LA KINGS...

[newper114]

so we all know they arent where they should be and they have a few yrs before they make anything of themselves. but they have the youngsters to take them to the next lvl. o\'sul, kopitar, jj, and so on... young good team who will be an offensive threat soon enough.

my question is about there goaltending. this is more in relation to keepers and farm teams but where are they headed in this position? who is the future of the team and how long away is that future?

thanxs in advance for the comments.

[Crazynuck]

Don\'t know too much but from what I have heard Bernier is the future in LA.
Look for him to split time with someone next year and take over the #1 the year after.

[newper114]

thanxs, will keep it in mind, maybe a late draft pick in a farm team or something just to hold onto and see.

[The Good Sir]

Crazynuck wrote:

Don\'t know too much but from what I have heard Bernier is the future in LA.
Look for him to split time with someone next year and take over the #1 the year after.

This is exactly what I see happening too. Bernier is a blue-chip prospect and the future of goaltending in LA. He will be a dominating force on a great team for years to come. I\'m hoping the Kings pick Doughty with the 2nd overall pick as their D Core is a bit weak.

[tiantonio]

Ersberg showed some good stuff down the stretch and got bombed a couple of times too. Bernier looks like he needs some more seasoning and I doubt the Kings want him to get those minutes with the Big Club. I would not be surprised to see Ersberg get a lot of run next year with Coaches Pet Clout sticking around. Remember that this is a team that had SEVEN Goalies play games this year so all bets are off when it comes to picking the Kings Tender.

[ultrawhiteness]

easy. the future is jonathan bernier. he was a star last year getting his team to the memorial cup, and was rewarded with a few games with the kings to start the season. after a solid first two games in england, he got lit up a LOT (probably has a lot to do with the kings terrible defence) and was sent back to the Q. once there he struggled a bit until about halfway through the season when he got back to basics and settled down his play. the MAINEiacs got bounced early from the playoffs. he has since joined the kings\'s ahl affilliate for their playoff run. in two regular season games, he is 1-1 with a ridiculous 1.44 GAA and .953 SV%. we will see if he can keep those numbers up and maybe pull a carey price by leading his team to the calder cup.

bernier will most likely be given a chance to start 30-40 games next year if he doesn\'t screw it up.

the guy he will be sharing time with? right now, you could make a case for erik ersberg, the swedish surprise who played so well for them in the final stretch and likely cost them the 1st overall selection. an ersberg/bernier platoon could certainly be possible.

however, if the kings want more experience in net, they could stay with jason labarbera. he\'s a better goalie than most people give him credit for, and has one more very cheap year remaining on his contract.

the other options for the kings include cloutier (possible buyout candidate, if not he will be the backup in the minors), jonathan quick (not likely NHL starter material), and a young kid who goes by the name jeff zatkoff whose playing in college right now. he\'s got talent, but because of the logjam in front of him, he\'ll likely play out the remaining years of his college eligibility before turning pro.

there are very interesting similarities between the kings\' goalie situation (labarbara-bernier-ersberg) next year and the situation faced by the montreal canadiens this year (huet-price-halak). i see two possibilities:

1. 90% chance: labarbara starts the majority of the games, with either ersberg or bernier backing him up, with the other starting in the ahl. if things go well with bernier and ersberg, i would expect that labarbara would be traded at some point to make way for the kids.

2. 10% chance: labarbara is traded this summer and the kings hand the goaltending duties to ersberg, with bernier getting 20 or 30 games in. this is risky, and i don\'t really see a reason for them to put all that pressure on unproven starters.

hopefully for LA fans, the 2nd overall pick this year will be the last rebuilding peice for the kings and their goalies and defence can hold together enough to make a solid run next season.

[ultrawhiteness]

haha wow, 4 posts in the time it took for me to write all that. good sign, dobber nation!

[newper114]

wow thats one sick post.. must be a huge kings fan lol.. but you defently helped me make my choice if i can get bernier in a late late pick in a farm to to take him

[Zorro]

I know Labarbera is still a work in progress but he ain\'t getting any younger, that is forsure. I think they should put Berneir in the AHL for a year and see how he fares. I would then forget about the cloutier\'s, sean burke\'s, fukka fuji, and probably even labarbera as my starter anyway. I would sign a proven vet to teach Labarbera some things. Labarbera is a back-up tender and should not be the starter.

If Huet becomes a UFA they need to sign him. If not they could use a CUJO or even Roloson. I don\'t think signing Ellis would be the answer since he is another back-up. Maybe with the way Conklin played this year they could bring him in aswell. I think they should stay away from Raycroft though. And please don\'t think about bringing Eddie Belfour in, I know he played under Lombardi in SJ.

Best Case Scenerio:
Starter: bring somebody in(huet,conklin,cujo,roloson)
Back-up: Labarbera
Minors: bernier and ersberg

Not so good scenerio:
Starter: Labarbera(not starter material,right now)
Back-up: Bernier(not ready for a full NHL season)
Minors: Ersberg(not bad but Berneir should be there too)

I hope this somewhat helps you out..
Z..

[Crazynuck]

Couldn\'t resist to keep my trend alive with any post that mentions Clotuier (the future in LA) [img size=131]http://www.dobberhockey.com/images/fbfiles/images/Cloutier-88337e2a0a158935e6e335db04087997.jpg[/img]

[tiantonio]

Forget your pick Nuck. I want to see the pics that Cloutier is using to blackmail Marc Crawford into always having a job available for him.

[ultrawhiteness]

haha, not a kings fan, although its getting hard not to be, especially with kopitar and bernier on my keeper squad.Zorro wrote:

Best Case Scenerio:
Starter: bring somebody in(huet,conklin,cujo,roloson)
Back-up: Labarbera
Minors: bernier and ersberg

Not so good scenerio:
Starter: Labarbera(not starter material,right now)
Back-up: Bernier(not ready for a full NHL season)
Minors: Ersberg(not bad but Berneir should be there too)

I hope this somewhat helps you out..
Z..

Z, i would hope that huet would be the only goalie in your list that the kings would even try for. labarbara is just as good, if not better than the rest of those bozos. and would it be best for bernier/ersberg to be the backup for an ahl team? i don\'t think so. they\'re each capable of being the starter for the monarchs while the other gets a taste of NHL action.

[tiantonio]

ultrawhiteness wrote:

and would it be best for bernier/ersberg to be the backup for an ahl team? i don\'t think so. they\'re each capable of being the starter for the monarchs while the other gets a taste of NHL action.

That is why I see Ersberg getting a LOT of minutes in LA next year. I think they see him as capable of holding down the fort right now until they decide if or when Bernier is ready to step in and become the Franchise.

Bernier was the highest goaltender in his draft class and ONLY Price has made some noise from the TWO earlier draft classes to his. None of his draft class goalies have made any impact yet so the Kings are sure to be patient with their boy.