A Questionably Solid Win: Kings 6, Sharks 4

The Los Angeles Kings redeemed themselves last night against the San Jose Sharks with a 6-4 victory. I was extremely proud of their efforts in the first period but was soon shell-shocked in the second and third when the Sharks came back to score 4 unanswered goals. Before puck drop I was still wondering about the defensive pairings that seemingly paired like-and-like instead of one offensive-minded with one defensive-minded, but anything could have been better than last Saturday so I wasn't too worried. I soon was swallowing any doubts because the Kings showed up and played a hell of... well first period and second half of the third period. This game was no where near what the Kings would like on a per-game basis.

In looking at the positives of the game first, I'm not sure which of the Kings 6 goals was the best but I will say that Jack Johnson's aggressiveness and willingness to get to the net can only lead to great things. As long as he has the defensive support on the back end, I can only encourage his spark to get his stick on the puck. Michal Handzus' pass to the front of the net couldn't have been better timed during the 4-on-4 play. Another positive was Anze Kopitar's goal in that he should be scoring like that every single game. His was just about the nastiest and sickest goal I've seen from a King in awhile and Evgeni Nabokov never saw it coming.

(LAKings.com)

My mantra of the Kings being "consistently inconsistent" continued last night by their sheer meltdown in the middle of the game. Yes, their passing and transitions were impressive, but the inevitable excitement and inability to immediately calm the nerves after their lead was built lead to the Kings suffering 4 unanswered power play goals from the Sharks. The most blatant penalty was the Too Many Men call while they were on the power play. The Kings were all over the place during their penalty kills and the bloom was quickly off the rose as the Sharks tied the game with less than five minutes in the game. Yet hope was renewed by Teddy Purcell, the player under arguably the most scrutiny, and his "hail mary" shot from a ridiculous angle. [Update]: Thomas Greiss Nabokov didn't have any control over it whatsoever and the Kings were back within getting the well-deserved two points.

I was very impressed with the 3rd line of Alexander Frolov, Handzus, and Wayne Simmonds. These guys were playing against the Sharks' better players while generating offense at the same time. Their chemistry last night proved that this could potentially happen every single game, which makes this line more of a threat than the 2nd line of Purcell, Jarret Stoll, and Dustin Brown.

According to the stats sheet, Frolov was on the ice for only 17:29 but he utilized every single second by producing 2 points while also being double shifted on the 4th line, which disappeared pretty quickly. Raitis Ivanans did his duty playing less than 5 minutes but letting the opposition know what he really thinks about them. Here's Raitis landing some dome shots on Jody Shelley after Davis Drewiske was slammed into the boards. Thanks, Ivanans for sticking up for the rookie!

(LAKings.com)

All of the Kings were nicely either even in the +/- column or on the plus side while it was just the opposite on the Sharks end. Interestingly, Dany Heatley collected three points and was a -2, Devin Setoguchi got 2 points and ended at a -2, and Joe Thornton got three assists and had almost a team-worst -3.

Lastly, props to Drewiske for scoring his first NHL goal. Yes, it was on an empty net, but it was with full traffic between him and the goal mouth and it put the game away for the Kings.

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Rob Blake Named Captain of San Jose Sharks

According to the San Jose Sharks website and Sharkspage Rob Blake has been named captain of the Sharks. The assistants will be Dan Boyle and Joe Thornton. The first thing that popped into my head when I read this was that Joe Thornton will never be captain material. Granted they're not my team so I'm not sure if Sharks fans were hoping that maybe one day Thornton could take up the captaincy reins. Either way, I chuckle at Thornton and am happy to see Blake doing well in Nor Cal.

Check out Sharks Hockey Analysis and Fear The Fin for some further questions, thoughts, and discussion.

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Teddy Purcell Has Enough Teeth to Speak!

Training camp for the Los Angeles Kings began on Sunday, September 14th at the Toyota Sports Center and all the players are back and ready to go. Kings Vision has one-on-one interviews posted of Daryl Evans and Heidi Androl speaking with various players and management. I haven't actually watched any of these tidbits because I still hold the preconceived notion that athletes aren't the most articulate bunch. They mostly say the same things from game to game, such as:

• We need to communicate better on the ice
• Our passes weren't the greatest and we know that
• Coach-y or Coach-ie let us know what we need to focus on and that's what we're going to do
• That line felt really good ooot there tonight
  

You asleep yet?

The reason I bring this up is that KingsKoolAid informed me of a particular interview with Teddy Purcell that was worth watching. I was hesitant because of the countless minutes of my life that have been previously spent listening to Sidney Crosby or Roberto Luongo saying the same thing night in and night out. But I watched and was very impressed with Purcell! He actually had legitimate things to say and enunciated his words clearly enough to hold my attention.

You can check out his interview with Daryl Evans here. If Kings Vision doesn't load (as it usually doesn't for me), please inform the Kings because I don't have the time nor patience. Thank you.

