A Game of Shinny; Kings 6, Senators 3

The win tonight against the Ottawa Senators marks the third win in a row for the Los Angeles Kings. The difference from this game to the past two was that tonight it felt like neither team was in control from one shift to the next. Even Jim Fox described it as a game of shinny, very wide open with not too much dominance overall. I was neither impressed with anyone on the Senators just as I was unimpressed with any one player on the Kings. Obviously different players had flashes of elite play, but nothing toooo impressive. Even Justin Williams seemed lackadaisical about his two goals at the end of the game. Awesome for him, but everything was all over the place!

A great stat from the night was that Michal Handzus and Anze Kopitar both rocked it in the faceoff circle with 81% and 80%, respectively. Also, Wayne Simmonds has continued to impress everyone watching. Tonight he drew a penalty shot where he faked out Mike Elliott and slide the puck between his legs getting the lead back for the Kings. I'm so pleased with his entire game and development so far this season. Go Simmer!



The most surprising part of the game was the goal by Randy Jones in the first minute of the game. In the past that would be the kind of thing the Kings wouldn't be able to do. I seem to recall a game against the Detroit Red Wings two seasons ago where the puck dropped and I could feel it in my bones that the Kings would utterly fail. As predicted, Henrik Zetterberg scored about 51 seconds into the game. Someone can check that number, but I don't think I'm too far off since that memory is seared into my memory bank.

The power play still needs some work. The Kings had two 5-on-3 opportunities back-to-back. That's all I need to say about that. My apologies for the short post and the fact that I'm jumping around a bit, but life is getting in the way for now. There will be some changes coming in the next few weeks around here, which I'm very excited about. I'll let you all know what's going on when it's time.

Until then, go Kings go!

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The Nonsense Is Through

Fears abound on Thursday evening were killed about 30 minutes ago by the completion of the Dany Heatley saga. TSN reports that he will be a San Jose Shark along with a 5th round pick and that Jonathan Cheechoo, Milan Michalek, and a 2nd round pick are going back to the Ottawa Senators.

I can fully breathe a sigh of relief at this outcome now that Alexander Frolov and Jarret Stoll are safe (for now). I'm not sure what the rest of the day will hold as training camp starts tomorrow! I'm hoping to be there checking out the potentials for the remaining roster spots.

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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!

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Hidden Gems - 9 - This Is AMAZING

Warning - This post takes us into enemy territory: San Jose Sharks

I just have to say that this is AMAZING. I have found the greatest thing....ever. Behold: Marcel Goc's blog over on the Sharkies official website. Now...don't ask me why they chose Goc for this job, but trust me, it's well worth the couple minutes to read some of his entries. This specific one is titled "Back Pain, Thanksgiving and Ernte Dank Fest." I thought it was appropriate since the holiday of stuffing ourselves is looming on the horizon.

Goc (whose picture is fantastic) is from Germany and, you know, his English is passable. So it's understandable that his written English isn't perfect. I guess it has a quasi-endearing effect in that it hasn't been proofed before being put on the web. But whatever. In this particular post he notes that Germany doesn't have a Thanksgiving day, but that he does enjoy our highly commercialized holiday.

I do like Thanksgiving here. You get to eat a lot and I always eat a lot.

Wow, that's fantastic. As I move on and look at his bio from his player page, I noticed something interesting.

His three wishes: win the lottery, stay healthy and win the Stanley Cup.

Hold it! Back the Cheechoo train up. The lottery? Are you serious? How much are you making right now, Marcel? Let me look...according to TSN.ca, Mr. Goc is making $800,000 this year. Dude, you seriously want to win the lottery? So as I reread this list and remember that your back is hurt, I see that you're 0-3 on your wish list.

Anyway, that's enough of Marcel. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Turkey Day!!

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Hidden Gems – 8 - Randoms

NHL.com correspondent Chuck Gormley wrote his Atlantic division update for this week. At the end of his post, which was all about Brodeur, he mentioned Brian Berard and Bill Guerin returned to Islanders’ lineup last week. He also included this quote:

Guerin said the blurred vision that kept him out of one game reminded him of his teenage years. “It's kind of like you're sitting in your car and all your windows are fogged up, like if you're making out with a girl.”

Haha, nice.

*****

NHL.com staff writer Dan Rosen did an article on Washington Capital’s Nicklas Backstrom (19). This Swedish player has been working on his transition to American life off the ice and has been fortunate enough to have Michael Nylander (35) as a mentor. It’s true that mentors are supposed to help others in whatever situation they find themselves. In this instance, Backstrom is still learning English words here and there, and this little bit here is pretty funny.

Aiding Backstrom’s transition has been his smooth adaptation of the English language. He was forced to take English classes in Sweden as part of the regular curriculum, which means he’s ahead of most of the NHL’s Europeans in that department.

“You still have to apply it, though,” Backstrom said. “If I hear Americans or Canadians speaking I still have to pick up some words. It’s only good for me because I want to learn, but I still have a problem with some words.”

Added Nylander: “Carrot. He didn’t know what it meant. Some guys came to me and said; ‘How do you say carrot in Swedish?’ I said, ‘Just tell him a rabbit eats it.’ ”

*****

I came upon this article written by Adam Proteau that moved me over to this page from The Buffalo News. The article is about GM Darcy Regier speaking on the low scoring from his Buffalo Sabres and throughout the NHL. But the reason I bring this up is because of the second to last paragraph in the article. I mean, how many times can a person say the same word in a sentence before it starts to sound stupid? But not only does Regier use a word five times in the same sentence, he uses different versions of the word "play" a couple of times in the SAME SENTENCE. Please just read this out loud and you'll see what I mean.

“It still comes down really to two things,” Regier said. “The players playing the game and the future players playing the game have to choose to play this game because it’s the most fun game of any game available to play. That ensures the top athletes in this sport.

Total count: Game - 5; Play - 4. Wait a second, I'm going to go ahead and count "player" in the "play" count.

New count: Game - 5; Play - 6

*****

After reading the story written by Matt Moulson that was more uplifting than anything I’ve read lately (excluding Martin Brodeur’s 500th win. Well done.), I knew there’d be something I’d come across that would bring an eye roll or two. Case in point, when I read “Canucks call up Brown with Wild rematch looming” from ESPN.com, the article was doing fine with talking about Mattias Ohlund’s hit against Mikko Koivu’s leg. The facts were facts and there wasn't too much commentary from this Associated Press writer. That was, until I got to the end where they decided to interview 6’7”, 260-pound Derek “I Will Enforce You” Boogaard about the situation. What made my eyes roll was his reference to Canucks Markus Naslund, Daniel Sedin, and Henrik Sedin.

“Maybe I can go after, or check Naslund and those Pinky and the Brain twins.”

*sigh*

*****

But let’s end on a high note. Last Saturday morning I was sitting in an unnamed restaurant near my home. When the waiter came up and asked what I wanted to drink, I answered “water” while wondering where in the world I had seen this guy before. The whole time while he was taking our order, I STILL couldn’t pin point it. But once he walked away, the light bulb turned on. Ladies and Gentlemen, Jonathan Cheechoo works at this unnamed restaurant as his day job. Don’t let his name tag fool you; he might want to go by Miguel while working here (and on his tan), but I know the truth.

I’m sorry Cheechoo, but you’ve been exposed! …and you're a little shorter than I thought you were going to be…

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