I came of age during Gretzky's Black and Silver era while unaware of concept of seasonal change. Two things that have stemmed from that period are my ability to recognize Bob Miller’s voice in a second and my never-ending devotion to my favorite player, Rob Blake.
1st Period: - Ricky Di is on the bench...looking....yummy. But are the Islanders thinking that this'll be an easy 2 points? Did they not watch the game against philly? - Brownie's got 226 hits and leads the NHL by more than 50 hits from the guy in second. - Kings PP - Man, Brad Stuart is making a showing. This is promising...there are some shots on but no goals. - Kings PP again - Islanders are better at killing this penalty and the Kings don't get as many chances as they did on the first PP. - Kings Goal - Matt Moulson (5). A broken play leads to a scramble in front of the net and Moulson gets the puck and gets the goal at 10:35.
(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
That's right, goalie with a really long name. Kings are up.
- Witt gets a penalty and the third PP leads to Moulson getting an extra shift. He didn't get any minutes on the special teams on Tuesday's game, but here he is and he makes the most by getting a break to the net. - Islanders Goal - Bryan Berard gets a straight on opportunity after Vish makes a bad pass at 14:19. - Definitely did not like last 4 minutes of play by the Kings.
2nd Period: - Kings clean up their act in the first 5 minutes. - Shot of DiPi streaming water out of his mouth and Jim Fox saying that he's still feeling the effects of the flu. I spoke too soon as I'm sure he'd be in net if he was well. Yeah? Yeah? - Kings PP - ...Kings are 0 for 4 on the PP in this game - They spend some time doing a good job shutting down anything the Islanders want to try to start outside of their blueline. - Mike Comrie must have a fantastic personality because he's just okay in the face, so I'm sure it's something else that The Duff sees in him. - Moulson is now on the second line with Fro and Army. Nagy, you can go home...to Phoenix, we don't want you anymore. - The tempo of this period is slower than in the first and there's no real definite puck possession for too long by either team. - Theres a scrum after the whistle and all three Kings get pinned up against the boards by the Islanders after Fro went for the puck after the whistle. Comeau tries to start something with Moulson and both go to the box. The 4-on-4 doesn't bring too much except allow Kopi to display his moves. - Trent Hunter has a rat taped to his chin. That is NOT a goatee. Gross. - What is up with this line to end the period: Kopi, Fro, and Moulson. Crow! Stop it!
3rd Period: - I like the opening minutes of this period. The Kings are working and Fro is, once again, being a beast on the puck. - Kings PP - Kings Goal - Blake (5) gets the deflection from Brownie who got a nice cross-ice pass from Kopi at 7:22. Kings 2, Islanders 1. - Kings PK - Good kill, good kill. - The rest of the period goes a little faster than the 2nd and the Isles pull their backup with about 90 seconds to go. - Kings Goal - Fro (12) shots the puck and it looks like it's gonna be an icing, but it's in the net at 19:19 and the Kings are up 3-1. Game. Is. Over.
Game: Kings win!!! Two points!! I'm just gonna gloat one more time about Moulson in this game. In the game against Philly on Tuesday he logged 8:55 total time on the ice. Tonight he got 17:23 and ended the night at a +2. Bye Nagy!
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As I nervously drive home from work, I'm refraining from listening to the game on the radio because I just want to sit down and start the DVR. I heart my DVR. Note to self: do not text with KingsCast before a game. You will get false information!!!
1st Period: - When they were showing the TV lineups during the start of the game, I saw that some dude named Wilson was on the 3rd line. Wilson?? Who the EFF is Wilson. But I then see a 21 skating around and realized that it should have said WILLSIE!! C'mon TV people, whoever you are! Don't confuse me like that!! - I thought the pace of the first period was great, it was fast and pretty open with only 2 penalties. The Kings did really well on their PK while getting 3 short-handed chances. Kudos to Giuliano (of course) and Sully on their shifts. But what is sad is that the Kings had more chances on their PK than on the PP chance they had. ha...ha.... yeah... about that. - Oh my gosh...Kerry Fraser looks old!! - They show highlights of the Manchester Monarchs at the AHL All-Stars this past weekend during the intermission and Teddy Purcell had some ridiculous goals in his hat trick and shootout winner. OH...MY...WORD...
