Year-In-Review – 14 – John Zeiler

The time has come to take a look at the forwards. Joy. The 07-08 season was filled with random line combinations and foul language escaping my lips, but there definitely were bright spots here and there. It's been said so many times that it's becoming cliche, but the youth of this team is promising and they will be the ones who will take over this team in the coming seasons. Man, that sounds so promising, it really does. But will that be the truth? It's questionable when we take a look at the goal scorers, wannabe goal scorers, and energy guys from this past season.

I originally wanted to organize these players by lines and start at the bottom, but I realized that it had gotten so muddled on the 3rd and 4th lines that my order would just seem random. So I'm going to tackle this feat going alphabetically and in reverse order. Why not, who's really reading these anyway? Anyhoo, here goes nothing.

You think he got past that BJ? HA!

John Zeiler... right off the bat, I could say with confidence that he was definitely a fringe player on the team this year. He was supposed to be here to provide a spark on the lower lines, but, really, he was lots of suck. He played 36 games getting zero goals, one assist, was at a -6, and had 23 PIM. I will admit, he was able to throw up some hits, which would get the fans riled up. But when I really looked at how the hits were going down, I realized that he wasn't doing well in that department either. I can remember plently of instances where he would be running after an opposing player who was trying to get possession of a loose puck. Once said player would get near the boards, Zeiler would make him eat glass.

Loud noise. Crowd cheers.

But I honestly believe that he threw those kinds of hits because he couldn't skate fast enough to beat the other guy to the puck. He had these short,choppy strides that annoyed the hell out of me; talk about inefficient! Anyway, so he'd get out-skated to the puck, and the only way for him to even have a chance at gaining possession was for him to lay the dude down. That, to me, isn't skill. If you want an example of how hitting SHOULD be done by the boards, look at Dustin Brown. Zeiler isn't even in the same league as Brownie. Literally. The coaching staff sent him back to Manchester because he couldn't handle the pressure out on the ice. What was my reaction? Laughter... and relief

I really don't have too much else to say about him. After realizing what he was "contributing" to the team, I hated whenever he was out on the ice. He did nothing for me. Who knows where he'll end up next season. Saying that his showing this past season was less than impressive is an understatement. It makes me laugh (and Marie cry) to see that he's signed until the 2010-11 season. If he can't do something to improve his overall game, he'll be stuck in the minors for a long time. He's only making half a million for the remaining years on his contract, but I'm still annoyed that he has to get paid that amount. But, you never know, he could shock the hell out of Kings fans and have a breakout year, a la Patrick O'Sullivan.

HAHAHA!

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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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Wow! That Kinda Sucked!

The Aves were in town and I honestly thought this was gonna be an easy win for the Kings. WOW, was I wrong. After 5 unanswered goals, the Kings lose 5-2. Let's take a little trip down memory lane, shall we?

Ahh Staples Center, how I love the bright lights, parking lot dudes with red flags, and bums asking for money while I'm just trying to get inside. And plus, these freaking little kids standing next to the glass and pounding it the whole time during warm ups annoy me. The players aren't gonna look at you and you're just wasting time doing that. Plus you're in my way since I want to take pictures. P.S. climbing onto the small ledge and gripping the top of the glass probably isn't the best idea. As I make my way up to the upper concourse with my bro, I am in a completely agitated state for reasons prior to arriving, so he buys me a shot and a beer to get my ass to calm down. He buys both for himself and the tab is $33. Thanks, AEG!

