Time to get back to work

Well that game had very little defense if any but I guess that's what an all-star game is about. I do want to point out that Kopi had two goals and was one of the few centers that I saw actually down below the dots in the offensive zone (must be that home plate philosophy). Anyways the all-star game is over and Tuesday the NHL will get back to work and I am very excited to see if the Kings can continue their roll. Maybe the Kings can get off to a quick start on the road and not only make a playoff push but see if they can catch up to the Stars. The Kings don't have many division titles so it would be nice to get one but at least let's get this boys back in the playoffs and getting more experience. I will try to put together a good koolaid mix for tomorrow and possibly get everyone ramped up and ready for Tuesday's game. We should do a watch party somewhere while the Kings are away, as long as it ain't at my Mom's house (sorry Mom bad luck). Also maybe during a watch party some In N Out? Anyways have a nice Sunday evening all and get ready for Tuesday.

Wow when can we get some real hockey back up in here?

Hey all, I haven't come up with much for today but to say this break sucks man the Kings were just picking up the pace. I am going to be in and out of the blog today but I wanted to star with a link to something interesting for all to check out. It might confuse you a bit but gives you a good look at the standings.

http://www.jewelsfromthecrown.com/2011/1/27/1959664/the-real-western-conference-standings?ref=yahoo

Mind you all this is not my work and all credit goes to the writer of Jewel's from the crown but hey it's fun to look at. Also I will probably be adding cooments with other links to the blog later today, everyone enjoy and check out some of those cool sponsor ads on the page.

Thanks The Kool-Aid Mixer

Child's Play

Hey there kool-aid drinkers and welcome to a new edition. Today's blog is a fun one, and not solely due to a awesome win for the Kings last night, but because I was able to share the awesomeness that is hockey with my daughter. I have been to games with her before but last night she was asking all the right questions about the game. She is starting to understand it and not surprisingly is actually more hockey smart than many of the fans at the games. She also has a knack for selecting who will score the first goal for the Kings, which I can't ever seem to do but hey she's a blast. As for the game last night man was that exciting or what. The game had a playoff billing atmosphere and lived up to that billing. Both teams had chances but either team could really dominate any section of the game, it was more like a shift to shift back and forth with real scoring chances coming few and far between. After the first period and about half of the second it appeared that Quick had not let the wall fall behind him, but unfortunately it finally came crashing down. This time though the team did not waver or collapse. many fans at the intermission had long sad faces, and I was also somewhat concerned. This is where a child's innocence saved the night. I looked at my daughter and asked " You think the Kings can come back and win". Smiling happily she said "yeah daddy". As hard as it may be to believe, at that moment I felt a sense of calmness and felt that there was no way the Kings could lose after that. After an extremely gutsy and hard-working shift for the fourth line Poni found the back of the net, and celebrated wildly after. I was later told that a monkey climbed off his back with that goal, and hope that he can get back to putting some points up for the team. The Kings did not play there best last night but sometimes it just comes down to the fact that someone has to win and San Jose challenged our strongest point with the shootout. Quick has become one of the best goalies in shootouts and has now gone 5-0 on the season during them. That game last night is why hockey is the best sport to watch in the world. At any moment the tide could turn and one team could claim victory, and in the end it took extra time and rounds but the team that should be better at this point actually was. Now we get a weekend to relax and not scoreboard watch, but come Tuesday this team better be ready to put it in high gear. All joking aside the Kings need to bring their "A" game during this long road trip ( I know its really 2 road trips because they come home for practice and then go back on the road) and score 14 points or more. The kings have 10 games on the road so 14 points is not a huge task, but it will take some hard work and a full team effort. Let's all enjoy this time to relax and not worry about where a Burger King is on the way to Staples Center. It's time to save our dinner money up for that jersey we all want so that we can proudly wear it during the playoffs. Enjoy the break friends. Also a side note I will be continuing the kool-aid during the break by bringing some info here I find online so that we can all stay in the swing of things.

Thanks for coming The Kool-Aid Mixer

Sink or Swim?

