Book Review: 'Game of Shadows'

I just finished reading Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. If I had to describe this book in one word it would be, Wow.

This book goes into a whole lotta detail about the guy, Victor Conte, who started BALCO, and the weird twisted six-degrees-of-separation-cobweb of steroid users, makers, and distributors. Barry Bonds, of course, is stage center in this book, but also implicated in the book are a lot of other professional athletes, mainly track and field stars.

It's an easy read but incredibly fascinating and chock full of information, including grand jury testimonies that were supposed to be sealed. It makes you think twice about being a sports fan and how much you can trust the athletes that are so adored.

Kings1, Ducks 3

What the hell did I just watch?

I don't know how I made it through the entire game but it was so painful watching my Kings doing...nothing. It's a good thing Anaheim wasn't on top of their game or else the Kings would have gotten blown out while they glided along the ice, thumbs up their butts, watching the other team skate circles around them. Ersberg was easily the best player for the Kings tonight and even he wasn't stellar, just wasn't tested much. This game was downright terrible.

Getty Images
It was messy, slow, and boring.
That's what she said.

Kings World Podcast - Episode 23

The first Kings World Podcast episode of 2009. We do a quick review of the games from the past two weeks, touch upon the departure of LaBarbera and the emergence of Quick, and discuss the upcoming games, including a home-and-home against a Perry-less Anaheim.

All comments, questions, and feedback regarding the podcast may be directed to kingsworldpodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

Enjoy and thanks for listening!

We Like Our Goalies Young

We also like it when our goalies give us a shot at winning games, something LaBarbera only did less than a handful of times this season. Who would've thunk it that Ersberg's injury would essentially be the final straw for LaBarbera; instead of Barbs stepping up and solidifying his hold on the number one goaltending spot, he let it slip away and gave rookie Jonathan Quick a chance (actually multiple chances) to show off his skills and prove he's ready for the NHL.

(Photo by Bernstein Associates/Getty Images)

With several strong performances in net from Quick, a healthier Ersberg, one highly touted goalie (Bernier) in Manchester and two additional promising goalies (Taylor and Zatkoff) in the pipeline, it was obvious from the start of the season that if Barbs didn't drastically improve his play in net his chances of returning next season would soon decrease to zero. Seeing that Barbs was only signed through this season (and not for a hefty price tag at all) and that it was highly unlikely he would be re-signed, unloading him and getting anything for him at this point is a bargain and a very smart move. Lombardi is pretty good at drafting players so I wouldn't be surprised if he snags a gem in the 7th round.

Photo Courtesy of kms2

He's tall...and really, really nice

See ya, Barbs. Good Luck with the Canucks this year and in the AHL or KHL after that.

x-posted to HLOG

Jon Zeiler: The Great Divide Between Siblings

My brother and I usually have very similar tastes: huge crush on Dustin Brown, love of Japanese food, music, TV shows, movies, etc. The one thing we severely disagree on is Jon Zeiler. I've made it well known on this blog that I absolutely detest Zeiler and see him negatively contributing to the Kings. On the other hand, my hermano loves this guy because he goes out on the ice with the sole intention of hitting the opposition. Zeiler's role is the exact reason why I can't stand him since his only purpose is to take runs at people; with the hockey goon gradually being phased out of the league, what's the purpose of playing someone who has a lack of hockey skills and admits that his goal is to hit people when the end result most of the times is that he eats glass.

Regardless, my complaints about Zeiler in the presence of my hermano falls on deaf ears. When Zeiler finally returned to the lineup after a short stint on the sidelines, during which Peter Harrold, his replacement on the fourth line, proceeded to notch 2 goals in 2 games, he attempted to fight the crazy, lunatic, something wrong in the head, Avery-in-the-making Daniel Carcillo. My hermano loved the photo below that the AP snapped and he came up with the caption all on his own:

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!!!!"

The funniest thing about this photo is it looks like Johnny Z had the upper hand in the fight when in reality, this move was a total fluke in the fight and occurred after Carcillo pounded Zeiler. I have no idea how Zeiler was able to flip Carcillo like this and I guess it's another anomaly I won't ever be able to understand in Zeiler's hockey career. The other shitty thing about Zeiler is that once Carcillo had his back on the ice, he still continued to throw punches, not exactly conforming to the gentleman's code. Alas, despite my attempt to clear my brother's head, I don't think he'll ever stop supporting Zeiler. And to irritate me even more, I don't think he'll ever be permanently placed on the sidelines. I guess we'll all have to suffer watching Zeiler attempt to become 'The NHL's Next Biggest Pest'. Actually, that should be a TV Show starring Zeiler, Carcillo, and Tootoo and Sean Avery as the judge.

