At Last: Kopi-Sully-Brownie

"Hi Sully! I missed you!" "Hey Guys, it's so good to see you!" =)

At last, my love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
Oh, yeah, at last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clovers
The night I looked at you
I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to rest my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known
Oh, yeah when you smile, you smile
Oh, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine
At last
-Etta James

My only concern is how long Murray will allow these three lovebirds to play on the same line together. Last time the reunion only lasted one game. According to the LA Times article (what, hockey articles in the LA Times?! actually, it's been surprisingly better this season) Murray's move is intended to spark some scoring, particularly from the top line. Brown's response to the move is exactly what you would expect to hear from someone reuniting with his long lost lover:

"Obviously there is a little more speed," Brown said. "Sully brings more of a scoring presence. Calds was more of a playmaker. There are things Calds did that you'd come to expect, the way he gets in there and gets the puck. They just play different games."

I think what Brown means is you couldn't always rely on Calder since whenever he got the puck you never expected to see it again since he usually coughed it up pretty easily. Regardless, Thank God, these three will be playing together because forcing Sully to pick up the slack on the fourth line is an insult to the guy and doesn't really say, "you're a core player", when it's obvious that he is. Let's hope the trio can get the scoring started in Thursday's game against Ovechkin and Seamen Semen Semin.

At Least We Have Brownie

and his twin, Shane Lyons, a finalist on The Next Food Network Star:



I am so glad the Kings and Brownie agreed to a contract extension during the season. I expect him to be one of the alternate captains and further develop and improve his numbers.

Sens' Face versus Kings' Face

On Friday, October 2, 2007, Jason Spezza (24) extended his contract with the Ottawa Senators until the 2014-2015 season. Translated: $49M for 7 years. The Sens have also locked up Daniel Alfredsson (34) until 2011-2012 and Dany Heatley (26) until 2013-2014 ($45 for 6 years).

Spezza – Has been only with the Senators since 2002-2003. He has logged 256 games while going 83-183=266. He is +63 with 163 PIM.

Alfredsson – Has been only with the Senators as well, for him, since 1995-1996. He's put in 794 games and is 300-47=778. He's an impressive +130 over these 11 years and has accumulated 355 PIM.

Heatley – Played 3 years at Atlanta and has been with the Sens since 2005-2006. In 366 career games, he has accumulated 188 goals, 216 assists (=404), is a plus 31, and has 306 PIM.

The line has already proven that they can produce and the Ottawa Senators has now told us that these three guys are the official future of their organization. Let's take a look at the Kings' future guys. As I write this, I have thought about who the Kings have shown to be their top boys. Once the league takes notice of this team that is near the top the Pacific Division, who are the faces they will look to? According to Robitaille (while speaking at H & HH), it's Brownie, Kopi, JMFJ, and Bernier. So let's take a look.

The Kings have started in this path by signing Brownie for a 6-year contract for $19.05M. In 206 NHL games he has gone 38-51=89 with 163 PIM. We'll just ignore his plus/minus.

My boy Anze has played in 87 games and going 25-50=75. This center has only 28 PIM. Plus/minus? What's that? But the Kings had better lock him up soon for an extended contract because I really couldn't bear to see him in any other jersey.

JMFJ is a new rookie who I will definitely be keeping my eye on. In 20 games he's gone 1-1=2. 36 PIM and a better plus/minus than the first two Kings mentioned. I see Jack growing immensely this season. He's surrounded by veteran defensemen and I bet we're going to see a noticeable difference in his playing from now to the end of this season.

Jonathan Bernier – Why do I get goose bumps whenever I hear or read his name? Because I'm a nerd and because I have put more hope than I'm comfortable with in his future. I was so sad when the Kings sent him away, but ultimately it was for the best. The boys weren't protecting him and it would have been severely damaging to his development in becoming the fucking awesome goaltender that will soon emerge.

These four guys obviously do not make up the single top line like the Sens, but they are looking to create a solid foundation for this organization to grow on. Our top line? Did the arbitration kill Cammy's shot at a long-term contract? Perhaps. But, he IS the top goal-scorer as of this writing (11). But another thing to point out about Cammy is that he's 25 (he has the same exact birthday as I do down to the year, CRAZY), and the other boys are 22, 20, 20, and 19, respectively. Fro has also been moved around in this mix; at 25 he's a solid contributor as well. But Cammy and the Fro aren't considered part of this emerging flash and dash from the Kings.