1st Period:
- Line up for Kings - JJ with Modry and Sully joining Anze and Brownie (Barbs in net) I was SO happy to see Sully on this line; in my eyes, he's been doing noticeably well the past couple of games.
- Line up for Aves - Liles with Finger on D and Hejduk, Stastny, and Smyth (Theodore in net).
- Penalty - Liles called for delay of game.
- Kings Goal - Ivanans (2) and Sully with the assist at 5:20. The Kings actually scored in the first period!
- Preissing - HIT
- Some dude in section 313 won a snowboard during a commercial break. A SNOWBOARD!
- Sully got a nice shot on net, but Kopi wasn't ready for the rebound and lost the opportunity.
- Barbs makes a nice save (as usual).
- BIZARRE - So this was REALLY WEIRD. Aves Karlis Skrastins gets a penalty for hooking and the camera followed him into box, which is normal. He then nonchalantly puts his hand down the front of his jersey and pulls out a makeup compact, which he opens and uses to start powdering his face. WHAT THE FUCK???? (There was NO explanation....so...yeah....)
- Brownie - HIT
- Zeiler - HIT
- Kings Goal - Kopi (11) with a ridiculous back pass from Sully at 7:12. But this goal would not have happened were it not for Brownie's fore checking.
- Brownie - HIT
- Aves Goal - This was the weakest goal ever! By Stastny from Smyth and Hannan.

End of 1st:
- Kings are up 2-1 with 9 shots on goal to the Aves' 8.
- I thought there were some pretty productive shifts out there making this seem like it was going to be an exciting one up to the last minute.

Second Period:
- Sully - HIT
- So the theme of "stop passing so much and just take the f-ing shot" continues with Sully getting a break with the puck with a man on but no one in between him and Theodore. What does he do? Passes it back....to NO ONE.
- Hilarity from my seat - Some of the players were in a corner digging out the puck and Moulson was in the fray. What does he do to get the Aves player to get the hell outta his way? He just sticks his hand out and pushes the guy down completely off his feet.
- JMFJ - HIT
- In the second half of the period it started to get a little hectic with a rush from the Kings with some close calls but ending with no goals. Then the rush moves in the other direction by the Aves with nothing for them either. Kind of exciting, kind of stressful. Should this unpredictable play be happening more? I dunno, but it's better than being bored...or annoyed.
- Poll - During commercial break the announcer says to vote to hear a song selected by three Kings players. Gotta text in your vote! (Results at the end of the period)
** Kopi - "Living On A Prayer"
** Cammy - "All Night Long"
** Army - "Rock and Roll All Night"
- Kopi - HIT
- Fight between Stuart and Wojtek Wolski that resulted in a roughing penalty against Stuart at 11:30. You probably could have guessed that this was met with some resounding BOOs.
- The face off for this PK was delayed a little because Handzus skated out to be the 5th man. I guess he forgot the memo of Stuart being in the box. (Follow up in third period)
- There were two Aves fans sitting in the row behind me and my bro, and they yelled "Let's go Aaaaa-ves!" To which we ALL responded with "Aaaa-ves suuuu-ck!" Ahh, good times.
- There was a wraparound attempt by an Aves player, which JJ did a good job shutting down.
- Aves Goal - Henson with assists from some guys.
- Modry - HIT
- Zeiler - HIT
- You know, for so many hits being tossed up in this game, I didn't feel like there was much of a result from them.
- About 8 minutes left in the period it looked like the Kings were in a PK situation for 5 minutes. What the freak. Thank god Barbs was there to save them. Hmm, that sounds familiar, Barbs makes brilliant saves while the team isn't doing a good job protecting him.
- Is this about the point where the Kings start to dwindle? Ratti takes a slashing penalty and the Kings are working the PK. The most painful part about these 2 minutes was when Stuart lost his stick. After an eternity, Sully mans up and give his stick to Stuart. But he's actually unable to clear the puck when it was near him a couple seconds later. That was a stressful two minutes but successfully killed.
- So Cammy's song pick won. I probably would have picked Army's choice, but then again, I haven't heard "Living on a Prayer" in a long time. What would you have voted for?

