Frozen Royalty Audio: LA Kings Finally Break Through 3-Goal Wall In 4-3 Win Over Phoenix

December 27, 2011 by Leave a comment

LOS ANGELES — It took them 15 games, but the Los Angeles Kings finally scored three goals in a game on Monday night, defeating the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-3, in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,118 fans at Staples Center.

The last time the Kings scored three goals (in regulation time or overtime, not in a shootout) in a game was on November 22, a 3-2 victory at St. Louis. From that point forward, until Monday night, the Kings never scored more than two regulation/overtime goals, earning a poor 5-7-2 record over that span, two of the wins the result of shootouts. Read more of this post

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Living The Hockey Dream Captures The Magic Of The Game

November 19, 2009 by 10 Comments

Photo: Folklore Publishing

MONTEREY PARK, CA — Whether you played the game at any level or are just a spectator, if you truck the kids to hockey practice very early in the morning or just lie on the living room couch and watch games on television, just about everyone touched by the game has a hockey dream or two.

In Living The Hockey Dream, author Brian Kennedy, Ph.D., a native of Montreal, an Associate Professor of English at Pasadena City College and a freelance hockey writer who covers the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks for Inside Hockey, explores the hockey dreams—realized or not—of people involved with the game at all levels and all walks of life.

To be sure, this is not a book focusing on National Hockey League superstars and their glory days in the NHL—if that’s what you are looking for, prepare to be disappointed. Read more of this post

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Lombardi Talks About Goaltending, Top Defenseman Prospects

January 2, 2009 by 19 Comments

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – PART 2: After taking New Year’s Day off, Frozen Royalty is back with more from an exclusive interview with Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi. In this installment, Lombardi focuses on his team’s future in goal and two of his top defenseman prospects. Check back on Tuesday, January 6 for Part 3 of this series and if you missed Part 1, check out Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi Excited About Defense.

LOS ANGELES — Throughout the over forty-year history of the Los Angeles Kings, goaltending has arguably been their biggest Achilles Heel.

The only Kings goaltender who could be considered to be in the truly elite category was Rogie Vachon, who backstopped the Kings from 1971-72 to 1977-78, winning many games all by himself while playing on mostly horrid teams. Indeed, Vachon was so good that it is a heinous crime that he still has not been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Sure, the Kings got stretches of solid goaltending from the likes of Mario Lessard, Kelly Hrudey and for a little more than one season, Felix Potvin. But outside of that, Kings goaltenders have been mediocre at best, and they often fell far short of that mark.

Much to the dismay of the Kings and their fans, in recent seasons, their goaltending woes have continued, but that might be changing sooner rather than later. Read more of this post

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Los Angeles Kings Trade Jason LaBarbera To Vancouver Canucks For 7th Round Pick

December 30, 2008 by

EL SEGUNDO, CA — On December 30, the Los Angeles Kings traded goaltender Jason LaBarbera to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a seventh round pick in the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft. Read more of this post

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Los Angeles Kings: The Wait Is Going To Be Painful

December 21, 2008 by 7 Comments

ANALYSIS: With netminder Jason LaBarbera looking more like a sieve in recent games and with goalie Jonathan Quick not yet ready for the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Kings have hit hard times and it’s going to be an insanely difficult climb in every game until goaltender Erik Ersberg recovers from injury.

After getting blown out and shutout at Buffalo on Friday night and after a loss at Detroit on Saturday night, one thing is certain for the Los Angeles Kings…until goaltender Erik Ersberg recovers from a groin strain he suffered on December 15, wins are going to be a rarity.

Indeed, with goaltender Jason LaBarbera unable to stop a beach ball these days and with goalie prospect Jonathan Quick clearly not yet ready for the rigors of the National Hockey League, the Kings are already on a downward slide, having lost four straight games, including an overtime loss and a shootout loss (0-2-2), and it seems likely that without reliable goaltending, the Kings will struggle to get back into the win column. Read more of this post

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Los Angeles Kings: Rash Moves In Goal Not The Answer

December 18, 2008 by 10 Comments

COMMENTARY: It is time for fans of the Los Angeles Kings to take a deep breath, a step back and think before speaking.

LOS ANGELES — After a game in which he was embarrassed in the shootout and another in which he was anything but solid, fans of the Los Angeles Kings are calling for goaltender Jason LaBarbera’s head.

And that’s putting it mildly.

Indeed, after looking like a fish out of water in the shootout against the San Jose Sharks on December 15 (3-2 shootout loss) and looking rather shaky in a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on December 17, a quick tour of the Kings-related web sites and message boards across the Internet reveals that LaBarbera just might be Public Enemy #1 among Kings fans. Read more of this post

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