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.
I realized that while I was compiling my list of Top 10 Hot Bitches that there were plenty of players who I thought were just too cute to be placed onto said list. So I've made another list of players who could never make their way onto the Hot Bitches list because it makes me feel dirty thinking about them in that manner. You can’t say, "Well, maybe they’ll get older and grow out of their baby faces." Seriously, Lubo is 31 and still cute as a button. So here it is.
10) Rick Nash (CBJ) – Adorable grizzly bear. 9) Mike Green (WAS) – Squishable cheeks with a fauxhawk to boot. 8) Vesa Toskala (TOR) – How can an ex-Shark be on this list? I dunno, but I’ll always have a soft spot for Vesa. 7) Zach Parise (NJD) – He was hotter before he got his front teeth knocked out. 6) Sidney Crosby (PIT) – Still got that baby fat on his face… if you can even call it baby fat anymore. It’s more like hockey gloriousness spewing forth from his tree trunk thighs and pouty lips. 5) Sam Gagner (EDM) – Hard working cutiepie. What’s not to love? 4) Jonathan Toews (CHI) – One could argue whether he belongs on this list or the Hot Bitches list. 3) Daniel Briere (PHI) – I heart him so much. 2) Lubomir Visnovsky (EDM) – Lubo Cookie! 1) Dustin Brown (LAK) – How can this baby face have led the NHL in hits last season?
First trade of the Free Agency FRENZY... well, for the Kings.
Kings trade Lubomir Visnovsky to Edmonton for Jarret Stoll (C) and Matt Greene (D).
My first reaction: NOOO!! LUBO!!!
A more eloquent reaction to come...
[Update]: Ok, I've gotten enough sleep to think about this for reals.
I guess my initial reaction was thinking more in terms of players on the roster than in terms of salary hits for the next couple of years and the respective ages of the 3 players involved here. Lubo is 31 this year and will be 36 at the end of this contract. When you look at his contract, you can think of it in two ways. (1) Will he be worth $5.6 million when he's 36? Or (2) you can think of it in his actual salary terms, $7m, $7m, $6m, $5m, $3m, respectively. Do I think he'll be worth $3m when he is 36? My answer is yes; he would have been an older puck-moving defenseman while making just $3 million. But on the other hand, that'd only be worth it if the first three years of the contract showed vast improvement from this past season. And, to be honest, with who's projected to be on the blueline, I'm not 100% certain that he would have made that turnaround in one year. And when I say "who's projected to be on the blueline," I really mean, "the gaping holes that are left." When you take a veteran like Lubo away (puck mover and power play quarterback), who do we definitely have left at this point in time? Jack Johnson, Tom Preissing, ... so how exactly does that reassure Kings fans of the fact that we're trying to keep the puck of our own net?
Ok, let's think about this, a cap hit of $5.6/year is now off the books. Who could we feasibly get? Better question, who in their right mind wants to come to LA?
The answer: Someone who wants to be a difference maker. Someone who can get on the roster and make his presence known without being too much of a liability.
Before you say Brad Stuart, I'm actually thinking of someone else. Don't get me wrong, I heart B-Stu and would love him to be back here, but what's this I hear about a shoulder injury?? I don't want to set myself up to be disappointed if he decides to sign with Detroit. Sure it'd be an extremely difficult challenge to try and repeat in Detroit, but how much more attractive is the idea to B-Stu of coming back to LA and really working for it? Not to say that he wasn't working his damned hardest in the Motor City; he was definitely earning his paycheck. But how much greater would the satisfaction be if he were to come back on the Kings roster and help take this sub par team into the playoffs for the first time in... many, many years? Well, only B-Stu can gauge that type of satisfaction. We, as fans, can only speculate what he's going to do in the next couple of days.
So the guy that I really want? Brooks Orpik. Demon on the backend who was part of the Pittsburgh roster in the Cup Finals last year. Yeah, he didn't win the Cup, but just look at the Kings. Wait, no, don't look....
Granted, I don't know as much about Orpik than I do about B-Stu, but I watched every game of the Stanley Cup Finals and I liked what I saw. He got the work done every time he was out there, as much as he could while his team was being dominated by a superior Red Wings squad. He showed enough emotion to where I saw him almost crack a ridiculously frustrated smile on the ice. Character guy who is a difference-maker? Sign him up!
But how much is he worth? Last year he made $1.075 and turned 28. Of course he'd be getting a fatty pay raise, but how much would it take to lure him away from the east coast? $3 million? $4 million? If we were, by some miracle, able to get BOTH B-Stu and Orpik over to the sunny side of So Cal, how much could we spend on those two guys? Well, if we take away Lubo's $5.6 million cap hit and Blake's $6 million, I'd say we have enough leeway to at least garner a valid consideration, no? Let's just hope Blake re-signs (at that discounted rate) to try to lure some Dmen to WANT to come here and try to help make a change.
I now can see why and feel like the no-trade clause and the no-movement clause are handcuffs for both the organization and the player. If Lubo hadn't been traded, the clause would have kicked in on Tuesday and would have 100% committed both parties to this contract. With Dean Lombardi making this move, we free the Kings organization of a risky 5-year contract while getting two roster players who are younger than Lubo. I can't really comment on the two players we received since I don't follow the Oilers at all. Although I did get a funny text from Steph that wasn't actually supposed to be funny. It's hilarious how one misspelled word can change the context of an entire sentence:
"Greene's getting better as he gets older but he makes some stupid mistakes and turns the suck over a lot."
