A Little More Up And Down Action

Firstly, my apologies for the delayed post. My only excuse: Life is getting in the way.

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Currently the Los Angeles Kings are sitting 8th in the Western Conference with 10 points and are 3rd in the Pacific Division. With 9 games in I'm neither ecstatic nor depressed with the results; the Kings are showing that they can compete and that they can take a nosedive at any moment. This was the end of their longest road trip of the year and it just may be the start of something great.

On Saturday evening, I had the unfortunate occurrence of accidentally seeing the score of the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets while watching another game. Too bad Leafs TV is really good about keeping you updated around the league. The Toronto Maple Leafs started their game at 4:00 pm PST; I saw the Kings were down 4-1 around the middle of the 3rd period of the Leafs game, and (since the games began at the same time) I knew the Kings were going to lose the game. How utterly deflating. There is absolutely nothing that can salvage the feeling of already knowing the outcome of a game, especially when it's in favor of the other team.

At first I was upset that I saw the score, and then I was irritated that the Blue Jackets got 4 pucks past Jonathan Quick. Needless to say, I was not very enthusiastic watching the game later. There's something about watching a game knowing your team is going to lose that is very unappetizing. It might have led to my falling asleep at times. That being said, the Kings didn't look THAT bad. In my zombie-like state, I didn't think they played worse than some of their other losses. With that, I'm done with this recap.

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For the game I was actually awake and excited for, the Kings decided to bounce back and play like a coherent team yesterday against the Dallas Stars. They won 4-1 to the relief of everyone and proved they can play hockey like professionals. Everything about this game was better than their previous game and capped off this road trip very nicely. They were over .500 in the faceoff circle (thank you Jarret Stoll), ceased taking sloppy penalties for 60 minutes, and collapsed around their own net protecting the goalie.

(LAKings.com)

Going into this game, Bob Miller and Jim Fox mentioned that the top line of Ryan Smyth, Anze Kopitar, and Justin Williams had a combined 29 points in the first 8 games. After they picked up another 6 points against the Stars, the top line is sitting pretty with 35. Okay people, I'm fully on board with the Smyth Train. Williams? I'm getting there. Also I'm over Marty Turco. I don't quite understand the love affair people have with him. I've witnessed far too many meltdowns to have any confidence he's going to stop enough pucks to win games for his team. Am I being too critical? I think not, but let me know what you think!

(LAKings.com)

Also Alexander Frolov is on the hot seat. After the poor performance against the Blue Jackets, Frolov was benched for being a turnover machine while also falling down at inopportune times causing goals against, among other things. Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider posted a transcript of his conversation with Frolov about what happened between him and the coaching staff. Per Hammond: here's what Terry Murray had to say and here's what Dean Lombardi said.

Decide for yourself what really is going on. I personally believe if he doesn't shape up and sign a contract Lombardi-esque, he's going to be sent off to wear a stranger's crest. I will subsequently be heart-broken, but that's only if nothing else negative comes out of this situation.

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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!

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Random Excursions & Scary Russian Men

It's funny what happens when you take random excursions during a lunch break. Especially on a random Tuesday, which happened to be today.

My friend, we'll call A. until she can think of a nickname, needed to go to this place to buy an item associated with one of Will Ferrell's many characters. So we took our lunch break and made the drive over to said place. Now on a Tuesday at 12:30 PM this place was definitely NOT hoppin' with the trendy LA crowd because (a) we weren't actually IN LA and (b) I don't make enough money to hang out with the "trendy crowd." But I digress.

We took a turn into the awesome (read: shady) parking lot and made our way inside. As we walked in, I looked to my immediate right out of habit to scope out the scene and to my surprise, there was someone in there that wasn't an employee. (As you might have guessed this wasn't an eating establishment.) So this person was standing there with his back to me and in my head I thought, "That... kinda... looks like Dustin Brown." I then took a couple of very conspicuous steps forward to get a better angle, and yes, and it was definitely Brownie.

I turn to my left to tell A. who the only other customer in the store was and we proceeded toward the merchandise. After spending some time perusing, she made the purchase and we walked toward the exit where Brownie was standing and all A. said was, "I'm gonna talk to him. Watch this." She walked right up to him and said, "Hello. I just want to say we're looking forward to next season and see you in Vegas." (Frozen Fury reference) His face turned into one gigantic smile and he said, "Thanks!" As we turned to walk out one employee said to him, "Next season? Do you play sports?" Whereupon he said, "Yeah, I play for the Kings."

Signed, sealed, delivered.

*****

Interestingly enough, I got back to work and immediately let my homie Cat know that I just saw my Power Forward at the store. About 30 minutes later, I get a text from her saying, "sergei zubov is at best buy. what do i do???" After much texting and waiting, I finally get her story, which is summed up quite nicely below.


What do you do when you see a totally awesome, very Russian, very frightening hockey player at Best Buy? I'll tell you what you do.

You run away.

I was at Best Buy today, heading to Geek Squad to get my iPod fixed. The line at Geek Squad was exceptionally long for a Tuesday afternoon at 4pm. I turn to look at the entrance (I'm one of those people that can't look in one direction for too long, I like familiarizing myself with my environment), and I see one Mr. Sergei Zubov step towards the carts, carrying...An iron? Okay, that's cool.

