An Introspective Into Jonathan Quick

I stumbled across this LA Times Entry by Kurt Streeter called The Game Through A Goalie's Eyes where he interviewed Jonathan Quick about what goes through a goalie's mind during one of the most stressful times of a game. I think the experience of a goaltender is lost on the majority of the hockey-watching population unless the position is played by said fan.

(Getty Images/Harry How)

As an aside, I've updated the blog roll. If you're not on there, shoot me an email and let me know! Thanks to Here Come The Bruins! for linking this article.

Read more...

36%: Predators 4, Kings 3 (OT)

Newsworthy tidbits from this game:

• Matt Greene scored his second goal of the season.
• Jack Johnson scored with a little over one minute to go in the game.
• The Kings need Jarret Stoll back. In this first game without Stoll they were 36% in the faceoff circle.

36% IN THE FACEOFF CIRCLE!!!!!!

Read more...

Better Than Nothing: Kings 1, Stars 0 (SO)

So I was pretty much unimpressed with this outing against the Dallas Stars. It was a boring first two periods with the Kings getting only 3 shots on net in the first period! BORING. The offense was no where to be found for the longest time and Jonathan Quick once again stood on his head to keep the Kings in the game. By the end of the game they had gotten their act together (a little bit) and kept the Stars to 29 shots (thereabouts) and they had 30 shots themselves. The hits were virtually even as well that came with some casualties.

Raitis Ivanans nudged Trevor Daley into the boards and Jarret Stoll left the ice after a hit involving his knee. Kyrs Barch tried to pick a fight with Ivanans and left the game as well. I'm not sure what the status of Stoll is, but I'm hoping that it won't take him out for the rest of the season. That would hit the Kings roster pretty hard since Alexander Frolov is already out and Patrick O'Sullivan was shipped off to Edmonton.

(AP)

Looks like good times

The game eventually ended with little fanfare and I was starting to fall asleep, but the overtime frame woke me up when the Kings decided to wake up too. The pièce de résistance was the shootout. It only took three rounds to end the game and Anze Kopitar was FINALLY in the lineup to take the shot; it feels like he hasn't been in there this whole season. His shot looked very similar to his move last season against the Minnesota Wild where he went one way and his stick and puck went the other. Go Kopi!

Jack Johnson was unimpressive with his low shot, but Justin Williams finally did something. He went five-hole on Marty Turco and it looked like we were going to a 4th round until Turco ended the game. Instead of stopping himself after he held the puck between his legs he slowly slid into the net and his whole body crossed over the goal line. The goal went to review and the game was over.

(AP)

Thanks Turco!

Read more...

Sofa King: Blues 2, Kings 0

According to Bob Miller and Jim Fox the Kings set the record for the most shutouts in a season last night. That's... really not something to be proud of. The Kings faced the St. Louis Blues and were shutout 2-0. Once again Jonathan Quick made some fantastic saves while the Kings offensive players came up with nothing. There hasn't really been any offensive showing or upside from any player lately except for maybe Jarret Stoll and Drew Doughty.

Speaking of the offense, the roster moves have been interesting as of late.

• Why was Teddy Purcell benched in the previous game? He's been getting chances and taking shots on the power play when others haven't.
• Why has Oscar Moller been scratched here and there? Injurying flaring up?
• How long has Alexander Frolov been playing with his injury (whatever that may be)?
• Why was Kevin Westgarth in the line up? He was basically useless.

There are about 10 games left and I'm just hoping the Kings don't crash land to 15th place in the West, but I actually don't see them ending in 14th as much of a stretch since the Blues have picked themselves back up and are in contention for a playoff spot. I just don't understand why the Kings can't have a season where they're magically contending for the 8th spot in the last month of the season. So what if they end up playing Detroit or San Jose, at least they wouldn't be in the basement. Still, it's a miracle in itself that they're not in Colorado's position. But I can't do an introspective while the Kings are still playing games. That being said, look for one once the post season comes around.

So the game against the Blues; it was looking like the Kings were going to come out the victors. They were dominating the Blues on their power plays; even when they were on the PK, they were forechecking like crazy. It honestly looked like they were going to eventually score to get the go-ahead goal so that I could sit back and relax. But it's just too bad that Chris Mason was a stonewall. He stopped all 22 shots and handed the Kings their pathetic new record. The Blues' Patrik Berglund scored both their goals and that was it. I'm always thinking that the Kings should just crash the net when they need a goal. They'd get more goals and learn to be more aggressive around the front of the net. They were looking for the pretty shots last night while Berglund's second goal was a scramble. Matt Greene played goal for a few seconds while Quick was forced out of position by all the bodies in front of the net. The result? A poke of the stick on a loose puck and the Blues were up by two goals.