LA Times: Drew Doughty

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!

In today's LA Times there's a great article about Drew Doughty. It's about his transition into the NHL and how the team made sure he had great people around him off the ice to take care of him. He rooms with Brownie on the road and lives with Matt Greene. I still don't know much about Greene but the article presents him in a good light as Greene talks about wanting to make sure Doughty is taken care of as he was by Jason Smith in Edmonton. It also seems like he's helping Doughty mature:

I have a five-second buffer that I employ with him. Just think before you talk.

Brown is also helping Doughty adjust to life:

There are just these random chirps that don't make any sense, Brown said, laughing. When you're joking around, his big comeback is, 'You're stupid.' It's like 10-year-old humor.

So he's still a little kid at heart. At least he's making a big difference on the ice and the team has his best interest in mind. It's always nice to hear about the young guys being taken care of.

Mr. Quickie Gets the Shutout!

Terry Murray definitely listened to the most recent episode of Kings World Podcast and took advice from myself and Connie because we got our wishes: Barbs out, Quick in, Zeiler out, and Preissing in. The result was beautiful! What, you say? A win against the struggling Blue Jackets is nothing to write home about? I don't give a flying you know what about what anyone says about discounting tonight's win because the Kings needed this W and, let's be honest, so did I.


Because the Midwest can't do anything right, this game started at 4pm my time and silly me forgot to set the game to record. I only watched the third period, but it was enough to show me that the Kings were doing a lot of things right tonight. They limited Columbus' scoring opportunities, protected Quick and his crazy rebounds, and were able to easily move the puck around.

I'm very pleased with the firsts that occurred tonight: Bam Bam's first goal of the season, Harrold's first goal of the season, and Quick's first NHL shutout. I'm not a big fan of Peter Harrold and I was this close to writing a post about why he shouldn't play tonight even though a lot of friends and family would be in attendance. But I am all for him taking Zeiler's spot and he did fantastic job at it, notching his first of the season, a beautiful finish off a perfect pass from Kopitar, and finishing the game with a +2. Well done, Harrrold, way to play the puck and not ignore its presence on the ice. It's rather impressive when two guys both score goals while only registering less than 8 minutes of playing time; it's good to see the fourth line contribute.

Yeeeaaaah, Bam Bam!!!

Next up: Christmas!
After that: Home-and-home against the Phoenix Coyotes.
And then after that: Another faceoff against Columbus.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Is It All Downhill From Here?

Friday's game against Buffalo was atrocious. I had to turn it off because it was so painful.

I missed the first two periods of today's game against Detroit but I was pleasantly surprised to see them tied 3-3 heading into the final period. I was even more surprised to find out that rookie netminder Jonathan Quick was in net and had been there the entire game. Was LaBarbera's outing the previous day terrible enough to warrant him a spot on the bench the following day? Earlier in the season, even with Ersberg backing him up, Murray played Barbs game after game despite being shaky in net. While I was pleased to see Murray not play favorites and insist that Barbs is definitely, without question the Number One goaltender, I was still questioning if it was the smart move to start a rookie against one of the top teams in the league.


I can't judge how the team played the entire game, but in the third, despite taking a one-goal lead from Brownie off of a sweet pass from Stoll, the Kings didn't deserve the win. After getting that fourth goal the Kings stopped trying to play offense and instead tried their hardest to clog up the neutral zone and stop the Red Wings from tying the game. Not only did the Kings fail to prevent the Wings from forcing extra time, they found themselves completely helpless against the Stanley Cup Champs, falling to them 4-6.

Quick had some bad rebounds and allowed a short side goal that he should have stopped. Quincey was cheating and found himself at the top of crease not doing much to prevent a pass through the crease or tie up Hudler and not allow him to score so easily. For the second half of the period the Kings were scrambling and always looked a step behind the quick, smart, fluid Red Wings.

The Kings are in the midst of a four game losing streak and now the goaltending position is in the hot seat again. I'm not convinced Quick can pick up the pieces and be the Kings' best defender when LaBarbera is struggling, which recently has been too often. I've been waiting for the Kings to get past the 0.500 mark and prove to everyone that they are a winning team, but lately they haven't shown it and their record continues to get worse. Will the Kings finish the season hovering around 0.500, figure out how to be more consistent and be a winning team, or continue this downward spiral and finish in the bottom quarter of the league?