Going back to player interviews, there are a few who I will actually listen to regardless of situation. Here are a few off the top of my head in no particular order:

• Jeremy Roenick (no surprise)
• Sean Avery (not impressive, just intriguing)
• Rob Blake
• Sean O'Donnell
• Kevin Weekes (strange, but trust me, boy is SMART)
• Daniel Briere

Who do YOU think is a great interview?

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It’s 75 Degrees Outside And I’m Inside

Going into the weekend, there have been plenty of updates from the Kings camp that I have been keeping up with in my podcasts, but I realized that I should probably type something out for your viewing pleasure.

• I realize that I haven’t written anything about Rob Blake signing his one-year deal with San Jose, but I have addressed this in Kings World Podcast episode 1.5 and in the I’m Not a Puck Bunny Podcast episode 22. I didn’t ignore it by any means; it was just too devastating for me to write anything the moment it happened because he’s obviously more than just a hockey player to me. Please look for a question-and-answer I did for Gann Matsuda when he comes out with a piece on Lombardi…

• The Kings have re-signed four RFAs: Matt Moulson, Erik Ersberg, Gabe Gauthier, and Joe Piskula.
  
• The most important out of these four was Moulson. I couldn’t imagine the Kings releasing him into free agency waters. He made a good showing in his 22 games with the Kings last year and it just seemed natural for him to be re-signed.
  
• Ersberg was going to take the Kings to arbitration because he apparently wanted to re-sign with a one-way contract so that he’d get the same amount coming to him if he was playing in Los Angeles or Manchester. That was the word on the street before he re-signed for $700,000. I guess whatever was going on was patched up and we all moved along.
  
• The re-signing of Gabe Gauthier seems to make sense because he had a good presence in Manchester in terms of leadership last season.
  
• I... have nothing to say about Joe Piskula.

• Terry Murray was hired as the Kings new head coach. From his background as a coach, his affiliation with the Philadelphia Flyers, and his coaching philosophy, he seems like he’ll fit in well with this rag-tag bunch of young bucks. Before I was pretty indifferent about who the new coach would be after Craig Hartsburg was taken off the market, but now I’m getting excited for the start of the season with knowing that there is a competent coach behind the bench. He will be employed by the Kings for three years and will be paid $2.65 million. Apparently bloggers aren't supposed to quote from the Associated Press, so you can read about his history here.
  

• Christmas in July!!! The NHL 08-09 schedule was released today and I have spent some time perusing the schedule and taking note of specific games.
  
• First and foremost, I’ve concluded that the scheduling committee must hate me. We all know that my favorite player is now on my most hated team, and apparently the scheduling committee knows this too since the Kings’ home opener and closer are against the Sharks. I couldn’t even call that irony; that’s just straight up cruel. The first year I’m able to afford season tickets I have to watch a hostile crowd spew its venom onto the player that I hold most dear to my heart. My friend that I’m getting season tickets with, AJ, has promised to buy me the biggest beer available for those games against the Sharks. We’ll see if that’s able to stop the tears from flowing…
• I guess I also have to point out the the Kings are opening their season on the road as well. They're obviously not going to London again to play against the Ducks at the O2 Arena. No, they're playing the Sharks... at the Tank. *sigh*
  
• If I had to choose just one game that I’m most excited for it’s on Thursday, November 20th against the Washington Capitals. I’m sure the buzz in Los Angeles for Alexander Ovechkin’s arrival won’t be as big as when he goes into Canada, but this game will definitely be a huge draw for Kings fans. To see a superstar in Staples Center will definitely fill the seats. Personally, as much as I’m looking forward to seeing AO on the ice, I’m almost as excited to see Sergei Fedorov as well. He was always someone I liked watching as a kid, so I’m definitely looking forward to this game. Fer sure.
  
• Saturday, November 1st will be interesting. Michael Cammalleri makes his Staples Center debut in a Flames jersey and I’ll definitely be looking at who his linemates are. I can't actually predict what the reaction will be when he touches the puck. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was silence, which one might equate to indifference, but I wouldn’t see that as the case either.
  
• Another game to note will be on Friday, December 5th against the Edmonton Oilers. This will be Lubomir Visnovsky’s first game back at Staples and I hope the fans give him the warmest welcome possible. We miss you, Lubo!
  
• Saturday, January 3rd will be another fun one for me. The Philadelphia Flyers will be in town and I’ll get to see Daniel Briere (who I heart) and Marty Biron. There are some teams where I just can’t explain why I like them, and the Flyers are one of those teams. I think Briere being on the roster also adds to why I like them.
  