So I'm not sure what to expect from Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene. Although I DID get super excited when I read "Greene" because I thought, "What?!?! Mike... oh ... who's Matt?" In any case, I will greatly miss Lubo in LA, especially since I never got a chance to meet him. I know it's gonna be eff-ing cold in Edmonton, but he's Slovakian. I have no doubt he'll be fine in the snow up there. Kings fans will still see him 4 times next season, but I just hope he's not booed. That's so annoying when a player is traded (but doesn't ask for it) and then gets booed by the fans of the old team!
Lubomir Visnovsky played in all 82 games this season tallying 8 goals and 33 assists for 41 points. He ended at a -18 and had 34 PIM (although I'm going to count that as 24 since he received that errant 10-misconduct at the end of the season against the Ducks). Lubo definitely had an off year evidenced by the fact that in the 06-07 season he ended with 58 points and at a +1.
(AP)
Look how happy he is!
At the beginning of the season he was mostly paired with Rob Blake in 5-on-5 play and was the point man on the 1st PP unit. I can't really remember who he was paired with for part of the middle of the season (can someone help me out here?), but by the end he was helping Peter Harrold on the blueline. During the time when the Kings were realistically still in contention of making the post-season, my trust in Lubo fell off. I couldn't trust him to make that pass out; I just wasn't feeling it. But as the season continued, I realized that it wasn't 100% his fault so my not trusting him with the puck really wasn't justified. At the end of the season, I was glad for his presence on the blueline because the roster had definitely thinned out by then.
I thought that his being a puck-moving defenseman was relied on a little too much because there were times when everyone had already left the zone waiting for his pass out. But this lack of support proved to be the killer when an opposing player would put pressure on him and strip him of the puck leaving the Kings goaltender (whoever it was at that time) to face a breakaway. But you could argue that if he was a great player, he'd be able to make that pass without a problem. Yet, on the other hand, what does it say when the opposing player has enough confidence to apply that kind of forechecking pressure on Lubo.
It was no secret that he was putting a lot of pressure on himself to perform and one could argue that his contract extension was weighing heavily on him as well. I could also point out that no one really earned their paycheck this year except for Alexander Frolov, Dustin Brown, and those still on their entry-level contracts.
(AP)
A picture that came up when I typed his name into Google
After the NHL regular season ended, he traveled up to Halifax/Quebec City for the 2008 World Championships and joined the Slovakian team. While he was there he faced only one Kings teammate, Anze Kopitar (Slovenia). In the end, Lubo helped Slovakia escape Relegation, and he ended the tournament playing 5 games getting 2 goals, 7 assists, and +5.
Next season he will be starting his new 5-year contract, which is front-loaded with $7 million coming in the first year. This will be more than anyone was making this past season. There is really no other option than for him to put this last season behind him and get back on the ball.
Read more...
Team USA rompsNorway 9-1 in the final game of the qualifying round. The players notching goals were Dustin Brown, Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, Paul Martin, Zach Parise, and Brandon Dubinsky with a hat trick. For this showing, Brownieactually doesn't dominate the US in ice time. The player with the most ice time was Patrick O'Sullivan! Brownie got 13:12 of ice time (0:52 average) compared to Sully's 18:48 (0:59 average). But from here Brownie dominated Sully in all other aspects of the score sheet. He got 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots on net, ended at a +2, and had 2 penalty minutes for slashing. Sully had 1 assist, 4 shots on net, was even in the plus/minus column, and had 2 penalty minutes for tripping.
Something else that I can't quite understand in looking at the stat sheet was this. These are the stats for the top line for the US. Why the freak do the Dmen have shifts that are 10 seconds LESS on average than the forwards?? Shouldn't it be the other way around? I mean, I know I'm not watching the game, but c'mon, what's going on here?!
The US blasted Norway with 48 shots while Robert Esche faced only 18. The Norwegian captain Tommy Jakobsen said, "Simply, today we got spanked."
The US currently sits in 3rd place in the Qualification Round in Group F. They will play Finland (2) on Wed. 14th and the winner will go on to play either Canada or Norway in the Gold Medal game. If the US losses on Wednesday, they will play for the Bronze Medal.
Lost On The Score Sheet
Just like the heading says, Raitis Ivanans had another no show in terms of numbers produced, but that doesn't mean he wasn't contributing in other ways. I can attest to this notion being that I am (and most likely the reader is) a Kings fan. What's on the ice isn't always reflected on the stats sheet. Although, when it is... I just want to bury my head in the sand. But I digress. On Monday, May 12th, Latvia lost toGermany 5-3 and there were penalties galore. Maybe this is why Raitis had only 4:45 of ice time since he's not a special teams guy, by any means. But the game was sprinkled with penalties until the end of the game when an apparent melee broke out and one guy got 2 minutes for "Illegal or Dangerous Equipment." Again, not sure what that is. (I would like to see what causes a ref to make that call and for "fisticuffs").
This was Ivanans' (Latvia) last game of the tournament as they did not place in the top 4 of the Group (F).
