LA KINGS OUTSIDER 2.0

Is Voynov NHL-ready? While the Kings wait for the next chapter of the Ilya Kovalchuk Saga to unfold... It appears that Viatcheslav Voynov or his KHL team may be forcing the hand of Dean Lombardi and the Kings come October. Traktor's (KHL) Director said #LAK prospect Voinov and #FLA prospect Dadonov will return to KHL if either can't make NHL team this season. Voynov surprised alot of people when he made the jump directly to the AHL as an 18-year old.  He's a smooth skating defenseman who's got some offensive upside.  He's made huge strides over the past two seasons but it didn't sound like Ron Hextall was totally convinced that Voynov could make the jump to the NHL next season during his wrap-up session with Hammer. Slava improved this year, defensively, and played a much more sound defensive game. He’s got to get better at communicating with his teammates. I think the language is part of it. I was a little surprised when I met with him at the end of the year,...

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'...

Don Cherry Probably Didn't Watch The KHL All-Star Game First off, Happy Hockey Day In Canada And Hockey Weekend in the US.  It doesn't get much better than this.  Games on all day. Make sure you take a break from the NHL hockey and check out a bit of the KHL All-Star game.  The arena in Minsk looks amazing.  The KHL is still a bit of a joke; they had one guy skating out there unidentified with a blank jersey but the offensive talent displayed was on par with an NHL All-Star game.  Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier were on-hand as guests of the Belarusian Hockey Federation. Per THN's Risto Pakarinen When asked about the NHL-KHL relations, Gretzky replied: “I’m not here for the NHL, I don’t work for them, but I think we all have the same common goal to make the game of hockey bigger and better worldwide. I think the NHL knows and understands that. I hope that when they (the KHL, the IIHF and the NHL) meet in Vancouver (during the Olympics), they can all come to ...

Dallman: Russian Superstar Before Drew Doughty; the Kings had another former Guelph Storm standout on the blueline.  Kevin Dallman.  Dallman signed with the Kings after spending three years with in the Boston Bruins organization.  After two years split between Los Angeles and Manchester; Dallman left for Barys Astana of the newly-formed KHL.  Last season, he led all KHL defenseman in scoring (28 G, 30 A, 58 PTS) while also earning the KHL's Best Defenseman Award.  Yahoo's Puck Daddy interviewed him after his outstanding debut in the KHL.  I knew he had a good season last year but had no idea he was so popular. Dallman earned the most votes for this weekend's KHL All-Star game.  Having another fantastic season with 12 goals, 26 assists and 38 points in 49 games. Per en.KHL.ru The absolute winner of the fans’ vote was last season’s best defenseman, Barys captain Kevin Dallman, who received 114,957 votes. Pretty cool that Dallman's found a home in the...