End of 2nd:
- Score is 2-2. Shots on goal 13 (Kings) to 25 (Aves). A little lopsided, no?
- Those who were not really visible to me: Nagy, Cammy, and....Klemm. Nagy, I don't know what's going on with him and Cammy's just being shut down left and right and can't get anything started. What about Willsie? Scratch.
- My bro and I went to the TeamLA store and bought some stuff, but something that annoyed me was when we were going back to our seats. There was a kiosk thing and one of the guys stopped my bro and asked if we were together and after he says that I'm his sister, the guy is all, "Wait, let me show you something." I have ants in my pants wanting to get back to our seats since the 3rd period has already started. So my bro denies him and we start to quickly walk away and the guy starts calling to me, "Wait! BLAKE! BLAKE!!" Dude, don't call after me if I CLEARLY don't want to buy what you're selling. The more times you call me Blake (because I'm wearing his name on the back of jersey), the more desperate you sound.

Third period:
- We miss the Aves third goal by Smyth while we were running back to our seats and we also miss Stuart getting a penalty.
- There was a pileup on Barbs after a save that didn't look good since he was motionless for a bit, which is obviously never a good sign. Apparently Smyth had run into him in (with a broken stick?) which the Kings wanted a call for spearing? Is this right? Nothing was called, so I don't really know what that was about. But this puts Barbs in the dressing room and Aubin in net.

What do you think Smyth is thinking at this point?

- Brownie - HIT
- Aves' Guite gets called for slashing, which was killed off without too much of a problem except that it looked like Brownie got tripped up and nothing was called. What's the deal ref?? Do you even have your eyes open?
- Brownie - throws up another solid HIT
- But a helmet-less Smyth puts the puck into the net and I am sad.
- Update: it's 4-2 Aves with 7:30 left. The Aves now have 31 shots on and the Kings have 18.
- Aves Goal - Hlinka scores bla bla bla.
- So going back to Handzus accidentally coming onto the ice to be the 5th man when Stuart had taken a penalty. None of the four officials noticed that the Aves had 6 men on the ice. Hey refs! How about calling for too many men!
- Everything the Kings are doing is getting shut down and they're getting sluggish and the Aves are taking advantage of every turnover and loose puck. JJ looses an edge and falls. Zeiler brilliantly throws up a hit into an Aves player who also crushes Moulson. Yeah...and when I say "brilliantly" I hope you know that I was actually very annoyed with that.

End of game:
- Kings 2, Avalanche 5
- Shots on goal - Kings 19 Avalanche 33
- And you know who was a scratch for Colorado? FREAKING JOE SAKIC.

Another loss

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Kings 2, Sharkies 1

So I turn the TV on to FSN for the start of the Kings game. What do I see instead but a WSU/WASH game in the last 5 minutes, which they've decided to show until the end since it's tied 35-35. What the hell!! I have to wait for this to be over before I can see my Kings whomp on the Sharks? With each minute that ticks by, I get angrier and angrier. Let's see how I pass the minutes by:

7:39 – 2:08 left in the game. Switch back to Mr. And Mrs. Smith since it's on another channel. Might as well ogle at Brad Pitt for a bit.

7:45 – 15 seconds left on the clock. Things that I'm missing: any pre-game interviews, any game analysis, ANYTHING!! Switch to Wedding Crashers, which is on another channel.

7:53 – The clock has been at 9 seconds for too long. Get it over with! Ok, it's FINALLY over, now go to the game!!! What? Post-game interviews??? CRAP!

7:56 – I'm so fucking pissed. FSN, I'm so mad at you right now.

1st Period: We come into the game with 9:14 left in the first and Brownie (9) has just scored a goal. Wow, I'm even MORE mad at FSN now.
- Calder is on the first line? Well, it doesn't really matter since Crawford is changing up the lines on every shift. I could be out there for 30 seconds and I bet no one would know. I'd put up a hit on Setoguchi and skate away while saying, “That's for colonizing my ancestors...and scoring a lot of goals.”
- On Marleau's penalty, Blake took 3 shots on, which made me happy since he hasn't really been doing that this season because it's been the norm up until this year. What's the deal?
- Zeiler – Way to completely miss that attempted hit. Good job.
- Side note: Calder now as 5 titanium pins in his thumb to match the pin that's already in his shoulder.
- Kopitar (9) scores on the PP from awesome passing from Brownie, to Vish (who fakes a shot, only to pass), to Kopi who one-times it past a stiff-looking Nabokov. Sick.

