Young Guns 1 vs Young Guns 2

Brian Boyle... you just lost your place in the lineup to Derek Armstrong. Kyle Calder finally found a scoring chance that even he couldn't miss. And Coach Murray showed why he is the perfect coach for this team by going with Erik Ersberg in net tonight, instead of Jason LaBarbera. Put all these things together... and you have a damn solid win by the Los Angeles Kings. Don't look now, but the Kings are 7-3-1 in the last 11 games.

Kings 5, Assault Helicopters, 2


Jim Fox shows the viewers that 3 intersecting lines make a triangle.
Or that he is drunk on Telestrator power.

As the 3rd period was coming to a close, Kings broadcaster Bob Miller remarked that the Kings had gotten goals tonight from "players who hadn't scored a lot this year." Yeah, I would say that Calder and Armstrong hadn't scored all that much this year. Maybe Raitis Ivanans is the only one who hasn't scored as much. Armstrong is making the most of his position between Patrick O'Sullivan and Oscar Moller while Calder... well he still has Hands of Stone™, but even a stone hits the side of a barn every now and then.

How great of a pickup has Kyle Quincey been? After this game, Kyle is now beating down the door of the top 20 defensemen in the league this year. Remember... Dean Lombardi got this guy for nothing.

This was an awesome game to watch. Two young teams going at it, matching shift for shift until the Kings stepped it up in the 3rd period. The game was so fun to watch I almost didn't notice the new graphic monstrosities from our friends at Fox Sports. Check out the upper left corner here for a good 45 seconds, complete with sound effects:

The Kings were so distracted they gave up a goal.

Oh, that's not enough for you? Then check this one out:

3 Day Suit Broker!!! EXTREME!!!

Has Fox Sports been this heavy with the advertisements on the tv scoreboard this year and I've just been missing it? Or is Fox Sports looking for extra revenue to pay for the costs that come with Rinkside View?

Yikes, Michael Vartan... don't you know about the Curse of Christian Slater?

I guess you have to have a project going on in order for it to be cancelled.

And finally... I really think there is something going on between Heidi Androl and Alexander Frolov. The last 2 times she has interviewed him it's been all giggles.

Oh Alexander, you are TOO funny! Are you heading to the Lexus Club later?

Turkey Blues - 20 Games In

A friend of mine a year ago wanted to write a song called "Turkey Blues" about getting down during the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving is always so joyful he reasoned, why can't we have a song about being down on our luck and so full of Turkey.

At this time last year (20 games in) the Kings were 8-11-1 and in the midst of a 4 game losing streak. Over the next 20 games, the Kings would squeak out 6 wins, 13 losses (including an 8 game losing streak) and 1 overtime loss. Their season would be over and the #1 draft pick watch began.

This year at the 20 game mark, the Kings are 8-9-3. If you look at the numbers, it's hard to see how far the team has come. But if you are a fan, you realized just how different this years team is than the last few years.

This team plays defense. And it plays it well... mostly. Sure there are lapses sometimes and power play goals given up... but that happens to every team in the league. This team... and every Kings team to come after it will only go as far as our goaltender will take us. Erik Ersberg is a fun stop-gap. But he's not the answer. That answer is in the minors right now, either in Manchester or Ontario. We may not see that future goaltender this season. The Kings are playing competitively enough to challenge for a low level playoff spot. That might keep the Kings from bringing up a young goalie and handing the keys to him. Although the Montreal Canadians did that last season... and it seemed to work out pretty well for them.

20 GAMES IN REVIEW:

Best Player: Dustin Brown
Night in and night out, Brownie Squares is the best player on the ice for the Kings. He has taken the Captainship and run with it, the moves he pulled during the Washington Captials game proved that. He has suffered offensively because Anze Kopitar has struggled, but with Patrick O'Sullivan back on the 1st line, help is on the way.

Best Player Under 19: 18 Year Old Drew Doughty
Best Defenseman: 18 Year Old Drew Doughty
I think we all knew he was going to be good... but no one had any idea he would be this good. He is challenging for Rookie of the Year and each night you can see him learning more about the NHL game. Give credit to Sean O'Donnell... he is much more the teacher than Rob Blake or even Mathieu Schneider would have ever been.

Worst Player: Kyle Calder
This one is a no brainer. Calder has hands of stone and couldn't make any opportunity of Coach Murray's gift of putting him on the first line. Raitis Ivanans didn't once score 26 goals in a season. He's paid to be an enforcer. After 1 full season and 20 games, I'm not sure what Kyle Calder is being paid to do.

