East meets West

There has been a lot of talk on the internets recently about how the Los Angeles Kings organization is turning into the "Philadelphia Flyers West"... as Coach Murray, GM Dean Lombardi and Assistant GM Ron Hextall all have ties with the Flyers. Recent acquisitions such as Justin Williams, Randy Jones and Michal Handzus were all Flyers at one point in their careers, even playing under Coach Murray. And after watching last nights game against the Flyers... I have absolutely no problem with the Kings emulating that franchise.

The definition of a conflict of interest.

Sure the Kings lost. But they played well enough. In the words of Coach Murray... the Flyers played a great road game. The ice was pretty crappy at tonights game... I haven't noticed it to be this bad in previous games at Staples this season but the puck was bouncing all around out there. I should have known the game wouldn't end up as a Kings victory when the National Anthem singer didn't show up. So instead... they went old school.

Organ rock!

Usually when Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy and I go to games... our seats are better than any of our friends who happen to be at the game.

The view from The Royal Half Headquarters.

So imagine our surprise for this game when we had 3 friends in attendance... and they all had better seats than us. So what do you do when you have friends at the game who have better seats than you do? Well, you go join them in Jerry Buss' private box, that's what!

So this is what it feels like to be rich.

It was a fun field trip to go up to the private level for the 3rd period... but I couldn't help wondering what life was like back in the 200 section. A private box is fun if you have a large group of people all celebrating a birthday or you are trying to woo a potential client or Hollywood star... but I'll take the seat with my brethren among the hard working Half and Full Season Ticket Holders any day.

Justin Williams really stepped it up in the first 2 periods in an effort to make up for the loss of Ryan Smyth. But the fact of the matter is, I wasn't too impressed with the chemistry with Alexander Frolov on that line. Teddy Purcell is playing his way off this roster and there should be a call up from Manchester before Saturdays game against the Calgary Flames. Who will it be? Only Dean Lombardi knows.

Check out the awesome Flyers Goal Scored By and Broad Street Hockey for their view from what I hope will one day be called Los Angeles Kings East.

Our Kingdom for a Left Winger

Well, shit. The single reason for the Los Angeles Kings playing so well 22 games into this season is now out for a month. Oh you are right... Ryan Smyth wasn't the only reason that the Kings are playing so well... more like he's the reason Anze Kopitar is the NHL's leading scorer. I just don't know how to react to news like this.

No... not quite it.

Yeah... that's more like how I'm feeling right now.

So what does this mean for the Kings? Well, it means one Kings fan is ecstatic. But for the rest of us Kings fans, Smyth being out is not so good. It means one of the Kings veteran leaders (33 year old veteran leader!) is out for a crucial month. With the NHL schedule truncated this year because of the February Olympics, getting as many points as possible in November and December is more important than usual. In terms of the 1st line, when Justin Williams was out for 5 games, Wayne Simmonds stepped in and played excellent. But to replace Smyth is a whole other issue. You just can't jump onto a line and do the little things that Smyth does. So who does Coach Murray look to in order to fill the the giant wingspan of Ryan Alexander Gordon Smyth?

Ugh, really? This guy?

That's right. Alexander Frolov has been named as Smyth's replacement on the 1st line. 2 years ago, I would have been excited about this move. But this season... well I think this IM discussion between Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy and myself says it all...


I was once the biggest Frolov fan. In his rookie season, I remember watching him and saying "man, that guy can really hold onto the puck." But 6 seasons later... Frolov is still holding onto the puck and is probably the least impactful 30 goal scorer around. And yes, I know that Coach Murray has re-designed the type of player that Frolov is and made him into a great defensive forward... but I'm just tired of being frustrated by him. Frolov's contract is up at the end of this season and I can't imagine any scenario where Dean Lombardi doesn't trade him for an impact player for the playoffs or even a ton of draft picks, which I'd be fine with. So once Frolov fails on the 1st line tonight, who will take his place?

It's Scott Parse... there is no way you should have known this was him.

Even though Scott Parse is a right winger, I'd like to see what he can do with Kopitar and Williams. But then you run the risk of splitting up the hunched over, little guy line of Jarret Stoll, Dustin Brown and Parse. Man, being an NHL head coach is hard!

Teddy Purcell plays like he signs autographs... poorly.

Yeah, I don't think Edward "Teddy" Purcell is the answer either. Do you give another chance to this guy?

Moller in da house.

Short of making some trade, Coach Murray and Dean Lombardi will probably call up someone from Manchester when Frolov and Kopitar don't click and Purcell can't hang with Handzus and Simmonds. Maybe that player should be Oscar Moller? Wow, this team really has very little depth at the left wing. There was one left winger in the Kings system last year...what was his name again? Gosh, I wonder whatever happened to that guy.