• The Kings have two 5-game roadtrips and one 6-game roadtrip in the second half of the season and all three are within a 2-month span. The two 5-game roadtrips bookend February while the 6-gamer occupies the latter half of March. Two teams that traveled to the west coast last season were the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadians. This coming season, the Kings are going to their houses. I'm bummed we won't see those two teams at Staples, but no worries, they'll be on TV, right FSN?...
  

• The longest home stance is for 7 games. It starts on Monday, October 27th against the Red Wings (…yay…) and ends on Tuesday, November 11th against the Stars (…yay for Sean Avery…).
• There are 14 Saturday games AT Staples. 8 start at either 7PM or 7:30PM, which means that 6 of them will start at 1PM.
• After being confused with Cat for a couple of minutes, we figured out that neither the Kings nor the Stars were playing on Thanksgiving. Duh, right?
• The down time between Christmas and the New Year has three games going on, so Kings fans won't be too bored.
  
• Last year the Kings played the Chicago Blackhawks on New Year's Day, but this year, Kings fans will be ringing in the new year with just Winter Classic II.
• The longest period without any Kings games is from Thursday, January 22nd to Wednesday, January 28th.
  
• Last year the last game of the season was held on the same weekend as the San Diego Crew Classic. I was definitely bummed about that because being away gave the season an anti-climactic feel to it, personally. But this year the schedule will be going a week longer so I'll be able to better gauge which event I want to go to, the SDCC or a game against the Coyotes...
• April has 6 games and only 3 are against Pacific Division rivals. Thank god.
  
• There are 15 occurrences of back-to-back games.
• 9 - Both games are away
• 5 - One home and one away
• 1 - Both home games
  
• I think that's all for now. Oh, the Frozen Fury is going to ROCK.
  

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WHAT??

Rob Blake going to my most hated team for one year?

Tell me I’m dreaming.

This has got to be some sick fucking joke.

Fuck you, you motherfuckers.

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Year-In-Review – 9 – Rob Blake

Moving along to JJ's mentor through his first season with the Kings, Rob Blake. Blake definitely had an up-and-down season in terms of numbers, but then again, so did everyone on the roster. I think the only ones that weren't in such flux were Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. One could argue for Patrick O'Sullivan, but we're not discussing forwards at this moment so let's get back to Blake.

(AP)

<3

Blake played in 71 games this season getting 9 goals, 22 assists, for 31 points. His +/- was obviously poor at a -19, and he collected 98 PIM, which was second only to Raitis Ivanans. He missed some games in the middle of the season due to a fracture in his foot that moved him to the IR for a time. It was during the 8-game, east coast swing when this occurred, so he had to fly back to LA and get evaluated. This put Kings nation up in arms about what was going to happen to him at the trade deadline. Surely he had to go; what use was he to the Kings now that he was slow and old, right? Wrong. We don't know what was going on behind the scenes; there have been stories tossed around about things that may or may not have been said regarding JJ, trade issues, etc. We just don't know the whole story. I think the fact that a no-trade clause was in play soured Kings fans even more on this whole situation. But there's a reason they are there. God knows that veterans have earned that privilege of having them, and I don't think people should waive them whenever the fans want the player to do so. (I think if anyone takes a close look at who on the Kings has a no-trade clause, he or she would be surprised.) They're not there for the sole reason to waive. They have their function but they have also been the cause of much distress on other rosters (i.e. Toronto Maple Leafs).

What could we have realistically gotten for him? A prospect? I'm not sure that would have been so cut and dry as a Demitra-for-Sully trade would have been (although that did also involve a pick, which turned out to be Trevor Lewis). What about a pick? How many did we need?? We have 15. Did the idea of having one more really appeal to the masses? In the end Dean Lombardi said that he wouldn't approach Blake unless an offer worth the consideration came up on the table. DL apparently didn't see any great substance with any offers sent his way, so Blake spent the rest of the season with the Kings. And really, thank god. After Jaroslav Modry (trade), Brad Stuart (trade), and JJ (injury) were off the roster at the end of the season, who ELSE would we have had to recall? Another rookie? Manchester had 17 rookies this season! That's ridiculous! They were having their own struggles in trying to make it to their own playoffs.

(AP)

Three awesome guys in one shot

Bottom line: I saw Blake as a positive this season. I know there are many Kings fans who saw him as being overpaid, old, injured, and being someone who didn’t bring anything to the team. Yes, he didn't play like he used to and didn’t put up great numbers for the first half of the season, but he bounced back and hit more milestones this year and helped in JJ’s development both on and off the ice. And didn’t he come back to LA saying that he wanted to help this team get better? If you don’t think JJ’s better now because of Blake’s influence, I’d say you were nuts.

At the beginning of the season he was paired with Lubomir Visnovsky on the left while he was on the right (also on the power play). From around the time when Mo was sent packing, he was paired with JJ. He rounded out the season manning the blueline with Jon Klemm. There was one game where he was sent out as a forward for one shift. I was listening to this game on the radio and was unable to see this, but I wish I was able to... to see how much the team was floundering.

