A Long December: Take 2

Normally, December in Los Angeles is something you live for. It hovers around 65 degrees and most years it's sunny on Christmas Morning. Sure, sure... my friends from the East Coast always complain about the lack of snow and how it just feels weird shopping for presents without it being cold and I think about how people I know in New York have to shovel snow out of their driveway to get to work in the morning... mainly I think about this with my sunroof open as I drive to work.


For the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, December has been a month of horrors over the past few seasons. Let's go to the Sports Machine!

DEC 05 (aka the last season the Kings had an overall winning record for the NHL season)
9-5-1

DEC 06
5-8-1

DEC 07
4-11-1

DEC 08
5-7-3

As you can see the last few Decembers for the Kings have been much less Miracle on 34th Street and way more the story about Phoebe Cates' dad dying in a chimney from Gremlins.


This December has been a different story for the Los Angeles Kings. So far, they are undefeated in regulation and have points in all December games for a record of 5-0-1. Does this mean they are destined for the playoffs? No, anything can change, just ask the 2003-2004 Los Angeles Kings team that was all set for the playoffs and then lost 11 straight to end the season. Thanks, Anson Carter!

Tonight, the Kings take on the Dallas Stars at home. The Stars are coming off an 11 round shootout victory over the San Jose Sharks last night. And I'm just going to go ahead and say it... if the Kings win tonight, they'll be tied for first in the Pacific Division. In December.

Check out the always awesome Defending Big D and The Other 6 Seconds for all your news, notes and predictions of all things Dallas Stars. Man, I hate the Dallas Stars. And I hate Turco.

A Long December

And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass
-Counting Crows

Kings 3, Blue Jackets 0

Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy and I talked yesterday on the phone about how a great team like Detroit is always able to score on cross ice passes from player to player. And that for the Kings... well it seems like they only score on those kind of goals once or twice a month. Well, last night in Columbus, Patrick O'Sullivan and Peter Harrold both scored on those type of passes.

A great win and an excellent holiday gift for Kings fans. The team is 2 points out of a playoff spot and one of the best players on the Kings said this about their rookie goaltender, Jon Quick:

"(Quick) played great. He's really athletic and probably the most
impressive thing about him is he's really calm. He doesn't overreact."
- Patrick O'Sullivan

I don't remember hearing the same praised given to Jason LaBarbera. And Erik Ersberg is on his way back. And don't forget about the return of Jack Johnson after the new year. Have a great holiday!

Sloppy Seconds

I hate losing to a division rival, especially on a night when Dallas wins. I hate losing 4 points in the 3rd periods of back to back games. I hate that the color of the ice on my tv in the 3rd period changed from white to blue to yellow to white to blue. I hate Kyle Calder. I really hate Kyle Calder. No, I mean I REALLY hate Kyle Calder. I hate the Phoenix Coyotes (but I love their uniforms). I hate how the Kings are playing right now.

Kings 2, Coyotes 4


Man, those are some great uniforms.

I think I found out the reason why the Kings aren't scoring so much. They are putting Ivanans on too many lines:

It's really the attention to detail that I love most about Fox Sports West.

Apparently, the Coyotes franchise is on fragile ground. The sooner the NHL gets rid of them, the better. Just make sure another team gets those jerseys. It seems the Coyotes are looking for money where ever they can get it... like slapping Toyota logos onto the seats behind the bench:

Hi, I'm Wayne Gretzky for Scottsdale Toyota.

I hate being a fan of the Kings.