Fiala v kovalchuk

MiketheKing

MiketheKing

Super Star
I'm a fan of Kevin Fiala. He has great talent but he reminds me a lot of Ilya Kovalchuk-- in a bad way.

Both are name players with great skill but never a difference maker in the playoffs.

Both players are glaringly bad on the defensive side of the puck, and get a pass because they're so offensively gifted.

Both are super soft, injury prone types who often take dumb penalties.

Maybe I have to accept his role as a one-dimensional scorer, but he's sure eating up a lot of salary when we have no goaltending.

Here's to hoping he could be healthy and make some sort of dent in the playoffs for the kings.

Please, someone cheer me up I got a bad feeling about his place-filling tenure in LA.
 
Well, he did have 6 points in 3 playoff games last year. I don't see him as soft at all...at 5'10" and 205 pounds he's hardly frail. While the dumb penalties drive me nuts he's not a puck hog like Kovalchuk. The guy is dynamite with the puck and while he's not a Selke candidate he's not a classic cherry-picker like Kovalchuk. Now that I think about it, aside from being human and playing hockey I don't see what the two have in common.
 
My only worry with Fiala is that we don't have anyone who suits his playstyle. He's so damn fast and his passes seem to catch literally everyone by surprise. He's one of the best skaters I've ever seen in a Kings uniform. Fiala I describe as Frolov/Palffy hybrid, created in a lab in Switzerland to bring honor and joy to City of Angels.
 
I think it is a terrible comparison because Kovy made the playoffs 4 times. He made it past the 2nd round twice. He was a monster the year they played the kings in the finals.

Kovy was a pretty decent defender. Not outstanding. But really he had one job. And if he wanted to, he could hit people.

But Fiala takes much worse penalties at the worst times.
 
salami said:
Well, he did have 6 points in 3 playoff games last year. I don't see him as soft at all...at 5'10" and 205 pounds he's hardly frail. While the dumb penalties drive me nuts he's not a puck hog like Kovalchuk. The guy is dynamite with the puck and while he's not a Selke candidate he's not a classic cherry-picker like Kovalchuk. Now that I think about it, aside from being human and playing hockey I don't see what the two have in common.
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The irony here is that the Kings won the games where he was out of the lineup, and upon his return, were not able to win another game. That being said, he is extremely skilled and plays with an edge, but he is prone to crossing the line quite often, and seems to be good for at least 2PIMs a game. The comment about having someone who can match his skill, or at least be prepared to take a shot from his generated chances rings very true.. and I don’t think Kaliyev is processing the game fast enough at the NHL level to be that guy. I’m also fairly certain that PL is not a natural shooter, so he isn’t the guy either. Laferriere might be, eventually..
 
DarkLeftHand said:
The irony here is that the Kings won the games where he was out of the lineup, and upon his return, were not able to win another game. That being said, he is extremely skilled and plays with an edge, but he is prone to crossing the line quite often, and seems to be good for at least 2PIMs a game. The comment about having someone who can match his skill, or at least be prepared to take a shot from his generated chances rings very true.. and I don’t think Kaliyev is processing the game fast enough at the NHL level to be that guy. I’m also fairly certain that PL is not a natural shooter, so he isn’t the guy either. Laferriere might be, eventually..
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Fiala had two assists and was a +1 in the game 4 disaster. The entire Kopitar line was -3. Then there was Korpisalo. I know you’re not drawing a straight line conclusion here, just noting I think Fiala has the potential to be a playoff contributor.

Totally well put that Kaliyev can’t process the game at which Fiala plays. That said, Fiala dished some beauties to lesser players last season in the bottom 6, so I won’t discount them completely. I’d still much rather see Laf there, but who wouldn’t?

PLD is a good facilitator and plays a straightforward, power forward game. I think he’ll set up Fiala for plenty of goals and be there to cash in on Fiala rebounds.
 
Clif said:
Fiala had two assists and was a +1 in the game 4 disaster. The entire Kopitar line was -3. Then there was Korpisalo. I know you’re not drawing a straight line conclusion here, just noting I think Fiala has the potential to be a playoff contributor.