It's been stated by the Kings brass that they're looking to bring Blake back for another year, which I'm very happy about. Obviously he's gonna need to take that hometown discount since he's 38 now and shouldn't be taking as many minutes from game-to-game when there are rookies who need it more (Peter Harrold). It's definitely time for the newbies on the blueline to start munching some minutes. I feel like they won't go above $3.25 million for this upcoming season. They can always go with $3 mil and add some incentives throughout the year for him. He obviously doesn't need the money, but you can't insult the man. But please guys, hurry up and sign him so you can get all of those other UFAs and RFAs signed!

P.S. For all those people who think Blake's number shouldn't get retired by the Kings, look at his stats and accomplishments and then SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE.

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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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Loyal To The Day I Die

to ROB BLAKE

Great hair, Blakey.

If this isn't an indicator that Blake wants to remain in LA, I don't know what is.

L.A. Times Story

Inside The Kings interview

Obviously this doesn't mean that he wouldn't waive his no-trade clause if he was asked, because he hasn't been asked...yet. There are 9 days left, and really, the Kings should be more focused on getting the dead weight of their roster (i.e. Nagy) than Blake, because of those two, Blake has actually been playing AND putting up numbers.

(Getty Images/Jeff Vinnick)Just because I think this picture is hilarious.

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Roadtrip Game 2 - Kings 3, Islanders 1

1st Period:
- Ricky Di is on the bench...looking....yummy. But are the Islanders thinking that this'll be an easy 2 points? Did they not watch the game against philly?
- Brownie's got 226 hits and leads the NHL by more than 50 hits from the guy in second.
- Kings PP - Man, Brad Stuart is making a showing. This is promising...there are some shots on but no goals.
- Kings PP again - Islanders are better at killing this penalty and the Kings don't get as many chances as they did on the first PP.
- Kings Goal - Matt Moulson (5). A broken play leads to a scramble in front of the net and Moulson gets the puck and gets the goal at 10:35.

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

That's right, goalie with a really long name. Kings are up.

- Witt gets a penalty and the third PP leads to Moulson getting an extra shift. He didn't get any minutes on the special teams on Tuesday's game, but here he is and he makes the most by getting a break to the net.
- Islanders Goal - Bryan Berard gets a straight on opportunity after Vish makes a bad pass at 14:19.
- Definitely did not like last 4 minutes of play by the Kings.

2nd Period:
- Kings clean up their act in the first 5 minutes.
- Shot of DiPi streaming water out of his mouth and Jim Fox saying that he's still feeling the effects of the flu. I spoke too soon as I'm sure he'd be in net if he was well. Yeah? Yeah?
- Kings PP - ...Kings are 0 for 4 on the PP in this game
- They spend some time doing a good job shutting down anything the Islanders want to try to start outside of their blueline.
- Mike Comrie must have a fantastic personality because he's just okay in the face, so I'm sure it's something else that The Duff sees in him.
- Moulson is now on the second line with Fro and Army. Nagy, you can go home...to Phoenix, we don't want you anymore.
- The tempo of this period is slower than in the first and there's no real definite puck possession for too long by either team.
- Theres a scrum after the whistle and all three Kings get pinned up against the boards by the Islanders after Fro went for the puck after the whistle. Comeau tries to start something with Moulson and both go to the box. The 4-on-4 doesn't bring too much except allow Kopi to display his moves.
- Trent Hunter has a rat taped to his chin. That is NOT a goatee. Gross.
- What is up with this line to end the period: Kopi, Fro, and Moulson. Crow! Stop it!

3rd Period:
- I like the opening minutes of this period. The Kings are working and Fro is, once again, being a beast on the puck.
- Kings PP - Kings Goal - Blake (5) gets the deflection from Brownie who got a nice cross-ice pass from Kopi at 7:22. Kings 2, Islanders 1.
- Kings PK - Good kill, good kill.
- The rest of the period goes a little faster than the 2nd and the Isles pull their backup with about 90 seconds to go.
- Kings Goal - Fro (12) shots the puck and it looks like it's gonna be an icing, but it's in the net at 19:19 and the Kings are up 3-1. Game. Is. Over.

Game:
Kings win!!! Two points!!
I'm just gonna gloat one more time about Moulson in this game. In the game against Philly on Tuesday he logged 8:55 total time on the ice. Tonight he got 17:23 and ended the night at a +2. Bye Nagy!

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I Guess Brad Stuart Doesn't Suck....

Kings versus the Ducks. Freeway Faceoff = LAME

Pre-Game:
I stood at the glass during the warmups with my signs. I'm not sure Rob Blake saw my sign for him, but I definitely caught Matt Moulson taking a few peaks. I actually had to use both sides of one posterboard (ghetto-rig it, as I liked to say). Staples is lame and only allows signs UP TO 11x17 in size. Anyhoo, this is me with my signs up for Moulson.