What is it about the Islanders and former Kings prospects?

Ok fine, I have the answer. I'll play with Kopitar and Williams! I usually play center but I can slide over. I'll play for free Half Season Seats next season and lunch with Heidi Androl. Put me in, Coach Murray!

What up Valley Flames, circa '89!

This is game 23 for the Los Angeles Kings tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. Every game is huge, but here is another great chance for the Kings to make a statement to the rest of the NHL about how serious this team is. Sure you can squeak by victories from the Carolina's, Tampa Bay's and Florida's of this league... but if you want to go deep in the playoffs... you gotta beat the best teams.

If you want quarter pole analysis of the Kings... then you are in the wrong place. Look here instead. But... after passing the 1/4 point of the NHL season... yeah, I'd say I've been pretty happy with the team so far. I might even be besides myself with how they've played. Smyth being out for at least a month will be the first real challenge this team has faced this season. It could be worse... have you seen Pittsburgh's defense lately? Or it could be Anaheim where former King Kyle Calder is now playing on their first line. (Wait.. what?!?)

Speaking of Kyle Calder's new team... it's not so much about how well the Kings have played during their first 20 games... but rather about how poorly the Ducks have. Check out this incredibly informative tweet from Battle of California's Earl Sleek:

Ahh... Ducks fans... this is how it's felt for 8 years. Get used to it.

Hounding the Competition

Ugly, ugly, ugly. Ugly jerseys, ugly camera angles and what an ugly game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Florida Panthers tonight. Imagine what the Kings could have done had they actually been interested in playing in this game. We haven't said it all that much at The Royal Half this season... but goaltender Jon Quick kept the lackluster Kings in this game. Man... did I mention those ugly uniforms?

Who thought this looked good?

Kings 4, Panthers of Florida 3

How about that Scott Parse, huh? That little guy banged his way all over the ice, especially in the first period. I really noticed him out there tonight and that wasn't just because he made his first NHL in-between periods interview.

No, I noticed Parse because of his crazy Vampire hockey teeth.

I've decided that Scott Parse, Dustin Brown and Jarret Stoll aren't really a hockey line but rather they are all the same hunched over, hyperactive skating, little person. Either that or Craig Conroy is back on the Kings.

This is pretty much what each of those 3 guys look like on the ice.

Tonight, the worst move by the Kings wasn't even on the ice... it was on Twitter... as the Kings PR department tried to force on us fans a horrible, just horrible nickname for Kings Insider™ Rich Hammond....

Yeah, I can already see the graphic being created for the intermission chat between Jim Fox and Rich Hammond. It will look like this... but with more "Foxy and the Hound."

Don't think Fox Sports West is better than this.
They've done it before.

Oh, what's that? Fox Sports West already has the graphic ready for this segment? Well let's roll that in...

Yeah, this is pretty much what happens on those cross-country plane trips.
I like to pretend that the owl is Drew Doughty.

Did I mention how ugly the Florida Panthers uniforms are?

Even this particular screengrab does not distract me from those ugly uniforms.

I mean... does anything look good in those goofy colors?

Oh... I see what you did there.

Jon Quick is the reason the Kings walked away from this game with 2 points. Even when the Kings were leading (you totally had a short-handed 3rd period goal from Randy Jones in your office pool, didn't you?) they looked like they could care less about this game. Quick's play was very steady... including a couple great saves in the 3rd when he stood up tall like everyone has been asking him to. When the Kings were trying so hard to give this game away (I'm looking at you Jack Johnson) Jon Quick kept his cool and pulled out a victory for this team.

The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

I pretty much knew when Ryan Smyth took that awkward hip check that he was going to be out for the game. It's strange... when Justin Williams was out a week or two ago, I didn't notice as much... maybe because Wayne Simmonds did so well in his absence. But with Ryan Smyth out tonight... I felt like Alexander Frolov looked out of place on the 1st line and Brad Richardson looked downright scary on the 3rd line. Paging Teddy Purcell! What are you doing on Wednesday? Probably playing NHL hockey, that's what!

Weekend Warriors

Well, that's not exactly how I would have liked to seen these 2 weekend games play out... but in the end, the Kings have a chance to end this 5 game roadtrip 3-2. Considering the way the Kings played Friday night against the Atlanta Thrashers... finishing this road trip above .500 would be enough to make any Kings fans scream.

Eh... after the 2nd period you may not be as excited to see this game.

