Ringing In The New Year!

The new year festivities brought exciting news for Los Angeles Kings fans, a team that's back on the winning side! After a four-game losing streak, an eight-day hiatus, and the start of a new decade, the Kings find themselves in the middle of a three-game winning streak with the Detroit Red Wings coming into Staples Center on Thursday the 7th. There has been a ton of news for the Kings and I've been neglecting this space for a few days, but I'm back on the horse!

(LAKings.com)

Here are some updates with a bit of my hundreds and thousands served up to you, the faithful reader:

• Drew Doughty makes the Team Canada Olympic roster as the 7th defensemen in a pretty exciting announcement ceremony on TSN with Twitter all abuzz. There were plenty of skeptics with this final choice, but after last night's game against the San Jose Sharks, Stevie Yzerman is looking very dapper with this decision. Doughty notched 4 assists in the 6-2 romping of the Sharks in their own house, no less!
• Three Kings were named to Team USA's Olympic roster; Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson, and Jonathan Quick. The presentation of this roster after the Winter Classic was pretty awesome. I was expecting Brown and Johnson to be announced, but to see Quick's name included sent a rush of happiness down my spine. Quick has had a great season so far and this inclusion into the Olympics proves his worth.
  
• Much has been said of the Dion Phaneuf hit on Anze Kopitar on December 30th; it was dirty, it was clean, and Phaneuf is a douche. This last part is true. For my two cents, the play was dirty because he was no where near the puck when he hit Kopitar, the hit was clean in that his leprous limbs were tucked in and that Kopitar did not suffer a mortal wound, but the hit was also exceedingly, disgustingly, and horrifically excessive and has no business being doled out by anyone. Glad he was ejected from the game. That is all.
  
• The Kings on the World Junior teams are rounding out nicely and getting some recognition of their own. The Gold Medal game is tonight between Canada and the US making me wish everyday that I had the NHL Network.
  
• This Thursday's game will start a seven-game home stand where I'm hoping the Kings pull a 5-2 record. They'll probably split the two games against the Sharks, blowout either the St. Louis Blues or Anaheim Ducks, and get shelled by the Buffalo Sabres. The contest with the Boston Bruins will be intriguing enough with the battle of the Team USA goaltenders marketed against each other.

Lastly, go Kings!

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I Was Happy For 12 Seconds

The Los Angeles Kings have played two games since Christmas and have zero points to show for it. They've lost to the Phoenix Coyotes (3-2) and Minnesota Wild (4-3); both were one-goal games and both were heart breakers. The Kings had a 6-on-3 to end the game against Phoenix with a flurry of pucks at Ilya Bryzgalov but the clock wound to 0:00 and my adrenaline died. The game last night against the Wild was played at a pace that I wish the Kings could maintain at all times. Alas, they were outmatched in the last few minutes of regulation as the Wild shut the door on them.

Drew Doughty showed up by attacking the offensive zone for a goal that the team desperately needed. The Kings have been taking one too many passes for their own good. (Scott Parse, when you're in the slot with the puck, take the goddamn shot!) So I say "thank you" to Doughty for getting his behind to the net and putting the Kings on the scoreboard. The goal by Parse to tie the game at 3 apiece was great, except for the fact that Eric Belanger slapped them in the face 12 seconds later. The Wild got their go-ahead goal and gained two more points.

(LAKings.com)

You can't deny the effort and drive is there for the Kings to get as far up the standing as possible. At the same time, they're meeting teams just as hungry as them, which makes for high-paced drama at every turn. They could have been floundering at the bottom of the standings like in the past few seasons, but they're fighting every game and I can't fault them there. I think they're doing as well as they can while trying to stem the injury floodgates at the same time.

How do I feel about Teddy Purcell being on the top line? I'd call it a work in progress. Having Justin Williams out of the lineup is bad, but losing him to a broken leg is worse than people realize. He was the solid player on the top line while Anze Kopitar was struggling to find his game after Ryan Smyth left the lineup. Now that Smyth is back and Williams is out, we'll all be sitting on our hands waiting for Terry Murray's next move. I'm not sure how this is all going to shake out, but check back in for more thoughts and opinions about this topic.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Michal Handzus has been names to the Slovakian team for the Olympics. Awesome. I'm looking forward to whom from the Kings is named to Team Canada and the US team.

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A Regular Occurrence?; Kings 6, Wild 4

I was only able to watch the second half of this game last night and from what I saw it looked like the game against San Jose on Tuesday night. The Kings had a substantial lead, took some penalties, allowed the opposition to score PP goals, and then finished off the game by scoring a few more to seal the deal.