Kings World Podcast: Episode 21

I'm back this week on Episode 21 of Kings World Podcast. Since Connie and I missed a week we had tons of games to review and preview. Instead of reminiscing over the past 5 or 6 games, we only touch upon certain parts of those games as we discuss what the Kings are doing right and what they need to improve upon. We look forward to a busy week for the Kings (finally some road games and some are against the Eastern Conference!) and close out the episode with the usual shoutouts.

Comments can be emailed to kingsworldpodcast[at]gmail[dot]com. And join our Facebook group!

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.

Neck Beards = Grossness

Who knew that Kyle Orton's neckbeard, Kyle Orton's nasty, grimy, disgusting, severely unattractive neckbeard, would make its way to the NHL and to the LA Kings.

Patrick O'Sullivan has been sporting one and recently I noticed that Kyle Quincey started too. Do guys think this is an awesome look? They do know that it's disgusting and won't get them the ladies, right? I assume they're doing it to be funny. And tonight, in the game against Columbus, there are a lot more unshaven guys than usual. Most notably, Frolov has unfortunate stubble and Handzus let his beard grow past the stubble stage.

Is it possible that this year's playoff beard fad will be the neck beard? Ooohhh, that won't be pretty.

Kings 2, Flames 6. Woof.

Wow...what happened?! Judging by the boxscore, since I don't have Center Ice and I don't have much luck listening to Kings games on the radio, here's what I can deduce:

• Ersberg finally got lit up
• Boyle and Army were each a -3 and Ivanans was a -2; well done 4th line
• Former King Craig Conroy had 3 assists; he's really good at playing the Kings
• Curtis Glencross (WHO?!) had 1 goal, 2 assists and was a +3
• Dustin Brownie had 7 shots and 0 goals; and
• Kopitar got another last minute goal

Yikes, that's gotta hurt! I don't know what else to say but that finally a team found a way to exploit the Kings' weakness. So, how much longer till the Kings recall Purcell, Lewis, and/or Moulson?

Kings World Podcast - Episode 19

After a short hiatus, Connie and I are back with another Podcast Episode! It's a tad bit longer than usual since we review two weeks' worth of games and preview three games for the upcoming week. We gripe about a couple Kings players and give the appropriate "Atta Boy" to deserving players. Send any comments, feedback, or suggestions to the podcast email: kingsworldpodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

Enjoy!!

And don't forget to join the Kings World Podcast Facebook Group.

Zeiler? Are You Kidding Me?

Zeiler is such a dipshit*.

Why is he even in the lineup? He seriously has a negative contribution to this team**. Check this amazing stat:

In 3:25 of ice time, Zeiler caused the team to be shorthanded for 5 minutes, which would have been more if the Avs didn't get a 2 minute penalty on the same play. In fact, Zeiler accumulated 19 minutes in penalties and was only on the ice for 3:25. Even if you don't include the 10-minute game misconduct, Zeiler had almost 3 times as many minutes in penalties than he did playing on the ice. Derek Armstrong must feel like absolute crap knowing that Zeiler is in the lineup and he's sitting on the sidelines.

*I don't like Adam Foote, but I'm glad he's ok. Hopefully Zeiler's ridiculously unnecessary hit will convince Coach Murray that he doesn't deserve to be in the lineup.

**Actually, the only positive contribution he made to the game tonight was getting himself thrown out so he couldn't taint the team anymore with his awfulness. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the NHL suspends him because he blatantly gave Foote an extra shove into the boards head first. I hope the NHL suspends him for the rest of the season so Murray can't even think about putting him in the lineup.

***Woah, the Kings just scored two goals while I wrote this post. Maybe I should keep blogging....

(x-posted to HLOG)

Kyle Calder, Get Off the Ice!

"Meh, I'm such a weenie.
I have lady parts.
Brown is such a badass that when I ran into him I hurt myself.
I'm a bigger whiner than Crosby.
I think I'm better than everyone else because I'm Russian.
Oh damn, that Slovenian kid is pretty good.
Why are the fans booing me?? I'm "injured" they should be applauding me since I got up.
Oh right, they're booing because I'm a girl and I have sand in my vagina."

Kings 5, Capitals 2. Here's what each player's goal said:

Doughty: "I'm still awesome."
O'Sullivan: "That's right bitches!"
Brown: "Suuuuuuuuuck it, Ovechkin!!!!"
Handzus: "Will Coach take Calder off my line?"
Kopitar: "Fuck y'all!"

