Yes, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it. More on that headline on the bottom of this blog.

First, I should be more energized. After all, I’m in SoCal! 

Blah! I feel like I have mono — at least the way I imagine mono must feel like. SLUGGISH. And trust me, I’ve had plenty of coffee.

I think it has something to do with the guy next to me on the plane hacking up a lung without once ever covering his mouth. Or, it could all just be in my head and I’m perfectly fine.

Interesting practice today at the Kings/Lakers practice faculity. First of all, Brent Burns was dressed in maroon. That wasn’t a fashion statement. Maroon’s the color worn by the defensemen, although coach Jacques Lemaire shrugged it off as “nothing.” Actually, Jacques shrugged just about everything off today as nothing.

Lemaire said Burns was wearing the color to work on the power-play point and that Burns will continue to play wing. He then at least acknowledged Burns will go back to the blue line when Marian Gaborik returns. 

Burns wasn’t told anything, but he was really good on the losing streak. He basically made the point that the team shouldn’t panic. 

Speaking of Gaborik, Lemaire said he’s not playing against the Kings. Gaborik said, “I don’t think so,” and like I’ve said ad nauseum, just because the Wild’s lost three in a row and is having trouble scoring, that shouldn’t be a reason to rush Gaborik back in.

There are no morning skates the next two days because of the 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. local starts. To risk Gaborik getting hurt again by not allowing him a chance to warm up his muscles, I think that’d be foolish. And remember, the ice out in California is pretty slushy. In fact, a few years ago, remember Gaborik strained his groin on the Anaheim ice in the third period.

Not much else. I did get the feeling Josh Harding will be starting tomorrow and Niklas Backstrom Sunday, but we will see.

I had a long talk with Terry Murray, the Kings’ coach, this afternoon as we both watched the Wild’s practice. Murray’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever covered, and I covered a boatload in Florida.

Murray, like every coach I’ve talked to lately, said it’s basically impossible to score 5-on-5 these days. Only eight teams in the NHL average more than 3 goals per game.

All teams just pack it in around the net now, and since most offense is generated from the blue line, shooting into about eight bodies in the middle often amount to nothing. That’s why moving the blue line back four feet after the lockout, well, that wasn’t a very good idea.

The Wild’s biggest problem right now? Not enough loser points. I mean it. If you’re going to lose, at least take it to overtime. But the Wild’s got seven regulation one-goal losses, the most in the NHL.

Even if the Wild took three of those to overtimes, going 1-2 even would mean it would be sitting in first in the division as opposed to seventh/eighth.

Look at Montreal. Like the Wild, it’s lost 12 times (and only one more win). But five came in overtime/shootouts, so the Habs are sitting with 37 points.

I’m rambling. I better write for the newspaper before I start rambling in there, too. Enjoy your weekend everybody.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 5:27 pm and is filed under Practice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.