LA KINGS OUTSIDER 2.0

Darn You Sid. Why Must You Be So Good?! I should have never started drawing this picture during the Olympics... Who knew it would foreshadow the Gold Medal Game... I'm sorry Team USA.  It's my fault.

I didn't want to be right with my prediction. I thought the USA had it after Parise tied it. Anyone but Crosby...anyone but Crosby... His legend is building quicker than Gretzky's....seriously...think about it... USA played a fantastic tournament.  No regrets.  Well besides Rafalski's turnover that led to Canada's first goal.  Or the fact that Ryan Malone and Joe Pavelski failed to backcheck on Canada's second goal.  But other than that!  No Regrets! Trade Deadline is Wednesday.  NHL starts up again tomorrow...the stretch run!  How can anything follow these last two weeks of hockey.  How are players like Sidney Crosby going to go from playing with world class players like Jarome Iginla and Mike Richards to scrubs like Ruslan Fedotenko and Pascal Dupuis?  Should be fun!

Sort of.  MSNBC's Willie Geist was duped !  The victim of a prank call...

Nothing Went Right For Russia Last Night The NHL has done it's best to build up a rivalry between the league's two biggest stars. Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals last year was built up bigger than the Stanley Cup.  Pens versus Caps.  Crosby v. Ovechkin.  And then what happened?  The Caps got blown out on home-ice.  After two periods, it was 5-0 Penguins.  Pens embarrassed Ovechkin and the Caps winning 6-2 on their way to capturing the Stanley Cup. The NHL has built up a Russia-Canada Matchup.  They dedicated an entire day of programming to a Crosby v. Ovechkin Special.  This was supposed to be the Gold Medal game.  The two most highly-skilled teams in the World.  The two biggest stars of the NHL.   The matchup came a bit earlier than anyone expected but it was going to be great none the less. And then Russia took a big dump on everyone:.  A big dump of "Euro-trash" according to Mike Milbury.  Russia'...

Barry Melrose brought Tony Robbins into the Kings Locker Room during their Stanley Cup run in 1993.  Maybe Ron Wilson will give this kid a call...

Chris Drury Is A Winner I owe an apology to Brian Burke and Team USA.  I was highly critical of one selection on their 23-man roster.  Chris Drury just didn't fit in my eyes.  Drury had 22 points in 57 games for the Rangers leading up to the Olympics.  He had been relegated to fourth-line duty at times this season.  He didn't seem to earn his spot on this roster.  I felt that Blues young forward T.J. Oshie had done everything to solidify his place on this team.  I still feel that way but I understand now, after Drury's performance vs. Canada, why the Rangers captain is on this squad. He does everything and anything his team needs to win the game.  He always makes the smart play and rarely makes a mistake.  He's one of Team USA's best penalty killers; he constantly gets his stick in the passing lanes and blocks shots with the best of them.  His sprawling block attempt on Drew Doughty's point shot epitomizes the type of player Drury is....

It's Miller Time In Vancouver So my predictions were a bit off.  And I couldn't be any happier. The United States Men's Ice Hockey Team stunned an entire country with their 5-3 victory over Canada.  I'll keep it simple and point out my three keys to the game. 1.  GOALTENDING Surprise surprise.  The team that got the better goaltending won the game.  Brodeur's ability to handle the puck was supposed to be an advantage for Canada especially without the trapezoid behind the net.  Brodeur's skill (or lack thereof) ended up being his downfall on Sunday.  He made three mistakes handling the puck that led directly to goals for the Americans.  ESPN's Pierre LeBrun thinks Brodeur's Olympics should be over. On the other end, it was Miller Time for Team USA.  Ryan Miller was spectacular making 42 saves on the night.  USA wasn't great in front of him and Miller stood on his head for most of the game.  Miller showed a glimpse of why he's st...

Are they seriously going to tape delay the Czech-Russia game and overlap it with the US-Canada game? Unbelievable!

If you're any sort of hockey fan, today belongs to you. Don't move.  Don't do anything but sit in your most comfortable chair and enjoy what the NHL/IIHF envisioned when they allowed NHL players to participate in the Olympic games. PREDICTIONS Noon : Russia v. Czech Republic.  Russia 5-2 4:40 : USA v. Canada.  Canada 3-2 9:00 : Sweden v. Finland.  Sweden 4-3 Please NBC,  you've already buried these games on cable/satellite.  Don't make hockey fans suffer through another match of curling gone long and cut to the game in progress.  Please!