I spent some time meandering the store, debating on whether or not I could afford to purchase a 1TB external hard drive when I'm trying to save up for a trip, and also debating whether or not I want to walk up to Mr. Zubov and congratulate him on an incredible run this season. Connie had just told me about Dustin Brown, and right before I walked out the door I said "I hope I run into some Dallas Stars today to congratulate them!"

Yeah, I should have been more specific.

It could have been anyone else. Anyone else, I would have no fear walking up to them and congratulating them and thanking them. Sergei Zubov? Is too frightening. He seems like the kind of man who appreciates his privacy and the ability to walk around without people freaking out. I wanted to respect that, but I also wanted to respect him as a player and thank him for a wonderful playoff run.

I left Best Buy without an iPod (Geek Squad had to send it off for fixage), and sort of regretting not speaking to Mr. Zubov. Why couldn't it have been Marty Turco?

Cross-posted to HLOG

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Up And (Like a Dinosaur) Roaring To Go (PT)

Player Transactions:
- Kyle Calder is out with a broken finger & John Zeiler has been recalled (March 21).
- The Kings primary affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, sign Josh Kidd (D) to an Amateur Tryout Agreement. He was drafted by the Kings in the seventh-round (184th overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
- Four (4) Kings prospects were named to the Western Hockey League (WHL) First Team All-Stars: Thomas Hickey, T.J. Fast, Oscar Moller, Linden Rowat.
- Jaroslav Modry was chosen as the Kings' nomination for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.


Pre-Game:
Kings are playing the Dallas Stars for the 368th time this season. Last time these two teams met, it went to the shootout where Patty O took his turn against Turco and scored the game winner. In that game and in the game against the Coyotes on March 20th, Sully was the 4th shooter, which ended up being the game winner. This begs the question: why does Crow put in Cammy as the 3rd shooter? It doesn't make sense because he's in a little slump and can't seem to find the back of the net as much as Sully has. I'd have understood if he put in, let's say, Alexander "I am Russian Hottie" Frolov, but no, we have Michael "Short Stack" Cammalleri taking the shot. If this game goes to overtime, and then to the shootout without Sully taking the 3rd opportunity, I'll... spazz out.

1st Period:
- It had seemed that the Kings and Stars were even in their play for the first half of the period. This could be promising.
- Giuliano takes a penalty, which means my PK Beast is NOT on the kill. Harrold gets hurt pretty badly blocking a shot and I'm hoping it nothing is broken in his foot (a la JJ). Stars Goal - Trevor Daley bombs one from the blueline, which was deflected twice and Brenden Morrow gets credited with the goal at 13:08.
- Kings PP - Mark Fistric shoves Brownie and Cammy comes to save the day. Although Cammy takes a slashing penalty off the next faceoff. 4-on-4 - nothing exciting here. Harrold is back on the ice, thank god.
- Ersberg pulls a Hasek/Huet and skates out of the crease to poke the puck away from Stars player. That was...awesome and scary at the same time. It's not often (or at all) where a Kings goalie makes an aggressive decision like that. But, seriously, where was the Kings defense on that play?
- So this John Zeiler kid. You gotta feel kind of bad that the Monarchs figured that they could do without him in their playoff push. At this point, the Kings need roster fillers and Zeiler is the call up; I hope his skating has improved from the short/terrible choppy strides he had at the beginning of the season.
- This Rapid Fire thing is TERRIBLE... so awkward... at least Cammy was better than Kopi. =/

2nd Period:
- 5 minutes in, Loui Eriksson knocks down Ersberg and gets an interference penalty. One might say Dallman forced him in like that, but who shot that puck at Ersberg after the whistle was blown??
- Kings PP - Kings Goal - ROB BLAKE (8 & 160th as a Kings, 9th among all Kings) scores grabbing the garbage in front of Turco at 5:48. He now trails Jim Fox in scoring and Foxy says there's no way Blake is catching him. Ahh, I love it.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Blake looks like a bully that's walking away from some havoc in the sandbox that he left in his wake

- Stars Goal - Stu Barnes scores at 11:32 and Dallas is up 2-1. P.S. Ersberg makes the best in between play faces. This goal opens up big scoring chances from both teams; even Ivanans gets a nice wrister off at Turco.
- Dallas up 2-1 with the shots even at 20 apiece.

3rd Period:
- First half of this period like the first half of the first period. I hate using the same word more than twice in one sentence; sounds awkward.
- Kings PP - Except Sully gets a holding penalty and it's another 4-on-4. I must say, as no surprise, Ersberg is making some solid saves.
- Kings Goal - Wasn't expecting this one! Dallas wasn't able to clear their zone, Michal Handzus (6) picks it up, and snaps one off and the Kings have tied it! (16:59) Apparently Handzus hadn't scored since December 17th (42 games). Go Zeus!
- Kings Goal - Lubo (8) takes the shot from the blueline at 17:54 with assists going to Army and Brownie. This is now 2 goals in 55 seconds.
- Kings Goal - Handzus!! He gets his 7th goal at 18:41. He should thank Fro for setting this up for him. Fro draws the attention of 2 Stars and takes a shot on; Zeus grabs the rebound off to the right of Turco and scores. This finishes the game with 3 goals in 1:42.

Game:
Kings 4, Stars 2 (shots 30, 27). Marty Turco hates the Kings. It's official.

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