That's right, Moulson. You look at me.

Well, I know Calder saw, so maybe he told Blakey.

First Period:
- Tommy Lasorda dropped the puck and Blake and Pronger share a civil handshake.
- Listen Kings, Fro may be strong on the puck, but not when he's surrounded by 4 Ducks. Please help him.
- If it was physically possible for Giuliano to stay out on the ice for the ENTIRE PK, I'd say DO IT. He freaking rocks out there and I honestly get antsy when he's not on the ice during that time.
- There were a total of 7 penalties during the first so there were some stressful moments. Especially with Vish hitting the crossbar on a rush. ARGH!
- Kings Goal - Anze (19) takes the puck to the net on the PP at 16:16 and the Kings are up 1-0. What??? What was that?? The Kings got on the board first?? I think the world just ended....
- Ratti and Parros go at it and it's a pretty even match up, I must say. I'm gonna venture a guess and say that hockeyfights.com will say it's a tie. Both go off for 5 minutes.
- At the very end of the period, there's a scuffle at center ice and a Duck grabs the puck with two trailing Kings and puts it past Barbs. BUT the goal was put under review and it was found to be in the net AFTER the period had ended. Awesome.

There's Handzus actually NOT losing faces off like there's no tomorrow.

End of the First Period:
- Attention all men with stupid girlfriends: Don't bring them to hockey games!!! Teach them the game from your freaking couch. There was a butter-faced blonde sitting two seats away from me saying the stupidest shit. I thought I was gonna stab my own eyes out.
- So are these really my Kings? They're looking good, being aggressive. Please show up for the 2nd!!!

Second Period:
- Kings Goal - Army tips in the puck at 4:21 and Teddy Purcell has his first NHL point with an assist!!!!
- At this point I'm wondering, "Does it really say Kings 2 Ducks 0????"
- Kings Goal - Fro takes a wrister to the net at 9:53. This goal started in the slot with Moulson passing it downlow to Army, who passed it across the front of the net to Fro. Freaking fantastic.
- The Ducks pull Giguere and put in rookie Hiller.
- Sully needs to get stronger on the puck in the corners. He's getting outbattled constantly.....
- Ratti and May are being a little lovey-dovey tonight, what with all the man hugging.
- No penalties in this period, and the Kings are looking mighty fine.

End of the Second Period:
Here is a video that Finny from Girl With A Puck and I made during the intermission.

Third Period:
- The Kings are still being aggressive in the corners and moving the puck and killing their penalties.
- Brad freaking Stuart is earning his paycheck tonight. I'm floored that he's putting shots on, throwing up hits, and taking names. Why can't you be this good every game, man!!!
- Ducks Goal - Rob Neidermayer scores at 16:48. Barbs just didn't close his legs fast enough and Rob N scored. Hmmm...that's what she said....
- The Kings finish the game just like they started: out on the hunt for duckies.

End of the Game:
- Kings 3, Ducks 1
- Shot total (because Staples couldn't fix their jumbo tron stat) - Kings 31, Ducks 32
- My Manchester Boys rocked it out there tonight.
- Hey Purcell! You need to start downing those protein shakes; you know, fatten you up a bit.
- The Kings come out with an unexpected win, which means the Ducks lost two nights in a row going into the All-Star weekend.
- I'm still in shock.

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Memo To Rob Blake

Rob Blake

I will be at the game tomorrow against the Ducks.

I will have a sign for you.

Please be aware during the warmups.

That is all.

I have also made a sign for one of the Manchester boys. Be on the lookout!!

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8 In A Row

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

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Like a Kid in a VERY Expensive Candy Store

I went to the Kings Game-Used Equipment Sale this morning to see what kinds of goodies were up for grabs. It supposedly started at 10AM, so I went at 10:30 thinking I'd be one of the first people there, but the place was packed. I was going to take a picture of the sale, but I wasn't allowed to. No matter, I posted pictures of what I bought and that's all that really matters, right?

The sale was set on the roller hockey rink at the Toyota Sports Center. There were jerseys lining the fencing; tables with sticks, skates, and blades; and there was a table of socks and practice jerseys.

- The white jerseys were $400 and the black jerseys were $600. With the 45% discount they were still $220 and $330, respectively. Hell no! Sorry Teebz, you don't get your Cloutier jersey.

- Pushkarev uses a heavy stick. WOW. That thing was super heavy compared to all of the other sticks on the tables.

- There were a ton of Frolov, Thornton, and Brown sticks.

- I really liked Sully's stick; it was super duper light and the shaft was pretty grippy (if that's even a word).

- I saw an Alfredsson stick there??

- Ivanans is a tall guy, so why is his stick so short?

- The are way more left-handed players than right-handed players on the team, which made it difficult for me.