Worst Defenseman: Denis Gauthier/Tom Preissing
If you could combine these 2 defensemen into 1, you'd have a decent player. Gauthier plays a good physical game, but doesn't seem to be the brightest bulb in the shed. Preissing has great offensive instincts, he's just soft as a pillow. Don't forget... Jack Johnson will be back soon. One of these guys will go away.

Biggest Surprise: 18 Year Old Drew Doughty
Any one who said they thought he was going to be this good is a liar.

Biggest Disappointment: Jason LaBarbera
I really thought this would be the year for LaBarbera. He tore up the AHL since he was forced to stay down there all season. He lost weight, he seemed focused to start the season. But after watching Erik Ersberg play the last 10 games... you realize that LaBarbera just isn't starting goalie material. I imagine he will be traded (as will Calder and Derek Armstrong) in the coming months. Some team is going to need a back-up goaltender.

The Thing that Makes Me the Happiest:

The complete implosion of the Dallas Stars hockey club.

Here's hoping the Kings rebound tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. I gave up on NHL Center Ice this season, but gained NHL Network. So I get to watch the game tonight. And the Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy and his lady are coming over as well to watch different Canadian announcers talk about and mispronounce the names of the Kings. Oh... and we'll see our old friend Lubo.

Jersey Girl

This was a game that the Los Angeles Kings should have won. 18 year old Drew Doughty is a total stud. Blah, blah blah let's talk about that awesome new jersey!

Kings 3, Av's 4


Midway through the 2nd period,
Raitis Ivanans realizes that the Kings are wearing a new jersey.

Wow, what a great looking jersey. Even my Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy couldn't stop talking about it all night. But even better than the jersey itself, was the amazing show the Kings promo staff put on tonight.

First off, the main store, Team LA, was closed and this is what was outside:

You may be back in black. But I'm in red. So back away please.

A line had even formed outside the store to be the first to buy the jersey.

"Oh, no. This is for the 3rd jersey. The iPhone line is down there."

They were not letting anybody into the store until 7:34pm, the time that the Kings would skate onto the ice. Even the Kiosks stationed around the Staples Center were covered up.

Up in our seats, at 7:34pm the lights were dimmed and AC/DC's "Back in Black" came on the loudspeaker.

And then the Kings came out in the new jersey as Bailey waved a flag with the new logo feverishly.

The 3rd logo was everywhere. Including the scoreboard...

And on the Ice Girls...

And on Cartman...

Even the scoreboard graphics were treated with a black hue instead of the normal full color.

The 2 Kiosks around Staples opened... and were filled to the brim with 3rd logo merchandise.

Hmm, do you have anything with "Louisiana" on it?

The Team LA store was overloaded with new logo items. And yes, that jacket that was leaked online last week is real.

Perfect for rollerskating and chillin out in the 80's. Or in the 00's but with irony.

The store was filled with other merchandise that one might actually consider buying.

That's right. 18 year old Drew Doughty has his own player t-shirt.
You have arrived my friend. You have arrived.

And as far as the arena celebration... what is classier than an ice sculpture???

Answer: A chandelier is the only thing classier than an ice sculpture.

The jersey looks so great on the ice. Especially the white stripe at the bottom of the jersey. But the really great part is in the details. Check out Michal Handzus's helmet:

They are wearing the old "Kings" wordmark logo on their helmets from the Gretzky era. This is what the helmets look like normally:

A huge improvement. My one criticism is the number on the back. It's very big and even thought it has a silver trim, seeing it in person, the numbers looked very flat on the back of the jersey.

But that certainly didn't stop fans from buying the new 3rd jersey. It seemed like they were buying them by the dozen. Every few minutes fans would walk up to their seats in one of the new jerseys. Some already had custom numbering jobs. Like this one.

Wow, that woman's brand new jersey is already outdated.

LaBarbera? Really? Could there be a worse Kings player right now to put on the back of a brand new $300 jersey?

Found it!

That's right. She has seats right on the glass... and hands of stone on the back of her brand new $300 jersey. I really hope that is Kyle Calder's sister. Finally, as the fans exited Staples Center... we all got a little souvenir to take home.

This may be the only banner the Kings are raising for a while.

It was a fun night. It could have been better if the Kings had won, but with Phoenix and Dallas losing... I'll take the point. The jersey and all the celebration associated with it came together great. And I guarantee that the 3rd jersey will be the Kings main jersey within 2 years. Guarantee.