LA KINGS OUTSIDER 2.0

The Kings may have missed out on Ilya Kovalchuk in the off-season but they have their own high-scoring Russian left winger garnering alot of attention at the annual Subway Super Series.  The Super Series is a six game exhibition between the best Russian junior players and All-Star teams from the OHL, WHL, & QMJHL.

King Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla Pierre LeBrun jumped on Hot Stove on HNIC and speculated that if the Calgary Flames were to move Jarome Iginla; the Kings would be a perfect fit .  He reiterated his point on HNIC Radio that he's got from sources that Iginla is atop the Kings 'wish-list' if he were to become available. (Iginla) would go along with the character-type guys the Kings have added over the last two years, players like Ryan Smyth and Willie Mitchell. I couldn't agree more.  The Kings failed to acquire Kovalchuk.  The cap space is still sitting there.  The team is still missing that top-line scoring winger.  Dean Lombardi has exhausted the point that he doesn't want to jeopardize the signings of Doughty, Johnson, and Simmonds.  I absolutely get that point but look at any of the teams that have won a Cup in the post-salary cap era and all of them went 'all-in' for a couple of seasons before losing some key contributor...

Mattias Norstrom: A Class Act The Kings really know how to throw a party.  Nothing says, "Thank you Matty!" like a Swiss Coffee Maker.  Did you know that Matty was a two-time All-Star?!?!  It was great to see fan favorites like Ian Laperriere and Rob Blake (I kid...I kid) back at Staples Center.  Ilya Kovalchuk haters filled the arena as he was booed every time he touched the puck.  Kovalchuk had his moments but the Kings took the game 3-1.

Eric Staal I shot a couple pictures of the Canes during warmups.  Managed to get a few shots of former Kings Joe Corvo, Tom Kostopolous, and my favorite Patriiiick OOOOOO' Sullivan (Sorry, Tim Gleason fans).  Check them all out on my Flickr page .

Doughty Should Take All The Time He Needs The 2010-11 NHL season has gotten off to quite a controversial start.  We've seen seven suspensions and six fines thrown out in the first three weeks of the season.  The Kings have found themselves right in the middle of a couple controversial hits over the past week.  Let's take a look at both of them.

The NHL Post-Lockout has given alot of young players the opportunity to make an immediate impact.  I found a couple Youtube videos featuring the best of the this year's and last year's rookie classes.  Pretty impressive stuff...

This news may have flown under the radar for most Kings fans but for me this is a crime.  An absolute shame.  The Manchester Monarchs for some odd reason decided to change their jerseys for the 2010-11 season.  I got my first glance of these new sweaters in NHL 11 but thought EA Sports just didn't get the design in for some reason.  Once the AHL season began; the new jerseys were unveiled on the ice.  The Monarchs went from having one of the cleanest looking jerseys in the AHL to having one of the ugliest.  I'm glad I got my Trevor Lewis gamer.  Remember ? They use to look like this...     And now they look like this... If it ain't broke...don't fix it!

You Know It's Opening Night When All 20 Kings Are Standing On The Blue Line For The National Anthem The hockey season doesn't officially start for me until the home opener.  It's always fun to get reacquainted with the Kings equipment managers and training staff.  I didn't get there early enough for all the pregame fun outside of Staples Center but Chris Kontos over at The Royal Half did .  Kings won 3-1.

Kopi's Ready For Halloween (PHOTO: ESPN)  THE GOOD Kings score two goals this weekend and manage a split .  Can't really complain about that. The Kings throwback jerseys on Saturday were awesome.  Jonathan Quick's pads and mask were great too.  I like his throwback mask more than his current one.  I was really hoping to see some names but the Kings didn't permanently add names to the back of their Road uniforms until the NHL required them for the 1977 season . Kopitar wasn't seriously injured from an unintentional high-stick in the corner from Manny Malhotra that led to Kopi receiving 15 stitches on the outside; four on the inside, and the loss of a fake tooth.   Brayden Schenn looks like he belongs and should grab that open slot on the second-line any day now .  Kyle Clifford seems to have lost all that aggression that earned him this opportunity.  He may be on his way to Barrie before the week is over. Jarett Stoll dominated the faceo...

"Yes Kyle...You still look just as crazy on the beautiful new Panasonic HD scoreboard." Lessons learned from the first home preseason game of the season . Staples Center should have installed an HD Scoreboard a long time ago.  That thing is beautiful. Kyle Clifford is crazy.  He racked up 19 minutes of penalties trying to retaliate on a clean hit.  He's the forward version of Colten Teubert.  I know alot of people are excited about him possibly making the team this year but I just don't see it.  Clifford fought Paul Bissonnette .  Bissonnette has a twitter (BizNasty2point0) : "Drew 5 minors tonight. Is that a league record? And clifford suckered me 3 times, dropped my mits and pumped him with 3 then he wrestled me. Anyone who saw the fight as a win for clifford ur a meat stick. But then again there are a lot of u out there. Go yotes. Boom." Our top four defensemen: Doughty , Mitchell , Johnson , and Scuderi were all shaky.  They allowed Phoe...

Finally finished going through all the photos.  You can check them all out on my Flickr page.  Day One here .  And Day Two here .  Check out a few of my favorites after the jump.

I'm working at a feverish pace trying to get through all the pictures I took at Training Camp this weekend.  Hopefully, I'll have them uploaded tomorrow. Went to check on Fro in New York.  He didn't do much.  Just a hat-trick playing alongside Marian Gaborik in the first scrimmage of camp .  Sigh. Our season tickets came in the mail a while ago.  No upgrades, no free jersey, not much of anything really but they did include all the postseason tickets in the booklet this year.  A bit of a tease perhaps...but Round 4 Home Game 1!  Let's do it!