2nd Period: - Flyers Goal - Coburn score 57 seconds in. Damn. - The Kings are still playing with gusto. I'm glad the D-Men are getting involved in plays and making a difference. They're all stepping up, except for...Preissing. What are you doing out there, sir? - Kopi scores!!! (20) I promptly get up and do a happy dance. My neighbors must think I'm crazy. - Frolov is a beast on the puck. The Flyers can't knock him off the puck and he stick handles around the back of Biron. This is fantastic. JJ takes it to the net, is blocked, Moulson grabs the rebound, is denied. This is ridiculous! So many chances! I love this! This is how the Kings need to be playing every single game. - 11:35 left and the game is tied 1-1 as are the shots at 16 apiece. - Kings on the PP with Flyers caught for too many men. Bob Miller said that the Flyers are 22nd in the league in the PK and the Kings are 5th on the PP, which is promising for the So Cal team. Alas, the play is still open and going back and forth and the Kings don't utilize the PP opportunity. - Jim Fox described it well in that this game as become a "make a decision fast" type of game. If you have the puck and don't make a decision to pass or skate, you're gonna lose possession. - The Kings are being scrappy and the puck is frozen but there's a scrum after the whistle. Jim Fox said, "The Kings are looking for loose pucks, the Flyers are looking for loose Kings." Man, I love Fox-y. - This game becomes more wide open now that it's a 4-on-4. Scottie Upshall upends Brownie with a slash and goes to the box and it's a 4-on-3. The Kings put the big boys out there and get a couple shots on. 5-on-4 for 0:58 - The pace of this game is looking the same. No one has slowed down at all. - I'm wondering what the hits count is for both teams because this game doesn't seem as physical as it could be. I mean it's the Baby Broad Street Bullies against Dustin Brown & Co. ***Update from the Event Summary/Super Stats Sheet: Kings had 13 hits and the Flyers had 11. Does this seem odd to anyone else? Brownie registered only one hit? At the same time, this was a fast-paced, not too physical game. But still....1 hit, Brownie?*** - Apparently I spoke too soon, Brownie and Hartnell get minor penalties and the period ends.
3rd Period: - I've seen Sully do this numerous times WITH fail: Enter the offensive zone with the puck with opposition players on, and he makes a no-look pass back to the blue line....to no one. I've seen this happen and the pass rarely connects with the correct player. Sigh. - Flyers Goal - Gagne scores at 3:48. DAAAAMNIT. - Ok, Flyers player, keep your damn gloves off of Frolov's face. The boy needs to keep his face pretty, so don't be rubbing your dirty-ass equipment all up on his grill. - Kings PK - Stuart is getting it done. Glad you could come out again, Brad. - KINGS GOAL - MATT MOULSON (4) with a deflection off his mid-section (it looked like) from Vish at 12:58. This game is doing a good job at elevating my heart rate. Tied 2-2. - JJ takes a penalty at 17:10 and the Kings proceed to STRESS ME OUT!! They kill it off well and I hope the Kings stick JJ's head into a dirty garbage can for taking that penalty with only a couple minutes left in the game. Ridiculous. - End of regulation: Tied 2-2
OT: - Stat from Bob Miller: Kings are 2-0 in OT. - Holy hell, the Flyers are getting shots on and the Kings are struggling to get something set up in the offensive zone. - Scott Hartnell scores with 29 seconds remaining with his feet with a pass from Richards with Vish backchecking. Goal is put under review and there it was deemed that there was no distinct kicking motion.
Game: - Kings 2, Flyers 3, CKim Heartbreak - I'm glad the Kings were able to leave the ice with a point. I thought this game was hard-fought by both teams and that the Kings played their game well. - As I check the Event Summary/Super Stats Sheet, I see that Handzus still is no good in the faceoff circle winning 4 and losing 11. Ok, dude, Kopi lost 10, but he still won 13! C'mon man! Let's move that stick a little faster, ok?
Contract Extension Raitis Ivanans signs for a 2-year extension, $600,000 per year. I like this signing; I like him patroling the ice; overall good signing, DL.
- When they were introducing the coaches for the west, Bailey was definitely in the camera shot dancing!! Awww, I loved that! - Obstacle Course: I LOVED the wee net they used!! I was pretty excited to see DiPi shoot the puck 180 feet across the entire rink to score on his leg. - Fastest Skater: I thought Kopi should have had at least two skills to do. The Fastest Skater event was anti-climactic for me. I think one lap around the whole rink is a much more exciting event than skating for 4.5639327593 seconds. Shawn Horcoff is actually cute when you can't see that he has one blue eye and one brown eye. - Elimination Shootout:Mike Ribeiro looks like Beetlejuice. Dion Phaneuf: (1) actually has some skills on the shootout, (2) unimpressive on the Hardest Shot, and (3) my new nickname for him is "Woof." - Young Stars Game: A little boring. I thought they should have brought in Baby goalies, Dallas' Mike Smith perhaps? - Accuracy Shooting:Thomas Kaberle was impressive. Jason Arnott went to the final and failed to beat the Leaf. - Hardest Shot:Vinny Lecavalier surprised me with getting 101.9 mph on his shot. But of course, Zdeno Chara. What a beast (103.1 mph). - Breakaway Challenge:Pavel Datsyuk = BORING. I thought Evgeni Nabokov gave Martin St. Louis the shaft on his shots. AO got the idea with what the league was trying to do with this event. - If you haven't seen the YouTube clip of Chris Pronger falling on his face, it is glorious. - I'm posting this here because Finny didn't want to post it on her blog, but Ryan Getzlaf's bald spot is growing. I hadn't seen it in awhile, but wow. I'm sure he gets teased to no end by his teammates, so I feel bad. But Getz, Rogaine actually makes its product in foam form now. - With all the confusion of everything going on, they put up a picture of Scott Neidermayer while they were interviewing Anze. Dude....do they even remotely look alike? I was laughing for a while...and then got kind of annoyed that they let that happen. - And speaking of confusion, with so many guys with mics around the building doing mini-interviews, goalies being mic-ed up, and commentators telling stories and whatnot, I thought it was kind of overkill to be hearing like 17 different people talking at once. What the hell am I supposed to be listening to?
