Kings Gameday: Who Should Start?

by RudyKelly on Dec 9, 2008 3:00 AM PST

LA Kings (11-11-4) @ Colorado Avalanche (13-13-1)

6:30 PST, Fox Sports West

(Here's the Colorado perspective at Mile High Hockey)

Well, apparently we moved to a new site. Ta-da! I'm going to try to write something, but this whole experience will probably end up with me crying and apologizing, just like the first time I had sex. (I've since discovered that you don't have to apologize to a corpse.) Anywho, the Kings are still trucking along, trying not to embarrass themselves while enjoying a relatively peaceful 1st half of the season. There's been ups (Doughty!) and downs (Gauthier!), but this season has actually been a lot more peaceful than last year's; I mean, I've only attempted suicide twice so far, way off my yearly average. I can see only three issues that still need resolution:

1) A player that can fit alongside Kopitar and Brown;

2) This burning sensation when I pee;

3) Who to start between Labarbera and Ersberg

The first two should be resolved with time and maybe a little penicillin, but the third is a little more complex. The problem with Jason Labarbera and Erik Ersberg is that neither have been great, but neither have been terrible. They have different styles (Ersberg is pure butterfly, Labarbera is mostly butter-based) but have achieved remarkably similar results. Here are their stat lines so far:

Jason Labarbera- 15 GP, 5-6-2, 2.50 GAA, .907 SV%

Erik Ersberg- 15 GP, 6-5-2, 2.52 GAA, .893 SV%

Seems pretty close to me. Labarbera has the better save percentage, but that's mostly due to his excellent play in his last three games. Ersberg has the better win-loss record and GAA, but that's because the team played better in front of him. Right now I'd say Labarbera should play, but I can see the wisdom in alternating the two. You may not know this, but goaltenders all have huge egos. You kind of have to have one to think that you can carry your entire team on your back. Alternating goalies that are so evenly matched (like Labs and Ersberg clearly are) can only make the two of them better. What do you guys think?

Prediction: Kings win, 3-1. Goals by Brown, Frolov (going for 6 straight games), and Doughty. Ian Laperriere kicks John Zeiler's ass.

Poll

Who should start in net for the Kings going forward?

Jason Labarbera

18 votes

Erik Ersberg

18 votes

They should keep splitting time

23 votes

Jonathan Bernier

9 votes

Kelly Hrudey

55 votes

123 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 27 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

The way Labarbera and Ersberg have been this season, I suppose the way to go is to play the hot (or non-cold) hand. Then hope that one of them steps up for the long haul and grabs the starting role permanently.

(I’ve since discovered that you don’t have to apologize to a corpse.)

Giving Earl a run for his money as far as introductory posts go, are ya?

by Malurous on Dec 9, 2008 4:23 AM PST reply actions

(I’ve since discovered that you don’t have to apologize to a corpse.)

Well, it certainly does nothing for the corpse, but I still think it helps ease the tension.

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 9, 2008 6:11 AM PST up reply actions

Aw

Up until like a second ago, my one vote counted for 100% of the vote. I felt powerful. Now I feel but half a man.

Go Kings!

by andrewHarkins on Dec 9, 2008 4:26 AM PST reply actions

We must beat the Avs tonight. I don’t know how we keep losing to these douche bags. Whoever is in net needs to not play as bad as we did against these fucks earlier in the season.

by Nut on Dec 9, 2008 5:32 AM PST reply actions

I’m really tired of us losing to the Avalanche. We are 0-1-1 so far against them, and both games have been on home ice. The OT loss came on “Back in Black Night”, and they played like crap in the opening of that game.

LaBarbera will get the start because of his stellar past two games. He has given up one goal in the last 54 shots he has faced (excluding shootout) in those two games. He’s the better goaltender, so I expect him to get the start in what I’d like to call a “must-win”.

Kings hockey: where everything matters... except the hockey.

by Kevin Y on Dec 9, 2008 5:41 AM PST reply actions

I really need to stop giving you guys joke options in polls.

The West Coast is the Best Coast.

by RudyKelly on Dec 9, 2008 7:54 AM PST reply actions

So does that mean no more “Rob Blake is a douche” options in later polls?

by Nael M. on Dec 9, 2008 1:12 PM PST up reply actions

Maybe the joke option wasn’t obvious enough. Next time try RudyKelly instead and see how the results shake out then.

"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams

by Baroque on Dec 9, 2008 4:26 PM PST up reply actions

Next time try RudyKelly instead…

Either that or just turn to a random page in the front section of the newspaper and pick a name.

