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Kings Links: The Coach, The Great One, The Rookie, and the Big Red Dog

Darryl Sutter experiments, Gretz likes the Kings, and Jake Muzzin and Kyle Clifford are impressive early on. Also, various people overreacting to the Kings' slow start.

By Eric K.

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Victor Decolongon

So, the Kings had a good night. Also, Darryl Sutter experimented with the lines yesterday. A lot. Near the end of the second, Sutter tried the following lines on the final three shifts:

Clifford-Kopitar-King
Brown-Richards-Carter
Gagne-Stoll-Williams

We'll stay tuned for what Sutter tries on Thursday. In the meantime... LINKS!

  • Sutter's experimenting, but really, he just wants Willie Mitchell back. [NBC Sports]
  • Wayne Gretzky thinks we can repeat. Go Great One. [NHL]
  • Tyler Toffoli tallied a goal and an assist in the AHL All-Star Game. [Globe and Mail]
  • Some fun stats from Quisp. [McSorley's Stick]
  • Jake Muzzin's been real good so far, real good. [Frozen Royalty]
  • Kyle Clifford has been even better. He also had his day with the Cup featured last night; check it out. [LA Kings]

Finally... want to try something fun? Google "los angeles kings" and "hangover." Even considering that the 2013 season is a short one, five games is still a small sample size, but that hasn't stopped outlets from speculating about whether the Kings are suffering from... sigh... the Stanley Cup hangover. I guess we'll indulge, though. So here are some people who thought the Kings might be in some trouble:

  • Mark Spector, who thinks that Darryl Sutter will need to buckle down and dole out some tough love... [Sportsnet]
  • The Hockey Writers, who hypothesize that the Kings' relative youth might lend itself to this struggle (but, to be fair, also noted that it might be too early to tell)... [The Hockey Writers]
  • Kevin Allen, who states that an invincible team suddenly looks ordinary. [USA Today]

And here are some people who think the Kings are going to be just fine (and did so before last night):

  • Elliott, who says there's "no evidence" of a hangover and has her case supported by Justin Williams and Dean Lombardi... [LA Times]
  • Sean McIndoe (AKA Down Goes Brown), who evaluates many teams and decides the Kings have no reason to panic... [Grantland]
  • Chris Rydburg, who expects the Kings to make the playoffs, so relax. [On the Forecheck]

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