I thought the whole 2 1/2 hours of the Super Skills went by REALLY QUICKLY. It might have been because I was gchatting with Finny while she was live-blogging. But everything seemed to start and end in a flash. Overall, this weekend is always fun to watch and I'm glad Anze Kopitar got the nod!!!
All-Star Game:
Some flashes of awesomeness and good times all around. Nabby didn't allow any goals during his period in net; Ilya Kolvachuk had some killer chances though. I have more to say, but I'm too tired because I'm full of Dim Sum. Oh wait, I thought it was hilarious when Commissioner Gary Bettman was booed when he was announced
Pre-Game: I stood at the glass during the warmups with my signs. I'm not sure Rob Blake saw my sign for him, but I definitely caught Matt Moulson taking a few peaks. I actually had to use both sides of one posterboard (ghetto-rig it, as I liked to say). Staples is lame and only allows signs UP TO 11x17 in size. Anyhoo, this is me with my signs up for Moulson.
That's right, Moulson. You look at me.
Well, I know Calder saw, so maybe he told Blakey.
First Period: - Tommy Lasorda dropped the puck and Blake and Pronger share a civil handshake. - Listen Kings, Fro may be strong on the puck, but not when he's surrounded by 4 Ducks. Please help him. - If it was physically possible for Giuliano to stay out on the ice for the ENTIRE PK, I'd say DO IT. He freaking rocks out there and I honestly get antsy when he's not on the ice during that time. - There were a total of 7 penalties during the first so there were some stressful moments. Especially with Vish hitting the crossbar on a rush. ARGH! - Kings Goal - Anze (19) takes the puck to the net on the PP at 16:16 and the Kings are up 1-0. What??? What was that?? The Kings got on the board first?? I think the world just ended.... - Ratti and Parros go at it and it's a pretty even match up, I must say. I'm gonna venture a guess and say that hockeyfights.com will say it's a tie. Both go off for 5 minutes. - At the very end of the period, there's a scuffle at center ice and a Duck grabs the puck with two trailing Kings and puts it past Barbs. BUT the goal was put under review and it was found to be in the net AFTER the period had ended. Awesome.
There's Handzus actually NOT losing faces off like there's no tomorrow.
End of the First Period: - Attention all men with stupid girlfriends: Don't bring them to hockey games!!! Teach them the game from your freaking couch. There was a butter-faced blonde sitting two seats away from me saying the stupidest shit. I thought I was gonna stab my own eyes out. - So are these really my Kings? They're looking good, being aggressive. Please show up for the 2nd!!!
Second Period: - Kings Goal - Army tips in the puck at 4:21 and Teddy Purcell has his first NHL point with an assist!!!! - At this point I'm wondering, "Does it really say Kings 2 Ducks 0????" - Kings Goal - Fro takes a wrister to the net at 9:53. This goal started in the slot with Moulson passing it downlow to Army, who passed it across the front of the net to Fro. Freaking fantastic. - The Ducks pull Giguere and put in rookie Hiller. - Sully needs to get stronger on the puck in the corners. He's getting outbattled constantly..... - Ratti and May are being a little lovey-dovey tonight, what with all the man hugging. - No penalties in this period, and the Kings are looking mighty fine.
End of the Second Period: Here is a video that Finny from Girl With A Puck and I made during the intermission.
Third Period: - The Kings are still being aggressive in the corners and moving the puck and killing their penalties. - Brad freaking Stuart is earning his paycheck tonight. I'm floored that he's putting shots on, throwing up hits, and taking names. Why can't you be this good every game, man!!! - Ducks Goal - Rob Neidermayer scores at 16:48. Barbs just didn't close his legs fast enough and Rob N scored. Hmmm...that's what she said.... - The Kings finish the game just like they started: out on the hunt for duckies.
End of the Game: - Kings 3, Ducks 1 - Shot total (because Staples couldn't fix their jumbo tron stat) - Kings 31, Ducks 32 - My Manchester Boys rocked it out there tonight. - Hey Purcell! You need to start downing those protein shakes; you know, fatten you up a bit. - The Kings come out with an unexpected win, which means the Ducks lost two nights in a row going into the All-Star weekend. - I'm still in shock.
