- Kings players were calm and collected after off-ice workouts yesterday. Ping pong was involved. Here’s Kopi:
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- Gann Matsuda covers more reactions (with lovely links to audio at the end) [Frozen Royalty]
Rest is helping Carter’s ankle. It’s pretty obvious he’s not at top speed, but he’s a trooper. [LAKI] - The Canucks tried a few lineup changes in practice. [Vancouver Sun]
- Which animal does Darryl Sutter most resemble? (A cuddly one?!) [Jibblescribbits]
- Vancouver tries a joke on Twitter that fails to grasp just how few people give a damn about the Kings [VS] Maybe they could try saying “You’re welcome” to Anaheim? Then again, Anaheim probably hates them too.
Luongo has been ducking questions and taking the high road on the goalie controversy [Washington Post] - Gillis does nothing to calm speculation by saying he’s “not sure” if a goalie change is a-comin’ next season [TSN]
- Tyler Toffoli’s team, the Ottawa 67s, begin playing in the Eastern conference finals tonight. The Manchester Monarchs also begin their playoff series. Quisp has the details on how to watch. [McSorley’s Stick]/
Final missive of the night: I’m not linking to any damn articles about momentum. What team has it, how can you get it back, what does it mean? Is it building or dying over this long break? If Vancouver had momentum going into the playoffs, why’d they lose game 1? If the Kings had momentum why didn’t they get game 4? Aaaah, my head hurts!
Look. If momentum is such a terrifically potent force, we wouldn’t see it shifting in a nanosecond. Confidence is a real factor in every series, but players can decide how they’re going to feel about the last game and how they’re going to prepare for the next. A good team’s confidence remains on an even keel.
Now let’s take in some of the other playoff series while we wait. I hear that Pittsburgh Philly series has 542 goals!
And how about Nashville-Detroit? SO MANY BEARDS!