LA KINGS OUTSIDER 2.0

This Guy's Not The Problem LetsGoKings.com has come to the conclusion that Dustin Brown is the problem for all the team's failures .  That notion is absolutely ridiculous.  And here's the reasons why.  I stole a few quotes from the original posters argument. Dustin Brown is a poor hockey player, and a terrible choice to lead "the room". A poor hockey player doesn't make the Team USA Olympic Team.  And as far as leadership goes; his play and reputation earned him an 'A' on his sweater for Team USA over the likes of Chris Drury aka The Great American Hero.  Next. Dustin plays for penalties. On three separate occasions tonight Brown skated INTO contact to try and draw a call instead of working hard and forcing his will thru tight checking. He is almost as bad a diver as Avery. He draws penalties yet doesn't get called for diving like Avery did.  Isn't that a good thing?  This would be a non-issue if the Kings could succeed on their 5-on-3 opport...

My Best Barry Melrose Impression I've played alot of NHL10 on my PS3. Their overall PP has been very good in March; succeeding at a 30% (15 for 50) clip. The Kings power play versus the Wild was frustrating to watch.   Two 5-on-3 PP's.  One of them for 50 seconds.  The other for a full two minutes.  And yet the Kings can't capitalize. I'm no Barry Melrose.  But I don't understand why Kings continue to set up their 5-on-3 PP in a 'umbrella formation.'  That formation is fine if you've got Alexander Ovechkin firing one-timers or Mike Cammalleri for that matter.  Both of those guys are snipers; they hit the net. Jarret Stoll is a not a sniper.  He's a good player with a decent shot.  He's Fulton Reed (shameful Mighty Ducks Movie plug).  "One out of five."  That's about how often Stollie hits the net. On a 5-on-3, the Kings need to move the puck down low and look to work off a cycle.  Or look to pass in the slot. ...

After watching the Kings hold on in two games against Colorado.  Watching them get dominated by the Blues.  And then get dominated again tonight versus the Stars on home ice.  I came to one conclusion. The Kings are tired.  Some would say the Kings are catching some bad breaks with officials.  That might be true but the Kings have been back on their heels for a while.  Time to step up their game.  Soon. This group has never been in this position before; playing games that mattered in late-March.  And it's beginning to show. It's been widely discussed that Jonathan Quick hasn't played this many games.  And it's becoming clear he hasn't gotten his game on track since that extended Olympic break. Drew Doughty looked outstanding in the Olympics.  Since returning; he looks spent.  I've never seen him turn the puck over more than once in a game.  It's become more frequent with each game. I don't know what they're going to do....

The Hawks game was depressing.  It was like watching the Kings dominate the Blue Jackets except the Kings were the ones getting their behinds beat.  Chasing the puck all night.  Not completing more than one consecutive pass on a rush.   Anyways, if I've got any Hawks readers.  I took some pictures of Toews, Kane and Keith during warmups (first slideshow).  And then took some shots of them dominating the Kings in the final two periods (second slideshow).  Enjoy! Not sure where the Kings offense has gone.  Shutout vs. the short-handed Hawks?  One goal versus the Islanders?  Looks like Terry Murray pulled names out of a hat for the lines tonight.

I blogged earlier this year and claimed Ovy was a dirty player . After thinking about it a bit more.  I think he plays the game so hard that he's more reckless than anything else.  I don't think he has intent to injure other players. He wants the puck.  He wants to shoot the puck.  He wants to shoot the puck into the net.  It's pretty much that simple.  His borderline push/hit on Brian Campbell cost him two games and Campbell the season.  The sad thing is the hit didn't deserve a suspension as much as a couple of his other hits earlier this season. Now Matt Cooke is a whole other story.  He's a dirty player with the intent to injure and he has a track record yet, no suspension?  Come on NHL.  Get your act together.

The iPhone Camera Isn't Doing The Sigs Justice I knew I had to go get Kopi & Smitty's signatures when I heard they were signing at the Sports Chalet five minutes from my house. The signing was supposed to take place from 7:00-8:00 PM on Tuesday.  From my past experience with Dodgers players appearances, there's always a mixture of collectors, fans and shoppers that camp out for autographs.  I knew I needed to go early.  I got there around 5:45 and was already about 40th in line.  The line just grew from there.  By 6:45 when the guys arrived, there must have been over 150 people in line. From my past life as an autograph seeker at the Toyota Training Center, I saw some familiar mugs.  Funny to see the same guys first in line here considering they live at the TSC.  If you see a short Filipino guy limping after a player with a sharpie; it's this man ( http://myworld.ebay.com/sassportsintl/ ).  He's already got his Kopi bobblehead up for $80! ...