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I was at the Toyota Sports Center today for the Kings practice and I caught Kings' netminder Jason LaBarbera and he agreed to answer some questions.
First, some thoughts on their practice: - Caught my first glimpse of Teddy Purcell. He looks like he's fitting in well with the group. He's got a slick, quick release on the puck. There have been comments of his size (6'3", 177 pounds), but he didn't look scrawny by any means. I'm excited to see what he can do out on the ice.
- They were practicing an outbreak passing and back checking drill. My thought was, "Good, they need it." =P - And how come their neutral zone trap comes out effectively in practice but is no where to be found during the games? - I'm pretty sure Army told Barbs to "suck it." Ahh, good times.
The Red Wings were practicing at the same time, which I had no idea about until they started to walk by me from the other rink. - Mike Babcock looked silly in a hoodie sweatshirt and mesh shorts. - Some of the guys were watching the Kings and I tried to be slick and asked one of them, "Scoping out the competition?" But all I got was a very tired-looking nod of the head. - I was like 3 feet from Dominik Hasek. SWEET!
Nichole Glaze Photograhy
Q&A with Barbs So I actually interviewed some other guys (Purcell, which was interrupted by Sully, and Jack Johnson), but Barbs was the player I ACTUALLY wanted to interview. The first section was for him to just pull questions out of a hat and answer; the questions weren't really serious and I was looking to just keep the mood light. I was going to read the question when he pulled it out, but he just read it and answered it.
Barbs: (Pulls question and chuckles) "Whose rear do you dislike most parked in your crease" ...Thomas Holmstrom.
Barbs: "Have you ever been star-struck while out on the ice? If so, who?" ...Uhh...probably Jessie James and Sandra Bullock.
CKim: No, players! (Hearty laughter from both)
Barbs: Oh players! We're in LA, why can't they be celebrities?
CKim: Cause that's not how the game works.
Barbs: Umm, Joe Sakic. (Pulls another question from the hat) "What is your favorite thing to do on an off day? And sleep isn't an answer." Hanging out with my girlfriend.
CKim: Sounds good.
Barbs: Pretty lame...or hang out with my dog we just got. How about that? (Pulls a question) "Patrick Roy or Marty Brodeur." ...Patrick Roy
CKim: Good answer.
Barbs: "Best fighter - Ray Emery, Dan Cloutier, or Patrick Roy." I'm gonna say Jason LaBarbera.
CKim: (Hearty laugh from myself) Alright, I want to do a little...I'm gonna give you a name and two options and it'll kind of be a rapid fire thing. So "Sean Avery - perfect agitator or annoying pest."
Barbs: Annoying pest
CKim: George Parros - well-quaffed mustache or 1970's swinger
Barbs: Well-quaffed mustache
CKim: Vincent Lecavalier - softest hands on the puck or softest hands on the ladies
Barbs: (Laughs) I'll give him the ladies
CKim: Alright. Joe Thornton - exquisite playmaker or too much booty in the pants
Barbs: Exquisite playmaker
CKim: Ilya Kovulchuk - speedy sniper or Ivanans' next target
Barbs: (laughs) speedy sniper
CKim: Dominik Hasek - crazy Czech goalie or fish out of water
Barbs: Both!
CKim: Let's go with...Dion Phaneuf - the Terminator or soft as a snowflake
Barbs: Hate him. None of them, all of them. I can't stand him.
CKim: What? I. Then you should go with the second option. (laughing for a little bit). Okay, "Rick Nash - human bulldozer or a pushover."
Barbs: Human bulldozer
CKim: Sam Gagner - shootout master or baby-faced Oil
Barbs: Baby-faced Oil
CKim: Jonathan Toews - sweet puckhandler or Patrick Kane's sidekick
Barbs: Sweet puckhandler
CKim: Alright, last two. "Top fashionista - Ray Emery or Jason LaBarbera."
Barbs: (Laughs) That one's easy, that's me.
CKim: Wayne Gretzky - best player ever or best player ever
Barbs: (confused) Say that again?
CKim: (incredulous) Wayne Gretzky...best player ever...or best player ever
Barbs: ...best player ever
CKim: Thank you very much!
It ended kind of playfully because of the nature of the last question. But he said that he liked my questions and we went our separate ways. I'm glad Barbs played along with the questions and had a little fun with it.
Much thanks to Barbs for answering my questions! I really appreciated it! Read more...
I have always wondered what goes through the minds of the players when the clock hits 0:00 in OT. For me, it used to be, “Oh! Who’s gonna shoot?!” But at this point of the season, teams have a predictable lineup concerning the shoot out.
