EL SEGUNDO HERALD October 12, 2017 Page 5
Los Angeles Kings Set to
Regain Their Hockey Throne
By Adam Serrao
It was only three years ago that the Los
Angeles Kings hoisted the Stanley Cup
above their heads and brought the trophy
back home to the city of Los Angeles. It
was just one season ago, however, that the
Kings had the same playoff expectations,
yet missed the out on the postseason with a
39-35-8 record. Missing the playoffs for the
second time in three seasons will certainly
take its toll on a team and its front office.
That’s why this year’s new-look Kings hope
to regain success with both a new general
manager and a new head coach at the helm.
While on the ice, the roster may still look
somewhat familiar. the biggest changes to
a team that has been devoid of postseason
success lately come behind the bench and
in the front office. In an effort to gain more
prolific leadership, Los Angeles fired both
general manager Dean Lombardi and head
coach Darryl Sutter. While those two names
can certainly be given credit as the craftsmen
of both the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup
victories, the Kings will now turn to Rob
Blake and ex-assistant coach John Stevens
to fill their respective capacities and lead
Los Angeles back to greatness.
The front office may be different, but the
team skating around on the ice will feature
many of the same faces that brought home
championship victories to Los Angeles not
long ago. A team that struggled to score goals
just last year should benefit from refreshed
and rejuvenated play from both Anze Kopitar
and Drew Doughty, who both spent time
playing in the World Cup one year ago. Also,
Jonathan Quick should be over the injuries
that caused him to miss so much time last
year, allowing the former All-Star and Conn
Smythe Trophy winner to regain form. Add
in what should be a great defensive effort
this year coming from players like Derek
Forbort, Paul LaDue and Kevin Gravel, and
the Kings should have a team that is ready
to make some noise in the Pacific Division.
Not only are the Kings poised to make
noise, but with the emergence of a fresh
face behind the bench, they are also ready
to gain a bit more offensive freedom on the
ice. Kopitar, for one, is excited about the
possibilities that a new head coach can bring.
“It’s not a new face, but a new philosophy
comes in,” Kopitar explains. “There’s definitely
a breath of fresh air. I think everything’s a
little bit more upbeat. Everything’s a little
Junior quarterback Matt Romero is stopped for a big gain against Culver City. He rushed for 116 yards and two TDs against the Centaurs.
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looser, but loose in a good way.” Doughty
was quick to second those thoughts. “It’s
just a new feeling around the team, and it
feels good,” he said. “We want to become
the team that we were two years ago, three
years ago, probably even four years ago. It’s
not just going to happen because we made
these changes. We’re going to have to work
our butts off and we have to make this team
get there.”
That mindset and attitude shared by both
Kopitar and Doughty is infectious and should
not only spread to the entire team, but also
lead to increased effort on both sides of the
ice. With a better attitude and increased effort,
it shouldn’t be hard for a talented Kings
team to easily improve upon seasons of the
past. Even still, questions remain for a Los
Angeles team opening up the season with
four rookies on the roster while looking for
its first postseason victory since grabbing
the Cup in 2014.
Among those questions is the health of the
aforementioned Quick. The goaltender has
proven to be injury-prone and when he’s out
of the net, the Kings tend to suffer. Though
the addition of four rookies should bring
speed to a team that is in desperate need of it,
the inexperience that comes along with their
time on the ice has the opportunity to prove
lethal at times. The Kings did very little to
improve their roster in the offseason. While
the team is still poised to only get better,
it would be somewhat of a surprise if Los
Angeles regains form enough to surpass the
likes of the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames
and Edmonton Oilers, to name a few.
If the first game of the season said anything,
it’s that the Kings are certainly on their way
toward achieving success. Los Angeles had
lost three straight openers before shutting out
the Philadelphia Flyers by a final score of 2-0
last Thursday night at Staples Center to start
the new season. What’s even more important
than the victory itself is that in the win, the
Kings exhibited the same opportunistic play
on offense and scrappy play on defense that
won the team their last Stanley Cup trophy.