(LAKings.com)

A sick slap into the net

Don't have the time to do a better recap, but you can find your way over to these other guys and get your fill:

For a good time, call Rudy Kelly.

For a very in depth overall to the game at Frozen Royalty.

Also don't forget to check out Hockeywood, L.A., which will open for viewing tomorrow!

(LAKings.com)

By the way, did you ever think you'd see this?

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Finishers Anyone?: 1-1-0

This back-to-back the Kings just finished illustrated their need to get a finisher. Find the guy that can get the puck in the net when it matters; not just in the game, but at this point in the season. Is this person Dustin Brown? Maybe it’s that simple; he stayed in Los Angeles for these two games for the birth of his second child (CONGRATS!). Or maybe Brownie’s not the answer.

On Wednesday the Kings were in Minnesota taking on the Wild and they actually had a pretty good game. They played smart, defensive hockey and Jonathan Quick was solid in goal. It was a low scoring game with only two goals total in regulation, but isn’t that what typically happens? The games get so important down the stretch that no one wants to make any mistakes? Old news, everyone knows this. So the game continues into overtime and then to the shootout. My “favorite” shootout player, Jack Johnson, was once again in the top three. But wouldn’t you know it, he was the only one that scored and they had to go to a fourth round. P.S. Sully, everyone knows your shootout move now; you’re not surprising anyone. So who came in to save the day? Drew Doughty. His weird stick-handling shuffle had Niklas Backstrom apparently reeling because he couldn’t stop Doughty’s accidental slip up through his fivehole.

So the rookie defenseman saved the day and the Kings gained two points, but Minnesota was able to gain a point and move up a bit in the standings themselves. Not a bad finish to the game, but more regulation wins are going to be the key for the Kings because their shootout record has been pretty bad this season and they can’t afford to be giving up a point every time to the opposition. Once again, old news.

The game against the Philadelphia Flyers last night was a bit different from their previous game. The Kings came out and played hard against an aggressive team but couldn’t get the job done, but it wasn’t for lack of effort or drive. They outshot the Flyers 34-20 but they were still shutout 2-0 with the second goal being an empty netter. It was pretty frustrating to see that none of the shots were getting past Marty Biron. Patrick O'Sullivan and Jarret Stoll seemed to have so many chances, but neither could finish! The Kings abilitly to shut down the Flyers was great to see and their efforts remain promising in that they may reach that 8th spot in the western conference.

The trade deadline is coming up and I'm not sure what, if anything, Dean Lombardi is going to do. He stated that the team isn't at the point where they're going to give up a ton for a scorer; couple that with watching the team on a game-by-game basis and I'm pretty sure the Kings aren't going to be making any drastic moves by the deadline. Brownie is scheduled to return by the next game against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and they can still recall Oscar Moller if they need a further shake up. If they don't make the playoffs, this will still be an exciting end to the season for the Kings.

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Aaaand We're Back: Kings 5, Wild 2

The Kings break their 4-game losing streak with a win over the Minnesota Wild. The Wild were on the back end of playing three games in four nights and the Kings were rested up. You could say the latter had the advantage, but at this point, I'll take it without any misgivings. In looking back at the last game against the Dallas Stars, the Kings actually played better in regulation compared to the previous three contests. They fought all the way to the end and ended with a loss in the shootout, but this mindset was carried over to tonight's game where they won decisively over a tired Wild squad.

I basically thought everything looked good in this game:

• Jack Johnson played 17:44 and is slowly getting back into the groove of things. He looks strong and is making the simple plays, which is completely fine. After being out for so long, I don't want him trying anything fancy this early into his return. I'm still unsure who he could be paired with, and am really not interested in trying to guess. I'll let Terry Murray make that decision for me.
  
• All the other defensemen played a substantial number of minutes with the least being logged by Peter Harrold at 15:30. With JJ back in the lineup, Denis Gauthier and Tom Preissing look to be the healthy scratches with Harrold getting reduced minutes. I'm fine with this except that I'd want Tommy P back in the lineup before Gauts has another shot. With JJ being a physical presense, do we really need Gauts? We're lacking offense! Get Tommy P back; that is, when one of the top 6 can't play.
  
• All the top flight forwards picked up goals for themselves and I was very happy with the effort by these guys. Side note: Kyle Calder is not considered a "top flight forward" in my previous sentence.
• Role player and in the lineup until Oscar Moller returns, Derek Armstrong, always seems to contribute a great deal whenever he IS in the lineup. He notched another goal tonight and I've been very satisfied with his play. When he played in nearly every game last season, I thought he was just another mediocre player, but now that he's playing reduced minutes, he's making each one count and, thus, standing out much more. Whoda thunk??

