Kings 2, Ducks 3

I am absolutely sick and tired of hearing these broadcasters say "Freeway Faceoff". First of all, why does a rivalry need a "name"? Second of all, don't you think the crazy guys who came up with the asinine idea of naming the rivalry would have called the whole thing off when they saw the ridiculous ideas put forward by the four (6-year old) fans who decided to actually submit a name? I have a name for this rivalry:

The Bruce McNall Rivalry

Because we all know there probably wouldn't be an f'ing Ducks team if it weren't for Bruce McNall and his stunningly desperate need for money. Thanks, Bruce, this post is for you.

Kings 2, Sharks 1

I can't quite figure out how to accurately describe the way the Kings played tonight. If I have to use one word it would be solid. Jason LaBarbera was deservingly the Number One Star in tonight's game. If it wasn't for his sound goaltending the Sharks would have steamrolled the Kings.

Since I was gone for a week and was practically without access to the interwebs, I completely missed the news about Frolov being injured. I was preplexed when I didn't see his name on the second line and was saddened to hear he has a groin injury. According to the LA Kings website,

Frolov, who is battling a groin injury sustained at Anaheim last Thursday, has not been practicing with the team and only playing games and will take the next couple of days to rest the injury.

Poor Fro, hopefully he recovers quickly. It was nice to see Calder and Ivanans back in the lineup. Calder still isn't at 100% which was evident by his less than stellar slap shot. Bob Miller mentioned that Calder admits he his still recuperating but that he wanted to get out there. I don't blame the guy, he was playing pretty well before he got injured and with Fro out of the lineup the team will definitely need all that Calder can give. Ivanans was on a line with Zeiler and, if I remember correctly, Nagy. Ivanans is wearing a face shield so don't expect any fights from him anytime soon. Actually, considering Thornton is out as well, don't expect any fights at all since the Kings don't really have anyone else who can fight.

Tonight's game didn't start so well on my end. FSN decided to pit the Kings game directly after the WSU v. UW game, which, of course, ran past the start of the Kings game. Hmmmm....it would have been nice to watch a game between two teams in my state as opposed to two teams in another state, but that's America for you, shunning hockey in favor of college football. I about had a stroke when the football game almost went into overtime (I had flashbacks to LSU's third overtime) but luckily one of the teams squeaked out a touchdown with 31 seconds left. By the time FSN switched over to the Kings game, the Kings had just scored a goal. The replay showed Brown beautifully deflecting a slap shot past Nabokov. Despite neither team peppering the opposing goalie with shots, the first period wasn't half bad.

The Kings capitalized on a power play for their second goal of the game. Kopitar was positioned to the left of Nabokov and fired the puck high. Nabokov actually got a piece of it but the shot went off him and into the net. It was relieving to see the Kings score on the man advantage and take a two-goal lead, but I think I was even more impressed that the Kings were able to kill off all three San Jose power plays. According to Bob Miller the Kings were the least penalized team entering tonight's contest but were 28th in the league on the penalty kill...not a pretty stat.

The Kings were lucky to get out of the second period without a goal against them. I knew the Kings weren't going to get the shutout because at the start of the third period FSN displayed facts across the top of the screen, including one announcing that the Kings have had 5 shutouts against the Sharks. Sure, neither Bob nor Jim said the S-word, but did FSN really have to show that fact? Thanks, FSN. Oh, and one more thing about FSN: they SUCK at broadcasting hockey games. Did anyone else notice how blinding the ice was? Sometimes the puck would get lost in the blanket of whiteness because the lighting was piss poor. You could never see a complete red circle, just red arcs in the defensive zones. FSN just kills me sometimes.

Once the Sharks got a goal the game really picked up. I definitely caught myself holding my breath and almost biting my nails because I wanted the regulation win so badly. The Kings held strong and the best part of the final seconds was when, with Nabokov pulled for the extra attacker, Joe Thornton got the puck in the corner with a Kings defender all over him. He fiercly passed it back to the blueline but the puck was completely out of reach of any San Jose players. The puck went sliding into San Jose's end and with the net unguarded the puck was gliding towards it. The BF and I got really excited and kept saying, "it's going in, it's going in!!" and Bob Miller said, "he might get an own goal!!....it hit the post!!" and the BF and I screamed, "Ahhhhh!!! Almost!" Seriously, that would have been an awesome own goal. Next time, Joe. Next time.

Well...tomorrow the Kings play Anaheim. Hopefully the Kings can continue their solid play and it wouldn't hurt if they applied a bit more offensive pressure than they did tonight. Regardless, I just want the W. Go Kings Go!!

I Give Thanks to

the person upstairs who allowed me to get home safely today despite very rough turbulence. I do not give thanks to the airlines because I was 3/3 in delayed flights but United Airlines did hand out $50 vouchers that may be used on a future flight within one year.

I also do not give thanks to the LA Kings. I was gone for one week and missed three games. Well, actually I caught the third period of the Dallas game when I was flipping through the channels and found out that the southern state I was in (not Texas) was carrying Dallas Stars games on FSN. But I don't really count that period as watching hockey because it really sucked ass. A truly disappointing period of hockey for the Kings, I bet Stars fans will beg to differ. So now the Kings have lost 5 in a row...again! After their spectacular win over Dallas earlier in the month one would have thought that the team was going to steamroll their opponents this month. But no...the Kings have stunk it up pretty badly.