(iihf.com)
Ivanans taking care of business
Lubo and Kopi
So where are Lubomir Visnovsky and Anze Kopitar now that the tournament has gone further into its rounds? After checking out the stats sheets, it appears that since Slovakia was ranked last in Group C after the Preliminary Round, they were sent to the Relegation Round. Same thing happened with Slovenia in Group B and was sent to face Slovakia in the Relegation Round (best of 3) where Slovakia won in 2 games. This means that Slovakia gets invited back to the Championship tournament in 2009 in Switzerland while Slovenia is relegated to Division I.
Slovenia played 5 games in this tournament and lost.... 5. I recommend telling Kopi he's awesome and will kick ass next season the next time any of you see him. Guy can't catch a break! So both Lubo and Kopi are officially done in the tournament.
On Sat. May 10th, the Slovakians faced the Slovenians again in the relegation round (best of 3) where the Slovaks won 4-3. So Slovenia has been officially relegated to the lower group in next year's tournament, whereas, Slovakia can remain. Even though both Lubomir Visnovsky and Anze Kopitar had showings in this game, I'm giving the edge to Lubo. Kopi got 1 goal, 3 shots on net, was even in the plus/minus, and had 26:48 of ice time. Once again, he puts the Slovenian team on his back and is unable to lift his team above the Slovaks. Lubo got 2 goals, 1 assist, got 9 shots on goal, ended at a -2, and had 25:13 of ice time. This game actually went into the overtime frame and eventually made its way to the shootout. From what I read, the international shootout format follows the NHL except that instead of shooters only being able to shoot once, the 3 shooters go again but in reverse order. Can you guess who the 3rd shooter was for Slovakia? That's right, Lubo!!!
(IIHF/HHoF/Mika Kylmaniemi)
Top shelf!
Listen up, Crawford! The next time you're finding yourself in the 6th round of the shootout, don't go with Brian Willsie. Lubo was put in to score in the shootout and he did, which got him the game winner!
Latvians School The Norwegians
The Latvians got 4 goals past the Norwegians while the latter only tallied one goal. For Raitis Ivanans there wasn't much for him on the score sheet or the game recap. He got 1 shot on, was even in the plus/minus, and had 7:37 of time on the ice. So...yeah...
Major Drama with the US and the Finns
The Finns beat the US 3-2 in a ... game I wish I could have watched. So I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between a penalty for "roughing" and "fisticuffs." There were 10 penalties given out at the end of the game, two of which were for "fisticuffs." That actually sounds pretty damn cool. But what doesn't sound cool is Dustin Brown getting 2 minutes for "Checking to the head and neck Area" and getting a 10 minute misconduct. Brownie got a total of 24 minutes (he had 2 minutes in the 2nd period for roughing), had no goals or assists; he also only had 2 shots on net but had 22:31 of ice time. Patrick O'Sullivan didn't have much of a showing except for 9:54 of ice time and ended at a -1.
Something interesting that happened in this game was that Finland's first goal was allowed, but after the game, replays showed that it shouldn't have counted. ESPN.com: The IIHF agreed that Finland's first goal entered through the side of the net. The IIHF wouldn't identify the goal judge who missed the call on replay but said he was fired from the tournament.
"I've heard about these horror shows as far as international refereeing. I have finally lived through one," Tortorella said. "But not even that play there, the whole game. It's just ridiculous as far as how they're calling the game when you have two pretty competitive teams willing to go toe-to-toe. Let the teams and players decide."In total, the Finns had 96 minutes in penalties and the US had 106 minutes. The US was also severely outshot only getting 22 shots on Niklas Backstrom while Robert Esche faced 45 shots. Both teams will face off again Mon., May 12th. "I don't even know what to think anymore," U.S. forward Phil Kessel said. "It was one of those games. It was hard fought. It was a battle. A lot of hitting."
I couldn't find an embeddable player from TSN, but here are some links:
On Wednesday, May 7th, Slovakia faced Finland where the Fins won out 3-2. Lubomir Visnovsky end the night with a respectable 1 shot on net and at a +1 in this loss. One cool thing for Lubo was that he logged more ice time than any of his teammates at 25:16. The next closest was a fellow Dman at 22:12.
As a side note, there definitely looks to be more NHLers on the Finnish team than for the Slovakian team.
Brownie & Sully Are Too Cool For School
On Thursday, May 8th, the US team went up against zee Germans and won out 6-4. In the first period Patrick O'Sullivan netted one with assists going to Phil Kessel and David Backes. In the third period, with about a minute and a half left, Dustin Brown scores his empty netter from a pass from Zach Parise. Brownie finishes the game with 1 goal, 7 shots on, even in the plus/minus column, and had 19 minutes of ice time. The only other forward with more ice time was Parise. Sully ends the night with 1 goal, 2 shots on, at a +1, and had 14:12 of time on the ice.
Something to note, since I couldn't watch the game, but apparently the US team scored its first 3 goals in the first 3 minutes of the game!