End of 1st: I'm still pissed at FSN, but the Kings are up 2-0 so I guess I should relax a little.
- Looking at the stats, the Kings have only one hit to the Sharks' 4? And 5 shots compared to the SJ's 7? Those numbers have got to come up.

2nd period: Fun fact: Rob Blake has 215 shots on goal, which is the most by any NHL defenseman. AWESOME.
- I thought the PK from Nagy's penalty was good; they were clearing the puck and shutting down the Sharks.
- In always hoping their passing improves, I thought at 10:38 in, Moulson's turn around pass to Blake was a nice setup. Even though it was blocked, it still brought in a shooting opportunity.
- Nagy was awarded a penalty shot and tried to go 5-hole on Naby, but was denied. No worries, they're still up 2-0.
- Side note: Ivanans now has 4 plates in his left cheek courtesy of Rob Blake.

End of 2nd: Hmm, it appears that Handzus is actually being effective and making a noticeable difference on the ice.
- The Kings were outshot 13-6 this period. Crap guys! What do we gotta do to get the puck to the net more? And by “we” I mean “YOU.”
- Even though the shot total wasn't ideal, I thought the Kings transitioned their energy well from the first to the second period.
- During the intermission, they showed a clip of Cammy while in London. The season opener was a while ago, and they're just now showing this? Anyway, since I am pretty critical on speaking skills and the ability to talk without using “umm,” “like,” and “you know” in everyday vernacular, I have something to say about Cammy. I am SO GLAD that the Kings have captains who are competent in their speaking abilities. Blake, Thornton, and Cammy are well-spoken and I definitely appreciate that.

3rd period: Off the bat, the energy levels are still there making this a very hectic period.
- Sully – HIT! (and appears to not be wearing his teeth tonight)
- Zeiler falls. Hmm, why is that not surprising? I see this guy as being like a spastic younger sibling in that he just gets out there and starts running around. But, I mean, it's his job as being part of the energy line, right? But lately, with Crawford changing up the lines like there's no tomorrow, who knows what Zeiler is supposed to be doing....besides falling down a lot.
- The Kings are still skating with energy and hustle, which is actually causing me to feel a bit stressed even though they're still up by two goals.
- Goal for Sharks by Milan Michalek. Damn, Barbs almost got a shutout.
- At the end of the game, Joe Thornton almost scores on his own goal from the Kings end but hits the post. Oh well, I'll take the one goal win.

Game: Kings 2, Sharks 1. Five-game losing streak SNAPPED.

When Barbs was being interviewed after the game, did anyone else think the guy sitting behind the glass to his left looked like Newman? Seinfeld anyone?

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The Shot That Won The Game

Original post date: Sunday November 11, 2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Note: This comeback has now been named The Royal Rebound

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Consistency please???

Original post date: Thursday, October 18, 2007

So I WAS going to give you guys another Hidden Gem, but I decided to go with a recap instead. Mostly because I won't have access to a TV in a couple of days and decided to focus on games instead of the random stuff I do. So tonight's game against the Flames started out great. The Kings looked strong and they were actually protecting Aubin!! Shocking!! But, unfortunately, however, apropos, vis-a-vis (name that movie), whatever...after the first period the game started to go downhill for the Kings. BUT, I felt that they were still playing well. Hustling, moving the puck, applying pressure, all that good stuff. YET, the Flames still managed to get 4 past Aubin. But let me backup.