News of an agreement broke Monday afternoon.  Sweet! Per Diane Pucine In a statement from the two companies, Derek Chang , executive vice president of content strategy and development for DirecTV, said, "We are pleased that both sides were able to work out a satisfactory deal to bring this programming back to our customers." I was starting to worry about where I was going to watch my playoff hockey.  Thank the good Lord that this is all over finally. Sorry I've been away for so long.  A few things came up last week but I've got a ton of pictures to share.  Stay tuned.

I would recap the Breakfast with Dean Lombardi earlier this morning but there was really nothing to report.  Read Hammer's recap for full details . Day old bagels and danishes.  Bottled juices and coffee.  A slight step-up from the pre-packaged danishes they served at the last one. The event was packed.  Got there around 10 and there was no parking to be found. Dean gave his usual ten-minute answers to every question and handed off the tough ones to Assistant GM Ron Hextall. The highlight of the event was hearing Dean speak about changing the culture.  And he pulled up a slide of what he expected from his players.  What it mean to be a King.  What it took to be a good teammate and so forth.  He spoke with such passion and fire.  I almost felt like I was a prospect at the Kings Development Camp minus the talent and multi-million dollar contract. Anyways, I appreciate that the leadership team provides this platform for dialogue between the...

Bob Miller Is Awesome If you had a chance to watch the Kings-Habs game on television like me you had yourself a bit of a scare last night.  The broadcast started off with Patrick O'Neal. It's never a good thing when Patrick starts off a broadcast.  He went on to inform Kings fans that Bob Miller would not be doing the play-by-play and that Jim Fox would be stepping in for the night.  Phew.  What a relief.  Until we heard Foxy.  Foxy the analyst is good.  Foxy the play-by-play man not so much.  I wanted to watch the game but it was so hard to listen to Foxy deliver the play-by-play the same way he delivers his analysis as the color man.  Short segments.  All Night.  Kings dump it in...Andrei Markov back to get it....Bad pass by the Canadiens....Kings dump it in...Nothing happening...Kings reset...Nothing happening. I love Bob Miller.  I grew up wanting to become a sportscaster and I idolized L.A.'s trio of Hall of Fame bro...

Fredrik Modin: Steal Of The Deadline? First off, anything I say about the Kings acquisitions can only really be a supplement to what Rich Hammond's already provided .  He's pretty much given Kings fans everything they need to know about the two newest Kings; from what position they play to their favorite teacher in kindergarten. A number of former Kings were dealt at the deadline this year (Lubomir Visonvsky to ANA, Eric Belanger & Joe Corvo to WAS, Mathieu Schneider to PHX).  I would have liked to bring any of those players back... So what did the Kings do?  They didn't acquire Paul Kariya.  However, they did acquire a couple of veterans to add to the team's depth without trading any roster players, top prospects or top picks. The Kings acquired center Jeff Halpern from Tampa Bay in exchange for Teddy Purcell and Florida's 2010 3rd Round Pick.   First, I though awesome but that's quite a bit for a third-line checking center.  I assume Dean Lom...

Aaron Ward's A Three-Time Cup Champion I've been caught up in all the great Olympic hockey.  I'll see if I can crank a couple of these out tonight before all the craziness starts on Wednesday. ROSTER ANALYSIS The Canes are a funny team.  One year in the playoffs.  One year out.  This year they're definitely out.  A slow start cost them the season.  A freak injury to Cam Ward has left them scrambling to find a starting goalie.  They're a good team that will be looking to move a few veterans, restock the draft cabinet and hit the restart button next year.  A core of Eric Staal, Cam Ward and Brandon Sutter is a nice start. POSSIBLE TARGETS 1. Ray Whitney (UFA 887,500)- His name has been linked to the Kings more than any other player on the market right now .  There's really not much more to say about him.  I can't see Dean parting with a first-round pick for 'The Wizard.' 2. Joe Corvo (UFA 656,250)- Remember Joe?  He's got a bomb...