Atlanta Thrashers 7, Los Angeles Kings 0

Even after the 2nd period... when it was "only" 4-0 Thrashers... two thoughts came to mind... one was "even though they are down 4-0 how is it possible that the Kings are kinda dominating this game?" and secondly... "what the hell is this goalies name?"

Seems like a long way to go just for "Andre."

The Kings lost this game. Badly. But it's not often that you see a team lose 7-0 and outshoot the opposing team 38-21. It's enough to make Kings fans want to give the team a stink-eye.

I'm coming for you Jack Johnson.

The Kings just weren't prepared for this game. Maybe they were frightened by playing more hockey in the deep south... you see things at these games that you just don't see elsewhere in the league.


Or maybe they were just spooked by this leftover Halloween decoration.

And with another poor game played by Jon Quick... it gets more and more awkward in the Kings locker room.

"That's cool guys, I'll just wait here till you are all changed."

Is it just me or did Rich Hammond get some serious "hockey correspondent" training since the last time he appeared on the air with Jim Fox? Because Hammond was rocking it during this segment. I totally feel that within 3 years Rich Hammond will be known as "Hammy" and is going to be on ESPN, VS or whatever major cable operator is broadcasting the NHL. (Animal Planet) As Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy pointed out... Hammond does much better with Fox than he did with Bob Miller. But that's only because Jim Fox knows what a "blog" is.

Good Evening, I'm Rich Hammond and this is the latest in your Kopitar news.

So you get smashed 7-0 to a team you probably should have been able to beat. Your goalie was pulled after 3 goals, has looked shaky the last few games and also had a talking to by the coach and assistant GM. In pro sports you are always given the luxury of having the next game to redeem yourself. Or to at least save face.

Kings 2, NHL Referee's 1


The controversy in question.

I've been watching the NHL a long time... and I don't know if I've ever seen something like that. As a Kings fan... I'll take the extra point earned with a shootout victory... but if I'm a Tampa Bay Lightning fan... I'm pissed!

OMG! I can't believe they waved that goal off!
Here comes the ref...don't look, don't look, don't look!
Dude, there is no way I'll keep a straight face on the next shift!

The best part of this play (besides the fact that it took a victory away from the team that deserved it) was Jon Quick's.... um... quick response to the fact that he knew it wasn't a goal. From LAKings Insider...

(on the goalie interference in overtime…)
QUICK: “There was a play in the first that was pretty similar. The ref told me that if that went in, it wouldn’t have been a goal. It was worth a shot to give him my piece of mind there in overtime. It ended up working out.”

So the... um... quick thinking of Jon Quick earned an extra point for the Kings. And lets not just praise Quick's brain in this game... he played quite well against a much improved Lightning team. That Steve Stamkos sure looks like the real deal to me. In fact, the only thing the Kings didn't seem prepared for was the Lightning sideline reporter.

Whit Watson! With all your hockey news and notes!
(Said in ole timey fashioned reporters voice)

With his creepy, piercing blue eyes staring at me the whole game... this was the first time in a long while where I said "why couldn't they just have a cute female sideline reporter do this interview instead of grown up Chucky?" Whit Watson seems to be quite the regional celebrity and even has his own blog!

I'm glad the artists name is on this...
because I want to let him know it looks nothing like Whit.

Besides the distraction of Whit Watson... I was really pleased with the overall broadcast from Fox Sports Florida. The quality of the HD was some of the best I've seen from a road game and they did a great job with informative graphics that will make Kings fans happy.

I'm totally not getting tired of this.

In fact, the only strange thing about the Lightning broadcast on Fox Sports Florida was the stunt casting they did by bringing in Ray Liotta to coach their special teams.

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be an assistant coach.

Oh man! An Adam Oates spotting! I love that players I watched growing up are now assistant coaches on teams like Tampa Bay. It's almost as cool as when the favorite players on your team act out scenes from your favorite movies! Is it just me or is Michal Handzus doing his best Harrison Ford here?

Hanz Solo.

So the Kings are barely scraping their way out of the Southeast Division (thank god we don't have to face the Capitals) and they end their 5 game journey to the south tonight in Sunrise, Florida against the Florida Panthers. The Panthers are the 3rd worst team in the East. I hardly knew anyone on the Florida roster when they still had Jay Bouwmeester... let alone now. Pretty much the only name I know on their roster is the former King, Steve Reinprecht. And that's what scares me about this game tonight. Enough to make me scream.


As always, check out the insightful LitterBoxCats for all things Panther related. (at least to Ice Hockey and Panthers.)