- One guy working there picked up a Cammalleri stick and said to his buddy, "I'm surprised this Cammy stick is still here." Well, dude, it's probably because it's the only one laying on a table with about 100 other sticks.

My loot from the sale:

- I only saw ONE Blake stick, so I snatched that up (obviously).

- I picked up a Brown stick as a gift for my brother. I think I lucked out with the pricing on it, so I'm happy.

- Lastly I bought a black practice jersey. The jerseys with numbers on them were only $5 more than the ones without.

Conclusion: I don't know how much stuff is going to be there tomorrow considering how many people came through for the 30 minutes that I was there. But I'm going to lob a guess and say that there are gonna be PLENTY of game-used jerseys left above all else.

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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 – 10 - All-Star Voting

Wow, when I said that I had found the greatest thing ever with Marcel Goc's blog, I was completely wrong. The Kings have put together a video clip of the boys trying to get your votes for the All-Stars. At first my thoughts were, "What the hell is this?" But about 10 seconds into it, I couldn't stop laughing. Just find the Kings Vision link and you'll see it.

"Cookie?? Vote for Lubo!" hahahahha

Man, whoever made this was a genius. GENIUS.

Oh YouTube, I knew you'd pull through. So here is the clip, but just to note the picture quality is NOT as good as on the Kings site. My suggestion is to go to their site to watch it. But here is it:

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Kings 4, Canucks 2

Roster Moves:
- Gabe Gauthier was sent back to Manchester
- Jeff Giuliano was recalled from Manchester
- Thoughts: I thought Gauthier was invisible for his limited time on the ice over the three games he was here; and he was actually a scratch for one of the games. Apparently he wasn't given the opportunity to showcase why he's actually one of the top scorers on the Monarchs this season. But even so, don't you think that he should have been able to show SOMETHING? We'll see what Giuliano brings to the Kings' table. Ha...ha...I'm so witty.

Pre-game:
- I decided to see what it was like to watch a whole game at the local sports bar near my dwelling. So I brought some cousins together and we set out. Now, I'm not afraid to admit when I think another girl is cute (in this case, the waitresses in this joint), but geez, couldn't they have at least come with some brains??
- This most likely isn't going to be as in depth of a review because I was definitely watching with no sound on the TV, but I could hear whatever football game loud and clear.

First Period:
- I noticed that Luongo was on the bench and I was hoping that this was an automatic indicator that the Kings were going to come away with 2 points.
- Kings goal - Stuart (3) takes the shot at 3:22 in. Sanford definitely got a piece of it off his shoulder.
- Canucks' Burrows is looking to start some shit with Cammy. Hmm, I wonder what the energy is going to be like for the game.
- Thornton is actually not a healthy scratch tonight and comes to the aid of Zeiler who gets rocked by a Canuck.
- Vancouver goal - At 7:34 Taylor "Let me woo you with my smoldering eyes" Pyatt gets a PP goal past Aubin who gets caught laying down. Well, I'll give credit because he made some saves before Pyatt took it up high on J.S.
- Vancouver is forechecking pretty aggressively but the Kings aren't being outworked = GOOD SIGN!
- Kings Goal - Anze (14) moves straight down the slot from a solid pass by Brownie. He takes a backhand on the near side of Sanford and brings home the bacon.
- Calder - He's been having some nice shifts out there and he looks comfortable in front of the net screening Sanford.
- I gotta give props to Aubin so far; he looks a lot cleaner and less frantic in his movements than from Saturday's game. But please don't leave the crease to play the puck; you still look awkward doing so.
- Nearing the end of the first, Vancouver is setting up quickly but, around 3:30 left, the Kings have a good forecheck situation and they're just as quick to shut down anything the Canucks are thinking to start.
- Army - HIT
- Aubin - Save!
- The last 15 seconds I thought the Kings had a good break out that started behind Aubin. Sully banks it off the boards to Vish and then he charges through the neutral zone. Ahh, effort in the last minute of the period; things are looking up.

End of 1st period:
- Kings up 2-1
- Shots on: Kings 12 to Canucks 9

Second Period:
- Kings Goal - Army (2) gets the only goal this period at 4:49 in with assists to Blake and JJ.
- Kings PK - I'm starting to like Sully's style on the PK. Giuliano goes a nice job removing any passing lanes around the point, which is something I wish the Kings would do all the time. His efforts force the Canucks to go down low and he successfully blocks a shot. I thought this was a good PK overall.
- Stuart - HIT
- Brownie - HIT
- Last half of the second - no side really has complete control over the puck for too long. There are some quick first passes but there's no follow through to the second pass to the neutral zone.
- Calder is very visible mucking up in the corners and in front of the net. This line is keeping the energy up for the last 10 minutes here.
- Kings PP - This is something I've noticed recently: the Kings set up and look decent for the first minute, but once the opposing team clears the puck, the Kings have a problem getting everyone back into the attacking zone. I'm hoping this doesn't continue on for too long.