For the Kings: Brownie, Cammy, and Anze. Now that Cammy’s out, it’s been Sully’s number. But in the Dallas game on Jan 12th, Fro got his call up (because he’s the man). Still, in the end, it took Sully to close out the game.
In last night’s game with the Caps and Oilers going to the shootout, ESPN.com was able to get some good quotes from the owner of the game winner, Matt Bradley. The game went to 12 rounds, and with the rule being that a shooter can’t shoot more than once, I’m sure the stress gets even higher as the roster dwindles. At the same time, BOTH team’s rosters dwindle, so I don’t believe that one team has an advantage over the other in this regard.
Here are some quotes that offer insight to what was going on on the bench as this game went into more and more rounds: "It's hard to stay focused, because you're kind of laughing at the same time," [Mike] Green said. "Like, 'Who's up next?'"
As [Bruce] Boudreau was trying to decide who to put on the ice for the 12th round of a shootout when no one had scored, [Matt] Bradley made the decision for him. "He just said, 'I'm going to score, put me out there,' and he jumped over the board and he went in," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He told me, he didn't ask."
As the shootout progressed and the big names failed to score, Bradley started looking around to see when his number might be called. "I was hoping I got to go before [backup goalie] Brent Johnson went," Bradley said. "I figured if I can go before him, I'll be doing OK."
He was half-worried that the backup goalie was going to get a chance in the shoot out before him?? That’s so cute! And freaking hilarious.
Here’s the best quote: "I told him, 'I'll score, let me go,'" Bradley said. "I don't think either of us actually believed what I was saying."
How horrendous is the Southeast Division? Get this: As of mid-January, not a single team out of the Thrashers, Hurricanes, Panthers, Capitals and Lightning had scored more goals than they’ve allowed this year.
Division-leading Atlanta has allowed 17 more goals than they’ve netted and combined, the five franchises have been outscored by 83 goals so far. As we’ve talked about in THN’s editorial department lately, there’s a possibility the ninth-place team in the Eastern Conference could wind up with more points than the Southeast champion that would qualify for the post-season.
All the more reason to completely do away with divisional play altogether, I say.
That’s just sad.
Something That’s Actually Sad
Ken Campbell’s article at The Hockey News, “Tragedy all too familiar for Steve Sullivan's father,” is a sobering dose of reality for the unsuspecting reader. Please take a couple of minutes to read the article because I wouldn’t be able to summarize it and do the whole story justice.
This is a request for more ice time to be given to Ivanans. Because, really I’m tired of dudes taking cheap shots at Kopi. Brownie and Sully definitely have that air about them that tells the opposition that they can take care of themselves. But to see Cammy stick up for Kopi, c’mon people! And now Cammy’s injured, and there are trade rumors, and really, there’s nothing good that comes with one of the smallest guys sticking up for one of the biggest guys. But make no mistake, if I was out having ice cream with Anze and Pronger came by and slapped the cone out of Kopi’s hand, I would take down Pronger in a second. That’s just a travesty to waste ice cream like that.
I kind of want to see what would happen if Crow put Ratti out on a shift with Kopi. Would anyone actually have the balls to mess with Kopi? It must be so frustrating for Ratti to be sitting on the bench for the better part of 50 minutes of a game watching cheap shots being doled out. I’m not saying it’s happening on a regular basis, but still. And I’m not advocating that the league go back to the days of having the role of the pure enforcer, but hasn’t it been an issue with the Kings lacking size this year? We have a guy of scary stature in Ivanans; why not use him more for the size issue? I hardly see why Crawford wouldn’t utilize him more.
And just to reiterate his badass...ness, I was absolutely floored when he took a Rob Blake slapshot to the face earlier in the season. Not only did he NOT fall down, he took it like a champ and skated back to the bench so that the offensive play could continue. What would you have done if you were him? I know I'd fall to the ice, howl in pain, and then most likely get taken to the hospital for facial reconstructive surgery. I don't know how many plates I'd have in my face, but Ivanans definitely has 4 in his cheek now...for the rest of his life. But how cool is that, to be able to say that you have plates in your face courtesy of Rob freaking Blake. I'd say it loud and proud, but I think I'm a little too biased. Ahh, good times.
So, please Crawford, please give Ratti some more ice time. He’s a presence out on the ice; one that's actually needed.
Thanks, CKim
He may not be cute, but he can knock your butt to the ground.
