15-Dec-08: Kings v. Sharks

Los Angeles Kings: 13-12-4...not bad, I'll take it.
San Jose Sharks: 24-3-2....WHAT?! Are you kidding me!?

I've barely been paying attention to the standings. All I know is that the Kings are usually somewhere behind the 8th spot in the Western Conference but they're playing well enough to put them out of the cellar. But what in the world are the San Jose Sharks on this year?! When the Kings opened the season with a home-and-home against the Sharks and looked like absolute poo-poo in those games, I figured it was just because the Kings were terrible and I was going to have a horrible season and be done with my boys come the middle of December. But seeing how the Kings have held strong at 0.500 (although I would love to see them breakaway far past that marker), and it's the middle December and I definitely have not put them out of the playoff race, all is left to say is, "ok, I'll admit it. The Sharks are good this season." And it sucks that they're this good this season. Why? Because the Kings aren't that good and until the Kings are that good, no other California team should be that good. But whatever, I'll put my pity party on hold.

Photo by Noah Graham/NHLI via Getty Images

Stretch it Bam Bam. Stretch it good.

If the Kings can play on Monday like they did against Minnesota (minus the Harrold penalty with three minutes to play with the Kings holding onto only a 2-0 lead for dear life) and like they did against Columbus and St. Louis, then they should have a pretty good chance at winning the game. BUT, if the team comes out like they did against Colorado, stanking like pure ass, then it's all over for them. Bottom line, the Kings are inconsistent from period to period and game to game, and I never know which team will take the ice. I know they can play like an elite team, it just depends on whether or not that team shows up. The Sharks need to be put down and I hope my Kings are the team that starts their downfall.

Starting the Season 0 for 2

I knew the Kings were screwed when the NHL schedule was released during the off season and it revealed that the Kings would open the season with a home-and-home series against the San Jose Sharks. It seemed very unlikely that the Kings would be able to handle the experienced and very skilled Sharks team. Even with backup Brian Boucher tending net in Game 2 the Kings couldn't even come close to taking the upper hand.

Kings fans were super excited to see Blake

Both games featured sub-sub-sub-par playing by the entire Kings lineup, which fully exposed the complete lack of chemistry. The season opener on Saturday had most of the lines rather unchanged throughout the game. However in the home opener on Sunday, the guys were mixed around forming various combinations among the forwards, and even on defense, reminiscent of those horrible Crawford days. Kopitar received a 10-minute misconduct which forced Murray to find players to rotate in his spot during that duration. But since no one line could consistently be counted on to execute any sustained pressure, I suppose it's no surprise that he mixed up the lines hoping to spark some kind of offense.

LaBarbera looked average in the first game and better in the second game less the moment he allowed the lone goal. There were several scary scrums in the second game but he and the guys in front of him always managed to keep the puck out of the net. He even looked solid on shots that went through traffic and rarely let up many rebounds. But, of course, the one shot that beat him looked so easy to stop, low to the near (glove) side, that it seemed inconceivable that the puck was able to sail by him, but yet it did.

The defense encountered so much trouble clearing the zone and, along with the forwards, was so miserable at connecting passes through the neutral zone to begin the attack. The Kings had so much difficulty getting shots on goal because they failed time and time again at crossing the opponents' blueline and gathering the puck on the dump and chase. The passing deteriorated as the game went on to the point where they couldn't even make one clean pass as the clock slowly ticked to zero among boos resonating through Staples Center. Seeing the Kings getting booed in the home opener was brutal. It was even more brutal knowing that the biggest cheer happened when the score of the Dodgers game (7-2 win over Philly) was revealed on the Jumbotron. It doesn't even matter that two goals were disallowed (man in the crease and kicking the puck in the net) in the second period, because the Kings didn't deserve to win. So many things went wrong in these two games and hopefully the Kings will find ways to quickly remediate the issues otherwise it'll be a very long, excruciating season.

x-posted to HLOG

"I'm Full of Rage!!!" As Well

This is a continuation off of KMS2's previous post titled “I'm Full of Rage!!” Seeing as how I proofread websites, reading Bucci's poor grammar (at times) is annoying. But today, this is not about his inability to find his own grammar mistakes. This is about who he's picked as numero uno in the West standings. That....GUY has picked the San Jose Sharks as number one...... ok, I so against this on so many fucking levels!!!! ARGGHHH!!! Here I was, innocently reading this article and I scroll down to number one and I almost projectile vomit at my monitor. Actually, I think threw my arms in the air, rolled my eyes and said, “WHAT THE FUCK!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU PICKED THE MOTHERFUCKING SHARKS FOR THE NUMBER ONE SPOT!!!! FUCK!!! I HATE THEM!!!! FUCK!!!” I do not, nor will I EVER, have a liking for the Sharks. RAGE IS SPEWING UP FROM MY BOWELS!!! And why must you put that picture of Thornton up there?!?! I hate that guy! I can't even comment on the fact that he put the Kings in 13th place right now. There's no room for that as of this moment.

During their playoff run last year, I remember traveling for a race and watching a game in the series against the Preds at dinner the night before. I wanted nothing more than the Preds to win!! BUT, the Sharks won out and what made it 10 times worse was that 99% of people in the room were from nor Cal. *sigh* I got jeered at and taunted by basically everyone. FUCK! I was so fucking pissed off!! GRRRRRR!! I hated being the only Sharks hater in the room! Or in northern California for that matter!!

You know, I didn't dislike Bucci last year. I just went along my merry way reading articles posted by him and other correspondents. But this, THIS! This is appalling and, KMS2, if I could punch anyone in the face, it would be Bucci for writing that article!! “It's 'go' time.” WHATEVER BUCCI!! I want to punch you in the taint! I think I got out all the ranting... for now... And here it is, for your reading pleasure or whatever you want. BLEH!!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/preview2007/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=3040915

And since Bucci likes quotes so much, I would like to end this article by quoting from one of my favorite movies, “The Boondock Saints.” “WHAT THE FUCK!! WHO THE FUCK!! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU FUCKING GUYS!!....FUCK!!!”

Conclusion: I have a potty mouth. And I hate the Sharks.