It's that time again drinkers of the kool-aid. Todays blog is very simple, the Kings need to bring the intense, hard nosed approach that they know how to bring. If the Kings can put forth an excellent effort and get two more points tonight, they can  begin to silence the fans that said "This team ain't making the playoffs". With a win tonight they can move to within a point of the final playoff spot. Please keep in mind that tonight's game is not a must win, but a need to win. If the Kings can win tonight they will have some momentum going into the all-star break. They have a huge road trip after the break that will more than likely make or break their season. This season has seen the closest race from top to bottom that there has been in a long time. We fans need to do our best to support this team while they are gone, but lets let them know that we care tonight since we won't see them till February 24th. No matter where you watch tonights game from I hope its is a good Kings team that does the right things and puts pressure on the other team and after 60 minutes of play find themselves with a different streak than their last, winning streaks are allowed guys lets start one tonight.

Thanks all The Kool-Aid Mixer

Remember That Team?

Hey all, got some soul-quenching Kool-Aid for you today. Do you remember that team we all watched in October? I got the feeling last night like that team is trying to reassemble under the Kings banner once again. Last night's effort was amazing. While I sat inside Staples Center enjoying a full 60 minutes of hard nosed, blue collar hockey I found myself with a grin on my face. Here I was sitting amongst a ton of bruins fans that now felt the pain I had felt so many nights in January. Admittedly it may have not been the best way to feel about it, but hey I have been riding this roller coaster for a long time and wanted to bask in the sun for just a moment. The legend of the double double lives as the Kings put up the 2 points we needed and now sit 3 points behind not only 8th place but 7th place as well, not to mention only 10 points behind the division leader. I do not want to get ahead of myself here so I will not say that I breathed a sigh of relieve that the team is back wear it needs to be, but this win was the kind of wins the October team had. Wednesday will be another huge test as the Kings meet the Sharks, and yes I know "It's only a San Jose Shark" but the Kings can not relax until Thursday (all-star break). If the Kings can manage to bring the same type of game Wednesday they could possibly be a mear 1 point outside the playoffs depending on outcomes of other games. I will do my best to stay grounded as I know 2 wins does not mean everything is okay, but man it sure feels good today. Now some parting notes: one, Monday games do not necessarily blow, as with a win they get my week off to a great start; Officially, In and Out  food has no real bearing on the outcome of hockey games, but it does taste great; Third and finally, we need to grow this blog and reach out to other Kings fans (real true ones) to come read and share comments with us, most of us reading this daily have devoted a ton of our time to the Kings and would enjoy to share it with people that feel the same way.


P.S. I don't wanna go down the rumor highway here but I must say Scheen is not available to trade unless we are getting back a young face of the franchise player. We Kings fans suffered through shittily put together teams to get the likes of Scheen, let's not throw that away now like past Management did. One cup is great but how awesome would it be to tell some ducks fan "Who has 3 cups".


Thanks all The Kool-Aid Mixer

Step 2?

So the Kings played Saturday and despite not getting the PP going they found a way to get the two points. Best of all they kept a team in front of them from getting any points. I do not see the Kings getting a lot of chances on the PP tonight but if they could score just one PP goal it might get the ball rolling. Tonight's game is going to be a tough one. The Bruins are a very well rounded team with solid goaltending and a good offense, not to mention the giant defenceman Chara. As I sit there at staples I hope to see a hard hitting solid team game from the Kings. I look for offensive zone chances to be had by crashing the net with a point shot from our D-men. The game winning goal Saturday is a perfect example of the kind of goals this team needs to score. Stoll put it all on the ice to try to get to the puck and he was rewarded for that effort. The Kings will also need a great night form Quick. If anything has been suspect in Quick lately it would be his glove hand covering the top of the net and making that big timely save. Tonight will be a battle but it is how the Kings will need to address every game from now till June. I BELIEVE this team is going to pull together to make a playoff push. I would love to see a Stanley Cup but I feel this year is only the next step before a run of years of great playoff teams. Hopefully the Kings will run the table to the break and be pumped and ready for the long road trip after. I want to see a solid playoff team come Feb. 24 when they return home and I also want to see more real Kings fans show up to support them. The team needs our support even more when times get hard and any true Kings fan knows this due to years of struggle but how sweet it will be when that day gets here and we hoist that awesome cup over the streets of Los Angeles.

Are They Ready?