So here I am, 2 hours before the puck drops, debating whether or not I want to unload from a very (fried) food filled week by watching a hockey game that very well might not turn out to my liking. Maybe I should put up the "Current Longest Losing Streak" stat again because the Kings seemed to start winning as soon as I mocked them back in October. Which reminds me, I need to update my "Cloutier Watch" because I bet it's way out of date. Ugh, don't worry hockey fans, I'll watch the game because I support the team no matter what.

Since I haven't posted in over a week, here are some things I'm planning on writing about so be on the lookout for them within the next couple weeks:

• A review of Bob Miller's Tales from the Los Angeles Kings
• A review of Lisa Oven's Hockey and High Heels
• Rants about being a female hockey fan
• More rants about the LA Kings with a couple of nice things hidden amongst the cursing

I may not be a professional journalist...

but it doesn't mean I don't set standards for myself as a common hockey blogger. Awhile back I happened upon an article by Mirtle, "Blogs in a Box", in which he discussed the press passes the NY Islanders front office handed out to selected bloggers. The discussion that developed in the comments was quite interesting in which other hockey bloggers voiced his or her opinion of the matter and even one of the press pass-holding bloggers gave his point of view. Mirtle linked to Eric McErlain's AOL Fanhouse article in which McErlain also discusses the issue. I was tempted to write a post about why I blog but was too distracted with other matters (mainly work) to give the topic much thought. However, last week, in my daily morning visit to certain hockey blogs I read on Finny's blog, Girl with a Puck, about a professional sports writer's rant about the sports blogging community. Chris McCosky has a lot of beef with what the sports blogging community encompasses pointing out that "They will lift facts and segments of stories and cut and paste them onto their blog. Rarely, if ever, though, do they bother to credit the source." This article along with a brief conversation with Finny, sparked my interest in writing a post about why I blog and what I think about other sports bloggers. I asked myself why I blog and what are my standards, if any? Even though I've only recently thought about what my blog represents, I now realize that it hasn't veered from the direction of what it stood for when I first started it.

I write this blog because I deeply enjoy hockey and the LA Kings. Since hardly any of my friends are hockey fans I needed an outlet through which I could express my thoughts, good and bad. I have a full-time job so I am fully aware of my limitations as an informative source of the Kings. Unless I actually watch a game, none of my information is first-hand knowledge, a lot of my material is full of my opinions, and I don't strive to be a professional media source. I poke fun at the players, I conduct fake interviews, and if a reader can't tell that I'm obviously joking then that's their problem.

There are many standards that I set for myself as a blogger. The first is always citing my sources. Throughout college I was always very conscious about citing sources in papers I wrote because of the very mere thought of getting kicked out of school (on my parents' bill) because of plagiarism instilled enough fear in me. Citing sources and providing links aren't difficult and I always do so in my posts. If I write something along the lines of "sources are saying" without citing a specific source, it's because I either can't remember where I heard it or because I read it in various places and can't remember which ones because it was so long ago. I never really know what to do about photos that I snatch from around the web. I try to make note of where I got it but I do realize that I usually fail to do so. I figure since I'm not making a profit from these photos than it's ok. Also, if anyone wants me to remove a pic, I have an email address at which they can contact me.

Another standard I set for myself is trying to be grammatically correct. Even though I always hated English throughout my schooling years, at the very I tried to write well. I absolutely hate it when I read articles by professionals or bloggers and I come across grammar errors. I've written several posts on catching grammar errors (Bucci, I'm looking at you!) but mainly I come across these mistakes in blogs. Blogs are chock-full of grammar mistakes and spelling errors. And don't even get me started with commenters. If a blog is notorious for these type of mistakes, I don't read them. If a blog continually attracts commenters who can't write 5 words without misspelling one of them, I either don't read the comments or I pass on the blog altogether. Blogger has a spellcheck function. Google Mail (in which I usually type up my drafts) also has a spellcheck function. Hell, write your posts in Word, because then the misspelled words are automatically underlined in red! And if you aren't absolutely sure that what you're saying is a word, then double check with an online dictionary; my best friend while writing reports is Dictionary.com. Can't remember the difference between "there", "their", and "they're"? Why not go back to the third grade. If you do it once or twice, ok, ok, no problem, everyone has a slip-up. But if you make these mistakes over and over again, it's no wonder these bloggers aren't professional journalists.

The one area of grammar that I will admit to having issues with (and I've mentioned this on more than one occasion) is the use of commas. I absolutely suck at using commas. I think I use them too much. Also, I'm not quite sure I've mastered the use of the colon and semicolon. I'm pretty sure I tend to use them correctly, but usually I try to avoid using them....but they just look so cool!! I also try to avoid using any curse words but a couple tend to sneak in a post. I usually have a little argument with myself over whether or not I should include a curse word and even when I think it just has to be included to really add that extra emphasis I cringe every time I do it. My mother always told me that it's not pretty when a female curses and while I know a lot of females who freely curse (and it's no longer 1960), I do think that it's not very professional to curse at all in my posts. But once again, I'm not a professional journalist so a good "fuck" or "shit" will appear every now and then.

Looking around the blogosphere you notice that some use real names, often just a first name, and others use fake names. I use initials (and a digit) because that was the first thing that popped into my head when I started a personal blog several years ago. It could be said that I'm hiding behind my blogger name and because I don't use my real name that means I feel like I can write whatever I want without having to face any consequences. True, I could write whatever I want, but I don't. The main reason I don't use my real name is because I have a full-time job and I don't want to get fired from my day job. I have never mentioned to any coworkers that I have a blog or that I even read blogs. I don't want to use my real name because I don't want a coworker to google my name and see it pop up from a blog entry. And trust me, my name is unique enough that a google search will easily retrieve information about me. I don't know what my company's policy is about blogging and whether I could get fired for doing so. I bet if I was caught posting at work I would receive a stern talking to which is why I limit my posting to lunchtime and after work. In my posts I never mention what I do for a living or complain about any work related items so I feel like I'm safe in case someone does find out, but regardless, I don't want to take any chances.