That's all I got.

Read more...

Kings World Podcast - Ep 1.32

Episode 32 covers the past two weeks’ worth of games, which equals a total of 7 games. The Kings went 2-4-1 and I finally admit that the Kings are toast. With 10 games left on the schedule, it seems that the end is in sight for the Kings who are sitting 7 points out of the 8th spot in the Western Conference.

I give my thoughts on the Evgeni Malkin hit on Wayne Simmonds, Marie doesn’t understand why Kevin Westgarth is in the lineup, and we both are unsure of the next week of games. The Kings face the St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, and Nashville Predators. It's anyone's guess as to how they'll do. We also pick the player who had the Best Two Weeks Ever. Actually, I give Marie options for her to make the decision. Please listen and enjoy!

We welcome any and all feedback! Please direct any questions, comments, or thoughts to kingsworldpodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

Read more...

A Poor Outing: Blackhawks 4, Kings 1

The Kings just can't catch a break. Two empty netters from the Chicago Blackhawks in the last 1:10 of the game doesn't do anything for the Kings' confidence. The game was 2-0 for the longest time with goals from Patrick Sharp and Martin Havlat. The Hawks definitely had more defensive spark compared to the Kings, but it also helped in that the Kings took a total of 8 penalties, which included a 10-minute misconduct by Davis Drewiske. From the looks of the situation, Drew Doughty was taken down in front of the Kings bench and Drewiske was yapping away to draw the penalty.

The poorest stat from this game was that the Kings only had 15 shots in the entire game, which wasn't surprising at all considering the way the first and second period were panning out. They had 5 shots on net in each period, the Blackhawks ended with 32 shots, and I just wasn't impressed with anything in this game. Things finally picked up when Doughty scored on the PP at 16:54, but nothing else happened for my boys.

Good: Kings scoring on the power play.
Bad: Needing a power play in order to score.

The empty netters were soul deflating for me. With a little over a minute remaining, the Kings pull Jonathan Quick and Sharp inadvertently got his second goal of the game when he cleared the puck from his zone, which would have been whistled for an icing. The crappy part was that it actually hit the post of the Kings' net and bounced to the other post and went in. Heartbreak. To make it worse, less than a minute later Havlat got a breakaway on the still empty net and that was all she wrote. The Kings are toast at 70 points and the Blackhawks gained two more points to stay in fourth place in the standings.

In going back to the Evgeni Malkin hit on Wayne Simmonds, as predicted Malkin was not suspended. Instead he received a slap on the wrist and was fined. I just love how people are so caught up in whether the hit was legal or illegal. That's not the fucking point, you nut jobs. To reiterate, the point is that the brunt of the hit was on Simmonds' head. There's no arguing that. But whatever, everyone has a hard-on for Malkin and the fine was clearly just chump change for him. The Penguins played on NBC this morning and both they and the NHL are happy.

On that same note in the Edmonton Oilers game versus the Chicago Blackhawks on the same night (Friday, March 20), Ben Eager shoved some of his body weight into Oilers' Liam Reddox head. Reddox went down and Eager was suspended for 3 games. Thanks for keeping it consistent and fair, NHL.

Read more...

Unnecessary Hit; Penguins 4, Kings 1

With just a few seconds left in a game that you're winning, is it really necessary to take a shot to someone's head? Well, Evgeni Malkin thought it was. He gave the cold shoulder to Wayne Simmonds and the whistle blew to end the game. I'm not even upset about the loss. Who gives a shit when someone's head is involved? Who cares if it's the league superstar hitting a rookie's head? In this case, every single Kings fan whereas every Pittsburgh fan probably cheered the hit. But let's talk about questionable acts of unsportsmanlike conduct from the past few days (of which I'm only discussing two because I'm feeling a bit lazy).

(1) Alexander Ovechkin's celebration after he scored his 50th goal of the season. I've read many reactions both for and against. I'm on the fence since he is who he is. He loves to celebrate his teammates' goals as well as his own, but this definitely involved a bit of showboating. He received a talking to by Bruce Boudreau and everyone moves on. Don Cherry's going to have a field day with this one.