The scariest part of the game was when Raitis Ivanans and Derek Boogaard dropped their gloves in the third period. This just showed me how incredibly large Boogaard really is. When someone can make Ivanans looks small, I'd make sure to keep my distance. Jim Fox basically said he wasn't sure who won the fight. C'mon, Jim, you really don't know? It's not everyday when you see Ivanans have fists land on his dome that many times. Sad face.

Speaking of sad face, I'm patiently waiting for little Moller to get his butt back in the lineup. Seeing Kevin Westgarth out there for less than five total minutes, was... interesting. He's basically a miniature-Ivanans, only figuratively of course. I was unimpressed with Westgarth's numbers last season and his play during summer training, so I'm not holding my breath for him to start racking up any sort of numbers. In the mean time, he'll be a mini-Bam Bam.

The Kings get a respectable 32 shots on the Wild netminders while only letting 27 get on Jonathan Quick. (By the way, Jonathan Bernier was looking mighty fine on the bench.) Quick looked solid positionally and had a fast glove-hand tonight. He's penciled in to start against the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow, and after this game, I'd be surprised to see Bernier in net. The next Kings game after tomorrow is on the 29th against the Chicago Blackhawks, and if Erik Ersberg isn't back by then, maybe (just maybe), we'll see Bernier. Personally, I'd rather have Ersberg back before that game and have Bernier return to Manchester so he can get as many games as he can under his belt at the AHL level. If he's gonna be the Number 1 for years to come, he needs to be great at all other levels of play. Nothing new here, just the simple truth.

So the Kings start a quick back-to-back on the road with a solid win and I can end the day on a happy note. FINALLY.

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Yay For Winning! Kings 3, Wild 1

The Kings once again proved that those clunker-type games are coming around less and less. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this game against the Minnesota Wild, but I knew it wasn't going to be a cake walk. Although.. how does one walk on cake? Walk in cake? No clue.

Once again Marian Gaborik was not in the lineup, and ever since the rumors started of him coming to LA, I couldn't care less. The longer he's out of their lineup, the less chance there is he's coming to LA, because, really, I don't want to pay him big money if he's going to be sitting on IR. What's the point? The one Wild that stood out to me was Mikko Koivu. He was a lot scrappier than I thought he was going to be, and did a good job clogging up the neutral zone when the Kings were on the attack.

The top defensive pairing of Drew Doughty and Kyle Quincey has been killing it, as per usual. I have no complaints with the defensive, but there are two things. (1) I think I'm not as angry with Peter Harrold getting so much ice time because I'm so focused on how poorly Denis Gauthier has been doing. (2) I'm still wondering why Tom Preissing has been benched for as long as he has when Gauts has been sucking balls on the defensive end! Yeah, Tommy P doesn't kill penalties, but Gauts sucks on the even strength. Pick your poison.

Teddy Purcell got about 2:40 more TOI than his first game up, which was virtually all during even strength play. Hopefully his time will go up when Terry Murray sees that he could play on the special teams up here, although I'm not sure where he'd go as of now since our special team units aren't doing poorly. And speaking of ice time, where is Oscar Moller's ice time going?? He played less than 10 minutes! Well Wayne Simmonds played almost 13 minutes, so that could be it. Although, you could easily find an extra five minutes if you just took John Zeiler out of the lineup completely...

(Noah Graham/AP)

Yup, no complaints

Once again the Kings outshoot their opponents (43-34) and three of the four goals were on the PP. I'm glad we won this game against the Wild because the San Jose Sharks are going to whip through town on Monday. I don't think I'm going to expect a win that day; I'll just go and be an observer. The only thing I hope for is that the Kings don't come out flat-footed because they really can't afford any of that on their end. It's obvious what the Sharks are going to do, so I just want a good fight out of my boys.

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So This Is What The Basement Feels Like

Pre-game:
I took in this game not up in the 300 section or on the radio, like usual, but in the 100 section. KQ and her family had an extra ticket on their hands and were extremely gracious in inviting me to sit with them. It was unbelievable to be sitting 13 rows back from the glass. So, much love and thanks to her and her family who were unbelievably kind.
- On to some news: Fro is back in the lineup, which makes me very excited because he is a big body on the lines and was the highest point holder before his injury.
- Scratches: Willsie, Dallman, Nagy (good thing his contract is only a year long), and Barbs (obviously)