My biggest gripe about the game was that Kyle Calder got 15:36 of playing time, which is 10 minutes more than he should have gotten. He played alongside Handzus and Simmonds on the third line, or as Murray calls it, the checking line, which apparently means that he has to be on the ice all the damn time regardless of how horrible he does. Seriously people, that was the absolute worst game I have ever seen Calder play. He continuously fumbled the puck failing on many occassion to cleanly collect the puck and make a decent pass or scoring attempt. And I lost count of all the scoring opportunities that never occurred because he turned it over despite his linemates doing everything they could to give him a prime scoring chance. There were several fans in my section that started shouting, "Get Calder off the ice!!!" because it seemed like he f'ed up something on every single shift and it killed me that he continued to receive so much playing time. At least the Kings won otherwise this post would have been a full blown "I hate Calder" rant.

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.

Kings v. Anaheim

Apparently Anaheim got jealous that LA was all over the news with constant updates of a wildfire so Anaheim had to go get their own wildfire. In the midst of inhaling worse than normal air, here are my keys to the game:

1. Specialty Teams - Last night the Kings had the chance to end it when they got a power play late in the game. When they couldn't capitalize on the man advantage and fumbled the puck allowing the Preds to break into the zone causing the Kings to take a penalty to thwart the scoring opportunity, they found themselves fighting to prevent a goal-ahead goal. The penalty kill unit couldn't stop the Preds and the Kings couldn't tie the game. The Ducks are notorious for taking tons of penalties so if the Kings can get the power play working, they'll be golden tonight.

2. Calder - Kopitar - Brown: One of those things is unlike the other. Maybe it's because I constantly have a magnifying glass over Calder, but I notice flaw after flaw after flaw. Get that guy off the first line and either on the fourth line where he belongs or on the bench.

3. Simmonds - Handzus - Ivanans: Once again, one of those things is unlike the other. Handzus and Simmonds are fine players and deserve to have a linemate who won't inhibit their play.

4. Physical Play - The Ducks will be physical and the Kings need to match their physical play to stay in the game.

5. Limit Gauthier's Ice Time - Looks can only take this guy so far.

A Shootout Win!

4 starts, 3 wins, pretty damn solid goaltending.

Ersberg is definitely giving Barbs a run for the No. 1 spot.

FSN says, "F You" to Kings Fans

Earlier today Rich Hammond of Inside the Kings linked to an article in the OC Register about how Tom Feuer, executive producer for FSN, has decided to keep broadcasting Kings games using the Rinkside View. Please read the article. It's amazing how little FSN cares about the fans.

There are some pretty good comments on the article. The Best comment ever:

"Can’t believe I actually prefer KDOC to FSW"

So true. I caught the Ducks/Stars game on KDOC and despite the fuzziness, horrible quality, and Bryan Hayward, I sat there in complete happiness because KDOC was televising the game from the normal camera angle so I could actually see what was going on.

I'm seriously thinking of boycotting all Kings games televised using the Rinkside View. I'm so sick of this shit.

Kings v. Panthers...

I won't be able to watch tonight's game and since I missed Tuesday's game against the Ducks that means I'll both games Ersberg starts. I was actually really looking forward to seeing him start a game so I'm bummed that I'll have to wait at least two more days before I do and maybe even more if tonight doesn't go well.

I'm really frustrated with the Kings' losing streak. They started the season looking fine but then once things started looking suspect everything started falling apart. It's still early in the season to judge Terry Murray, but so far I am not a fan of his recent changes to the lineup. How can you constantly mix things up and expect there to be some consistency? How is the top line still not set? Why is Harrold playing up top? Is he really that much better than Moulson or Purcell? Is it better in long run to have a player who is less talented be in the lineup in order to allow more-skilled players develop their game in the AHL just a bit further? And why do I care this much? Every year when I get down about the Kings' play I question why I get so emotionally involved. I supposed it's because following the Kings is a hobby for me. And since following a sports team isn't something that I "practice" and "get better at" like sewing, knitting or scrapbooking, the satisfaction I get from my hobby is fully dependent upon the performance by the Kings. When I sense myself getting too frustrated (over something I can't control), I remind myself, it's just a game and they'll win eventually. Hobbies are supposed to be fun. Following the Kings is supposed to fun. So I just have to take it one game at a time.

Kings v. Panthers prediction
Kings 3, Panthers 1