The Senators' future versus our future. Is it even comparable? What say you?

Brownie Lands Extension

I know Brownie's contract extension is old news but I've been debating whether or not I want to write about it. Considering how early into the season the decision came along combined with reading about Kipper's recent contract extension, it got me thinking about several things. What other LA Kings may we see agree to a contract extension before the off-season? How much are these players going to sign for? How many more seasons will their extension include? Who is getting the better deal with these early contract decisions? A quick look at THN's salary list shows that Patrick O'Sullivan, Joe Piskula, Erik Ersberg, Gabe Gauthier, and a handful of other veteran Kings and youthful Monarchs will be RFAs at the end of the season. Another interesting point is that Joey is making more than Patty.

At the beginning of last season I was disappointed in Patty's play. He deservedly was sent to Manchester for most of the season but came up at the end of the season and showed a definite improvement. However, his improvement over the off-season has been quite stunning. I definitely want to see him back next season but wouldn't be surprised if management held off for a couple months before they agree to a contract extension. Part of me thinks that management sees him as a part of the youth movement that will see the Kings become true competitors in the NHL but part of me thinks he could be trade bait. If he keeps up the smart play, his intensity, and production, I don't see why the Kings wouldn't keep him for the future. And besides, who would they want to bring in at the trade deadline? I won't say anthing because I don't want to jinx my team, but I know that a lot can happen in just a few months.

Joey P played a couple games with the Kings at the end of the '06-'07 season. I don't remember much of him except that he looked nervous in an interview he did one or two games before he made his NHL debut. I don't doubt that the reason I can't recall his contribution is because of the hype that surrounded JMFJ's first NHL game, which came around the same time that Joe made his appearance. At the H&HH event Luc made some positive comments about Joe and Brian Boyle that made it seem like those two are the future of the Kings blueline, especially Boyle who they are determined to mold into a defenseman. Since he's at Manchester I don't foresee the Kings extending Joe's contract anytime soon. One sidenote: Boyle is HOT! I think I'm surprised because I expected him to look like Chara. No offense to Chara...he's just not my type. Boyle definitely has that model look going for him and a great head of wavy dark hair. Move over Pennersquee, Boyle is going to take the NHL fangirls' panties off with just one sultry look. But let's get back to Piskula; from what I've read in articles and heard in interviews, it seems like Piskula will be around for awhile because of his promising development. During camp there was talk that he might make the squad but was sent down to Manchester just before the start of the season.

I haven't heard much about goaltender Erik Ersberg. Well, actually I do know that he has the heroin chic look down. Seriously, there's no way that kid weighs 182. He's sharing netminder duties with my personal favorite, Dan Cloutier, and so far his 2-1-1, 2.77 GAA, 0.882 SV% is better than Cloutier's stats. Oh Cloutier...you make me proud! Who knows, Ersberg could make a career in the AHL or he could possibly come out of nowhere and make a viable run for a spot on the team in the next several seasons.

Last season I held Gabe Gauthier in the same light as the likes of Noah Clarke and John Zeiler. Needless to say, that's not good for him. However, while Clarke was let go by the team and picked up by Jersey and promptly sent down to a farm team and Zeiler continues to be that "energy" guy who makes more successful hits on the glass than actual players, Gauthier is ripping it up down at Manchester. Last season he was 14-28-42 in 69 games and was a +16. So far this season he leads the Monarchs with 4-8-12 in 8 games and is a +2. On the other hand, Guilano, Cliche, and Tukonen have 0 points combined. Will we see Gauthier this season? If he keeps up his play, I don't see why not. But then again, he could very well be one of those guys who excels in the AHL and then has nothing to show once he's in the NHL. I'm going to keep an eye on him and if he gets called up I'll be supporting him this time, if for no reason other than he's a hometown boy; I don't mean "hometown boy" as in Verne, CA, I'm talking about Torrance, CA! Represent, Gabriel!

