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After sleeping through most of Friday nights loss against the Phoenix Coyotes, the Los Angeles Kings came flying out of the gate during Saturday's rematch, playing a near perfect game... an important victory if they want to keep any chance of making the playoffs alive. Again... boring hockey wins. There were a couple nice goals, some great breakouts and impressive penalty killing. But all in all... boring hockey. And I LOVE boring hockey.

Kings 4, Coyotes 0

How cool are back to back, home and away games? If the NHL really wants to build rivalries within a division, this is the way to do it. Make it best of 3 like baseball does. The Kings really bounced back tonight, something they have been able to do all season after a poor effort. That is the best measuring stick of a young teams progression.

The Phoenix Coyotes seem to be in the worst financial position of any NHL team. So much so that the NHL has started the bailout plans. Hockey in the desert seems to be on its last legs and even the Great One has found difficulty in selling it to Phoenix. The Coyotes are a young team on the rise, but their brand new rink was built in the wrong suburb of Phoenix, making it a pain to get out to games. It all spells to the relocation of this franchise in the soon to near future... maybe to Canada or Kansas City? I say shut it down this season... one less team to worry about for that 8th playoff spot.

I should have coached in Edmonton instead.

Sure it's only been 3 games, and those 3 games were against Columbus and Phoenix... but youngster Jonathan Quick is gaining some confidence in goal and the Kings are looking strong in front of him. In fact Quick is so cocky... he no longer needs to look at the puck to make a save:

Erik Ersberg traveled with the Kings to Phoenix and should be ready to dress for the next game. With the Christmas trading freeze ending Saturday at midnight... does Jason LaBarbera start packing his bags or are the Kings going to carry 3 goalies for a while? Is Dean Lombardi actually thinking of handing over the starting goaltending job to this guy? He looks like he's 12!

I'm pretty sure those headphones are attached to his new ipod.

A Modest Proposal

The Los Angeles Kings out-Minnesota Wild'd the Minnesota Wild. They played the same game that the Wild are known for... steady, defensive and rolled all four lines. The Kings looked good today. They had a bunch of great offensive chances and Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom played amazing, stopping 40 of 42 shots. But Erik Ersberg was right behind him, looking unflappable in net with 34 saves. Much like the game a few days ago against the Blue Jackets... it was boring hockey... but I'll take boring hockey and 1 point out of the playoffs over losing any day.

Kings 3, Wild 1

Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy was out of town for the weekend, so my girlfriend was lucky enough to be able to come to the game with me today. While not really a hockey fan, she's always up for fun and once we sat down she turned to me and said simply... "there better be a fight."

This is her best Raitis Ivanans impersonation.

She also asked me if we were going to get to be on the jumbotron. I replied that "yes, we would... it's part of the proposal package at games." She knows that I have quite a dry sense of humor, but there was a genuine look of panic on her face.

A look of panic.

We had a good laugh about the absurdity of proposing to a loved one at a sporting event. But then, mid-way through the 2nd period... I noticed a camera man hanging out in our section.

The cameraman and the producer must have been there for a good 10 minutes, not-so-casually hanging out on the stairs. Then, during a tv time-out, the Kiss Cam came up on the Jumbotron and I knew exactly what was next.

Yup. Someone was proposing at a sporting event.

She said yes and the section erupted in cheers. Their friends and family popped out from behind us in the restaurant yelling and screaming. Bailey gave her a bouquet of flowers. It was hard to not get caught up in it.

It was sweet, but you could tell from her reaction that she wasn't so surprised. Probably due to the fact that the cameraman stood in front of her and the boyfriend for so long. Memo to the Kings Promotions department... maybe wait in the tunnel until it's time, so that the surprise sticks. The worst part of the whole thing was that after she said yes... he put his Minnesota Wild jersey back on. She was wearing a Kings 3rd Jersey, so it's easy to see who will be wearing the pants in that marriage.

As we were walking out, I noticed these boxes outside Staples Center.

Where's my damn bank?

I didn't get a souvenir bank at the game tonight, did you?

UPDATE: A proper photo of my girlfriend attending the game has been added.

This is her best Heidi Androl impersonation.