(2) Penguins' Malkin laying a hit on Kings' Simmonds with just a few seconds left in a game that the Penguins were going to win. As with Ovechkin, there have been many comments going around about this hit both for and against. Comments like "Get your head up, rookie!" But wait a second, did this person not see that all Simmonds was trying to do was poke the puck away from Malkin? He wasn't going to him to with the intention of hitting him.

Earlier in the game he and Jack Johnson toughed it out in front of the Kings net for a good chunk of time where both players received 2-minutes for roughing. This altercation is a part of the game, but anyone who says that hitting someone else in the head is "a part of hockey" has never had someone on their own team taken a hit to the head. It's not about being an objective observer of every team when you have your specific team that you love; it's about the passion that every single fan brings to the NHL, which is why there will always be cheers and jeers in every situation.

(AP/Joe Sargent)

With Jack severely outweighing Malkin (225 to 195).

In the end, there are going to be comments all over the place with a questionable play such as this one from fans from every region across the US and Canada. But the plain facts are that (1) Simmonds' head was down in going for the poke check while (2) Malkin was defending himself by bracing for some kind of hit that was never going to come. In the end his shoulder goes straight into Simmonds' head. I think the argument of whether he was hit with the shoulder or elbow (legal or illegal) is not the point. The point is that the brunt of the hit was into Simmonds' head.

Malkin is subject to a disciplinary phone call where the resulting decision is to be announced tomorrow. Am I excepting a suspension? Hell no, who has the guts to suspend Malkin? Every situation is unique but I'm not expecting a fair trial here. Everyone has a hard-on for Malkin and the Penguins, so why should anyone care about Simmonds? I'm not saying I don't think the guy deserves punishment; I definitely think he deserves some sort of supplemental discipline. I just don't think the NHL is going to do anything about it considering who both players are.

(AP/Joe Sargent)

Oh yeah, the game. Just some quick notes on an unimpressive outing:

• It was Justin Williams' first game in a Kings sweater so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for this game since the entire team wasn't looking too hot. He had 13:36 minutes on the ice and one shot on net. He also had one recorded giveaway, but it definitely seemed to have happened more than just once.
  
• Alexander Frolov was allowed out of the doghouse, but is still chained to it. He had 17 minutes with one shot and one hit.
  
• They're definitely not ready for post-season play. The fact that it took a 5-on-3 to get a goal through all the traffic wasn't impressive. Impressive was the Penguins' penalty kill units. Aggressive and quick. They took 11 total penalties (with one as a 10-minute misconduct and others resulting in 4-on-4 play) but they were successful killing virtually all of them.
  
• The Kings finally got themselves over 50% in the faceoff circle. They won 60% while the Penguins went just 40%.
• Dustin Brown made a good showing with 7 hits and 6 shots on net.

(x-posted to HLOG)

Read more...

Never Would Have Guessed: Kings 3, Bruins 2 (OT)

Let's just hypothetically say the Kings somehow make the playoffs. You know how they'd do? Bounced in the first round, no doubt. Maybe they'd win a game or two, but it's clear they're not ready to be in the playoffs this season. Saying that, I'm still not completely counting them out. For some reason, I just can't for probably another week. This road trip that sees the Kings in Pittsburgh tonight, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, and Nashville is the make or break point. The reason I say they'd be out in the first round is that the past two games made it perfectly clear they're not ready. Two games ago, they played the Nashville Predators (a bubble team in the West) and they couldn't pull out the win. Last night they played the Boston Bruins where they were up and down and all over the place in terms of passing, shooting, and teamwork in general. They managed to get the win in overtime (3-2), but wow, it was a shaky game for the Kings.

Amazingly enough the Kings had 38 shots on net while the Bruins only had 26. I don't know how; I watched the entire game and the flow felt like the Bruins had control of the first period and almost entire second period. Both of their goals happened in the blink of an eye. Combine the Kings being out of position and the Bruins landing passes and you get two goals against. I was also surprised that the Kings were able to keep up with the Bruins in the hits column getting 28 and 27, respectively. Also surprisingly, Dustin Brown only had one hit, but he had the game winner in over time, which had me jumping out of my chair, as per usual. Another seat-jumping goal was from Drew Doughty. He made an aggressive move toward the front of the net after leading the charge into the Bruins' zone and the puck found the back of the net off of his stick. It was a great effort and finish to regulation. I honestly thought the game was over with 5 minutes left, but with less than two minutes to go was when Doughty scored (and where my faith was renewed).