Bummer For Ivanans
On Friday, May 9th, Latvia faced off against Finland where the Fins won 2-1. I was actually surprised that this game was so low scoring seeing as how Finland boasts a number of NHL players while Latvia is a little lacking in that department. There appeared to have been a number of penalties in this game and Raitis Ivanans only recorded 2 penalty minutes for interference. He actually ended the game with a -1 and only had 5:44 of time on the ice. I really think the Latvians could use Ivanans on the ice more. I mean, I know I'm not watching the game (which I wish I could...for free), but seeing how Raitis is one of the few NHLers on their roster, you'd think they'd use him more, right? I dunno, maybe they...wait a second... a lot of the penalties were actually against the Latvians, and Ivanans is not penalty killer. Maybe that's it?
Kopi Versus Lubo!
On Friday, May 9th, Slovakia played Slovenia (Lubo vs. Anze Kopitar). Slovakia won soundly 5-1. The Slovakians blasted 50 total shots (on 2 goaltenders) while the Slovak goalie only faced 11 shots. Kopi did NOT get the lone Slovenian goal, which was a first in this tournament, but he did get the first assist from it. He ends up with a -1, which I think is his first time not even or in the positive for this tournament, got 4 shots on net, and racked up 24:41 of ice time. Interestingly enough, Kopi's average length for each of his shifts was 10 seconds LONGER than anyone else on his team, including the defensemen. Talk about carrying the team on your back! Kinda makes me feel (really) bad for him. He went from a crappy season with the Kings to going to a weaker team internationally. This kid needs a break. Maybe he should change his nationality and become a US or Canadian citizen so he can be on a winning team. Just a thought...
Things were looking a little better on the other side of the rink as Lubo got 2 assists in the 1st 2 frames with 4 total shots on net. He got a respectable 18:12 of time on the ice and was a +3.
But is this surprising? Of course not. On Sunday, May 4th, Team Canada played keep away with the Latvians while scoring 7 goals in the process. Pascal LeClaire held off the Latvians to zero goals. The thing that bugged me the most was that Gord Miller kept referring to Raitis Ivanans as "E-van-ness." Incorrect, my friend!
This game against Canada is obviously not the game the Latvians are looking to win. Their main concern is the against the Sloveians. A.K.A. Raitis Ivanans against Anze Kopitar! Whichever team losses that match up gets sent to the relegation group, which is NOT what you want to end up in this tournament.
Some points in the 2nd period:
The Latvians are wearing their throwback jerseys. Each team will wear their throwbacks once during this tournament. The Latvia jerseys had no names on their backs or numbers on their arms.
Pierre McGuire mentioned that Canada's top line of Dany Heatley, Ryan Getzlaf, and Rick Nash was basically going to be unstoppable this tournament. Seriously, it's honestly not even fair. But hey, if your country can field that kind of team, more power to you.
They were talking about Dustin Brown and Kopi playing against each other (USA vs. Slovenia) and they said that Brownie was warning Kopi to keep his head up. And Gord called him Mr. Brown, which really is too funny to me.
In the 3rd period:
Ivanans makes himself heard by getting a 5-minute spearing penalty along with a game misconduct equaling 20 minutes. He ends the spirited evening at a -4 while getting 8:08 of ice time. Is it bad that his stats make me smile? It's so hard to not like Raitis!
This is where Ivanans yelled, "Fucking bullshit" at Getzlaf =)
Brownie and Sully Versus Kopi
The US played Slovenia where all three players had a showing. The score was USA 5, Slovenia 1. As you can surmise, Kopi had the only Slovenian goal. He finished the game with 1 goal, 3 shots on net, was at a +1, and had 19:03 of time on the ice. Patrick O'Sullivan ends with 1 assist, 1 shot on net, was even in plus/minus, and got 12:09 of ice time. Brownie's stats were the exact same except that he had 14:12 of ice time. This is one game I wished I could have watched.
Special mention goes to Phil Kessel because he scored a hat trick in the game and to Slovenia's goaltender Robert Kristan for facing 37 shots while Tim Thomas faced just 12.
Lubo On The Move For Slovakia
On Monday, May 5th, Lubomir Visnovsky and his Slovak teammates battled it out with zee Germans. Unfortunately zee Germans won 4-2. Lubo ended the game with 2 assists and 4 total shots on net. He was even in the plus/minus column with 20:19 of ice time. There was really nothing else I could get out of the stats sheet than the numbers. =/
Anze Kopitar is getting much deserved attention at the World Championships because, let's face it, to the North American audience, he's the only player on Team Slovenia who is close to being a household name.
On Friday, May 2nd he faced Team Canada with their juggernaut roster including the likes of Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis, and Jason Spezza. The last time Slovenia played Canada was in 2002 where Kopi was 17 and wearing a full face cage. Canada lit up the Slovenians 8 times and that was all she wrote. For this game in 2008, he told the press:
"If we can keep it down to maybe five goals that would be good," he said, adding it was still going to be a blast for his tiny nation of unknowns to play Canada. "We've got nothing to lose. We're just going to go out and have fun."
True to form the Slovenians were able to hold the Canadians to only 5 goals, which were scored by Dan Hamhuis, Martin St. Louis, with a hat trick by Dany Heatley. The lone Slovenian goal was scored by Kopi, which shouldn't really surprise anyone. Team Canada coach Ken Hitchcock lets people know:
"He's an awfully good player. A lot of people talk about a lot of young players in the game, but he's the real deal. He's the perfect mix of finesse and strength. He has great feet and great hands. And he has size and poise to go with it."