Option 5: Richard Kogan, senior fellow with the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 9, 2008 4:46 PM PST up reply actions

(Ersberg is pure butterfly, Labarbera is mostly butter-based)

This, by the way, is fantastic. I never quite understood the difference until now.

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 9, 2008 9:16 AM PST reply actions

Fine, I did it

I am signed up here. Sadly, “Joe” is taken by a member of CelticsBlog. WTF @ Celtics.

Ya know what the best part of Kelly Hrudey is? His hair! I get to watch CBC games on NHL Network sometimes, and it ALWAYS catches me offguard when they go to intermission, and cut to this homeless guy they pulled out of a box and put a suit on, and then tell me its Kelly Hrudey, here to offer some sort of analysis. He really looks like he just got pulled out of a box sitting in downtown Toronto or something. If CBC can use a hobo on tv, why can’t the Kings use one in goal?

by IAmJoe on Dec 9, 2008 11:06 AM PST reply actions

If CBC can use a hobo on tv, why can’t the Kings use one in goal?

Please tell me what your secret is to forgetting about the Roman Čechmánek era so easily???

Paul Lo Duca is MLB's Pablo Escobar..

by DodgerBlueBalls on Dec 9, 2008 12:29 PM PST up reply actions

Focus on the positives — he wasn’t Cloutier, at least.

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 9, 2008 12:54 PM PST up reply actions

forgetting about the Roman Čechmánek

Wow, bravo on the hacek and accent mark there.
—from a Czech whose dad drilled them into his head

Lighthouse Hockey: a New York Islanders blog with hip issues.

by Dominik on Dec 9, 2008 6:42 PM PST up reply actions

Did everyone lose their SBN login already, or is everyone just voting instead of commenting?

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 9, 2008 12:26 PM PST reply actions

Maybe it’s both!

Besides, the welcome post was kind of like a house-warming party in many respect – lots of folks coming in to congratulate you on the new digs and checking out the place and what it can do. This post is kind of like what happens in that new house the day after the party – just you by yourself trying to go back to your daily business, with your new neighbors maybe swinging by say hello or ask how you’re doing.

by Nael M. on Dec 9, 2008 1:10 PM PST up reply actions

I voted for LaBarbera, as I’ve been singing his praises since the lockout and then realized that if it was Hrudey, he wouldn’t be on CBC anymore. Until the playoffs. Damn it.

by mc79hockey on Dec 9, 2008 12:43 PM PST reply actions

Sorry I missed the welcoming party but better late than never, I suppose. I voted to keep playing both goalies. I’d go with Labarbera tonight since he is the hot goalie for now. Then when he implodes, as he always does, go back to Ersberg.

I think Ian LaPerriere is going to be on a search and destroy mission for Zeiler tonight. I’m guessing he’ll be the one player on the other team Rudy will be rooting for.

by chris in torrance on Dec 9, 2008 2:26 PM PST reply actions

I tried to vote, but I could not find Bryzgalov anywhere.

by Mike in OC on Dec 9, 2008 3:23 PM PST reply actions

Terry Murray Voted...

…it’s Labarbera tonight.

The West Coast is the Best Coast.

by RudyKelly on Dec 9, 2008 4:16 PM PST reply actions

I guess LaBarbera

I think it would be nice to see who each Goalie’s results came against.

Did we play shittier teams when Ersberg was in goal? Or Vice versa.

You know what? Fuck you Sports Gods, fuck you.

by bluemax on Dec 9, 2008 5:28 PM PST reply actions

The Avs just seem to be in Labarbera’s head. Up 3-0 in the first, Avs.

Red Wings Suck

by texacogirl on Dec 9, 2008 7:02 PM PST up reply actions

If only the pollsters had their way (sigh).

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 9, 2008 7:05 PM PST up reply actions

Sometimes I think Labarbera forgets to put on his skates before games.

The West Coast is the Best Coast.

by RudyKelly on Dec 9, 2008 7:42 PM PST reply actions

Have you ever seen a goalie slower to get back in position than LaBabs?

by TheChemist on Dec 9, 2008 8:00 PM PST reply actions

In this game? No. But last season we had Theodore so it does look familiar.

Red Wings Suck

by texacogirl on Dec 9, 2008 8:26 PM PST up reply actions

I was just listening to my Rosetta Stone CD, because I want get with a SuperModel, too...

…and I just learned that “LaBarbara” is Italian for “Rape-Shower-Inducing-Sperm-Monkey.” Imagine that?

Paul Lo Duca is MLB's Pablo Escobar..

by DodgerBlueBalls on Dec 9, 2008 8:01 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

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