Let's look at Ivanans' ice time of late: - 01.12.08 vs. Dallas - 4:04 (Pathetic) - 01.10.08 vs. Toronto - 8:08 - 01.08.08 vs. Nashville - 11:16 (I guess this game was so horrendous that Crow decided to share the wealth of ice time with the lesser of the roster. Thanks, ass.) - 01.05.08 vs. Calgary - 7:13
To Ratti: I hope Crow realizes your lack-of-presence on the ice. I, personally, love to see you on the prowl like a cheetah about to go in for the kill, not to say you’ve got the agility of a cheetah. But you know what I mean. Sometimes we need a big, bad 265-pound presence on the ice and, really, Handzus ain’t cutting it. I know he’s your teammate and all, but tell me, how can the tallest guy on the team be the softest guy? Why is he so afraid to take the body once in a while? Even Willsie can get all up in your face. (This is why I love Ratti and Giuliano out there. They take the body and aren’t afraid to get a little dirty. A plea for more ice time for my Manchester Boy is for another post.)
I'm pulling for you, Raitis. I really am; I just hope what's his face will listen.
Side note to all you out-of-town announcers, you pronounce his name ee-va-nans. NOT i-van-is.
Player Transactions: 1) Cammy has been placed on IR retroactively to Dec. 22 (ok, really? You waited THIS LONG to put the little one on IR?? It's freaking January 14th!!!) 2) Teddy Purcell was recalled from the Monarchs. 3) Peter Harrold was recalled from the Monarchs. 4) Klemm was NOT recalled. Thank the Lord. 5) I'm excited.
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Sully's shootout goal. This was about the 26th heart attack I had during this game. A great ending to a great effort.
"I don’t mind batting cleanup," O'Sullivan said. "Turco is an unpredictable goalie so I kind of had a plan of what I was going to do out there. That is one of the moves I've been doing my whole life on breakaways, so it worked out for me."
Good job, Kings. This has somewhat re-deemed yourselves from the debacle from Tuesday.
Great to have Lombardi on Kings Talk after the game. And I THINK he alluded to the organization looking at Drew Doughty at the draft.
Here is the list of the mid-season ranking for the 2008 Entry Draft - North American Skaters.
So this event has already come and gone, but I decided to not be lazy and to post an ending for it. This event happened on October 27th, 2007, and the reason I bring it up is because I wanted to share the video the Kings made of the event. Just in case you wanted to read up on it, here are some handy-dandy links:
I really don't even know what to say because it's all been said before. And really, I'm tired of ranting. The Preds came through Staples and embarrassed us on home ice netting 7 goals.
- Aubin made the most ridiculous glove save I've seen in a long time. - Jeff Giuliano seemed like the only player willing to put in any effort tonight. - Putting in Klemm as a forward makes me sick. - This is definitely not a "team" anymore. This was 20 individuals trying to make something happen on their own. Oh yeah, and the usual leaving their goalies out to dry. - I honestly couldn't give less of a shit that Stuart had a team-high 6 shots on net. He still sucks. - Thanks for the free tickets, KingsCast. I think I would have screamed if I had actually paid for these seats.
Actually, I will rant about something. The Kings are doing so poorly, it's obvious, but it doesn't help that people are chanting "Fire Crawford" and "Crawford Sucks" every other minute, especially when the chant started a few rows behind me. I think they got the fucking point. You can boo when Crow's name is announced, whatever. But to scream it incessantly through the WHOLE game and then start cheering for Nashville?? Why don't you take your kids home and watch the game on the couch. You make me sick.
Tell me, honestly, how do you play with any energy when you're being booed. Non-stop.
Here is your chance to hear our (kms2 and CKim) thoughts during the second intermission. Enjoy.
Pre-game: - It's raining in LA - Will I find comfort at Staples? - Great to see KQ with her silver boots. Good times!
1st Period: - Calgary gets 2 goals before we get 4 minutes into the game. I was honestly just praying that Barbs wasn't going to be pulled. - The energy is high, which is a good thing to see, but we're getting out-muscled. I felt like every time the Flames got the puck they had a little more hop in their step than the Kings. They break out faster, they skate faster. I probably don't really need to write this, but Iginla is A LOT faster than Modry. haha WOW. - Phaneuf scares me.
Can you just keep Stuart in there for the whole game?
2nd Period: - Kings Goal - Fro (7) grabs the puck from Kiprusoff who was caught behind the net and wrapped it around into an empty net at 6:14. - The Flames are blocking passes in the neutral zone relegating the Kings to their own zone. - Flames Goal - Iginla (32 wow) snaps it past Barbs. - Brownie and Dion are eyeing each other. I thought there'd be a fight or something before the end of the game, but I was incorrect. Damn. We need a spark. We need ....goals.
There's Handzus losing another faceoff.