TSN is awesome and streams their international games online, so I was able to watch it in the comfort of my home. In this game Kopi makes a huge offensive push (by himself) in the 1st period into the Canadian zone. But the thing that annoyed me was that Pierre McGuire was talking about Canada while they were showing the replay of Kopi displaying his sweet moves! His goal came on a 5-on-3 advantage where he was positioned on the goal line to the right of Cam Ward. He stopped a pass with his foot, got it on his stick, and put it top shelf on Ward. To be honest, he actually looked a little bored on that play. In the 2nd period, leading up to Heatley's second goal, Kopi played almost the entire shift without his stick since it was knocked out of his hands. He did a good job getting his body in the way of the Canadians, but the Canadians bombed as many shots on the net as possible and Heatley's goal ended up being one that weaseled its way in off the short side. He ends with 1 goal, 3 shots on net, and 23:27 of ice time.
Cute note: Kopi said that he made the Slovenian team because his dad was on the coaching staff.
Canada's Cam Ward faced 23 shots while Slovenian netminder Robert Kristan faced 65. Impressive both on Canada for firing that many shots and even more so for Kristian for turning away 60 of them!
Brownie and Sully versus Ivanans
Dustin Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan are representing the Kings on Team USA and they make themselves known by each notching a goal in the opening the game against Latvia. Because I'm not willing to pay to watch these games online, I'm going off the scoresheet and game recap for this one. In this game the US wins 4-0 with Brownie scoring in the 1st period and Sully scoring in the 3rd; both goals were on the power play. Brownie's goal is the first of the game and the game winner; he also gets an assist off a Zach Parise goal in the 3rd as well. For Latvia Raitis Ivanans gets on the scoresheet as well, but with 2 penalty minutes. =) Did you think he'd have it any other way?
Goalie Tim Thomas faced 24 shots while Latvia faced 49. I'm giving props to Edgars Masalskis because he made 45 saves.
Lubo Reppin' Slovakia!
Lubomir Visnovsky is playing on the backend of Slovakia for this World Championship. On Saturday, May 3rd, Slovakia played Norway where the former won 5-1. According to the stats sheet, Little Lubo got 2 assists, 1 shot on net, ended at a +3, and logged 19:38 of ice time. After taking a closer look, I noticed that Lubo was on the ice for 4 of Slovakia's goals and was NOT on the ice for Norway's lone goal. So shouldn't that make him a +4? Anyhoo, Lubo rocks!
But wait, this is my own space to rant and so I shall. I have two things to gripe about; the first thing obviously being the Kings using Brian Willsie in the shootout as the 6th shooter, the second being having to listen to the worst sports fan sitting directly behind me for the entire game. So here we go:
1) Brian Willsie - played 5:54 in 8 total shifts. The ONLY thing he did was win ONE faceoff. We go into the 6th round of the shootout and who jumps over the bench, but a certain #21 who, like a batter, strode up to the plate thinking that he was gonna hit one out of the park. But honestly, kms and I knew that the game was over. He didn't even need to go for the shot. There was no need. The game was over when he stepped out onto the ice.
And someone please tell me when was the last time Lubo got a penalty?? Let alone a 10-minute misconduct! What??
2) So kms and I went to the Honda Center to watch this game. I had never been there before and this was kms' third visit. I was a little hesitant about going into enemy territory but Finny and Sleek assured me that Ducks fans were tame. I guess someone didn't give the lady sitting behind me that particular memo! She spent the first half of the first period complaining to her equally asinine friend of how poor her visit was to the Staples Center and how Kings fans were rude and classless. Oh, she also mentioned that they were just as bad as Raider fans. Hey lady, I don't know if you know this, but the Raiders left town a couple of years ago. Get your head out of the sand and live in the now.
She then spent the rest of the period complaining about how the Ducks were looking terrible and seemed lost without their top guys in the lineup. Cry me a fucking river, ho bag. Then in the second period she proceeded to yell to the Ducks to stop playing like the Kings and play like the Ducks. Hey lady, did you look at the scoreboard? The Kings are up 1 to nothing. And then she was saying how the Kings just slow everything down and how terrible they were. Hey! It's called controlling the game! Are you a moron or just plain stupid?
In the third she just got worse and worse. This was very reminiscent of a post I had read earlier this season by Mike Chen where he talked about a woman that sits near him at the Shark Tank uttering ridiculous comments. This woman was the same way, talking about whatever was going on in her worthless life and then yelling the stupidest things. I mean, does she even watch hockey on a regular basis? One thing she mentioned was that she didn't care about shots on goal or scoring chances because the only thing that matters is the score at the end of the game. Ok, GENIUS, if you think that way, then you should just check the scores on ESPN.com when the game's over. That's honestly the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
She then decided to give her two cents on my goaltender, Erik Ersberg, and how he lets out the worst rebounds. Umm, first of all, why are you talking about my goaltender like that, and second, you obviously have NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BECAUSE ERSBERG ABSORBS REBOUNDS LIKE A SPONGE. LIKE A FUCKING SPONGE.