All this talk of having standards leads to my final discussion point of 'What would happen if the Kings offered press passes to bloggers?' First of all, there aren't many Kings bloggers out there right now. It may be because most of us are blubbering illiterate idiots or it could be because the team has sucked for so long. Mark my words: once the Kings start making a viable run for the Cup, Kings blogs will be blooming everywhere!!!! And, if the Kings offered press passes to bloggers, I have no doubt that all of a sudden Kings blogs would be popping up. If the Kings offered bloggers press passes I most likely wouldn't turn it down. Would anyone? (Well...ok, I'm sure there are a couple modest folks out there who would.) But honestly, I would probably feel very uncomfortable if I did have a press pass. Do I really belong with the real journalists? No. Can I write as well as them? I don't know, but I am my toughest critic so I am inclined to say, 'No'. Would a press pass really help my blogging career? Wait, what career? Blogging is one of my hobbies. What kind of contract would the Kings make me sign? Would it be acceptable for me to wear a Kings jersey? (One of the debates that sparked from the Islanders blogger press passes). Would it be acceptable for me to cheer for the Kings during the game? Would my blog still be able to have a subjective feel to it or would I be more inclined (or required) to provide an objective view? Would anything be off limits and how would my point of view of hockey, the Kings, journalists, etc. change if I had a blogger press pass?

To me it seems like there are so many unknowns associated with a blogger press pass. It could be fun, exciting, and informative. Or, it could be pointless, for bloggers and the organization. I don't understand why some sports journalists are really angered by the ever increasing presence of sports bloggers. Sports journalists have a job to provide accurate information about sports. They must follow certain guidelines and codes of conduct and they have the "I write for [insert newspaper or magazine name here]" title to give them immediate professional status to the common reader. Bloggers can do whatever they want but it doesn't mean that they should be allowed to get away with anything. While bloggers may not get in trouble for breaking the same rules that journalists must answer to, it doesn't mean that they are completely invisible to a lawsuit. But just as any reader can happen upon a blog and immediately deem it worthless, that same reader could read an article by a journalist and say the same thing. Journalists may have more schooling and experience than the common blogger but it doesn't immediately mean that they are better. There are some tremendous blogs available to anyone that garner a lot of attention, it's just that the author(s) of the blog chose not to become a journalist.

In a city like LA where hockey comes after USC and UCLA, it's difficult to find journalists that cover the Kings on a daily basis and provide much objective or subjective insight about the team. . Fans know where to go to get the hockey fix they crave. Bloggers are taking advantage of a new media and they're helping spread the word about sports. I know that when I want to read quotes from players and coaches, I go to the LA Times or other big news source. But when I want to read about what a fellow fan thinks about said quote, I go to a certain blog. The majority of blogs do not provide firsthand information that hasn't been published elsewhere. The majority of blogs that I have come across post information the author found somewhere and provide their own opinions on the matter, which I think is the best part about blogs. Not everyone has the same view on a subject or saw a certain play develop and be executed. It doesn't matter if a blogger has a fantastic description or an absolutely absurd idea because the bottom line is that opinions start discussions, get people thinking, and help fans learn more about the sport they love.

Shootout Loss to the Ducks?!

Grrrrr!! I knew this day was going to suck! I knew it immediately when I was walking to my car this morning and the cute neighborhood kitty came running up to me but just before getting to my open hand so that I could ruffle his cute little face, he swerved left and ran underneath a car. Damn you, kitty, thanks for ruining my day!! I won't make you suffer through the rest of my poopy day (that's what a boyfriend is for) and instead I'll go straight to the game.

Finny made me feel like a horrible fan with her text just before (or after?) the puck dropped:

Finny: Why aren't you here?
kms2: Don't know. Just got home, need to turn on the tv!

(Ed. note: I'm horrible at texting so don't be alarmed if it takes me 10 minutes to send a short message)

Which brings me to another point. Why do the Anaheim Ducks insist on having 7pm start times????????????????

As soon as I walked in the door I flipped through the channels and noticed the game was on both FSN channels. I recalled reading something about this on Battle of California but didn't quite understand what RudyKelly was talking about since I hadn't heard about this stupid idea. I watched the game on both channels, flipping back and forth for about 5 minutes, trying to determine which was the lesser evil. RudyKelly's pregame description of what each channel would offer is spot on. Needless to say, both channels sucked pretty badly. FSN Prime Ticket had the normal camera view but with Bryan Hayward and we all know how much I haaaaaaate Hayward. He's completely biased, can't take a joke, can't make a joke, and is just overall unbelievably annoying. FSN West had the "rinkside" camera view.....Ooooooohhhhhh, the "rinkside" view, isn't it fancy guys? It's like you're right up against the glass, it's like you're Pierre McGuire and you have to duck in order to avoid errant pucks, oh my goodness the play is whizzing by me like I'm at a tennis match, oh my what the hell is wrong with the video feed, why is everything way too sharp so that it's actually kinda blurry, what's wrong with the lighting, why are camera angle changes so sharp? why do you keep switching back to the behind-the-glass angle because I can't see what's happening on the other end of the rink, and ohhhhh myyyyyy God, why is it QUIET?!?! No one is talking because really, hockey is just so much more interesting when you watch it in silence, I mean holy hell, why didn't I ever think of that? And what was worse of all? When I was watching FSN Prime Ticket suffering through Bryan Hayward, because I finally decided that listening to Hayzie was better than the trash being shown on FSN West, but then all of a sudden they decided to let us watch the game from the rinkside view....so it didn't matter which damn channel I was on because both were showing the game from the same rinkside view with no play-by-play!! And the idiots at FSN Prime Ticket did this on more than one occasion!!

