Frozen Fury XI Ridiculousness + KW Podcast Ep 1.12

Why have I never gone to Frozen Fury in the past? I'm so glad that I made a promise to myself to make it out there this year because I had an amazing time. The drive to Vegas was a surprisingly easy 4-hour drive that got me into town at 10 am. I immediately met up with Connie and soon after I finally met Cat. Two half-asians and one full asian = tons of pictures being taken and an immediate bond. We spent the rest of the day till game time eating at Mesa (Bobby Flay's restaurant...amazing), drinking, napping, eating, and more drinking. As much as I hate the dry heat in Vegas, the only good thing about it is that it always seems like I can drink more in the heat, but Cat was still the best drinker of the three of us.


It's a good thing that Connie went to FF last year because I would have had no clue where to go. I didn't even know MGM had a theater and I couldn't believe at how horribly wrong it seemed to corral thousands of drunk hockey fans through the casino floor into the corner of MGM, attempt to filter out outside drinks and poorly check everyone for illegal items (my purse was never checked). All I know is that if there had been a fire or any need to evacuate, I would have been trampled to death.

On our walk to MGM Connie pointed out that the chick in front of us had one of those hideous overpriced Kings purses!! I could not believe it! I tried my best to follow her and take pictures of her purse, which also meant I was taking pictures of her ass, and this was the best pic I could get:

I know. I have no shame.

The arena was much smaller than your normal hockey arena but the energy was just as lively. For all the slack that preseason games garner, Frozen Fury really is in a league of its own. Fans were going nuts over everything. There was minor bickering among Kings and Avalance fans but hardly a real spat. Everyone just seemed to be enjoying the moment. Enjoying the fact that hockey was finally here. That hockey was in Vegas! It didn't matter that it was a preseason game because we were all drunk hockey-starved fans there to enjoy subpar hockey in an incredible environment.

I was excited to watch my Kings and the new faces on the team. I'm growing fonder of Doughty and Hickey with each game I see. Wayne Simmonds doesn't even have to try to be a fan favorite, he just is. Denis Gauthier was being Denis Gauthier (*sigh*), LaBarbera was...underwhelming (blerg. yes. blerg.), and Kopi looked fantastic, especially when he rocketed the most perfectly placed wrist shot into the far upper corner of the goal. I barely paid any attention to any Avs players, except for Adam Foote who was trying so hard to be the biggest D-bag of the night. It felt so good to let out those 'Boooooooos'.

Connie, Cat, and I recorded a podcast during the first intermission and after the game. We decided to make it this week's podcast for both "I'm Not a Puck Bunny Podcast" and "Kings World Podcast". When I finally listened to it I was shocked at how fast we were talking. If you haven't listened to it yet, do so and you'll understand the Frozen Fury energy that I just can't describe in words. And if you like Vegas and hockey, it doesn't matter if you're not a Kings or Avs fan, because chances are you'll enjoy Frozen Fury. So mark your calendar for September 2009 for Frozen Fury XII.

x-posted to HLOG

Kings 1, Ducks 2 (SO)

Hockey game - pro
Kings game - pro
Fights - pro
Preseason game - con
Ducks game - triple con

The only thing worse than a preseason game is one against the Ducks. There's just so much about that squad that makes me boil with rage. Thankfully for my ulcer, SNiedermayer, Pronger, and T-Mu were not dressed for the game. However, the goonery void left by Pronger was dutifully filled by the remaining lineup.

(much more after the jump)

Up top the Kings had Moller and Moulson sharing time on the top line with Brown and Kopi. I think Moller spent more time with Brown and Kopi and looked pretty good. I can't get over how quick he is...and how small he is, which was very apparent when he had to go up against the Ducks. Once again Moulson looked really good and had the lone Kings goal. And once again, Boyle looked soft. I don't understand how someone that big can be so weak on his skates.

Simmonds got into two scraps tonight much to my satisfaction. He started strong in the first fight and probably took the edge. However, in the second fight he was pitted against Travis Moen. I'm not sure if Simmonds wanted to duke it out against a veteran to show that he play with the big dogs, but he got his ass handed to him. At first it seemed like Simmonds was going to hold his own and even take out Moen, but then it became apparent how big Moen is and Simmonds was never really able to break out of the hold Moen had on him. It was painful watching Simmonds take shot after shot to his head and it looked like he was a bit shaken up, but hopefully the kid will bounce back and tear it up next time.

The defense did not look good at all. Johnson, Preissing, and newly (re)acquired O'Donnell were in suits while prospects Voynov, Loktionov, and Drewiske and Doughty, Greene, and Gauthier held the back end. The prospects were fairly unimpressive and Greene was just there. Doughty looked the best but still made some shaky plays.

Between Overtime and the Shootout, Connie and I recorded a quick snippet of our feelings about the game. Enjoy my awesome camera skills:

Shootout came and quickly ended. The Kings put forward three young guys (Moulson, Purcell, and Meckler) while the Ducks went with veterans. Why is it that the Kings can't score a freakin' shootout goal anymore? Remember the days when the Kings rocked in shootouts? Yeah, I miss those days...I'm already envisioning all the points we're going to lose due to shootout losses. This is going to be a fun season.