And then we headed into the shootout. This part took the cake. Everyone in the arena was standing up and I was actually leaning forward a little bit because Finny and I were clutching each other during the shots. After every stop that Hiller made against the Kings, she would lean over and basically yell into my ear at how the Kings weren't in the playoffs. She would ALSO do the same thing when Ersberg would make a save. OKAY! I AM FULLY AWARE THE THAT KINGS ARE OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS. ONCE AGAIN, ARE YOU STUPID OR RETARDED?
This lady was complaining in the first period at how horrible Kings fans were and here she was in the shootout being insanely obnoxious and leaning over and screaming in my ear about how the Kings sucked and weren't in the playoffs. I WAS SOOOOOOOO CLOSE TO TURNING AROUND AND SOCKING HER IN THE FACE. I don't think you even know... When they were announcing the players of the games, she kept chanting "KINGS SUCK, KINGS SUCK, KINGS SUCK!" So I finally turned around and told her ass to shut up. I'm not sure if she heard me but we were leaving anyway.
I know she's not representative of all Ducks fans, but she ruined the whole experience for me. I will NEVER go to the Honda Center again. It's true when they say that one person can ruin everything, and this lady took the cake. She can go EFF HERSELF. Finny and I were able to take some sound clips at the game, which we plan on splicing into the next episode of the I'm Not a Puck Bunny Podcast. It has not been posted yet, but please listen to Episode 7 when it is and not only will you hear me and finny, you will meet kms, Earl Sleek, and RudyKelly. You can also hear my periodic side comments of how the lady behind me needed to shut up.
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. - Ersbergpulls 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.
Pre-Game: These game-day emails the Kings send out have some pretty awesome pictures sometimes. Today we have the Sharks and for some reason... I have to laugh every time I look at these. Soupy, that teal really brings out the color of... your hair. Jon, you look silly. Patty, you have... quite a long neck.
1st Period: - Ohhhh, we got Clouts in net! Oh, and Brian Boucher for the Sharks...who?? - Going along with the track record of the visiting team winning these matchups, the odds are against the Kings coming out with 2 points tonight. - Dallman and Blake have great hits in the corners in the first couple of minutes and Cloutier is making some solid saves. The Sharks aren't applying too much pressure in the neutral zone so it's looking pretty evenly matched up in the first half of the period. - Just under 7 minutes left, the Kings have 3 chances in a row and Grier gets a delay of game penalty against him. Kings PP - Blake gets a penalty and it's 4-on-4 (Marc Crawford has the most atrocious shirt and tie ensemble). Peter Harrold takes a shift on the 4-on-4 and runs into Vish. C'mon, rookie...take a shift without making a mistake, you can do it. Ellis takes a penalty and the Sharks are on an extended power play. - Sharks Goal - How was Thornton was left open down low? Upon replay we see that Preissing leaves Mr. Junk in the Trunk and goes after a puck (17:09).
2nd Period: - McLaren boards Brownie and the Kings are on the PP. Nothing exciting here, moving along. - There was a penalty on Dallman, but while that was being called, Cloutier made a CLUTCH save. I would have been so much more impressed if the play hadn't been whistled down. - Kings PP - WHY IS DALLMAN ON THE POWER PLAY?!?! Mitchell comes out of the penalty box and gets a break away pass, but Clouts makes the save. Geez... - The Kings spend about one hour in the neutral making the softest passes I've ever seen. The Sharks get back to the Kings' zone and Setoguchi gets called for interference. Oh man, Cloutier went and had some words with Jody Shelley on the Sharks bench during the time out. Fantastic. But the Kings have had 4 PP opportunities and haven't taken advantage to get on the scoreboard. - Sharks Goal - Rissmiller barrels in on Clouts with Preissing on him, but he gets his own rebound and gets it past Cloutier (16:23). - Shots on: Kings 22, Sharks 20
3rd Period: - Jim Fox mentioned that JJ wasn't on the bench and I see that he's only played 9:46. During the first period he blocked a shot that hit the inside of his right foot, so now Dallman's getting more minutes and Klemm's playing defense. Interesting. - 8 minutes to go and... I am bored. The Kings aren't being completely dominated but they're not creating anything either. Helmetless Cheechoo gets rocked by Calder and Blake, kinda scary but funny at the same time. Time is ticking along and the Kings look like they have lead in their skates.
(AP Photo/Francis Specker)
I really have no caption for this; suggestions?
- Kings Goal - I SPOKE TOO SOON. Lubo (7) gets the puck out on the point and bombs a shot through traffic and nets one so the Kings don't get shut out. Cool... (15:13). This sparks a switch and the Kings start to play hockey! They're attacking and spending more time in the offensive zone and get 8 shots on this period to the Sharks 3.
Game: Kings 1, Sharks 2. This continues the trend of beating each other in each other's houses. This loss has put the kings officially out of playoff contention. And.... I'm going to bed.
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Pre-game with Player Transactions: - Rob Blake is back in LA with a fractured ankle. What is this gonna do for trade rumors? - Peter Harrold - recalled from Manchester - Brian Boyle - recalled and being chauffeured from Manchester - Ladislav Nagy was placed on IR retroactive to January 18. What is this gonna do for trade rumors too? - Kevin Dallman was sent to Manchester on a conditioning assignment on February 1st.