(AP/Michael Dwyer)

What's going on here?

Going back to the bottom of the roster, I thought Raitis Ivanans got an unusual amount of minutes (9:26) but then the guy takes two penalties back-to-back! What's up with that? Once again Kevin Westgarth isn't doing anything. And I realized that there's someone on the team who is a worse skater than Westgarth! Denis Gauthier! He's a horrible skater. He looks like he has lead in his skates with each stride; I'm not sure why it was so apparent last night as opposed to every other game this season, but he's slow and lumbering. Waive him and get him to Manchester.

Alexander Frolov was in the doghouse for this game getting only 12:01 of ice time and ending the night at a -2. Definitely a bit harsh and it's hard to do well when you're on the 4th line, but you can't question the coach. Perhaps Fro will be back in the low 20 minutes for tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In either case, I'm not worried about him. He's got the most goals on the team and the expectations are pretty high for him. Go Fro!

I used to go into games having a feeling in my gut of whether the Kings were going to win or lose, but I've been unsure for the past two weeks or so, which is how I'm going to be for the rest of the season. I'm not shutting the season down just yet, give me a week... or so... and I'll let you know where I stand...

Read more...

Are We Done?: Predators 4, Kings 3

As with any game against the Nashville Predators, it’s always an unpredictable outcome. I can hardly even venture a guess, and this game proved that (1) the Preds are better than the Kings at finishing games, and (2) the Kings are probably done for the season. I think I’ve been the last blogger to hold on to the silly notion that the Kings COULD pull something miraculous in order to get into the playoffs. I mean, it’s not completely unfeasible; there are 13 games left and they’re 5 or so points out. But in reality they’d have to also jump over the Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, and/or Nashville Predators. By the math, it’s possible, but in reality, it’s probably not going to happen.

Once again the Kings didn’t play horribly last night against the Preds; rather, the trend continued and they couldn’t finish, which has now caused them to drop three straight games. I don’t have too much to say on last night’s game because it looked like their previous games where they’ve come out with fight and grit but haven’t been able to close it out with a win. Erik Ersberg definitely let in a soft goal to tie it up 3-3 with the Preds' go-ahead goal then going in with less than three minutes to go in regulation. Those goals at the very end of games are the killers. There's no other way to look at them. Even though the Kings had a power play opportunity for the last two minutes, they weren't able to convert and the Preds snagged the two points, which allowed them to hop over the Oilers. Sorry Moose!

Thursday begins the road to the end of the season with a six-game road trip that starts with a back-to-back in Boston and Pittsburgh. At this point every game is a toss up, but I’m going to give this next game to Boston.

Read more...

Fantastic Goaltending: Sharks 2, Kings 1 (SO)

After 65 minutes of battling and 7 rounds in the shootout, the Kings were only able to scrap one point from last night's game against the San Jose Sharks. The Kings definitely played better last night than they did against the Vancouver Canucks two nights ago, and Erik Ersberg did not disappoint as he faced 39 shots in all four frames. I was happy to see them working hard to try and get every opportunity going their way.

One particular play that had me spewing profanities at the TV was when Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar had a 2-0 break after Joe Thornton broke his stick. The two had no one near them and neither took charge to get the shot off. Brownie overskated it and passed to Kopi who ALSO overskated. Unbelievable. To flounder a chance in a game where every single one matters absolutely kills the momentum that you're trying to create. The camera shot of the two players on the bench showed frustration and more frustration. Let's prevent that from happening next time, mmkay? I know it's a split second decision, but one of you just take the freaking shot.

With just 41 seconds into the second period, Wayne Simmonds scored off a rebound on Evgeni Nabokov after some solid passing by all Kings players with Alexander Frolov and Michael Handzus digging in. But the amount of overall penalties taken by the Kings was a bit shocking and I'm wondering if it was sheer desperation in the particular shifts to try and keep up with the Sharks. The Kings took 9 total penalties with one being a fighting major to Raitis Ivanans going against Brad Staubitz (whose name rings no bells for me). In the end, give it to Ivanans. Also golf clap to the entire Kings bench for killing all 8 penalties that saw them a man down.