End of 2nd period:
- The Kings have played a full 40 minutes. Wait, make that 39 minutes. The last minute of the second showed an unorganized Kings line.
- I don't like watching this game without sound. Where's the server to refill my drink?
- Shots on: Kings 1 to Canucks 9

Third Period:
- One player I haven't really noticed so far is Brownie...Is it because I don't have sound and I'm not hearing his name mentioned on a regular basis?
- There is a rush at 14:55 and let me just say that Sanford got lucky.
- Patrick O'Neal is shown interviewing Emilio Estevez. It's Billy the Kid!! Man, I wish I could hear what they were saying...
- Krajicek totally takes out Sully, but less than a minute later Sully recovers and backs his rear up against Pyatt. It's almost a la Blake-style, but not quite there. It was lacking a little bit of "My name's Rob Blake and it's lights out for you."
- There are some choppy passes that aren't connecting and the Kings can't break out. Argh.
- Burrows takes out Anze at the boards while he had his head down. Anze wasn't facing the boards, but I'm just gonna put it out there that I thought it was fucking cheap. I'm glad Cammy immediately came to Anze's defense, but I seriously felt like slapping a ho.
- The Kings are now on a 5-on-3 and the puck is being moved around cleanly. Army is at the left goal line and makes a solid pass onto Brownie's stick. Kings goal at 11:41; Brownie hardly did anything on this pass by the way. Army's pass hit the blade dead on and Brownie is on the board with his 14th goal.
- 6 minutes left and I'm thinking that Cammy needs another goal...
- The Kings are actually picking up the rolling pucks off of the Canucks' rebounds. Finally.
- Blake is in the box for cross checking at 16:44.
- Vancouver Goal - Aubin makes a sweet kick save denying Pyatt but Elder gets the rebound and throws it behind Aubin.
- With about a minute to go, Blake is in front of the net with Cooke and basically mauls him down to the ice. This results in a 2-minute roughing and a 10-minute misconduct.

End of game:
- Guiliano made a good showing in this game. I was pleasantly surprised to see him contributing.
- Shots on total: Kings 31 to Canucks 28
- Once again, the Kings inconsistent play brings the fans something to cheer about. A decisive win and two points! Hooray!

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Kings 2, Coyotes 4

Before I go into the game tonight, I'd like to give a shout out to all of the people driving north on the 110. Fuck you very much! Why were so many goddamn people on the freeway at 6pm on a Saturday night?

First Period:
- Starting lineup is Lubo with Modry, with Ratti, Anze, and Zeiler out in front. Aubin in net, GREAT.
- Most exciting part about the game so far, seeing Gretzky on the bench. The last time I saw that guy was when he was still playing at the Forum. Ahh, those were the days.
- Zeiler has been showing his presence out there, especially when he maneuvered the puck through the neutral zone and through some Coyotes all the way to the Coyotes' end boards and THEN layed up a nice HIT.
- Aubin - Makes a lucky save. But he didn't actually MAKE the save. The inside of the left post did when the Yotes had a 3-on-2.
- Brownie - HIT
- Carcillo decides to start some shit with Sully and gets a roughing penalty, which bring out the top line. This line comes through with Anze (13) scoring from Brownie and Lubo at 6:24. There was crisp passing and no one held the puck for too long, which put Phoenix' s D out of position. Brownie holding onto the puck the way he did showed patience, which caused Bryz to fall for the fake.
- Ratti gets called for roughing and 30 seconds later Blake gets called as well. I thought this was complete bullshit. Thanks to the ref for giving the Yotes a 5-on-3.
- Watching Handzus and Modry on this PK made me VERY uneasy. It might be their lack of finesse that causes that feeling. Aubin is definitely getting some lucky breaks with the Coyotes not being able to follow through on plays they set up. Ok, now that Vish and JJ are out, I feel more confident that they'll kill the 5-on-3 advantage, which they do. Whew, dodged that bullet.
- Ratti - HIT
- Thoughts on Gauthier: He's small and I don't know how I feel about his play on the ice because he hasn't played much from what I've seen. He definitely looked like a little kid next to Ratti.
- Kings on the PP - As Phoenix is trying to clear the puck Blake snatches the puck out of the air, drops it, and takes a hard slap to the net. I love that. For the rest of the PP, I thought the majority of players were milling around the neutral zone. It didn't look like there was too much effort to get it to into the Phoenix zone.
- Phoenix was able to set up a play, which Hanzal later fanned on. But Aubin should have covered up the first damn rebound that was right in front of his face so that Hanzal didn't get the opportunity to fan on it in the first place!
- Phoenix goal - Tjarnqvist at 18:30. This was shot from inside the blue line in front of the Kings' bench and it went through everyone's legs, including Aubin's. Terrible terrible goal.