The first period: Finally, a full 20 minutes of work. Can you believe they almost ended the period being up 2 to zilch? Golly! Besides the Flames goal at the end, there was one thing that bothered me. And that was the second 5-on-3. The Kings were two men up for, what, 30 seconds? How many total shots were taken? 1? 2 maybe? What the hell! Stop waiting for the clean, open shot and get the puck to the net! I don't care how it goes in on a 5-on-3! Just drive it to the net and scramble for it there. I don't want to be harsh on my Kings because I feel this way with any team I'm watching, but if you can't score on a 5-on-3, it's kind of pathetic. Argh, I said it. Sorry Kings! I still heart you! But honestly, those 30 seconds were such a tease!!! And really, who likes a tease.

Quickies:

- One thing that made me laugh was the camera was pointed at Conroy on his way to the sin bin, you can clearly see his mouth form the words, “FUCK YOU!” haha

- After their second goal (Brownie!), I thought to myself, “Is their passing improving? Can it be true???”

- Brownie – That was a nice hustle to the goal. I liked the fact that right when he got the puck, he double timed it and got behind the defense and took it home.

- There was a good PK in the second period; there was good pressure from the Kings. Unfortunately the Flames put one past our goal line right when that penalty ran out. Bleh.

- The Kings were doing well to protect Aubin in the first. There were more blocked shots in that one period than I can remember in a whole game this season.

- Zeiler – Here's piece of advice, one that I actually wanted to give to Frodo in the Lord Of The Rings: STOP FUCKING FALLING DOWN!!! Stay on your freaking skates! You'll do better, I swear.

- JMFJ - Lives with Blake! And he's still working toward his college degree. This kid is awesome.

- So KMS2 has Patty O becoming one of her favorites this season. I have chosen Brownie. He's scrappy and he's not afraid to give someone the good ole body check into the boards. He's not flashy like my boy Anze, but he's got the heart of a....king? Ha! =)

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Losing Streak Ended!

Original post date: Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Finally!! The Kings broke their terrible losing streak giving them two much-needed points while killing the Wild's GAA numbers. It is no longer .808 or whatever the hell it was. Thank GOD. I don't know what I would have done if they had lost again. And FINALLY. Some order in their play. Their lines looked tighter and more in sync than on Sunday, in which they basically looked like a disaster. And they FINALLY took back the neutral zone. I don't think I could have handled them getting shut down there anymore. I much appreciated the feistiness that they brought back that was missed from their first game in London. The control with urgency was there. I'm a happy panda.

I like lists too and since I'm so happy with the win, it'll be easier to list than to try to make coherent sentences because I've also been up since 4AM. It is currently 11:34PM, and I need to be in bed.

1) Thornton's goal – Nice top shelf action. Much appreciated from my couch.

2) Overtime - I honestly can't believe the Kings didn't score during these 5 minutes because they were basically on the PP for the whole freaking time! Let me just say WOW. But I'm not going to bag on their efforts. There was a lot of hustle.

3) Shootout – I LOVE SHOOTOUTS. They're amazingly effective at getting me more nervous than when I'm at the start line of my own races. Uno: Brownie: Solid goal, what more can you ask. Dos: Cammy: Sweet ass snap. Tres: Anze: REDICULOUS fake out!!! Like KMS2, I thought it didn't go in either. But when replayed, it was the sickest goal ever. I can just imagine Backstrom thinking, "OH NOOO!!" HIGHLIGHT REEL!! And I loved that Anze was so happy during his interview right after the game-ending goal. He was all smiles, which added to my high of the Kings finally winning. Fucking fantastic.

4) Aubin – I was so nervous during all of the pre-game activities; I didn't like not knowing, which is to be expected with Kings goaltending. But I was impressed. Especially in the second period where he looked like he was out of position and he turned and snatched the puck out of the air with his glove. My heart literally stopped. So now he has his first win in his first Kings appearance. Who will be the #1 goaltender? Thoughts?

5) Handzus. What are you doing out there? You look like a chicken with both legs cut off.

6) Zeiler. So much smaller than Handzus, but so much more effective. KMS2, any thoughts? =)

P.S. Aubin, it's time to take that maple leaf off your helmet, thanks.

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