I Barely Recognized Ovechkin Minus The Tinted Shield PRE-GAME Latvia's jerseys= Harry Potter? My Prediction: Russia 10 Latvia 0 FIRST PERIOD Fedorov assists on Zaripov's PP Goal.  Russia 1 Latvia 0 Latvia takes another penalty; this could get ugly quick I think Ovechkin just took a five minute shift Radulov nets the rebound from his knees.  Russia 2 Latvia 0 Scramble in front of Russia's net on the PP. It's a shooting gallery here tonight for the Russians. Semin steals the puck and Ovechkin nets one from the slot with his skates on fire.  Russia 3 Latvia 0 SECOND PERIOD Russians are dominating the puck.  It's like watching the Red Wings x10. Huge Russian turnover; BIGGER save from Nabokov point blank. THIRD PERIOD KOGI Taco Truck Need Food...Too much hockey... Russia 8 Latvia 2 MY THREE STARS 1. Alexsei Morozov 2. Alexander Semin 3. Andrei Markov

There Was Alot Of This On Tuesday PRE-GAME NBC/MSNBC/CNBC get your programming together.  I'm here stuck watching Japan/US curling while you guys have the game on another channel. So much RED; looks like a Caps home game. My Prediction: Canada 7 Norway 0 FIRST PERIOD Sidney Crosby making his presence felt early. Drew Doughty on the PP!  Sweet! Norway's going to hold on here. Wow, 0-0.  Didn't see this coming. SECOND PERIOD Norway playing with fire; 3rd straight PP for Canada. Jarome Iginla one-timer from the high slot from Crosby.  Doughty with the second assist.  Arena explodes.  Canada 1 Norway 0 Flood gates are just about open.  Chris Pronger with a rocket from the blueline tipped by Dany Heatley.  Canada 2 Norway 0 5-on-3 for Norway.   Mike's excited. Mike Richards grabs the loose puck behind the net and stuffs it.  Canada 3 Norway 0 Doughty Hip-Check. THIRD PERIOD Luongo comes up big with a huge pad save and then Norw...

USA Defeated A Tough Swiss Team 3-1 Finally.  The Olympics have arrived.  Let the games begin.  PRE-GAME My pre-game prediction : 5-1 USA   Did Jeremy Roenick really sneak on the broadcast team?  Good Lord!   I love these Swiss jerseys.  They look like a bunch of paramedics skating around the ice.   T.J. Oshie deserves to be on this team.   FIRST PERIOD Ryan Whitney = overrated.  David Backes is a beast. Dustin Brown draws the game's first penalty. That PP was a mess & did Dustin Brown really just take the faceoff on that PP? The Swiss aren't a bad team at all. Bobby Ryan rips a shot high-glove side on Hiller.  Finally.  Thank you David Backes for your hard work.  USA 1 Swiss 0 SECOND PERIOD I told you Backes was a beast!  Backes goes coast-to-coast and drives to the net with a power move; noseplug and all.  USA 2 Swiss 0 Ryan Malone finds the loose puck as the US crashes the net on PP.  ...

My Heart Wants America; My Brain Says It'll Look Alot Like 2002 Unlike the women's bracket; there's actually a competition taking place on the men's side.  The NHL-ice surface may give a slight advantage to the Canadians and Americans. There is so much offensive firepower from teams #1-#7 that staying off the penalty kill will be important for every team.  Imagine a Kovalchuk-Malkin-Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Gonchar Power Play....WHOA! Eight of the twelve countries have NHL starting goaltenders.  Any of them are capable of stealing a game.  Once the tournament reaches the quarterfinals and becomes single-elimination; their could be some huge upsets. And without further adieu; my predictions for Men's Ice Hockey at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. GOLD: CANADA - No country can match Canada's depth at every position.  With the games in Vancouver; too much is on the line for this team to fail. SILVER: RUSSIA - The trio of Ovechkin, Malkin and Kovalchuk should b...