1st Period: - Jim Fox said Harrold will be paired with Stuart and JJ would be paired with Preissing. Why you gotta change it again, Crow? Just put JJ back with Modry. - Devils Goal - Clarkson shimmies past the blueline with only Stuart between him and Barbs. He moves Stuart out of the way and takes a shot at Barbs at 4:43. - 13:30 - Brian Boyle is out on the ice. Wow...he's bigger than Ratti!!!! - Kings PK - It's a fast-paced kill and the Devils are unsuccessful in their shots. BUT the Devils have kept the puck in the kings' zone far more minutes than not and the shots are 8 Devils, Kings 1. - Kings have a fantastic breakout from their goal like all the way inside the Devils zone at 9 minutes remaining. That should really be happening more often. - Kings PP - Kings are moving the puck fast and the Devils are being feisty. Opportunity is over. Sigh. - What?? Handzus, Sully and Giuliano??? Crow...dude... - Devils are definitely controlling this on the ice and on the scoreboard. I don't know how I feel about the ending of this game...so far, I'm not seeing how the Kings are gonna shut down the Devils. They're being really aggressive in front of Barbs and the Kings are just okay when the Devils are down low.
2nd Period: - Devils Goal - Patrick Elias gets a feed from behind the net and beats poor Barbs at 2:30. - Do you think Giuliano feels like a midget on a line with Ivanans and Boyle? - Half-way point - The Devils have the neutral under their control now and the Kings are missing passes. - Kings Goal - Brian Boyle nets his first NHL goal!!! Stuart is playing deep on the left side behind Brodeur, passes to the right side behind the net to Giuliano, and he passes it right in front to Boyle who tucks it past Brodeur at 8:38. - Devils Goal - They come right back at 9:53 and Karel Rachunek moves past all the Kings forwards and that's all she wrote. - Kings PP - The Kings control this PP a little more than the first one. Kings 0 for 2 o the PP. - Kings Goal - JJ gets his 3rd NHL goal at 12:57. Boyle moves behind the goal line and passes it to a rushing JJ. Boyle has two points so far. - Devils Goal - Right off the faceoff Colin White shoots into traffic and it goes in over Barbs' left shoulder at 13:30.
(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun) Hold me, Whitey. Hold me close.
- Full Manchester line is out with a minute 10 left: Giuliano, Moulson, and Boyle. Muhahaha.... ahem. - Devils Goal - 3 Devils collapse down low and with 10 seconds left and Travis Zajac scoots it in at 19:55. Is Aubin gonna be in net for the third? - That was just ridiculous. Kings are down 2 to 5. And how in god's name are the Kings down in hits??? Devils have 14 and we have 6??? - Oh...my...god...they just showed a preview of Patrick O'Neal with Brownie at his house. They pulled out the bobblehead of him and they made it without teeth!!!! TOO FUNNY.
(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
Just because I need something to laugh at.
3rd Period: - Aubin's in!! Ack..... - Ratti grabs Rupp and takes him down in one punch. Both get 5 for fighting and we move along. - Thoughts: Move Willsie somewhere else, bring in Purcell. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. - Great, the Kings decide to show up in the middle of the 3rd period instead of at the beginning of the 1st. Typical. - Kings Goal - The Kings are attacking attacking attacking and Vish puts one home with a quick snapshot at 14:57. - Devils Goal - AUBINNNNNNN. CRAPPPPP. The Kings D were being aggressive, but Start is backchecking without a stick and Sergei Brylin nets it at 16:43. - Kings play picks up in this period and they outshoot the Devils 13 to 3. But not showing up at the beginning of the game causes you to lose games. Haven't you learned your lesson already? They were getting beaten on the boards all night long and the Devils were even able to get Fro off the puck.
Game: - Kings 3, Devils 6 - Why couldn't the Kings have come out in the first like they did in the third? Why has their play reverted back to a month ago? They had been doing so well the past three games! They have two days off until their next game on Tuesday against the New York Rangers. I'm hoping they bring back what they've been building for that game.
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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.
Pre-Game: - Had dinner with KingsCast at the Royal Room. Thoughts: It was a little dark in there. It gave it a kind of "I'm too cool for school" ambiance. The food was good and you could definitely share one order of something with someone else. - Sharks activate Cheechoo and the Kings scratch Cammy (ribs), Willsie (sucks), and Dallman (sucks and broke his foot). This is gonna bring some poor soul up from Manchester. - Sharks start Carle, Rivet, Cheechoo, Thornton, Roenick (to resounding boos), and Nabokov - Kings start JJ, Modry, Thornton (the not superstar one), Handzus, Giuliano, and Barbs - No matter how much the Kings suck, the opening on-ice video and music presentation can always inspire me into thinking that the Kings could actually pull something off. - When Crow's name was announced, the entire arena filled with boos. Really not surprising.
