Think About This...

It's Thursday, so I know you all wish it was 24 hours from now...while you're sitting around waiting for your weekend to begin, in honor of the Game 7s this week, here are 7 things to think about today (besides the fact that I was able to make two baseball references in an article about hockey):

*  The Kings have been off work now for 18 days, yet they moved up in the draft last night.  With Montreal winning (8th seed in the East), the Canadiens will now draft later.  This has pushed the Kings up to #19 now, from #22 originally.  That's the little silver lining for all you Cammi fans who were steamed watching him advance another round. Or did you just accept it because you were happy Sid was eliminated?

* Manchester opened their third round series with Hershey last night and things didn't go so well.  Former first round draft pick Jonathan Bernier gave up four goals - not the norm for him this season.  One of the guys probably joining Bernier in LA next season, Andrei Loktionov, scored one of the Monarchs two goals in the loss.  Assisting on the goal was a guy that possibly could be joining them in LA next year, Kyle Clifford (his first pro point).  KC was a coach's pick as MVP of the prospects camp last September and he plans on making a strong push to become a King this fall.  He's a tough-as-nails winger and dropped the gloves late in the first period, another first in his pro career.  Now can he pick up his first goal when the Monarchs skate in game two tomorrow night?

10 Tidbits for a Tuesday

There isn't a lot of hockey news right now in Los Angeles...however, from various points around the globe there are several stories brewing with connections to the Kings:

* Ryan Smyth was injured at the Hockey World Championships taking place over in Germany.  He was thought to have rolled his ankle at practice on Sunday.  Then, an MRI reveled the situation was much worse - a fractured left ankle.  He's headed back to LA tomorrow and is expected to be fully healed before camp opens in September.  TSN has the full story here.

* Team USA - captained by the Kings Jack Johnson - is in deep trouble in the same tournament.  They lost in front of 77,000 fans in the opening game on Friday.  They followed that up with a second overtime loss yesterday, this time to Denmark (by the same score of 2-1).  On the loss to Denmark - a team that didn't even qualify to play in the recent Olympics - Johnson summed it up best "It's inexcusable.”  The American squad will now face Finland on Wednesday.  With a win they can avoid being pushed into the regulation round.  Not exactly the fate you would have forecasted for the team prior to the tournament.