1st period:
- Starting lineup is JJ and Blake on D with Sully, Cammy, and Fro out in front. Aubin's between the pipes and, once again, I AM UNSURE.
- The first couple of shifts bring a free-flowing type of game with no real puck possession for too long. Zeiler is moving around and being the gnat that he is.
- Army has two HITS in the first 3 minutes.
- Fro - HIT (I just hope these hits don't aggravate his injury since he hasn't been playing at this high of an intensity for awhile)
- Calder and Sully are getting in some forechecking trying to keep the energy levels up.
- Wild Goal - Gaborik nets it at 3:48 going top shelf on Aubin from the right circle. Apparently it's gonna be one of THOSE games.
- It is clear that neither side is taking ownership of the neutral zone. Where is the Wild's Trap that I've heard about?
- Giuliano - HIT (I think I'm just gonna start calling him my Manchester Boy)
- As I look up at the scoreboard and see that there is 13:08 left in the first, I also see that the Wild has only one shot on net. What the hell? Damnit Aubin!
- Ahh, there's that Wild Trap. BUT, Zeiler is able to break through two Minnys just outside the blueline and charges into the Wild zone. Obviously he doesn't score.
- Anze is called for hooking at 10:14. So this is the first of about 100 penalties that Mick McGeough calls tonight. Yes, it's McGeough at the helm and he is quite whistle happy. Handzus gets a break into the Wild zone but Harding solidly denies him. The puck gets moved out but it appears that the Wild are pretty good at this Trap business. Anze comes out of the box and immediately makes a break for the net and throws the puck at Harding on the backhand. Wild still up 1-0.
- Ratti - HIT
- Anze - HIT
- Sully, Anze, and Brownie are out on the Kings PP. They're getting chances and I thought something was going to happen when Blake moved his 6'4" self in front of Harding. Vish gets the puck and slaps it right at Harding's midsection.
- 2:23 left - Blake gets a break on his own into Wild territory, but instead of awkwardly going all the way to the net, he stops and takes a slapper from the top of the circle. Harding saves and the score remains the same.
- Calder receives two for holding at 19:06. C'mon guys, just get through this period! I'm still unsure about Aubin here because Minny is setting up well on their PP. The minute ends and it's 15 minutes of rest.

End of the first period:
- Kings have 12 shots on to Wild's 10.
- It looks like the Kings are losing steam and, once again, they have to play down on the scoreboard. It must be so mentally tiring to ALWAYS be down.
- Who's gonna come with energy into the second? The Kings? The Wild? Well, I know Ratti's always up for some trash talking.

2nd period:
- This is the start of a seemingly non-stop slew of penalties. After a while, I really had no idea who was called for what when it was a 5-on-3 for the Kings or 5-on-4 for the Wild. It was utter pandemonium so I stopped keeping track.
- The woman sitting to my right was super nice and I loved her commentary through the game. She made me laugh even when the Kings were making me sad. (KQ, don't be so sad! When the Kings hand you lemons, you gotta smash them back in their faces!) The reason I mention this woman was because she called Giuliano a "sparkplug," which I thought was a very appropriate descriptor. My Manchester Boy was looking productive out there, which is more than I can say for some of the guys...
- Anze gets rocked and Moore takes down Brownie.
- 15:06 left and the Kings can't get anything set up on this PP. Hmm, sounds familiar.
- The Kings get called for too many men at 4:54 (p.s. I'm now looking at the box score for these times).
- This just getting ridiculous; I don't know who's in the box, on the bench, on the ice.
- It's a 5-on-3 now (I don't even know what's going on), and Rolston gets the puck right in the slot at the top between the circles and slaps it toward Aubin into all of the traffic. What do you know, Minnesota scores and it's now 2-0. The Kings look like slugs out there.
- Modry is doing his work on the PK, as my right-hand woman said to me. Ok, I'll give props where props are due. I'm not one to shun effort.
- So I mentioned this previously, but it looks like Handzus is more concerned with trying to get a short-handed goal than actually trying to clear the puck on the PK. He really should be more focused on getting the damn puck outta the zone first!
- Dizzzam, Stuart just got rocked into the boards. Hope he got the license plate number on that fella.
- 11:10 left and Calder is called for holding. (Damn, I can't read my own notes for this PK...ha...ha....)
- 7:22 left and the Kings have another PP. I thought they did well setting up in the neutral zone and controlling the puck into the Wild zone. There was a good chance here with Kopi getting a solid opportunity. Once again, Harding comes through for Minny. Damnit, Kirsten!
- There was one play where Sully was on the right-wing half boards and cross passed it to Fro who one-timed it but was denied. Surprisingly, the same exact play happens when Sully gets the puck again. This time, Harding is ready for it. Blast!
- Kopi is just not having a good night; here's another play where he is denied. Cammy is on the goal line on the right side and passes it to Kopi on a backhanded fancy spin move. *sigh* Harding is just a wall tonight.
- Kings PP at 15:35. They're able to cycle it enough, but nothing is working. They get some shots on, but to no avail.
- Right after this PP ends, the Kings go on the PP again.
- Then Blake gets a penalty for interference. I was just amazed at how many times McGeough blew his whistle.

