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The Columbus Blue Jackets have traded Jeff Carter to the Los Angeles Kings for Jack Johnson and a first round pick.  When Johnson signed his current 7 year, $30.5M contract I wrote how I thought the Kings would regret the contract.  Now I think the Blue Jackets will. Just how bad is Jack Johnson?  Well, [...]

The Kings have addressed perhaps their most glaring weaknesses via trade and free agency this off season, and while they’re considered favorites in the Pacific Division and among the favorites in the Western Conference, there are still questions to be answered. Last season’s marquee trade deadline acquisition, Dustin Penner, was, to put it mildly a

Yeah, I know, it’s a Van Hagar reference. The goal is to be able to use a Queen reference sometime in June, and the way things have gone through 13 games, that would be a plausible prediction to make. The haters can hate, and those who haven’t been paying attention will look at the NHL’s

If you paid any attention to the Kings during this past offseason, Ilya Kovalchuk’s name should be very familiar to you by now. Kovalchuk, who was considered the most dymanic player available via free agency during the Summer of 2010, was courted by the Kings, flown to Los Angeles and offered a 13 year, 80 [...]

The Kings looked like a team playing it’s second game in as many nights for long stretches of the game in Dallas tonight, all except for one guy: Jon Quick. Kings’ coach Terry Murray’s plan to play Jonathan Bernier once a week and keep Quick well rested has thus far paid dividends – Quick has [...]

The Comeback Kids. 8 games into the 2010-11 season, it’s already an appropriate nickname for this Kings’ team – and tonight, as much as ever. The Kings dug themselves a hole early as Minnesota scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the game. But the Kings battled back, remained composed, and got a power [...]

What a wacky hockey game. Neither team was great defensively, weird bounces were commonplace (if I had to guess, the ice in Denver wasn’t so good). Kings broke their streak of Power Plays without a goal by scoring not one but two power play goals. Alexei Ponikarovsky scored his first goal as a King. The [...]

Poor performance, really only 20 minutes of good hockey in this game. Critical mistakes led to both goals. Bernier was pretty good except on the game winner, but both he, Terry Murray and Davis Drewiske – who screened him on the play, say that it was tipped so who knows.

It’s just 2 games in, but Kings’ nation is already starting to panic about 5 on 5 scoring. I sense line changes coming.

The big question is, if it doesn’t improve (and realistically there’s reason to think it will), how long does Dean wait to make a deal?

Kings have now lost 10 straight in Calgary.

Up next is the home opener vs. Atlanta. Hopefully the Kings bounce back as tonight’s game was an extremely disappointing performance against a team that on paper is far inferior.

Go Kings

JS

The Kings, AEG and Staples Center know how to throw a party. The team’s first playoff game in 8 years was more than just a game, it was an event. The outside of Staples Center was decorated with balloons and banners, the arena’s iconic Magic Johnson, Oscar De La Hoya and Wayne Gretzky statues were all adorned with the Kings’ new home playoff sweaters – the “Back in Black” jersey as it’s become known. Live music was played, local radio stations had promotional booths set up, and Bailey and the Kings’ Ice Crew roamed the perimeter interacting with fans. Inside,

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I had intended to give my typical opinionated preview of all 8 playoff series, but since I waited until 3 game ones were in the books, I’ll stay close to home and preview the series that matters most to me. My beloved Los Angeles Kings against the Northwest Division Champion Vancouver Canucks.
If you look at the regular season series between the two teams, the Kings have managed only one victory against the Canucks (both at home) in each of the last two seasons. In the first 3 games between the two clubs this season, the Kings struggled to find offense,

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