Hello all and welcome back to the koolaid. Today is going to be one of those weird ones as I will not see tonights game while it is going on. I will record it to watch it later but tonight is a special night, as it is me and my wifes anniversary. I have the utmost confidence that tonight the team will begin it's journey back to respectability. As noted earlier today by Rich Hammond, this team now leads the league in fewest shots against per game. Now they will find a way to hit the back of the twine. As I watched a dumb hockey movie today (Mighty Ducks 3) I thought maybe TM should do that drill. The drill was picking up the garbage where the coach literally threw trash in front of the net and the players were to try and put the garbage back to the net. I feel this is the mentality the team needs on the power play. The power play to this point in the season is more than likely the reason the team is not already in prime playoff contention and battling for a division title. If they players can simply find a way to score we can all score (some more than others perhaps) a win tonight. My hope is that I do not have to force myself to watch a shittily played game tomorrow morning solely to be able to comment on it but rather have a great game to watch to look back at in a few weeks and say that's where it got better. To all my friends my wife asks that you do not text me about the game tonight as we will be spending time together without the kids which is very rare for us. Ironically tonight I will be going to see The Dilemma and hopefully it will be the last dilemma to talk about here until June.

The Kool-Aid Mixer

Wow are you serious?

So as I sat at Staples Center last night waiting for the forthcoming no goal call I had a thought. Could a terrible call that is so obvious be just what this team needs? Stay with me here fans. A number of years back it was a hole that this team could never climb out of against Detroit in the playoffs that brought some of the best play out of them. This years version of the team is a much more talented and well rounded group. The team finally has a solid back line and enough people up front that can put the puck in the net. Also this team has what it has always seemed to lack good goal tending (despite what many people may think this two guys are young and only going to get better). This team has all the pieces and now needs to find a way to put them together. Perhaps TM can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and realize its time to unleash the top line from over worrying about defense and getting back to home plate. Maybe instead of a "shot mentality" he should start preaching a "do what you are best at mentality", or simply a "rebound mentality". Bottom line here now is the team is in a hole that most fans believe is to deep to get out of. Maybe this team can't climb out but I dare to say they can and will. I feel in the coming months TM will no longer hear "we need a new coach". I must admit I have been down on TM lately but he showed me something last night and again today that shows he gets it. He has called out the NHL and its terrible replay system, while still remembering that his team has to find ways around calls like this. I feel this team is going to remember this call and realize it's them against the world. No matter what happens the rest of the season its fighting time, like a boxer this team has now tasted its own blood and is ready to challenge anew. Fans if I may please try to stay positive, I know its hard as I battle with this same problem. Rather than doubting this team lets BELIEVE in this team. Let us show the players they too can rally back and get a playoff spot, its not quiting time and it never will be.

What are they thinking

Ok so this is the start of a new blog to talk about the Hockey team Los Angeles Kings. This is strictly opinion based and has no ties to the team at all, but is a way for me and occasionally friends of mine to vent and or discuss issues dealing with the LA Kings. Also this is a very amateur blog so please do not post hate about it, it is hear for fun so lets try and have some even while we struggle through a very bad time in this teams season.

So here goes, I do not understand what the coaches and management of this team is thinking we continue to ask players to play outside their positions. Tonights lineup will include 6 centers and only 2 left wingers. They ask these natural centers to play a wing spot that they are not acustom to and then don't understand why the consistence is not where they want it. For example yesterday the team moved loki over to ontario so if they needed to recall him he would be closer. The team must have know they would need a player as they recalled him today to the big club. I like loki but the team knew it would need him if one of their wingers could not play. I wish they had thought about it a bit more and recalled an actual left winger, perhaps a guy named Holloway who happens to be one of the scoring leaders in Manchester and is a natural left wing, the spot the kings have actually looked to fill all season. I understand Holloway has no NHL experience but he plays the position we need and is showing the touch to put points on the board. Why not give him a look and see if he is ready, if not at least he will know what to work on to be a long term solution. This is just a example of the little things about this team that don't seem to add up. We have a ton of talent and are certainly better than 12th in our conference, but that is where we sit. My hope for tonight is for loki to fit in as best he can and hopefully we can play for 60 minutes and get the points we need tonight. Lets make tonight the turning point and make a run to get a playoff spot back and carry some momentum into the playoffs. If this team can't start a playoff push soon they will be sellers come trade deadline and us fans will once again say " Hey next year is gonna be our year"

The Kool-Aid mixer