Front Page Power

Back when the Los Angeles Kings were terrible (as recent as last season)... the Kings marketing department wouldn't so much sell the Kings team but rather the particular team they happened to be playing that night. Seen the front page of the Atlanta Thrashers website lately?

I still can't get over seeing "NHL Scoring Leader" and "Kopitar" in the same sentence.

It's true... the Kings have turned into a road draw. I never thought I'd see the day. But lest you think that Kovalchuk vs Kopitar is the only battle going on tonight in the great state of Atlanta. No... it's also the battle of the under 20, studly defensemen as 19-Year-Old Drew Doughty takes on 19-Year-Old Zach Bogosian. That particular storyline only made the front page of NHL.com.

'When Kids Collide' sounds like a Dateline NBC special.

It's the 20th game of the season for the Kings. 1/4 of the season gone. And the Kings are the 6th best team in the NHL.

As always, check out the incomparable HildyMac at Wazzupwitchu for all your Thrashers (and Blues!) needs.

Keeping Up with The Joneses

So I sit down on the couch, ready to watch exciting Los Angeles Kings action for the first time in 2 games... and when I turn on the tv... (oh just show the screengrab already, this joke is getting so old!)

Note that it is at :00 of the entire broadcast.

Sure it was annoying at first... but then Fox Sports West HD found suitable replacement programming.

This better be in HD.

Eventually, the game came back on and this time... the Kings didn't disappoint. They played an even, consistent game and kept their composure when the Hurricanes came storming back. (Ha, get it?) So, when it comes to victories over opponents with 12 or more losses in a row, the Kings are looking pretty good right now!

Kings 5, Hurricanes 2

"Naw, that's cool guys. I'll just stay over here.
I mean, it's not like I was in net when we had points in 8 straight games or anything."

Well if there was one thing to learn from this game it's that Sean O'Donnell or Davis Drewiske might be on their ways to becoming a healthy scratch. Randy Jones exploded into the Kings lineup with an assist and a game winning goal. And make no mistake, that goal he scored was not an easy one. Jones was at a really tough angle to be able to put that puck in. It just shows what a total genius Dean Lombardi is.

"You know Drew, the girls in the NHL are so much better than the ones in the AHL."
"What's the AHL?"

And Randy Jones has taken an award away from Ryan Smyth... which award you ask? Why it's the "Kings Player that Most Looks Like a Muppet" Award.

Another Dean Lombardi waiver wire steal.

Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy and I were talking last week about why NHL broadcasters don't just show the overhead goalie shot first when replaying a goal. Ok, maybe one close up of the goal and then the overhead angle. But enough with going to a replay using the angle that is the farthest away from the goal already! I still have no idea how Jarret Stoll scored that goal.

Membership has its privileges.

My favorite part of the night was Hockey Hall of Famer Bob Miller busting out his Members Only Hall of Fame Jacket during the broadcast... and totally playing it cool by not mentioning it. I like to imagine Bob in his hotel room, once a year, putting on his Hockey Hall of Fame Blazer and then staring into the mirror, Silence of the Lambs style.

He puts the biscuit in the basket.

Game by game, 19-Year-Old Drew Doughty just gets better and better with his one timers from the point. Alexander Frolov must have been watching the segment where Rich Hammond talked about how people on the internet are unhappy with Frolov's game.. cause he sure woke up in the 3rd period. And sure, Ersberg got the win, but he was hardly tested by this weak Carolina team. The next game Jon Quick starts will be his 65th career... basically a full season for a #1 NHL goalie.

64 Games - 32W 25L 4OTL SV%.908 GAA 2.59

32-25-4 isn't bad for a first season. Everyone was up in arms about Columbus Blue Jackets rookie goalie Steve Mason last season and he went 33-20-7 in 61 games. On a playoff team. It's important that Quick gets his rest throughout the season and this game was the perfect one for him to sit out. And if Ersberg decides that he has forgotten how to play in the NHL, the Kings can always call up Jon Bernier from Manchester. I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of a competition between Quick and Bernier for the 1 and 1A goal spots. It's good to have this kind of a goalie problem... instead of having goalie problems like these:

Is there anything better than the white mask
during a goalies first game with a new team?

And this is why hockey in the deep south is awesome:

Oh man, greatest episode of Mad Men ever!

And also because of signs like this one:

Today, I'm eleven

on 11-11
I'd be in Heaven
with a Canes win

Man, that is one involved sign. And the chance to use this particular rhyming scheme only comes once a lifetime.

The Kings are off until Friday when they take on the Atlanta Thrashers as the Kings tear through the 2nd tier of the Southeast Conference on this road trip (ie... every team in the Southeast Conference except Washington.)