. Hiller and his team are too defensive in every way. I doubt there will be a full housecleaning but they need to fix things.
Great article Helene, this team was built wrong by Blake, he retooled instead of rebuild, handed out too many NMC’s, this team should have started with a core of players around the same age that would have been coming into their prime now, each fighting for one another and cap room to spare, giving them the ability to go out and sign big gritty defenseman and coveted bruising forwards. He also drafted early on with the lie about the “New NHL” where smaller speedy players were supposed to be the new shiny car
One small point, regarding the NMCs: it's standard practice for an agent to request that for a client. If the Kings didn't offer them (or modified clauses) they'd be at a disadvantage in competing with other teams for free agents, and for retaining their own players. They're part of the collective bargaining agreement, and agents use them to give clients some semblance of control.
The better team won.
McSorely’s stick
Hiller’s challenge
Byfield’s screwup
And to think it could have been a sweep.
UGH !!!
Pray for Thursday.