3rd Period: - Kings Goal - Stuart (6) gets a PP goal at 2:08 and brings life back to the Kings. - Shots are even at 25. - Kings Goal - Nagy (9) wrists it in at 4:48 with assists going to Fro and Vish. See?? That's what happens when you take the puck to the net!! FINALLY! - We're tied 3-3 - Flames' Dustin Boyd and Robyn Regehr collide right inside the Kings blueline and their play is broken up amidst laughter from Staples and probably the Kings too. - Behind the Kings net Calder gets high sticked in the face and nothing is called. He skates to the bench with BLOOD ALL OVER HIS FACE. About 20 seconds later the other ref or a linesman sees Calder BLEEDING on the bench and whistles the play dead. Corey Sarich gets a double minor for high sticking. - Brownie gets hit at the end boards and goes to the locker room, but he only misses one shift and was back out being his old self. - Stuart sucks. I really don't know how else to put it. Scratch him. Trade him. Keep him off the ice. - Kings Goal - Kopi (17) nets a power play goal at 10:12 but is immediately pushed into the crossbar by a Flamer. - Fro is called for tripping and the Flames are on the PP. - Flames Goal - Huselius scores at 13:05 by getting a clean cross-ice pass from Iginla. - We're tied 4-4. - The stress is high and it's coming down to just a couple of minutes. BRIAN WILLSIE gets called for holding and knows he just lost the game for us. - Flames Goal - Langkow scores at 14:55. Damnit Willsie!!
Kiprusoff looking smug after completely knocking Thornton over for no reason.
- Crow pulls Barbs in the last minute and there are some chances, but the puck is moved into the Kings zone and Vish is there trying to evade Huselius. Wouldn't you know it, Huselius strips Lubo of the puck and scores on an empty net. It's like taking candy from a baby.
End of Game: - Kings 4, Flames 6 - There was hope. There really was. - My brother's thought after the game: "Keep Kopitar, Brown, Frolov, and Johnson. Trade everyone else."
So maybe Crawford shouldn't give the players a day off from practice after a huge blowout. It failed to produce a win tonight and it failed earlier in the season. I'm going with a uber short recap since I took in the game with a friend I haven't seen in about 6 months; we'll call her AG.
Good points from the night: - AG is now a Kings fan!!! - Sully is still my Sophomore Stud with a sweet goal from mid-air. - Good times with KingsCast.
Bad points from the night: - The lack of energy from the Kings in the first and second period. - The Blue Jacketscomplete dominance of the neutral zone. I don't even want to know how any giveaways we had.
When you are up on the jumbotron, it is NOT OK to:
1) Make like you're flashing the audience and convulsing like you're on speed 2) Pull the top of your shirt down and grab your boobs 3) Put your hands up in the air and have your shirt not long enough to cover your flabby belly.
That's right, you 3 stupid sluts at the end of the game. This is a fucking family function. Have a little respect for the thousands of people in attendance because you most certainly don't have any for yourself.
Pre-Game: - The Kings host the Chicago Blackhawks and I'm pretty excited to see Kane and Toews. During the pre-game warmup, I'm at the Chicago end right up against the glass taking pictures, and all of sudden, a puck hits me in the hand. After the initial shock, I realize that it somehow got through the netting and glass and, wouldn't you know it, I just got a free puck! Sweet!
Definitely still frozen when it hit me on the hand.
- The Kings start JJ, Blake, Brownie, Kopi, Nagy, with Barbs in goal. My thought before the game was, "What the heck is Nagy doing on this opening lineup?" I would eat my words by the end of the game. - Crow is announced to resounding boos still.
1st Period: - First 12 seconds = BAD - Hawks Goal - Lapointe gets it past Barbs at 2:54. Boo. - Three minutes into the game and Chicago already has 7 shots on and the Kings have registered zero. - Brownie draws a hooking penalty and the Kings are on the PP. Kings Goal - Preissing (5) gets a rebound off a shot from Nagy at 4:02.
The first of many celebrations
- Tuomo Ruutu and Manchester Boy draw penalties at 5:07, interference and high sticking, respectively. - Vish pushes Toews into the boards and he goes to the bench in visible pain. He doesn't return for the rest of the game. - So this is where they announce that they take an assist away from Toews on their goal and change up assists for the Kings' goal. Are they hot-boxing the scoring booth or what? - Koci takes down Sully and Giuliano gets rocked. Zeiler's energy is definitely missing from the Kings' physical play. - Hawks Goal - On the PP Little Patrick Kane gets a pass down low and then immediately passes it across the crease in front of Barbs, Sharp gets it, and snaps it in at 11:01. I was disheartened at this point, except for the fact that I have Patrick Sharp on one of my fantasy teams. - Kings Goal - The Hawks fail to clear it and Nagy (6) gets it in at 11:14. The Kings now have 2 goals on 5 shots. - Kings Goal - I HEART SULLY. The Kings are on a PP; the passing is crisp and they look good. At 13:24 Sully (10) gets a pass from Brownie on the left side, takes to Khabibulin, and backhands it in (GWG). - Kings Goal - Nagy (7) gets on the board again at 15:35. The InvisiblePair puts something together getting assists for themselves. - Goalie change for Chicago.The Wall is taken out letting 4 goals in on 10 shots. Lalime is in and is about to get annihilated. - Kopi gets ROCKED and his helmet and stick go flying. He's recovering on the bench and is out on the next shift. Whew. - The Kings set up this beauty of a play but Modry fumbles at the end. Kopi tips the puck out of his zone, Brownie gets it in the neutral zone and banks it off the boards in front of the Hawks bench, Sully gets the pass and gets across the blue line. He hesitates to pass, but when he does, Modry is there to fumble it and the chance is lost. - Handzus still sucks at taking faceoffs.