Since I've had such a poopy day my analysis of the game is only going to focus on the positives. Hopefully my positive thinking will carry over into the remaining days of the week, most notably Thursday.

Frolov played amazingly well tonight and has the points to prove it: an assist on every Kings goal. He was a determined man out there and it was such a pleasure watching him skate around Ducks players left and right, fighting them off, and then dishing the puck off to someone else for the finish. I usually say that Fro needs to shoot more, but if he continues to play like he did tonight, I don't care if he doesn't register another shot on goal for the remainder of the season. He dominated the play whenever he was out on the ice and he made his teammates look damn good tonight.

On the initial rush that led to Moulson's goal, I was cursing up a storm because Moulson fumbled the first play that I thought should have led to a goal. But then Frolov recouped the puck, skated by two Ducks, came face to face with a third Duck, patiently moved around him and passed it to a wide open Moulson who scored his 2nd NHL career goal with an easy tip in. Even though he's probably only in a Kings jersey because Calder is on IR, he's really giving some of the other guys a run for their money. Moulson registered a respectable 13:20 of ice time tonight and played very well with Frolov. It'll be interesting to see if Moulson remains with the team once Calder gets healthy. If this kid keeps up his play I wouldn't be surprised if Moulson stays and Willsie goes...

What I'm about to write is really difficult for me to do, but I am a person who will give credit where it is due. With that said, I just have to point out that even I thought John Zeiler had one heck of a game tonight. The only thing I wish Zeiler hadn't done was turtle after he nailed Getzlaf and had to stand up for himself against one of the Ducks (can't remember which one...). However, in Zeiler's defense, it was a fair check, Getzlaf is 4 inches taller and 18 pounds heavier than Zeiler, and Getzlaf did have his head down until just before he got hit. Regardless, Zeiler definitely irritated the Ducks and despite having played only 8:04 it seemed like he was always on the ice. He had some really good checks, almost scored a goal, and got the Kings going. Check, check, check, he did his job tonight. Zeiler, well done. Keep that up and maybe I'll stop hating on you....much. *sighs and takes big breath* Ok, that was easier than I thought it would be.

Once again the team rallied from behind and almost got the win. It's nice to see that this team won't piss off and die once a goal or two gets past their goalie. When the Kings were down by 2 in the first period, the BF and I were so calm. We kept mentioning to each other how we're not panicking because it's only the first period. We have plenty of time to score 5 goals...ok, ok, I know that those types of comebacks don't happen very often but it's amazing that I even have the confidence in my team to make a strong and valiant effort to win the game.

A Fond Farewell

Hello everyone!

I have enjoyed my time here writing for Purple Crushed Velvet but will now be writing on my own site. I hope you find your way over there soon and join me in my thoughts on all things Los Angeles Kings.

My new site is called “A Queen Among Kings” and hope it’s good for some insights and good times. Please inform your family, friends, and pets of me and I’ll catch you on the flip side!

Cheers!
CKim

Across Enemy Lines

The following is an intercepted communique between the Anaheim Ducks' Girl with a Puck and a double agent that turned the information over to us at Purple Crushed Velvet. Found in a folder marked, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, was the following keys to the game:

TO: Boy Scout
FROM: PuckGirl

The defending Stanley Cup Champions got off to a shaky start this season, only periodically showing off their finesse on the ice in flashes. At times, they're sloppy in the neutral zone and careless in their own D-zone (see Corey Perry's ugly turnover to Phoenix's Shane Doan last week; footage enclosed in the attached flash drive). At their worst, the Ducks were spanked to a painful 5-0 finish by the Stars. At best, they took advantage of a five goal offensive attack that left the Coyotes' howling at the desert sunset when they went down 5-2. They also doubled up on the Red Wings in October, winning 6-3.

All that points to one thing: The Ducks still have the firepower to get the job done.

However, the warning label reads: May Have Second Period Brainfart.

POSITIVES: Youngbloods Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf are carrying a hefty point total -- a combined 14-17=31 points. If opponents shut them down, expect Chris Kunitz and Andy McDonald to try to pick up the pieces. Early on, McDonald sustained injury to his point total thanks to the loss of his partner Teemu Selanne. Lately, McDonald has been getting back to form and could be a dangerous asset depending on how much space and speed he can generate. On the back end, the Ducks have Chris Pronger and Mathieu Schneider, two defensemen operating under the directive to fire at will. The results have been very favorable, particularly since Schneider's shot finds it's mark with relative consistency. Goaltending seems to be fairly solid, but lately they've been switching out after giving up 3 goals in succession. Might be a problem to keep an eye on.

NEGATIVES: The Ducks are fond of the penalty box. If they start the parade, look for them to fall apart not long after. Their inconsistency indicates that they're not yet ready to be sent out on the field, but there's no more time to waste. They'll need to learn on the fly and adapt to the situations they're thrown into. It's hard to predict how they'll react when down two goals or more. Sometimes they battle back, othertimes, they just lay down and give up. The defense is a mixture of old time veterans with the experience and expertise and guys that are still in training mode. Turnovers are rampant and they seem to have some trouble holding up the blueline. The Power Play is still nothing to be afraid of, though they've finally netted a few. On the flip side, the penalty kill wasn't awful to begin with, but has been somewhat weaker lately.