Totally well put that Kaliyev can’t process the game at which Fiala plays. That said, Fiala dished some beauties to lesser players last season in the bottom 6, so I won’t discount them completely. I’d still much rather see Laf there, but who wouldn’t?

PLD is a good facilitator and plays a straightforward, power forward game. I think he’ll set up Fiala for plenty of goals and be there to cash in on Fiala rebounds.
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Yes, I think PLD will be more likely setting up Fiala for those tricky toe drag snipes he seems to zip off. kempe might be the only other guy who could regularly get shots off from some Fiala magic, although I also think Grundstrom has the capacity to process and get a shot off from extremely close, in tight passes. Although the coaching staff would first need to be willing to de-program his 4th line mentality, and get him used to playing with something other than grinders.
 
Fiala goes into business for himself far, far too often. Too many unnecessary risks, too many dives/embellishments and too many reckless retaliation penalties. He is extremely skilled, but his understanding of what is needed and when is also extremely limited.

Its no real surprise that the Kings play better without him, whether he is the culprit or not. You need everybody rowing in the same direction and Fiala is out on his own boat paddling against the tide too much. The Kings need to play a more defensive, controlling style to succeed - especially with the goaltending they have had since he has joined.

His closest comparable isn't a hockey player, its Neymar.
 
DarkLeftHand said:
Yes, I think PLD will be more likely setting up Fiala for those tricky toe drag snipes he seems to zip off. kempe might be the only other guy who could regularly get shots off from some Fiala magic, although I also think Grundstrom has the capacity to process and get a shot off from extremely close, in tight passes. Although the coaching staff would first need to be willing to de-program his 4th line mentality, and get him used to playing with something other than grinders.
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You’re dead-on so far with your Grundstrom take.
 
MiketheKing said:
I'm a fan of Kevin Fiala. He has great talent but he reminds me a lot of Ilya Kovalchuk-- in a bad way.

Both are name players with great skill but never a difference maker in the playoffs.

Both players are glaringly bad on the defensive side of the puck, and get a pass because they're so offensively gifted.

Both are super soft, injury prone types who often take dumb penalties.

Maybe I have to accept his role as a one-dimensional scorer, but he's sure eating up a lot of salary when we have no goaltending.

Here's to hoping he could be healthy and make some sort of dent in the playoffs for the kings.

Please, someone cheer me up I got a bad feeling about his place-filling tenure in LA.
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Kovalchuck? If I were to compare Fiala to someone, Kovalchuck wouldn't even be in the list. After reading some of these posts too my lord. Fiala makes this team better in so many ways. To even say or errr compare him to why we lost in the playoffs makes me question peoples hockey knowledge here..
 
Bojanglz said:
Kovalchuck? If I were to compare Fiala to someone, Kovalchuck wouldn't even be in the list. After reading some of these posts too my lord. Fiala makes this team better in so many ways. To even say or errr compare him to why we lost in the playoffs makes me question peoples hockey knowledge here..
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With your great knowledge, Enlightenment us. Who does KF remind you of?
 
Got my wife a Fiala jersey for her birthday yesterday.. it's the first season in 12 years of watching that she's really gotten into the Kings I think, as she's always watched with me and I think I've completed the hockey fan conversion process as she's checking stuff out about them almost more than me. She about exploded. I want a Fiala jersey though :( I'm gonna take it back. But she loved Fiala almost immediately and having a favorite player like that stepped her up from casual observer to hardcore Kings fan, which is cool.
 
Pevsfreedom said:
Got my wife a Fiala jersey for her birthday yesterday.. it's the first season in 12 years of watching that she's really gotten into the Kings I think, as she's always watched with me and I think I've completed the hockey fan conversion process as she's checking stuff out about them almost more than me. She about exploded. I want a Fiala jersey though :( I'm gonna take it back. But she loved Fiala almost immediately and having a favorite player like that stepped her up from casual observer to hardcore Kings fan, which is cool.
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My girls favorite player as well and I don’t think she likes him for the same reasons I do.
 
JMiller29 said:
My girls favorite player as well and I don’t think she likes him for the same reasons I do.
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I heard that a lot with the 2012-14 lineup of Greek Gods that was the Kings roster. Though my wife says she wants to adopt Fiala as our 5 years younger than us son because he's "simply too cute".
 
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