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HEAD COACH
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Larry Robinson
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ROSTER
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C - Jozef Stumpel, Olli Jokinen, Ian Laperriere, Ray
Ferraro, Jason Podollan, Jason Blake. LW - Vladimir Tsyplakov, Luc
Robitaille, Craig Johnson. RW - Pavel Rosa, Russ Courtnall, Glen
Murray, Daniel Audette. D - Garry Galley, Rob Blake, Sean
O'Donnell, Doug Bodger, Mattias Norstrom, Jan Nemecek, Dave Babych,
Philippe Boucher. G - Stephane Fiset, Jamie Storr, Ryan Bach.
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INJURIES
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Doesn't really matter now...
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TRANSACTIONS
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Signed Jason Blake, lw, to a three-year contract;
brought up Manny Legace, g, from Long Beach (IHL). Sent down Manny
Legace, g, to Long Beach. Brought Ryan Bach, g, up from Long
Beach. Brought up Jan Nemecek, d, and Jason Podollan, c, from Long
Beach.
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GAME RESULTS
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4/08 San Jose W 3-2
4/11 at Dallas L 6-2
4/12 at Nashville W 4-3
4/15 Anaheim W 4-3
4/16 at San Jose W 2-0
4/18 St. Louis L 3-2
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STANDINGS
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Pacific Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
p-Dallas 82 51 19 12 114 236 168
x-Phoenix 82 39 31 12 90 205 197
x-Anaheim 82 35 34 13 83 215 206
x-San Jose 82 31 33 18 80 196 191
Los Angeles 82 32 45 5 69 189 222
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TEAM NEWS
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by Matt Moore, Los Angeles Correspondent
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A new coach of the Kings will be gracing the opening of the Staples
Center next season as Larry Robinson was fired Monday, ending his
four-year reign. Robinson was 122-161-45 with one playoff
appearance (last year) during those four years. Robinson was
cursed with an underachieving team that did not respond to his
coaching. Most of the comments of Kings players reflected that
Robinson might have been "too nice" of a guy and that he was taken
advantage of by the slackers. Hopefully Robinson will not be the
only guy to take the fall for this problem, with the players
responsible hitting the trail as well.
Four names are already being thrown about as replacements: Ted
Nolan (formerly of the Sabres), Dave Lewis (associate coach with
Detroit), John Van Boxmeer (coach of Long Beach), and Butch Goring
(coach of Salt Lake City). Lewis and Goring might have a leg up on
the other candidates due to them being former Kings, and we all
know how GM Dave Taylor loves former Kings.
The Kings decided to give the youngsters a chance, calling up Jason
Podollan and signing Jason Blake from North Dakota, as well as
giving Pavel Rosa, Jan Nemecek, and Philippe Boucher more ice
time. And they proved they actually want to play, unlike some of
the older players. Ray Ferraro and Luc Robitaille also continued
their good play. Now the big question has to be: why didn't they
do this before it didn't matter?
But alas, the Kings sucked this season. But the future looks a bit
brighter, with Blake, Rosa, and Podollan leading the youth
movement. Blake has excellent speed and puck-handling skills,
which are sorely needed, Rosa is a future sniper, and Podollan is a
banger with excellent goal scoring skills. Throw in Robitaille and
maybe a good free agent (hopefully a Theo Fleury) and the future
looks a bit better.
Sean O'Donnell was suspended for two games for crosschecking
Nashville center Cliff Ronning. Of course the Kings season was
already decided by that point so I guess it doesn't really matter.
But O'Donnell has to try and remember to only crosscheck players
who are about his size, other than whacking guys who look like they
are his kid brother. The same thing goes for Rob Blake, who was
suspended for the second time this season, this time for
crosschecking the Shark's Alexander Korolyuk. As with O'Donnell,
this was a size mismatch and makes Blake look like a big dufus,
since who can't beat up a guy who is 6 inches and 40 pounds
lighter? I just hope no dwarves go near O'Donnell or Blake when
they are golfing this summer...
Mattias Norstrom suffered a rib injury and missed most of the last
two weeks of the season. This would be something of a concern
normally, but he better be healed by training camp or else there is
something really wrong with him.
And Sandy Moger had successful shoulder surgery this past week,
getting his rotator cuff sliced and diced. Moger is expected to
make a full recovery, which will mean he will be back next season
skating as slowly as ever and will likely be able to use his
shoulder to take stupid penalties as well as he ever has.
Yeehaw.
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