The top agents to watch include the youngbloods and the big two on the blue. Promising prospects that can be easily missed in the shuffle are all camped out on the checking line where they can sneak a goal or two in. If any trouble should arise, count on Brad May and George Parros to take care of the dirty work.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Mixed. Good on some nights, bad on others. Despite that, it appears that they're up to task for tonight's matchup. The demolition crew will be out in full force, ready to scrap and snarl their way to the front of the net. Crosstown showdowns generally bring out the best in this bunch, so it'll be a spirited affair.

(Editor's Note: Oh, you wanted a Kings preview?? Then head on over to Girl with a Puck. Looks like Finny did some digging of her own!! I knew I couldn't trust her...)

JR and His 500th Goal

Last month I wrote a post describing the Top 5 Ways JR could score his 500th goal. Some fellow bloggers pitched in with some fabulous possible scenarios and now it's time to see who was closest in predicting the fashion in which JR would reach this monumentous milestone.

According the post game wrap-up on Yahoo! JR's goal happened as such:

Roenick dumped a shot toward the net from just inside the blue line. It appeared Auld had stopped the puck, but it dribbled free and slid across the line, giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead.

"I wish for his sake it could have been nicer," Auld said. "I went over to play the dump, it hit the glass, and hit the net, bounced off me and I put it in. You never want to be the guy who gives it up, you'll be on the highlights a lot."

I think Schnookie of Interchangeable Parts is the Grand Winner with her scenario:

I feel like opposing teams should be helping him out more with this; like, after he touches the puck they would just pick it up and throw it into their own nets.

Sure, Auld might have made it look like he was trying to stop it, or that the puck just happened to hit him, but we know he really took a swipe at that puck and helped it across the line. Way to go, Auld, you attention grabbing whore!! Thank you for putting us out of this misery. Now I can enjoy future Kings/Sharks game without feeling like I'm on the edge of puking my guts out from being so nervous that JR will score his 500th against my team. Ahhh, whatever, I'll admit it, I'm just bitter that the Kings organization was stupid enough to have given JR millions. I think it's pretty obvious that JR will retire this season. It's actually really nice and heartwarming to see a guy end his career on a highnote. Congrats, Roenick!

The Shot That Won The Game

If you think I'm referring to Anze's game-winning goal in OT, you are incorrect. I'm talking about the shot that KingsCast bought me during the second intermission. We were in the concourse distressed about how terribly this game was turning out and decided that alcohol was the answer. Turns out we were 100% correct. The alcohol miraculously allowed the Kings to rally back for the most incredible finish I have ever witnessed in my years on this planet. I think I might have even peed my pants. I don't think I will ever witness something like this again, and to see it live amongst those in section 318 made it a million times better. But let me back track to the first crap-tastic 50 minutes of the game.

1st period: It was uninspired. Nothing was going on and I started to loudly mock the Kings predictable suckiness. As I pointed out to KingsCast during the second intermission, the Dallas' boring play definitely rubbed off on my Kings. Damnit.

I WILL point out that I was presently surprised at the starting lineup for the Kings. The D was the standard Blake and Lubo pairing, but in front were Willsie, Sully, and Moulson (who needs an awesome nickname). This was to match up against Dallas' D Boucher and Daley with Rebeiro, Morrow, and Lehtinen out in front. I thought the game was going to be exciting with Sully throwing up two hits in the first minute, but sadly, nothing worked after that and I was getting bored. How would I describe Army's and Stuart's playing in the first? Suck-tastic.

At the end of the first: Stars up 2-0 = gay

2nd period: They say that hitting can turn a game around. Well, there was plenty of hitting by the Kings, but did they turn the game around? Negative. Army? Still sucking. And you know who else was sucking in the second? That's right, Handzus. Once again guys, stop giving up the neutral zone! Be one with the neutral zone, it is your friend. And, by the way, that fourth Dallas goal was sloppy; the Kings clearly were NOT protecting Barbs. Argh!

At the end of the second: Kings have a stellar 18 shots on goal and the Stars are up 4-0. Where's Aubin?

3rd period: Hmm, Crawford must have heard me cuz Aubin was in net. Sweet, this might change something. The Kings' play was yet again uninspired; the seats were emptying and it looked like a predictable ending. Was anyone else surprised that this game actually sold out? There were so many empty seats in the second tier!

So we come upon the last 10 minutes of the game. Oh my god, is something actually happening? Are the Kings showing some life? Are the fans actually providing some energy to our ailing Kings? BAM! Brownie nets one. Then Thornton. Then the Fro. Then Anze. Then Nagy. Fuck! Modano? We move into overtime.

P.S. You know why Handzus is not my favorite player? Because he took a freaking boarding penalty to allow Modano to score. What the FUCK. You will never mean more to me than Blake. This is also why I'm unsure about Handzus.

At the end of the third: Kings have tied it 5-5 with the most exciting 5 minutes and 7 seconds of playing in Kings' history. My hands literally hurt from clapping so much.

Overtime: A VERY stressful 2:30 passes and then Anze comes out of the corner with a man on and backhands it toward Turco. Game is OVER at 2:34 into OT. What a beautiful highlight-worthy goal, Anze. I honestly had my doubts about you in the first 50 minutes of the game, but I appreciated the effort to finish the game.