End Of The First Period: - Kings 4 - Hawks 2 (Shots 11-19) - The Kings decide they want to continue their streak and try for 3 in a row. - Mr. Inconsistent has already netted two goals. Invisible Pair has 2 assists and 1 goal collectively. - My Sophomore Stud has a PP goal. - I wasn't in the arena for the announcement of the scratches, but I'm assuming they are Cammy (still with the ribs), Dallman (sucks and broken foot), and Klemm (just plain sucks). - So I have to introduce the "Munchie Man" to you. This guy sells candy in the sections by the press box and is loud and proud. To get people's attention he yells things like, "Munchies!! Who's got the munchies!?!" and "Get your munchies here! The Southern California cuisine!!" If you see this guy, say hello because he's super nice.
2nd Period: - Kings Goal - Fro (5) scores at 28 seconds in. The Kings are working it; everyone's moving and making a difference. - I'm still waiting to see something exciting from Kane. - Ratti and Koci get in a fight and I'm pumped. Ratti is definitely excited to throw down. It ends after some solid fisticuffs and they both receive 5 for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct. - Kings are on the PP a minute later. There was a guy sitting behind me who kept yelling to give it to Stuart. I was definitely thinking, "NO! DON'T GIVE IT TO STUART!! HE SUCKS!!" - 7:55 left - Kopi gets slammed into the boards in front of the sin bins and JJ takes the puck all the way to Lalime by himself. - The Kings are setting everything up nicely and getting pucks to the net. Problem is, they can't finish most of these plays. Doesn't matter that it's 5-2 Kings right now. Finish your plays! - At 13:46 the Kings are on the PP again. I kept my eye on Calder for this PP; I just felt like something was going to happened, and I wasn't wrong. Lalime didn't like Calder's screen and so he shifted to the right side of the net. He got Nagy's pass, moved it to Fro (6) who was open on the left side of the crease, and it's 6-2. This set up was so clean that a goal was predictable. - The rest of the period is much the same. The Hawks get a couple of good shots on Barbs, but Barbs is SOLID tonight; he looks focused and his movements are controlled.
End Of The Second Period: - I can confidently say that the Kings have played a full 40 minutes. - Kings 6 - Hawks 2 (Shots 22-26)
3rd Period: - Kings Goal - 28 seconds in and Nagy (8) gets his hat trick on a pass from Fro. I thought this was a good rush into the Hawks zone by Army, Nagy, and Fro. Fro (at the goal line) passes it back to Nagy with Army supporting the play the whole way. Yeah, secondary scoring!
Hats everywhere!
- So Koci is PMSing tonight or something. He gets a 10-minute misconduct in the first minute. - Kings Goal - At 5:18 Brownie (19) takes advantage of Chicago's utter breakdown in the neutral zone. He grabs up the puck, stickhandles it, and throws it behind Lalime. Too easy. Kings up 8-2. - Tempers are flaring up and Chicago is not happy. Adam Burish gets 2 minutes for high sticking, 2 minutes for roughing, a 10-minute misconduct, and a game misconduct. To this I say, "Later, Slut." Preissing gets 2 for roughing too. - Kings Goal - The Kings have a 5-on-3 and Vish (4) gets a goal from passes from Calder and Fro at 7:40. - It's here where I sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the game. IT'S OVER. - Sully gets a 5-minute match penalty in the last minute of the third. A Hawk limps over to the bench doubled over.
Did this rush lead to a goal? I dunno, probably.
End of the Game: - Kings 9 - Hawks 2 (Shots 26 - 34) - The Kings absolutely dominated the neutral zone. They didn't allow the Hawks to put anything together after their second goal in the first period. - The energy in the arena was high and so were the Kings goal total. - Ratti definitely made it known that he would F you up in a second if you even held his gaze for too long. - Interesting stat: Chicago came into the game tonight with the #1 PK in the entire NHL. The Kings converted 7 PPs into 5 PP goals. Things that make you go "hmm."
What a way to ring in the new year.
P.S. Did anyone catch this AMP Energy commercial during the Winter Classic? It has Ryan Miller and J.S. AUBIN throwing Yo Mamma jokes at each other. I think I might have died when I first saw this. Not only has J.S. been playing decently lately, but he's doling out Yo Mamma jokes?? Yo-Mamma-ween? AMAZING.
That's right, goalie with a really long name. Kings are up.
