Los Angeles Kings: Blog Articles
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LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
Technically, it’s not Glendale, since this is a new hotel, but it’s close enough to make the point. The state of Arizona, perhaps convinced that it hadn’t shown us its best on the last trip, managed to make it even hotter yesterday. The folks at Jobing.com Arena have done a good job of keeping it [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
In a tongue-in-cheek nod to some of the local TV stations that can’t seem to figure out where the Kings play, what their logo looks like, how the players’ names are pronounced, what type of equipment is used and what the mascot looks like, the Kings put together this relatively awesome infographic to…help. It’s too [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
The positive for the Kings now is that they have something of a template for this situation. In the first round against Vancouver, the Kings had a chance to sweep the Canucks but they lost Game 4 at home. Faced with a flight back to Vancouver and a Game 5 against a rejuvenated Canucks team, [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
Mike Smith garnered much praise, and rightfully so, for his 38-save shutout for Phoenix in Game 4. From the opening faceoff, Smith looked confident and poised. At times, he pushed shots to the side with his blocker and pads, as though he was taking shots from teammates in practice. From the Kings’ perspective, that was [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
Having flown home after yesterday’s game, the Phoenix Coyotes held practice today at Jobing.com Arena. Most of the players skated, but not defenseman Adrian Aucoin, who returned to play in Game 4 after he had missed the first three games of the series. Asked about Aucoin’s status for Game 5, coach Dave Tippett told reporters, [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
The crew on the ice for an optional skate typically doesn’t change much. Usually, it’s the scratched players from the previous game, often accompanied by the third- and fourth-line forwards, younger defensemen such as Alec Martinez and Slava Voynov, and backup goalie Jonathan Bernier. Veteran defenseman, and noted rink rat, Willie Mitchell will often join [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
After being masked, in previous games and series, by an effective penalty kill, the Kings’ lack of success on the power play was brought to the forefront after Game 4, after the Kings went 0-for-6 on the power play and had more than nine minutes of power-play time. Lack of power-play success is certainly nothing [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
The Kings had an optional skate this morning, with the usual gang plus captain Dustin Brown, who was on the ice early with Bernie Nicholls to work on net-front tip-in plays. The Kings will fly to Phoenix this afternoon in advance of tomorrow night’s game. Not surprisingly, there were plenty of questions about the Kings’ [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
Some notes from yesterday’s game… – The Kings lost for only the second time in this postseason, as they fell to the Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Sunday at Staples Center. The Kings lead 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. – The Kings’ only other loss in this postseason [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
Here’s why the Kings would be wise not to merely shrug off their Game 4 loss: the Phoenix Coyotes seem to be slowly improving while the Kings seem to be slowly slipping. That might be a tough sell, given that the Kings had a 3-0 series lead before Sunday’s game, but it seems clear that [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
The Kings didn’t lose because they played an afternoon game — see: St. Louis, Game 4, vs. — or because of whatever magical, mysterious powers some people believe an assistant coach has over a power play. The Kings lost because the Phoenix Coyotes are a very strong team, and they have a very well-defined way [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
Darryl Sutter’s postgame thoughts… (on any concerns about the Kings’ compete level or game…) SUTTER: “I’m not too worried about our compete level. I don’t think they are, either. … You’ve got to win four games. They are a home-ice team. They finished ahead of us for a good reason. So there’s not much difference [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
Matt Greene’s postgame thoughts… (on the game…) GREENE: “I think Phoenix played really well. They played a good game and came out hard. They got a big power-play goal against us there and they got a big faceoff goal. Smith was awesome tonight. They played well and we can play better. We need to respond [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
Dustin Penner’s postgame thoughts… (on the game…) PENNER: “They played really well. It’s a good lesson for us. We had got the bounces, for the most part, until tonight. They threw themselves in front of a lot of shots. Their PK was really good and they got a power-play goal. So, they definitely earned this [...]
LA Kings Insider (Rich Hammond) —
Dustin Brown’s postgame thoughts… (on the game…) BROWN: “I think tonight was more about the Phoenix Coyotes playing a good game. They sat back and they are opportunistic and that’s how they’ve done it all year. They’ve been a resilient group all year and they showed that tonight. They executed really well and that’s the [...]