Notable chants from the peanut gallery: “Go, Monarchs, Go!” And for the first 40 minutes, whenever Cammy got the puck, some dude would yell, “C'mon Squid!” hahahahahaha

After game notes: listening to Nick Nickson and Daryl Evans on the drive home. They broadcasted from the Grand Reserve Room and interviewed Zeiler for a couple of minutes. His “you knows” started to wear on my patience and then came the kicker. When he was talking about Turco's play, he actually said, “Couldn't get nothing past him.” ...Dude....Zeiler...the English language does not allow double negatives to be equated with intelligence. Are you fucking kidding me?? Who's handling player PR for the Kings? They need some public speaking courses, and some English classes wouldn't hurt either. Conclusion: John Zeiler hurts my ears.

Conclusion overall: This was the most incredible ending to a Kings game. EVER. I heart my Kings.

P.S. My bro bought a JMFJ jersey. It matches well with my Blake jersey. =D

Kings Stun Stars

I'll be honest, I didn't exactly watch the whole game. I watched all of the first period. I thought both teams looked good and that neither really stood out or dominated. However, when Zeiler got a penalty I just knew the Stars were going to score and, of course, they did. I kept hoping the Kings would get a late goal to bring back some momentum but unfortunately Dallas was the team that got the late goal. During the first intermission I took my mind off the game by playing XBox.

I saw enough of the second period to see the Stars go up 4-0. At that point I couldn't stomach watching the Kings get demolished so I went back to playing XBox. When my eyes started tearing from playing too much I switched back to the game to see the score 4-4 with just over 3 minutes to go. WHAT?!!? The Kings got 4 unaswered goals? The BF and I immediately went back 15 minutes (thank God we have a DVR) to see how the Kings tied the game.

The first goal was a PP goal by Brownie. We were ranked tenth on the PP entering the game so it's good to see we can still score on the PP.

Scott Thornton ripped a sniper shot from the right wing to cut the lead in half. Zeiler may have gotten a secondary assist on that goal but Handzus was really the one who did most of the work on that play. One interesting move that I noticed on the replay was that when Handzus slid the puck to Thornton, Stuart, who was on the farside blueline, moved in to join the play by camping out in front of Turco and the other dman (can't remember who it was) shifted to the other side to take over Stuart's vacany. Stuart's move might have created a screen that helped Thornton get his shot past Turco. I LOVED how the Kings fans really helped get the Kings back in the game. After the second goal the fans were already taunting Turco with loud chants of "Tur-co, Tur-co..." and the Stars were still up by two goals!

After the third goal by Frolov the taunts got louder. Army had a slap shot from the blueline that deflected off of Fro's skate. As soon as the puck went in Fro had a determined look on his face that said "That was me, F*** yeah!" The momentum was already growing at this point and you could just see the Kings thinking, "We can do this, we've got this!"

After the fourth goal I think everyone in the building knew the Kings were going to win. Lazy defense by Dallas allowed Kopi to be wide open as he received a pass from Brown. Ladislav Nagy's goal made Kings history as the team got 5 goals in 5:07 (according to Bob Miller the last record was 5 goals in 5:37 which the Kings did in 1985).

The BF and I couldn't believe that the Kings just went ahead in the game. How did this happen? I kept saying, "The game isn't over yet. Anything can happen." Unfortunately Nagy's go-ahead goal didn't secure the win as Dallas was able to tie the game on the PP late in the third.

The game proceeded to OT and the game-winning goal came on a play when Fro got the puck out of the corner, passed it to Kopi who cut left to skate through the slot with the puck on his backhand. No Dallas players were in the slot and Kopi immediately ripped off a backhand past Turco to win the game. This game was unbelievable!

(Sidenote: The last time I remember the Kings pulling off an upset by coming from behind was a game in the 2005-2006 season, the last game before the Olympic break against who else, but the Dallas Stars. The Kings were down 5-2 after the second period and I seriously thought, "Oh great, this is how we're going to enter the Olympic break. Awesome, there goes the season." I don't know what happened in the locker room during the second intermission but the Kings came out in the third period with a score to settle and scored three quick goals to tie the game and finished off the game with another goal later in the period. You'd think that a win like that would have sparked a momentum shift in the Kings' favor but once they came back from the Olympic Break the losses continued to pile up for the remainder of the season.)

I may have turned the TV off to watch (or in this case, do) something else, but mind you, when I'm at a game, I never leave. Tonight's game is proof for why you never leave a game. Well done guys!! Let's hope this win is just the start of a great November against Division rivals.

Kings Gameday Preview

Well it's about time the Kings finally play a game. It's been one week since their last game, a 3-1 loss to San Jose, and I'm a bit worried about how the Kings will look tonight. While the Kings were resting, participating in a pseudo-Amazing Race, and practicing, the Stars played three games going 2-1. Thank goodness they're not entering tonight on a three-game winning streak. Mr. Willa Ford finally passed Phil Housley to become the highest scoring American-born player so maybe he'll take it easy tonight now that the pressure is gone.

According to the LA Times, Calder and Ivanans won't be suiting up tonight. That means unless Scott Thornton is in the lineup tonight don't expect any fights. Who knows who will be starting in goal. I'm partial to LaBarbera because I think he's capable of being the number one goalie so I hope he's in net tonight. There's so much I could write about but I'm heading out for the afternoon and I also don't want to jinx anything. However, look for my Kings gameday preview for either Tuesday's or Thursday's game against the Ducks! I will definitely be writing a full-blown preview for one of those games.