End of the First:
- So I'm just going to now say that I am UNSURE OF AUBIN. I think that he should be pulled right now just for his sloppy play.
- At the end of the period Blake is talking to the ref on the ice about the roughing penalty. He is then given a 2-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike, a 10-min for misconduct, and a game misconduct. WHAT THE FUCK.

2nd Period:
- Willsie serves Blake's minor penalty. This is problematic because JJ is back to being paired with Modry, which is not a good sign because now all of the defensive pairs are shuffled around AGAIN.
- Gauthier was actually out on the ice but did not complete a hit that he went for. Zeiler is able to chip in and ROCKS the Yote's world. And in dramatic fashion the Yote's stick goes flying.
- Kings are on the PP. Cammy's actually noticeable tonight and is helping out in plays. He and Kopi got a nice rush and quickly took it to the net but were denied by Bryz. But after the first minute the Coyotes clear it and the Kings weren't able to regain their composure for the rest of the PP.
- Brownie - HIT
- Zeiler - HIT
- Aubin is just not doing it for me. Put in Quick.
- Gauthier is also not doing it for me. Has he even played more than 3 shifts? Thank god Klemm was sent back to Manchester. Why was he even here in the first place? So Crawford, are you gonna bring back Moulson now or what?
- Kings PP - Brownie definitely caught a Yote with his head down. You should really be more careful. I thought the Kings had good puck movement and got some good shots on.
- Stuart has been a nice surprise in this game. He's blasting shots from the blue line that are actually hitting Bryz and not going wide.
- Zeiler - HIT. His hits are definitely the loudest, which make me happy. Plain and simple.
- Sully - He's making a bit of a showing. But he definitely is not as studly tonight as he has been in previous games.
- A Yote got a break with the puck; just him and Aubin. And Aubin actually saved it! Is it sad or normal that I was genuinely surprised that he made the save?

End of the second period:
- I definitely thought that this was the poorest last minute of any period. It's like the Kings didn't want us to get the McFlurrys! What's the deal? Why you gotta hate? Where's Fro?
- Thoughts on Gauthier after 40 minutes: Wow, I can't even say that you're sucking ass because I don't even see you out there on the ice. Are you still suited up?

3rd period:
- Kings PP - Once again, too much passing. The puck needs to get on net for scoring chances, right? Or am I completely off base here.
- There was a lot of messy coast-to-coast playing for a couple minutes at the beginning of the 3rd. A little too much; the Kings need to get something started, like cycling the puck and ATTACKING! Oh yeah, and grabbing a rebound or two would be nice.
- I felt that JJ was moving slowly in this game. You could tell that he was thinking about his next move, but he wasn't hopping on anything too quickly. Was it because Blake was out and he was back with Modry? He just kind of looked lost out there for the last 40 minutes.
- To Aubin - STOP coming out of the crease to play the puck. You look awkward and your stick-handling skills are sub-par. Huh! True to fashion, he just came out and got caught up in the trapezoid.
- It seems that the Calder-Handzus-Willsie line is the energy line tonight with Willsie at the helm.
- Goal - Handzus (3) with assists to Calder and Willsie at 10:39.
- The Yotes were able to cycle the puck and get it into the slot with Aubin exposed. Aubin let's another one in. That makes it 3-2 Yotes at 12:16 by Keith Ballard.
- Willsie is called for hooking and the Kings are on the PK. Stuart has definitely been pulling his weight this game. His partner, Preissing, on the other hand...
- Oh my god, Gauthier, you're still playing?!?!
- A Yote goes for a clean breakaway and the ONLY thing that saves Aubin is the crossbar.
- DAM line - They were able to get some great opportunities. Brownie threw up another solid HIT, and Cammy actually broke through two Yotes right inside the blue line to go to the net.
- The Kings pull Aubin for a 6-on-5 at the end of the third. But what was the point? The Kings literally shut down in the neutral zone. The last three minutes were piss poor hockey and the Coyotes totally owned the Kings. Oh yeah, Shane Doan got a goal on the empty net.

End of game:
- Kings 2, Coyotes 4,
- Aubin should NOT have been in net tonight. I felt cheated by not seeing Quick get his second NHL start.
- If I ever see Ryan Smyth on the street, you know fists will be flying and hair will be pulled.
- Zeiler needs to learn how to skate with efficiency. I'm tired of his choppy strides that aren't effective in getting him from point A to point B. Other teams are now realizing what role he's playing out there and he needs to start stepping up other parts of his game or he's just gonna get manhandled.
- After checking the game summery, I saw that Gauthier played for 5 minutes and 45 seconds. Ok, Blake played in only the first 20 minutes of the game and was out there for 7 minutes and 53 seconds. What the hell is Gauthier supposed to be doing? The fact that he's from Torrance, CA does nothing for me if he's not contributing on the ice.

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