LA Hockey Underground

It's Officially Baseball Season Now Well that sucked.  The Kings were unceremoniously swept under the rug by the Golden Knights.  When the final few seconds ticked off, it hurt.  It felt as if we had been cheated, and the NHL's random assessment of suspensions aside, we really hadn't. In retrospect, it was a really good series hockey wise, especially for a sweep.  One game went to double overtime, and all four games were decided by one goal.  The level of hockey was both entertaining, and admirable.  It was fast, physical, and tightly contested right up until the final horn.  This has definitely been a far better series than that of the water fowl from across town and the guppies from up north.  I'm not happy though. The first mention must go to the stars of the series.  Both goaltenders put on a show.  Fleury was nothing short of spectacular, and nearly perfect.  The Kings will share some of the blame for their own inabili...

The NHL is endangering its players.  The NHL is supposed to be rough.  It is supposed to be physical.  Fans love its speed and physicality.  The blend of the beautiful and the burly.  Lets face it, hockey is a game that came from the great white north where it is dark and cold much of the time, a land that is is still largely wild and unsettled. Fighting is considered just part of the game.  As a result, the game brings with it a culture of toughness.  One thing that hockey has never had, at least up until now, is an acceptance of using the stick as a weapon.  Drop the sticks, drop the gloves, and duke it out.  Under Gary Bettman, however, things are changing, and there are no consequences for blatant use of the stick with intent to injure. Lets go back a few years and review an incident that ended a man's career.  Granted he was on the very back end of his hockey career, but his vicious and violent act was considered so heinous that...

Where Do We Go From Here? For those of us not playing tonight, the future looms a bit tenuously.  The ride home Sunday night was a rough one.  Fans, myself included, were bitter and disillusioned.  I heard people railing on our fourth line, and granted, they didn't have their best game, but they did not play terribly, and even created some scoring opportunities.  I heard people railing on Carter's lack of offense and seemingly inability to have an effect on the game.  It is obvious that Carter was lacking, but I think it's pretty clear that he is hurt and playing through some pain.  Toffoli's name crept up throughout the game as he too seemed unable to be effective.  Toffoli isn't much of a creator though.  He needs line mates that  will create opportunities for him to finish.  He had  a few chances but never looked sharp, which is partly due to the Knights defense that didn't give him much space or time.  There was and ...

Down 3-0, What Now? Sunday night, for the first time in this series, I saw the Kings that I love to watch.  Sunday night stood in stark contrast to games one and two.  The Kings were moving the puck out of the zone.  They were exerting significant pressure on the Knights defense.  The Kings were hitting, breaking up the Knights break out by getting sticks on pucks and getting into passing lanes.  Adrian Kempe played like a full grown man.  They scored early to put the pressure on the Knights.  Life was really, really good, for a while.  Then, in the third period, the Knights adjusted both their breakout and their fore check.  The Kings got tired, began making more mistakes, and seemed unable to counter the adjustments.  After the Knights scored their second goal of the period, the players visibly looked like I felt, gut shot.  Then it got worse, and despite a great goal and a late comeback effort, the Kings are, now, down 3-0...

This look says it all.  Clueless? Used Car Salesman? Alan Eagleson II? Watch the left side of your screen as you click the link below. Haula butt ends Kopi Haula took the butt end of his stick to Kopitar's face.  It was blatant, caused injury, and is the type of action that the NHL should be cracking down on.  The referees, and the linesman missed it.  Four officials inexcusably missed this, and yes, the linesman can help the referee get it right.  Instead, the NHL crucifies Doughty for a hit that was part of a normal hockey play.  The NHL is failing and should be ashamed of themselves.  The appropriate call here would have been a five minute major, a possible game changer, and a two or three game suspension.  By omission, the NHL is condoning taking a stick to an opponents head or face.  I'm not sure how the  NHL can dole out suspensions so randomly.  Without consistency, without holding players accountable in a rational a...

The regular season for the Los Angeles Kings is over, and thank your favorite spiritual being(s) that this year's finish was better than last year.  At the end of last year, people couldn't give tickets away.  That is how L.A. rolls though.  If a team isn't competitive, fans won't bother to show up.  There is one exception to that rule, and a very important one if you are the team previously known as the San Diego Chargers.  That exception is that even if the Raiders are not competitive, every time they play in Los Angeles, the hoards of the Raider Nation will proudly dominate the stadium, reminding everyone, and forever driving a thorn into the side of the NFL, that Los Angeles is the home of Raider Nation, and it always will be.  This is largely an exception because the Raiders don't regularly play in Southern California, so it becomes an event.  Even the ubiquitous Lakers struggle with attendance (not ticket sales) when the team isn't performi...