Go Kings Go!!

New Face In The Crowd

Who knew Mike Smith of the Dallas Stars was funny?

Actually, your first question might be: who is Mike Smith? The answer: the 25-year-old backup for Turco. He was one of the only ones I saw at the Toyota Center ice on my break today; it was him, two Stars players, and three coaches. I was really looking forward to seeing the highest-scoring American-born player. Damn.

But let’s move back to Mike Smith and his generic name.

I love it when players show off a bit of personality on the ice (and PLENTY was shown today). After one of the coaches scored on Smith, he skated in a circle, put his stick between his legs, and started cheering. He promptly fell on his back and continued to cheer. I thought this was hilarious; that is, until Smith joined in the fun. He skated from the net to the red line, put his stick between his legs, sat down, and glided all the way to the other end of the ice. When he reached the other end he fell back and spun on his back with his legs in the air. Just imagine this with full goalie gear on. Then he started to skate around backwards and doing crossovers with big-ass pads on while shooting pucks into the net. This was some excellent entertainment until he came back on the ice without his upper-body padding on and surprised me. He had a regular stick and gloves on and started shooting around with one of the players. So did you know that Smith can actually shoot the puck with accuracy? He also took a slap A La Cammy, falling onto one knee. Although I’m sure the fall was soft seeing as how he had a mattress pad strapped to his leg. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly amused.

Anyone, please tell me more about this boy. My curiosity has piqued.

And by "boy" I really mean "guy/dude" cuz we're the same age. haha




Game update: The Kings demolish the Stars Saturday night 6-5 in OT.

Here is a picture I took during warmups. You will notice that Mike Smith is looking right at me.

LA Kings H&HH

Click here for the video of the LA Kings H&HH Event. I just watched it and thought that it wasn't as in-depth as I thought it would have been. They took footage of the entire event (about 5 hours) so I was a bit disappointed that the video wasn't longer. Oh well...

Amaaaaazing Kings Race

According to EJ Hradek's ESPN insider column (must be a paying member to access), today the Kings embarked on an "Amazing Race" type team-building experience.

A source says the team met at the club's practice facility in the morning. Then, the players, stripped of their cash and cell phones, were broken into pairs of two for a day-long "Amazing Race"-type experience.

Awww...how cute! Apparently even Jerry Bruckheimer helped plan the event and one of the places the players will visit is Dodger Stadium (let's hope not during rush hour). There's a small possibility that more information will be available tomorrow through the LA Times.

I absolutely love watching "Amazing Race" and even the reality TV hating BF likes watching it, probably because it's more of a game show than a reality TV series. I wonder how the pairs were decided. Do you try to pair up players that play with each other (Jack and Modry, Fro and Nagy, Kopi and Cammy) or players who don't really know one another (Kopi and Handzus, Brown and Stuart)? I wonder what places they'll visit and who the best and worst drivers are. Oooh, I hope Heidi and her Kings TV crew are capturing footage so we can see what complete dorks these guy really are.

Should the guys really be participating in this type of event instead of practicing on the ice? See, this is what happens when the schedule allows for a week-long layoff.

Cloots

Jean-Baptiste du Val-de-Grâce, baron de Cloots, oops, nope, not that Cloots. My favorite player, Dan Cloutier, is 1-4 with Manchester. Half of me wants to laugh and the other wants to provide my shoulder for him to cry on. He's 31 years old (will turn 32 in April) and I wonder..."is Dan Cloutier's NHL career over?" An LA Kings fan got hold of the edit button on his Wikipedia page and had some fun by including the following "facts":

His former LA Kings teammates nicknamed him as "The Beach Ball" because he couldn't stop a beach ball. He has been known to lack talent and is currently ranked last in fantasy sports by yahoosports.com.

Well, the bit about being ranked last in Fantasy Hockey is definitely true, or at least it was true before the season began. Oh Cloots...I know, the coach keeps forcing you to play the best teams in the league and everyone is jealous of your millions and millions of gold coins that you keep in your locker. So what if the younger guys are pissed off at you because you come out of the shower and dry off with a wad of Benjamins. Most of them probably won't even make close to a million per season so they have to live the life of a gangsta through someone. Live it up now Cloots, because if your stunning 1-4 record is indicative of anything so far, it's that you won't have a career in North America after the end of this season.

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?

Kings v. SJ: Home-and-Home

Tonight is the second game in the home-and-home series with San Jose. Since we have an atrocious record at the Shark Tank I wasn't expecting much out of our guys. I was pissed that the game wasn't televised and due to my awful superstition, I had to settle to check the box score (in fact, read about other HLOGger superstitions here). To my delight the Kings beat SJ 5-2 despite being horribly outshot; needless to say, I have no idea if SJ had a lot of quality shots or just threw everything at Aubin.

Tonight's game is also not televised and I was all set on not watching another Kings game till next Saturday (their next game...wtf is up these schedules) but about 15 minutes ago I bought tickets to the game for the following reasons:

• the BF was the one who suggested going to the game;
• I knew we would be able to buy tickets on game day considering we can't sell out a game to save our lives;
• we bought "Night Out" game tickets meaning we're getting two tickets, two beers, and two nachos all for the price of two tickets. I'll be giving my beer to the BF and he'll buy me a soda...which he doesn't know yet;
• tonight's game isn't televised...second consecutive game that isn't televised, absolute crap;
• we're bored.

Here's hoping we don't get crushed tonight! My prediction: LaBarbera plays. That's the only prediction I'm making because I don't want to jinx anything...aw man, do I feel another superstition coming on?