Los Angeles’ season opener was clearly
only one of many more games to come in
a long NHL season. The first impression of
this year’s L.A. Kings, though, tells us that
they will be much closer to the championship
team of the 2014 Finals than to that of
the one that missed the playoffs last year.
– Aserrao6@yahoo.com •
Eagles Thrown For a Loss in
Matchup Against Culver City
By Gregg McMullin
The football game pitting the El Segundo
Eagles and Culver City Centaurs was one of
the feature games in the South Bay. In front
of a full crowd on a warm fall evening, these
two teams took time to pay the 58 victims
of the Las Vegas shooting tragedy a moment
of silence before their game.
This was a marathon game that lasted just
over three hours. It was marred by a total of
26 penalties and numerous injuries to each
team. El Segundo was flagged 14 times for 147
yards times that either extended Culver City
drives or negated long gains by the Eagles.
The Eagles’ defense, one of the top units
in the South Bay, had allowed just 37 points
through the first five games. Culver City’s
offense had been averaging 47 points per game
through its first five contests, so something
would have to give. El Segundo’s untimely
penalties coupled with the Centaurs making
big plays led to Culver City’s 46-27 win
over the Eagles.
The Eagles’ defense looked promising
during Culver City’s first three possessions.
El Segundo forced two punts on the
Centaurs’ first two possessions and Jorge
Montani returned an interception 48 yards
for a pick-six touchdown. Tyler Villalobos
made it 7-0 with the PAT and it marked the
first time this season that Culver City had
to play catchup.
It wouldn’t take long before Culver City
took charge of the game and the scoreboard.
The Centaurs scored on their next five possessions
of the first half to take a 33-7 lead.
The Eagles assisted their guests on two drives
by committing penalties. The Centaurs took
advantage of El Segundo turnovers to score
after a fumble recovery and an interception.
What started out so promisingly in the first
half ended having the Eagles’ coaching staff
shaking their heads. Culver City rolled up
305 yards of total offense in the first half
while El Segundo’s offense struggled and
managed to gain just 159 yards.
On each possession of the first half, the
Eagles had either a sack of the quarterback,
a lost fumble, an interception or a dropped
pass. It was an abysmal show of offense that
had been so dominating through the first half
of the season.
Though it looked to be a game that got out
of control in the first half, the Eagles came out
with a sense of urgency to start the second.
On the first play, senior fullback Dariush
Sayson took a handoff and bulldozed his way
for 22 punishing yards. On the next play,
junior quarterback Matt Romero scrambled
his way 52 yards for a touchdown to cut the
deficit to 33-14. Just when it appeared the
Eagles would make their claim to a comeback,
the Centaurs stopped that brief momentum.
On the ensuing kickoff Alexander Smith, a
Wisconsin commit, fielded the ball near his
own 10-yard line and returned it 90 yards
for a touchdown.
The Eagles may have lost the game overall,
but they controlled the field in the second
half. While driving for a potential touchdown,
they took advantage of a couple of
penalties to continue the drive. But Romero
was sacked and then threw an interception
to halt the drive. After Villalobos made an
interception, the Eagles methodically moved
the ball 72 yards in nine plays for another
touchdown. Kyle Freeman scored from one
yard out to cut the score to 39-21.
On Culver City’s next possession, Freeman
intercepted Jonathon Martin and returned it
nearly 30 yards to the 14-yard line. A penalty
moved the ball to the seven-yard line where
Romero ran a quarterback draw to get into
the end zone to make it 39-27. Later in the
fourth quarter, Culver City tacked on another
long pass play for a touchdown to make the
final score 46-27.
Though it was a lopsided result, the Eagles
managed to outgain the Centaurs. Overall
the Eagles had 399 yards of total offense
compared to Culver City’s 387. The Eagles’
offensive line was missing starters and that
may have had a hand with Romero being
sacked 10 times.
With injuries to players handicapping the
Eagles, they did welcome back two players
who had been ineligible due to transfer rules.
Senior running back/quarterback Dariush
Sayson and his brother sophomore linebacker
Arman Sayson look to bolster both sides of
the ball. Dariush rushed six times for 76 Visit us online: www.heraldpublications.com
See Eagles, page 8