Quotes from Ducks locker room after 4-2 loss to Kings

Visnovsky, Ducks defenseman (photo: Ikiri)

With both teams fighting for their playoff lives, Anaheim may have just seen their faint hopes of post-season play fall by the wayside. An early goal by Kings captain Dustin Brown, a pair from newly acquired Jeff Carter and Jonathan Quick in net was more than enough to shut down the Ducks offense.

You can't really fault the visiting team for trying though - they outshot LA 31-20, won the battle at the faceoff circle (52% vs 48%), plus were neck-and-neck with hits (29 to 31) and blocked shots (10 to 9). The difference was special teams, where the Kings picked up a pair of goals and the Ducks came away empty-handed.

And that was one of the key themes back in the locker room following their third loss of the season in LA...

Ryan Getzlaf on the overall game - "It’s a tough one. You know what, we’re pretty disappointed in this locker room, mostly with our effort. We weren’t as good as we needed to be to play tonight. They came out and played a strong game, and we didn’t respond the way we needed to, especially our special teams."

Getzlaf addresses if their playoff hopes gone - "No, we’re excited. We’re excited to play every night and excited to get back in this thing, and working hard to get there. We lost the special teams battle tonight, and that was the difference in the hockey game...There’s no doubt in here that we can still make this thing happen...Our group tonight has never stopped believing this whole time, and we’re not going to now."

Lubomir Visnovsky on the overall game - "Right now, we go like one, two wins, and two losses, and we go up and down. This is a very tough time for us. We need more wins. It’s hard to say something."

Quotes from the Ducks locker room after 3-2 loss to LA

Although it's tough to call a game in December a big win, tonight was about as big of a win as the Kings have had all season. They wanted to start off the Darryl Sutter era with a win and they did just that, downing the Ducks 3-2 in a shootout.

Anaheim hasn't won on the road since October and after the game, both coach Bruce Boudreau and captain Ryan Getzlaf seemed to be looking for moral victories in tonight's loss...

Boudreau on the overall game - "I thought for sure when we got that power play in the overtime that it was going to happen. It didn’t. Then they got it and I thought ‘uh-oh, this is what usually happens’ and then when we killed that off I thought ‘I don’t care, we are going to win it in the shootout.’ I mean, the shootout is a crapshoot—anything can happen with it. Overall, I hate to keep saying it, but I thought we played pretty solid. The difference between winning and losing is sometimes just the attitude and believing that you are going to win or believing you are going to lose."

Boudreau on the Ducks power play - "The play we drew it up there was the first one and it was a near miss. What I couldn’t understand is why they didn’t go back and try it again because they play was open and it was there and you have options off it but I’ll talk to the guys and we’ll see the day after Christmas."

Dustin Penner Looking to Bring the Penner Cup to LA

Tonight will be another first for Dustin Penner, as he suits up for the Kings against their cross-town rival - and his former club - the Anaheim Ducks.

Players always have a special bond to their first team. It's usually the team that drafted them or where they scored their first goal. And if they happen to have won a Stanley Cup there, as Penner did in 2007, the attachment is even stronger.

However, unless you're Steve Yzerman or Joe Sakic, at some point reality sets in - hockey is a business and that guy is traded or leaves town a different way. When it happens, it's jarring. A new city, new teammates, a new routine and so on.

Then, if it happens again (and it usually does), the transition is often much easier on all involved. Guys have a thicker skin at that point.

So, tonight's game vs. the Ducks won't stir up all the same feelings for Penner as it did when he first played the Ducks in 2007 as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. Still though, it means just a little more than most regular season games.

MM: How different will this be for you, the 'first time' against Anaheim as a member of the Kings?

DP: I think it's a lot different. I remember what a big rivalry it was when I was with the Ducks several years ago. It should be interesting, especially with the position of the teams and how the season has been going for both clubs. It's been a hard fought series too and it always has been. Both teams are in a playoff position now and looking to increase their lead.

MM: They've had some turnover there, like every team in the league. You still have some friends there though, right?

POLL: Least Favorite (active) NHL Player?

With news coming down that Chris Pronger will be out 4-6 weeks (meaning he won't face the Kings at Staples Center on 12/30), there's been an increased amount of anti-Pronger comments today on social media sites - namely facebook and twitter.

As the Kings are off today and it's a relatively slow news period, let's explore the Pronger issue. Is he the most hated man in the NHL?

The league has always had it's villains - Craig Muni, Rob Blake, Theo Fleury, Patrick Roy and Doug Gilmour are just a few of the guys Kings' fans have loved to hate over the past few decades.

But, what about now?  There are a host of players that could have been added to the poll below - all for their own individual and varying reasons. However, these are probably the top vote getters playing at the moment.

So, who is your least favorite player in the NHL right now - for whatever reason, who is he?

[UPDATE: Final poll results available after the jump. Who won - Pronger, Perry, Avery?]

2010 Season Preview w/ ESPN's John Buccigross

All week long we'll be talking with people around the world of hockey to get their take on the upcoming NHL season. Prior to posting my predictions later this week, we'll check in with experts from places like Hockey Night in Canada and USA Today.

Kicking things off though - making his second trip into MayorsManor - is ESPN hockey guru John Buccigross.