(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

After 60 minutes of uptempo play and 5 minutes of overtime, the teams went to the shootout. I know I shouldn't have been happy with the fact that the Kings were only able to get one point, but hey, it's better than nothing. The seven rounds of the shootout were the crowning moment to this feisty game. The longest the Kings have gone before was 6 rounds in the 07-08 season against the Anaheim Ducks. So the Kings put out Kopitar, Jack Johnson, and Brown as the shooters with only Jack scoring, but they weren't lacking any shooters for all the rounds, but I did question Handzus' presence at the line over Teddy Purcell. I mean, AHL Rookie of the Year versus a solid shutdown centerman? I'm not bagging on anyone here, especially since neither player scored. In the end Jonathan Cheechoo scored the game winner and the Sharks got their points.

It appears that the Kings just can't budge from the 13th spot in the West. The St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks both sit at 70 points and the Minnesota Wild are right ahead at 72. The Kings could feasibly get back up there. If they keep playing the way they did last night, this season will definitely end 100 times better than a year ago.

Go Kings!

Read more...

Back And Forth: Canucks 4, Kings 2

The Kings played the Vancouver Canucks again up in western Canada where the latter came out the victors in this weird game. All six goals came in pairs with the last four occurring in less than five total minutes. Unfortunately the Kings received zero points from the contest but they remain in 13th place with 67 points in the Western Conference.

Special thanks to FSN for not airing the game with Bob Miller and Jim Fox. Listening to the Vancouver commentators was really "awesome." And by "awesome" I mean "painful." It's a good thing I possess the power of filtering out noise. Something else I found (and still find) annoying was that Denis Gauthier had the puck in the defensive zone at one point and started to pass it out when he fell over. That's right, he. Just. Fell. Over. Unbelievable. By the way, do the Kings really need two players on the roster who are only gonna be playing 5 or 6 minutes a night? Raitis Ivanans played 5:38 and Kevin Westgarth played 4:31. Westgarth needs to learn how to skate better and have more offensive upside or else he's probably gonna be in Manchester for a long time. I'm not sure why he's with the Kings right now, but it's not like he's moving from the 4th line anytime soon.

This game might have had the lowest number of hits the Kings have ever had with 11; the Canucks ended with only 9 too. Quite odd and a bit boring too, but I guess it doesn't help when you're being outshot 20-3 in the first period. The Kings spent the entire first period running around trying to get control of the puck, and the second period wasn't any better but at least the Canucks only had 7 shots then. The Kings best period was the 3rd in terms of shots where they got 14 but they were only able to get two goals!

(AP/Jeff Vinnick)

The first goal was the one part I enjoyed about this game; Alexander Frolov absolutely schooled Mats Sundin to score on the backhand. Talk about slick. But the whole game was a bit odd with Vancouver scoring twice in the first and entering the third period with the same score and then having the next two goals belonged to the Kings with Anze Kopitar scoring immediately after Fro scored. With some hope building for the Kings, the Canucks shut it down with two quick ones from Henrik Sedin. Out of the four against Jonathan Quick, two of them were definitely fluky ones. One bounced weirdly behind the net against the boards and Quick was caught out of position; the other was Henrik Sedin killing some time by taking the puck toward Quick on his own. He ended up dipsy doodling in front of Sean O'Donnell and getting the shot off pretty easily.

The end of the game got a bit exciting with Alexander Burrows taking a penalty with just under two minutes to go; the Kings pulled Quick and it was 6-on-4 for the rest of the game. Unfortuately, it was a no-go for the Kings and the Canucks are sitting in the 5th seed. The Kings face the San Jose Sharks tonight where, if they win, they'll STILL be in 13th place. In looking at the standings, I can be happy about one thing: the Ducks are in 12th place. Haha.

Read more...

Sweetness; Kings 3, Vancouver 2

The Kings faced the Vancouver Canucks last night in a pretty damned important game. The Canucks are sitting in 5th place in the Western Conference while the Kings are in 13th and still out by just a bit. This game brought them up two points and (as of today) are sitting just three points out of the 8th spot.

This game started out and continued to be a solid game for the Kings, not to mention exciting; that is, until the Canucks scored their first goal, which was just about the time Denis Gauthier thought it convenient to take a penalty on the next shift. Someone get that guy some glasses or something. So Matt Greene. He's pretty studly, I must say. But not in the "I think he's smoking hot" type of way; I mean more of the "you just blocked that puck with your goddamned face!!!!" And Jarret Stoll. What a game! He was in all the right places. For instance, his first goal was on the PP and Teddy Purcell found the open seam and Stolli snuck right up to slam home the perfect pass. After another goal, Stolli was named First Star of the game. AND RIGHTLY SO.

