Los Angeles Kings Can’t Afford To Keep Giving Points Away

January 20, 2012 4 Comments

Los Angeles Kings Forward Trevor Lewis earned some solid praise from head coach Darryl Sutter after practice on January 20, 2012, at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California.
Photo: David Sheehan

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — 48 games into the 2011-12 National Hockey League season, the Los Angeles Kings have a 23-15-10 record, good for 56 points. That puts them in second place in the Pacific Division, one point behind the San Jose Sharks (through games played on January 20), and in seventh place in the Western Conference, four points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, their next opponent (Saturday, January 21, 7:30 PM PST, Staples Center).

San Jose is third in the conference, and the Chicago Blackhawks, with 64 points, leads the West. As such, the Kings remain in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, and could still come out on top of the Pacific Division, even though the Sharks have four games in hand. Read more of this post

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LA Kings Make A Statement To End 2011 In 4-1 Victory Over Vancouver Canucks

January 1, 2012 2 Comments

Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar ended a 17-game goal scoring drought during a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks at Staples Center
in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve 2011.
Photo: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images via the Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings have struggled through much of the final month of 2011, losing five straight games from December 3 – 13, and winning just twice from December 1 – December 17.

Indeed, things have looked pretty bleak with an anemic offense, the worst in the National Hockey League. But, somehow, the Kings never dropped out of the picture in the Western Conference standings, and after handing the high-powered Vancouver Canucks a 4-1 drubbing at Staples Center in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, they not only ended the year on a high note, but…hold onto your party hats…they now find themselves in sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division and third place in the Western Conference. Read more of this post

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Los Angeles Kings Should Take The Great One’s Advice About Shooting The Puck

November 28, 2011 2 Comments

Los Angeles Kings rookie forward Andrei Loktionov will move back to center on November 28, 2011, when the Kings host
the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center.
Photo: David Sheehan

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — Some years ago, in the not too distant history of the Los Angeles Kings, there was a player who once graced the hockey world with his wisdom, not to mention his nearly infinite talent.

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take,” he said.

That player was none other than The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, who holds or shares 61 National Hockey League records, and is fourth on the Kings’ all-time scoring list.

Coming from Gretzky, who was not only the best player to ever play the game, but, arguably the smartest, those words carry several tons of weight.

Each of the Kings players should probably be forced to write those words on a chalkboard 100 times each after falling back into their bad habit of trying to pass the puck into the net, time and time again. Read more of this post

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Down On The Farm With The Manchester Monarchs: Departures Create Opportunities

October 9, 2011 Leave a Comment

DOWN ON THE FARM: Frozen Royalty begins its expanded coverage of the Los Angeles Kings’ prospects with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League this season with a feature on new opportunities for some after the departure of several Kings prospects for what they apparently perceived to be greener pastures in Europe.

Center Andrei Loktionov, a skilled forward who was a fifth round selection by the Los Angeles Kings in 2008, is expected to be an offensive leader for the Manchester Monarchs this season.
Photo: Steve Babineau/Manchester Monarchs

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — Barely noticed here in the Los Angeles area, where hockey fans were primarily focused on the Los Angeles Kings opening their 2011-12 season with two games in Europe, their prospects down on the farm were also getting their new season underway.

In similar fashion to the Kings, who split their two games in Europe, the first, a 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers in Stockholm, Sweden on Friday, and a 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres in Berlin, Germany on Saturday, the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings’ primary minor league affiliate, split their first two games of their 2011-12 American Hockey League season.

An unexpected challenge facing the Monarchs this year is the loss of forwards Corey Elkins, Bud Holloway, and Oscar Moller, who opted to play in Europe this season. Read more of this post

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Advantage Goes To Dean Lombardi, Los Angeles Kings In Drew Doughty Deal

October 1, 2011 7 Comments

LA Kings defenseman Drew Doughty speaks to the media on September 30, 2011, at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California after signing an eight-year contract.
Photo: Gann Matsuda

EL SEGUNDO, CA — At around 2:15 PM on the afternoon of September 30, 2011, defenseman Drew Doughty emerged from the dressing room for his first training camp skate. That moment was the first publicly visible sign that the Los Angeles Kings had become whole once again.

Late Thursday night, the Kings announced that they had reached a verbal agreement with their top defenseman, who missed virtually all of training camp as a contract holdout.

In the end, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi sweetened the pot by offering Doughty an average of $200,000 more per year above his reported original offer of $6.8 million per season, the same average annual value of center Anze Kopitar’s contract.

For their part, Doughty and agent Don Meehan reportedly budged on the length of the contract, so the deal ended up at $7 million per season for eight years. Read more of this post

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Frozen Royalty Audio: Anaheim Ducks JV Team Has Easy Time With LA Kings Varsity In Pre-Season Action

September 26, 2011 1 Comment

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings “varsity” faced the Anaheim Ducks “junior varsity” team in pre-season action at Staples Center on Sunday night, but the results were not what you would expect, as the Ducks were dominant from start to finish, handing the Kings a 3-1 defeat.

Indeed, the Ducks dressed veterans Andrew Cogliano, Jason Blake, and Lubomir Visnovsky, but they surrounded them with young prospects.

Nowhere to be found were the likes of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan, or Teemu Selanne. Read more of this post

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