As for the questions I posed at the beginning of the post, it seems like Patrick O'Sullivan would be the next likely candidate to receive a contract extension. Even though he sees a lot of PK time the recent move to put him on a line with Frolov and Nagy has so far paid off. If that line continues to produce like they have the past several games, I don't see why Patty couldn't be a 20 goal scorer this sesaon. He'll definitely see a pay raise considering he's not even making $1 million this season.

When I first read that Dustin Brown signed a 6-year contract I was a bit worried he would be bringing in a mighty big paycheck. After finding out that it's just over $3 million/season I began to think that Brownie might not have gotten the best deal. Actually, you know who really got kicked in the crotch over that deal? Michael Cammalleri. I wouldn't be surprised if Cammy has a bounty out for the arbitrator who awarded him his contract. I'd like to think that Brownie really wanted to stay in LA (and according to several LA Times and Kings articles it seems he does) and was willing to take the risk of being underpaid in the future in order to stay with the team.

I'm sure once JMFJ, Anze, and Frolov get ready to renew contracts they'll be offered long-term deals as well. In fact I bet most of the younger players in the NHL will be signing 4-6 year contracts while the veterans will be the ones signing one-year deals, like Brendan Shanahan did. I just hope DL doesn't make another contract extension goof like he did with Cloutier. Thank god he didn't sign him to a 5-year deal; I'd be bleeding out of my eyes if I knew Cloots was making Manchester suffer while he was raking in millions.

Keep Your Head Up

Why have I loved #4 since I was a tot?

And why has the cute-as-a-button #23 caught my eye?

Because they get the job done.

Consistency please???

So I WAS going to give you guys another Hidden Gem, but I decided to go with a recap instead. Mostly because I won't have access to a TV in a couple of days and decided to focus on games instead of the random stuff I do. So tonight's game against the Flames started out great. The Kings looked strong and they were actually protecting Aubin!! Shocking!! But, unfortunately, however, apropos, vis-a-vis (name that movie), whatever...after the first period the game started to go downhill for the Kings. BUT, I felt that they were still playing well. Hustling, moving the puck, applying pressure, all that good stuff. YET, the Flames still managed to get 4 past Aubin. But let me backup.

The first period: Finally, a full 20 minutes of work. Can you believe they almost ended the period being up 2 to zilch? Golly! Besides the Flames goal at the end, there was one thing that bothered me. And that was the second 5-on-3. The Kings were two men up for, what, 30 seconds? How many total shots were taken? 1? 2 maybe? What the hell! Stop waiting for the clean, open shot and get the puck to the net! I don't care how it goes in on a 5-on-3! Just drive it to the net and scramble for it there. I don't want to be harsh on my Kings because I feel this way with any team I'm watching, but if you can't score on a 5-on-3, it's kind of pathetic. Argh, I said it. Sorry Kings! I still heart you! But honestly, those 30 seconds were such a tease!!! And really, who likes a tease.

Quickies:

- One thing that made me laugh was the camera was pointed at Conroy on his way to the sin bin, you can clearly see his mouth form the words, “FUCK YOU!” haha

- After their second goal (Brownie!), I thought to myself, “Is their passing improving? Can it be true???”

- Brownie – That was a nice hustle to the goal. I liked the fact that right when he got the puck, he double timed it and got behind the defense and took it home.

- There was a good PK in the second period; there was good pressure from the Kings. Unfortunately the Flames put one past our goal line right when that penalty ran out. Bleh.

- The Kings were doing well to protect Aubin in the first. There were more blocked shots in that one period than I can remember in a whole game this season.

- Zeiler – Here's piece of advice, one that I actually wanted to give to Frodo in the Lord Of The Rings: STOP FUCKING FALLING DOWN!!! Stay on your freaking skates! You'll do better, I swear.

- JMFJ - Lives with Blake! And he's still working toward his college degree. This kid is awesome.

- So KMS2 has Patty O becoming one of her favorites this season. I have chosen Brownie. He's scrappy and he's not afraid to give someone the good ole body check into the boards. He's not flashy like my boy Anze, but he's got the heart of a....king? Ha! =)