First Period: - There were a couple of good hits thrown up in the opening minutes; Lubo is able to break through SJ's sloppy D. - After a whistle Lubo and Goc get into a short but sweet slap fest and both get sent to the box. I think Goc wanted some cookies but Lubo wasn't willing to share. Each get 2 minutes for slapping. - Did anyone else notice JJ taking a face off? - Hey, guys, we're 3 minutes into this game and it already looks lifeless. - JJ - HIT - Preissing and Stuart - you guys could probably do better. - Giuliano is forechecking like crazy 5 minutes in, but one guy working on his own isn't gonna get it done. - A Shark almost gets annihilated by Blake's ass. =) - Let me just remind everyone that Kopi's got some sweet ass moves. - Goc just can't seem to stay away from Lubo. He's all over him and it looks like it's gonna be a long night, for Lubo, and hey, for us as well! - Sharks Goal:Milan Michalek slaps it past Barbs at 9:02. - At one point Kopi, Sully, and Brownie charge across the blue line and Kopi throws it up at Nabby who makes a solid glove save. Lesson from this moment: don't put it on Nabby's glove side. - Sharks Goal:Joe Pavelski at 12:17 on a backhand from Marcel "I want some cookies" Goc. - This marks SJ taking 9 shots resulting in 2 goals, which brings Aubin in net. Umm...
I'm sorry we suck so badly, Barbs.
- JJ breaks out and chases the puck into enemy territory. Even though Nabby makes the save, it was nice to see him being aggressive on those kinds of plays. - JJ - HIT - 5:30 - It appears that the Kings are shutting down SJ's offense and are taking some control of the neutral zone. This causes the Sharks revert to a dump-and-chase. - 3:01 - Aubin! WOW! Good save! - So the Kings don't have control of the neutral zone anymore and are lacking everything. This is where I wonder, "Hey guys, you're playing 5-on-5, right?" - Sharks penalty on Rob Davidson for too many men. Sully tries for a sweet wraparound but can't stuff it past Nabby. JJ fans on a shot and a Shark grabs it for a break away. Score remains 2-0 because he shoots it high and wide.
End of the first period: - You guys should really stop going glove side on Nabby. He's kinda grabbing everything. - Nagy looks like he's figure skating out there. - Sharks are up 2-0 - The smoking balcony is cold and filthy. Hear that KingsCast? Gross.
2nd Period: - Kings are on the PK at 2:41, then it's 4-on-4 at 3:57, and then the Kings have a 5-on-3 for a little bit. The Kings were able to kill the first part of the first penalty against them; it was kind of boring, not gonna lie. - But on that 5-on-3, way to NOT take advantage of that. - Who is this Brad Stuart kid? What is your function? Conjunction junction? - Kings Goal: Fro, way to take it to the net. Nabby blocks the shot but the rebound goes right to Blake (3) on the outside who slaps it home at 6:18. - Sully - goes for a softy hit - Brownie - HITx2 - Fro gave Matt Carle the behind - There are some sloppy plays on display; one might even question if these are even "plays." - JJ - HIT - Ratti - HIT (Playing without the face shield; he's ready to be the resident pugilist again.) - 10 minutes left - If the Kings were on a PK, I'd praise them for their hustle. But they ain't. - Blake - HIT - 6 minutes to go - Anze takes it up himself, through the neutral zone, across the blueline where he gets shut down. Good effort but no help from the teammates. Story of the season. - Nagy loses the puck and gets leveled. Hey Sharks, don't you know this guy was injured? Leave him alone, jerks. - 4:17 - (I am not creative so I'm going to use some well-know imagery here) The Sharks cut through the neutral zone and across the blue line like a heated knife through room temperature butter. We really should work on every aspect of our game. - JJ & Thornton have some shit they need to work out, which draw penalties at 16:04 (JJ for cross checking and Thornton for roughing). - Nagy is getting picked on hardcore. Rivet gets 2 minutes for elbowing, a 5 minute match penalty, and gets ejected for cross checking Nagy in the throat. Nagy sits 2 minutes for cross checking Rivet. - I shouldn't have to say what you already know; the Kings need to stop passing so much. Period.
End of the second period: - Stuart needs to be benched or something. He's sucking some major ass out there. - Sully, being the stud that he is, is not playing up to par...gotta work on that. - The second half of the period had an overall lack of focus and control from both teams.
3rd Period: - Began this period with 2:something left on the match penalty and the Kings don't take advantage. Fro even got a good pass but hesitated a little too long and lost the shooting lane. Bah! - A good opportunity came when Fro took it to the net at 17:20. Nabby stops it but has no idea where it is; he regains composure and stops any stuff attempt by the Kings. - Giuliano has a spirited but unsuccessful forecheck. - Sharks Goal: Milan Michalek tips it in at 3:24 in. - At 5:23, the blade of Blake's stick somehow finds Ehrhoff's mouth and is called for high sticking.
There was a lot of this business going on.
- Giuliano gets rooooooooocked - Question of the night: who do I trust less, Stuart or Vish? - Side note: it might be worth going to Staples just for the highlight montages on the jumbo tron. They assure me that the Kings can't really suck this much. - For a team at the bottom of the standings and who has said they're "desperate," they sure aren't playing "desperate hockey." - 4:55 left - the shots are surprisingly even at 30 a piece. - Holy hell, Carle gets called for slashing at 19:27, which leads to a Kings Goal by Vish (3) from the blue line.
End of the game: - Kings 2, Sharks 3 - Has Crow just told Zeiler that he's not allowed to shoot the puck at the net?He's basically the "dump" of the "dump and chase" school of thought. - What is with the Kings' inability to connect the stick to the puck??? Everybody's fanning out there! - 8 losses in a row. So when's the bleeding going to stop exactly?
Just in case you've never seen the inside of the Staples Center