Jason LaBarbera was sitting on the bench for this game but Roberto Luongo wasn't looking that great. The first two Kings goals came within the first 10 shots of the game and, actually, both teams only had 22 shots on net. For being an exciting game with a lot of fast-moving flow, the shots on and against were definitely lower than usual. Anyway, just a short game recap for your reading pleasure.

(AP/Noah Graham)

Hey, buddy. We miss you.. I mean, ... I miss you...

Read more...

Kings World Podcast - Ep 1.31

Marie and I are joined this week by Greener from He Score, He Shoot! Moose is no where to be found so Greener attempts to pick up the slack for both of them while the ladies are sitting comfortably. The setting is a familiar Starbucks with some interesting things going on at that bustling location. The three of us discusses the trade deadline and how our respective teams fared, then Marie does game recaps for the Kings with a bit of help from me, and Greener ponders the meaning of life. Simply put: it’s talk while hoping funny things are being said!

We welcome any and all feedback! Please direct any questions, comments, or thoughts to kingsworldpodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

Read more...

Trade Deadline Shocker

Just as I thought the Kings weren't going to make any big moves today, Dean Lombardi comes out and surprised the hell out of me. He had signed two players, the deadline passed, and I was content. But about 15 minutes later, the trade announcement rolled out as a crazy three-way deal, wait no, a 4-something deal. First the two players who were signed:

(1) Sean O'Donnell signed one-year deal - $1.25 mil
(2) Erik Ersberg signed two-year deal - $1.5 (combined)

I'm definitely very pleased with O'Donnell getting signed again, and honestly, there was no way he was going to be let go in the summer. Also, we get to keep the conditional pick from that original trade to acquire him. Having Ersberg signed for two years is a pretty good (and cheap) security blanket. He's been solid in the net and I'm glad a deal was signed before the summer began. No complaints from this humble blogger.

------------

Onto the big honkin' trade. For a four-square visual of the trade, go to James Mirtle's page.

(1) Patrick O'Sullivan and a 2009 2nd round pick (what the hell happened there??) was sent to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Justin Williams.
(2) The Carolina Hurricanes turned around and traded both to the Edmonton Oilers and sent Erik Cole back to Carolina.
(3) The Oilers then took the 2nd round pick and sent it to the Buffalo Sabres and received Ales Kotalik.

In the end these are what the teams end up with:

(1) Kings - Justin Williams
(2) Hurricanes - Erik Cole
(3) Oilers - Patrick O'Sullivan & Ales Kotalik
(4) Sabres - Kings 2009 2nd round pick (originally in deal for Craig Conroy?)

------------

Apparently there were still Marian Gaborik rumblings? I can't really be excited for a player that would say (taken from Russo's Rants):

Speaking of watching games, Marian Gaborik put his foot in his mouth today back in Minnesota when he voluntarily said when asked if he feels the pressure to return with the team sinking, “Quite frankly I haven’t really been watching games. I’ve been following the scores but I haven’t been watching games. From my perspective, I just really need to focus on how am I feeling, how everything goes with me and then if everything goes good I’m going to jump in to play. Definitely the pressure is on, but first of all I want to feel confident in my body and … so far everything is going well.”

Wow, talk about selfish. I'm sorry Kirsten and Elise, but I can't hide my dislike for Gaborik. From an outsider's perspective, if he leaves Minnesota on his own, without anything in return for the club, that will be the final nail in the coffin in terms of player and team relations. And I'm pretty sure it'll happen that way if he doesn't re-sign since he's going UFA status this summer.

So that was my preface for my short thought about him potentially coming to LA. If this does go down, it'll be during the summer and (hopefully) for cheap because he'll be on IR for 80 of 82 games next season.

Read more...

Kings World Podcast - Ep 1.30

This episode brings things back into perspective for Marie and me. We open the show by looking at the Kings 1-2-0 record from the past week and really think about how this is going to effect what they'll do on Wednesday, March 4, trade deadline day. According to Marie, this week could make or break the rest of the season, but I'm a bit more optimistic with a hint of sarcasm to go along with it. We spend the latter half of the show doing a bit of analysis on the Kings specifically concerning the trade deadline and think about whose name could be brought into the mix.

I also read an email I received from a reader and have extended his question to you, the listeners. Please listen and let us know if you know the answer. It will be greatly appreciated!

Please check us out at our respective blogs and at Kings World Podcast.

We welcome any and all feedback! Please direct any questions, comments, or thoughts to kingsworldpodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

Read more...