Kings 4, Quackers 1

Notes about the game:

• So what was the deal with the lighting problem in the arena? The delay was kind of lame.
• I was surprised by how many random European(?) jerseys were worn by people in the stands.
• Thank God Bob Miller and Jim Fox were doing the play-by-play because I don't think I would have had a good of a time today if Bryan Hayward was talking throughout the game.
• The girl singing the national anthems was terrible! She sang on about 3 different keys, said "rampage" instead of "rampart", and sang waaaaaay toooooooo sloooooooow.
• And then we were the assholes for making fun of her when we found out she's blind. Hmmmmm....

I really wanted Bernier to get the shutout! Alas, he played a solid game and the goal he let in was neither a soft one nor to the short side, goals Cloutier had a habit of letting in last season. One player that I was pleasantly surprised to see play pretty well was Patrick O'Sullivan. He had an extra step and played with more intensity today than I remember during the time he spent with the Kings last season. He played on the PK a lot, almost had a SHG, and set up the empty-netter SHG scored by Handzus.

I was very surprised to see how flat the Ducks looked. They put on the pressure during the last 5 minutes of the game but didn't do a whole lot throughout most of the game. They also took a lot of penalites, which was fine with me. I expect tomorrow's game to be a lot closer and won't be too surprised if there's a fight or two.

Now the viewing party:
Big thanks to the guys at KingsCast for putting together the "High Tea with Kings" event. The BF and I left our place at 7:30 am (mind you, I catch up on sleep during the weekend and I rarely wake up before noon on Saturdays and Sundays so this was huge for me), got to the bro's place at about 8:15 am. I tried to play some Halo 3 but I suck big time at Halo so all I ended up doing was successfully walk into some lake and then get completely submerged in water, not knowing which way was up or down. Anyway, the bro's friends came by and we cabbed it to Ummba Grill where we met up with CKim and more of my bro's friends.

We got to Ummba Grill a bit before 9am and the waiter led us outside to a great open area with couches, low tables, and a TV. It was the perfect setting for our group and the only downside was that when the sun came out the glare kind of got in the way. While we got our buffet breakfast and the waiter was getting our drinks, a Kings fan and his 6 or 7 year old daughter came outside and sat in our area. I looked at CKim and we both said, "ooooh, I don't think they'll want to sit next to us."

There was a silent auction of Kings goodies including several autographed photos, signed pucks, and a signed Robitaille jersey. The minimum bid for all items was $25. Oh wait, except for the puck signed by Cloutier. That bid started at $1.50. I think the winning bid was $25, which the winner admitted was a pity bid. Even the puck signed by Avery started at $25!! (My brother won that one. It warms my heart that my brother likes him, too. We are related!)

CKim really wanted the photo of Kopitar and Blake, signed by both, but was outbid by some lady who apparently bought it for her daughter. Instead of bidding in increments of $5 (which was the min increment) this lady placed a bid that was $60 higher than what CKim had! WTF? Way to take the fun out of the silent auction! And I can't believe this lady bought it for her kid. My parents never did anything like that for me! That girl needs to earn her shit!

My max bid on the Robitaille jersey was $100 and, of course, my bro had to outbid me. He was eventually outbid by one of his friends, but after the auction was over and the guy paid for it, my bro handed him some cash in the amount of $10 above the winning amount to buy the jersey. I'm convinced that it's really a Christmas gift for me for the next 5 years so I'm not too upset that he "won" it.

I did, however, win an autographed photo of Anze Kopitar!! This is my first piece of sports memorobilia so I'm very excited. Here's a picture of me (holding the photo) and CKim. (This is the first photo of myself that I posted on this blog so this is a huge step for me. You can thank CKim who had the final say in whether or not I post this photo.)

NOVEMBER 2007 UPDATE: I've decided to remove the pics because I'm just too uncomfortable with posting pictures of myself. Sorry readers! You can try to find me on facebook or myspace but, of course, I may decide to reject you as a friend.

KingsCast was also handing out free KingsCast stickers and t-shirts. I didn't get one because they didn't have any sizes small enough for me. In addition to the $1 Bud Lights someone was handing out free Grolsch beer. At the time I wasn't sure if they were free so I was slightly concerned about what our tab was going to be at the end of the game. Luckily, the Grolsch was free so for 22 non-free beers plus tax, our tab was $23.82. Awesome.

All in all, a great day. I'm so tired and just need a nap. But, game on tomorrow! Instead of driving to a bar, I'm bringing the alcohol to my place. Drinking at 9am; it's like I'm still in college. (*tear* I miss college.) Go Kings!