(What did you call me? That's 2 minutes for name calling. Get in the box.)

End of the second period:
- Fred Roggin was sitting by the glass with his wife and kid. His tiny blond woman had some major bling on her finger. Whoa.
- So I guess I'll give someone else some credit here. Aubin has actually been making some saves here and there. I'm not as pissed at him as I have been in other games. I mean, at least it isn't 6-0, right?
- This view 13 rows back is crazy close!
- Fro is definitely making his presence known on the ice but his frustrations are highly visible.
- I wonder what Handzus' face off percentage is so far?.....

3rd period:
- The rest of Blake's penalty was killed without a hitch.
- Brownie actually had a break on his own, but it was him versus 3 Minnys and a Harding. Obviously he was shut down, but I liked the effort! If I had a "Vote for Lubo" cookie, I'd totally give it to Brownie.
- There was a point where (I think) the Wild should have been called for too many men (Crow was standing on top of the bench all kinds of pissed off), but I guess McGeough didn't feel like calling that one.
- Brownie - HIT
- We're just getting shut down left and right. Rolly McGeough helps this by calling a play dead when Harding didn't even have control of the puck. Argh.
- The face off at 15:05 brought in some good chances. Carney flat out denies Cammy's shot. Talk about frustrating; my energy level is dying...
- Schultz absolutely smashes Ratti. Something else I've noticed lately is that Zeiler isn't falling all over the ice anymore. He actually possess the ability to keep himself upright.
- 11:05 left and the puck is moving from end to end to end to end, aka, no one has clear possession for too long. Calder gets boarded but McGeough decides he doesn't want to call this either.
- Kings are on the PP again at 10:25. They're able to keep it in the Wild zone but this doesn't look like a PP at all. Fro is getting annoyed.
- 7:19 - On the scoreboard I see that Minny has 10 less shots on (22) than the Kings (32). Why are they up 2-0? Aubin...
- Kings on the PP again - Passing and passing and passing and passing. Minny is just getting their PK done. They're being aggressive and forcing the Kings into lameness.
- Cammy falls on Harding during a scrum and gets a goalie interference penalty at 16:05.
- Kings Goal - Blake at 18:48 with assists to Cammy and Sully. They had a 6-on-5 by pulling Aubin and got a result. There's hope. And if not, at least they didn't get shut out. Always gotta look on the bright side.
- The end of game rush begins after this goal. There is a mad dash by the Kings and the play is whistled with 4.3 seconds left. All they have to do is win the face off and get a shot on. It's happened before. Just please don't let Handzus take the face off....
- Cammy steps up to the plate and draws. We get the puck but it's scramble, scramble, scramble, scramble in front of the net and the game is over.

(Hey Staples Center, maybe you should clean your glass)

End of the game:
- Kings 1, Wild 2
- Shots on - Kings 36, Wild 24
- A total of 18 penalties were called, with the majority coming in the second period. In looking at the score sheet, can you really blame me for not knowing who was off for what, when, why, how?
- Surprisingly Anze gets the third star of the night with 0 goals and 0 assists. Can someone tell me why? Why didn't Blake get it? He scored the only freaking goal!
- Kings Talk on the dreary drive home. Some guy called in saying he read online that DL came out saying that he wanted high draft picks and so signed the free agents to make it so. Ok, this was just about the most asinine thing to call in about. What website was he reading? Or, more likely, what message board was he on? The internet is filled with gossip and it's people like this guy that perpetuate this crap. I was so irritated at this guy for saying this on the air. Do you really think a GM of multi-million dollar professional sports team would really say this? "Hey guys, I want high draft picks so I'm just gonna sign guys to make this team suck. Sound good? Ok, it's set. Go Operation Kings Suckage." I can't believe this caller thought DL actually said this. It's obvious he doesn't read any websites of substance and reliability.
- Ummm...the basement sure is cold.

Follow up:
1) Watching the after game interview Crow is pretty fired up. It's 4 minutes and 40 seconds of heated comments. But they don't even show the full interview, so who knows how long it actually went for.
2) Jason LaBarbera is now on IR (retroactive to December 1st).

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Hidden Gems – 8 - Randoms

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

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

Haha, nice.

*****

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

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

New count: Game - 5; Play - 6

*****

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

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

*sigh*

*****

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

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

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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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