POST GAME UPDATE:
Well that was a turd of a game. Both teams looked sluggish and lacked chemistry and unfortunately San Jose looked just a bit better. If the Kings has actually won the game I still wouldn't have felt good about it because they looked so bad. LaBarbera should have had the third goal, in fact I think most of the crowd thought he did and cheered but then realized it was actually a goal. The first SJ goal was a PPG only a couple minutes into the game. I think that was the only penalty the Kings had so it's too bad they couldn't kill it off. Stuart had the lone Kings goal, which came just after SJ killed off a penalty. All three Kings power plays looked atrocious so it was amazing that Stuart was able to fire a shot from the blueline that went cleanly through the five hole.

During warmups a bunch of Kings fans were heckling JR and the BF said that JR gave them the finger and then grabbed his crotch. I was paying more attention to the Kings fans so I missed JR's reaction, but I trust his story is true. Every single time JR stepped on the ice he was booed. Every single time he touched the puck he was booed even more. And when he fucking scored the boos were even louder. $#@*$@#!!! I just knew he was going to score against us. Blerg.

The highlight of the game was probably when Zeiler tried to lay a hit on someone who was about 6 inches taller than him. He came in from the side but the SJ player was ready for him and absolutely drilled Zeiler, first colliding shoulders and then somehow crushing him face first into the glass. It was an unbelievable hit and from where we were sitting you could just see Zeiler's face smashed against the glass and everyone around us just groaned in pain and amazement at how Zeiler just got uber pwned.

The other highlight of the night (not game) happened during warmups. The "Hockey Night Out" tickets were only available in the 200 level so that's where we were chilling during warmups. When the BF came back with a beer this was our conversation:
BF: Bob Miller is right outside.
Me: Awww, but I don't have a camera.
BF: So?? He's right out there!
Me: Aaawwwwwww, but I don't even have anything for him to sign.
BF: He's signing books. Just go and buy one.
(note: we were just in the Team LA store and I had pointed out Bob's book and mentioned that I eventually wanted to buy it)
Me: Hmmm, yeah, ok, I'll be back.

I ran into the Team LA store, which was directly across from our entrance, and bought the book, using my $5 Team LA store giftcard which I finally remembered to bring with me. Then I got in line which was surprisingly short and got Bob Miller to sign it!!! Woohoooo!!! At least I got something out of the game.

Next Kings game: Saturday, Nov 10th against Dallas. Patty (in Dallas), watch out! My Kings are coming after your Stars!

Hidden Gems - 5- Toews

OMG, did Bucci actually write something that I enjoyed?? It's amazing. So Bucci interviewed Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks using questions that people emailed in. There was one particular question that caught my attention and I decided to investigate. The question and answer directed me to youtube where I found this.

This is a 10-second clip of Toews dropping an F bomb in an interview and his subsequent reaction. Hilarious.

Kings 1, Columbus 4

Last night's game was frustrating. Columbus played with a lot of energy and grit. Even on the PK they were in the Kings' faces and were very successful in clogging up the neutral zone and making it very difficult for us to connect 2 or 3 passes in a row. The Kings didn't play very well in the first half of the game during which they looked sluggish and panicky. By the time the Kings got their act together they were down 3-0 and could only manage to get one goal past Leclaire during the remainder of the game. The third goal started on a bad play by LaBarbera, but he still managed to make two saves before the third shot went in...and that was how the game was last night. But it wasn't as if we didn't have our chances...it's just that nothing was going in. We got one lucky bounce, Calder's goal, and that was it. We had a 5-on-3 for over a minute and I was convinced we were going to score at least one goal beacuse we were able to keep possession of the puck, cycle it around, gets shots off, pounce on the rebounds, etc...Oh my goodness!! I wanted to rip my hair out! No, no, wait...I really wanted to rip my hair out in the third period when we bombarded Columbus with shot after shot, we crashed the net, we got Leclaire out of position, and yet we still couldn't get another goal! When we pulled LaBarbera for the extra attacker even the BF said, "this isn't going to end well" and I finished his sentence by saying, "because nothing has been able to get past Leclaire." We didn't that great of a job in the final minutes but I was stunned at how nothing seemed to go our way. Sure, we dug ourselves a pretty deep hole early in the game but we fought back to no avail.

I have to hand it to Columbus for sticking with their playing style that is obviously working. I was surprised at how different they are compared to last season. I also want to give cheers to Ladislav Nagy who played his heart out last night. He was getting pushed around a lot on the ice but he never gave up. I was half expecting him to get in a fight because he was playing with so much determination and genuinely looked liked he was pissed off at the entire Columbus squad. The BF and I were really pulling for him last night hoping he would get a goal to rub in Columbus' face. I'm beginning to like Nagy...watch out O'Sullivan, you might lose the #1 spot on my list.

So the last time we lost a game, we bounced back and won 4 in a row. The first loss before that game started a 5 game slide. At least we're consistent. November could really suck or be really awesome seeing how all of our games this month are against Division rivals: 4 against San Jose, 3 against Anaheim, 2 against Dallas, and 2 against Phoenix. These schedules suck.

Go Kings!!

Best Search Result

Pookie and Schnookie at IPB and Steph and Elly at No Pun Intended always get referrals from the best searches. I've been longing for the day that one of my referrals would live up to theirs. My dear readers, I think I may have won the prize for Best Search Result:

fuck your stepmother

Oh yes, Purple Crushed Velvet came up on the first page of Australian Google! YES!! I can go to sleep a happy lady.