Last summer, Buccigross endeared himself to Kings fans while hosting the inaugural HockeyFest at LA Live, when he proclaimed the team would be returning to the playoffs. Then, he backed off those statements just a few weeks later in his ESPN article. So, of course, he was a natural to bring in last fall. Kings fans wanted answers on his about face. To his credit, he owned it, admitting he wasn't sold on their goaltending.

Of course, the Kings did make the playoffs. In the article below we'll see what he thinks about that, as well as look at some of the burning issues around the Pacific Division.

MM: After flip-flopping your opinion on the Kings and then seeing them in the playoffs, what do you think was the big difference for them and why did they end up having such a good regular season?

Interview w/ ESPN's John Buccigross

Hockey seemed to finally arrive on the national scene in the late 90s when ESPN launched their nightly 30 minute show NHL2Night. Hosting the show was a self proclaimed music nut, John Buccigross, whose love for the sport spilled out through the screen. He wasn't just reading lines off the teleprompter, this guy had the fever that so many of us share. Fast forward a decade or so and he's been caught in the cross hairs of Kings fans recently. First retracting his prediction of the Kings making the playoffs this year and later proclaiming to the world that Frolov had indeed been traded. What's going on?

MayorsManor had a chance to catch up with Buccigross and get some answers...and some other hockey insight...

Let's get right to it - earlier this summer while hosting the Kings HockeyFest in downtown, you said this was the year the Kings would return to the playoffs. Then, more recently, in your ESPN.com article Breaking Down the Western Conference you said "after studying things a little more, I have them outside the top eight." Why the change of heart?

I simply think there are 8 teams who are better and question they will prevent enough goals to be a playoff team. Unless they make a big trade, I don't think they are quite ready yet.

Kings fans are obviously excited about the young players on the team, guys like Anze Kopitar. There is also a feeling of an east coast bias in the media when guys like Drew Doughty hardly get noticed for Calder consideration. In your opinion, who is the most underrated player in the league today?

Niklas Kronwall of the Red Wings is real good. A #1 defenceman on most teams. He's physical and good on the power play.

Although you grew up playing basketball, golf and baseball in high school, you've obviously been following hockey for a long time. What is the greatest game you've ever seen?
Ray Bourque's Game 7 Stanley Cup clincher was a memorable one.

NOTE: Funny Bourque follow-up story, in a 2006 column Buccigross said he "once played golf with Ray Bourque and tried to intentionally three putt from 30 feet so I could say I shot a 77 playing golf with Ray Bourque. Instead, the slippery downhill putt went in and I shot a 75 not playing golf with Brett Lindros."

Over the last decade of so many of the older, traditional buildings have given way to new arenas. Of the 30 buildings currently hosting NHL games, do you have a favorite place to watch hockey?

Well...it would be hard to pick just one. Columbus, Minnesota and Toronto are the best I've been to.

During the lockout year a few rule changes were put in place to improve the game. As a fan, if you could change one rule in hockey, what would it be?

I'd implement a ten minute 4 on 4 overtime.

Interesting. I'm not sure if making the games longer is something the league would go for, yet I'm all for more puck! How about the jerseys. One of the few areas where hockey gets credit over the other big sports is on the fashion front. There are certainly some great jerseys in the league, but a few of them are embarrassing. If you could change one team's jersey, which team would you target?

Columbus' is terrible. A simple "C" would be cool at home. Maybe a diagonal Columbus on the roadies.

Probably not the team I would have gone after. However, given that you went to college in Ohio, I can see you working it. Let's move on. How about some word association? We haven't done that yet on MayorsManor. You want to give it a go?

Sure

OK, how about the teams in the Western Conference:

Anaheim Ducks - Ryan Getzlaf's hands
Calgary Flames - Jay Bouwmeester's feet
Chicago Blackhawks - Patrick Kane's feet and hands
Colorado Avalanche - Matt Duchene is for real, yo
Columbus Blue Jackets - Playoffs?!?!?! You bet.
Dallas Stars - In transition
Detroit Red Wings - Their Central Division streak ends
Edmonton Oilers - Fast but still disjointed
Los Angeles Kings - Coming together. Should be in the hunt.
Minnesota Wild - New look Wild now are a little run and gun.
Nashville Predators - Barry Trotz might coach this team for 50 years.
Phoenix Coyotes - Boring, defensive
San Jose Sharks - Heatley will score 60
St Louis Blues - Very high expectations. Simmer.
Vancouver Canucks - They will be fine.

Still working the Columbus angle, huh? No, seriously - thanks for stopping by John. We appreciate your time.

In the future we'll try and get into some of his musical favorites, like R.E.M. and Run DMC. Once upon a time, in a different interview, he said "Music has always been a big part of my life, maybe even bigger than sports, because music has never let me down."

Although they've done it plenty of times in the last 20 years, Kings fans are counting on the team to not let them down this year. LA needs to make the playoffs and remind Buccigross you should always go with your first instincts.

Its like that...and thats the way it is.

The Mayor
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RELATED ARTICLES

High / Low with John Buccigross of ESPN - get his takes on the opening of the 2009-10 season

Interview with Kelly Hrudey - former Kings goalie, now a commentator on TSN

Interview with Luc Robitaille - sit down with #20 a few days before his Hall of Fame induction

Interview with Mike Modano - arguably the greatest American born hockey player of all-time

Interview with Bob Miller - legendary voice of the Kings talks favorite players, games, moments, etc.

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photo courtesy of ESPN.com