Then, Along Came Jonathan Bernier

Heading into the game on March 30th of last season, the Nashville Predators were riding a seven game unbeaten streak against the LA Kings - a stretch going back to the beginning of the 2008-09 season.

Then, along came Jonathan Bernier.

With Erik Ersberg suffering from a strained back, he was recalled from Manchester, stepped right into the line-up and delivered a 2-0 shutout - the first of his career (in just his sixth NHL start).

When the Predators came to Los Angeles for the first game of their four-game season series with the Kings this year, Bernier was back in net again.

The Kings won 4-1. Unfortunately, his second shutout was ruined with less than three minutes to go in the game. Still, Bernier 2 - Predators 0 lifetime.

So, it was a natural choice when Kings coach Terry Murray decided to pull Bernier from his near-permanent seat on the bench and return him to the net against Nashville tonight.

On cue, Bernier delivered.

Kings 6, Predators 1.

There's a good chance Jonathan Quick will start the next nine Kings games in a row, beginning Sunday against the Blackhawks.  Fortunately for Bernier, the Predators come to Los Angeles on Thursday, January 6.

Other stats and post game notes...

POLL: Least Favorite (active) NHL Player?

With news coming down that Chris Pronger will be out 4-6 weeks (meaning he won't face the Kings at Staples Center on 12/30), there's been an increased amount of anti-Pronger comments today on social media sites - namely facebook and twitter.

As the Kings are off today and it's a relatively slow news period, let's explore the Pronger issue. Is he the most hated man in the NHL?

The league has always had it's villains - Craig Muni, Rob Blake, Theo Fleury, Patrick Roy and Doug Gilmour are just a few of the guys Kings' fans have loved to hate over the past few decades.

But, what about now?  There are a host of players that could have been added to the poll below - all for their own individual and varying reasons. However, these are probably the top vote getters playing at the moment.

So, who is your least favorite player in the NHL right now - for whatever reason, who is he?

[UPDATE: Final poll results available after the jump. Who won - Pronger, Perry, Avery?]

Recap of Brayden Schenn on NHL Radio

There's finally a plan in place for Brayden Schenn's next few weeks.

He's been living day-to-day for the last three months. Not anymore. Currently, he's with Team Canada and preparing to start the World Junior Championships on Boxing Day (12/26).

Here's a quick recap of his interview on NHL Radio...

* This year's team (Canada) is "big and fast and looks good on paper."

* They'll probably arrive in Buffalo on 12/23. Their first game is 12/26 vs. Russia.

* It's been a "whirlwind of a first half" for him, filled with "a lot of uncertainty." However, he values the experience he gained with the Kings, the Manchester Monarchs, etc.

* He's one of four returnees for Canada, the defending champion U.S. has eight. He's not worried about being ranked second entering the tournament. Canada is "expected to win gold every year" and it's up to the U.S. to deal with that pressure.

* He thinks Russia has something to prove, given their loss to the Swiss in the semi-finals last year. So, that's going to be a good test for Canada right out of the gate.

* In his opinion, Canada will have great goaltending and big defenseman. Offensively, they don't have guys like Jordan Eberle (Edmonton Oilers) - but he doesn't agree with people who say the team will have trouble scoring.

* He talks to his older brother Luke (Toronto Maple Leafs) nearly everyday, either via text or phone call. They're 21 months apart.

It's rumored that Schenn is one of the three front runners for the Team Canada captaincy.  So far, nothing has been officially announced, should be within the next few days.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119
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RELATED ARTICLES:

The Complete Story on Brayden Schenn

Coach Terry Murray on the hold up with Brayden Schenn

Comments from Schenn the day before being returned to the WHL

Comments from Schenn after eight games in October

Recap of Marco Sturm on NHL Radio

Recap of Marco Sturm on NHL Radio

For a guy who isn't playing right now, Marco Sturm sure is wrapping up the frequent miles over the last week or so. From Boston to Los Angeles, then off to St. Louis where he joined the Kings and he's now in Nashville.

In between travel, rehabbing his knee, and getting to know his new teammates, Sturm took time out to check in with the NHL Power Play radio show. Here are the highlights...

* He thought the trade was going down 10 days ago. He went to LA earlier this week and passed all his tests and he's "glad to be an LA King now."  It was tough mentally though because he had to say goodbye to his Bruins teammates multiple times.

* Being traded from San Jose to Boston was more difficult, as it was the first time he had to face that situation. However, he had two guys with him (Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau) and they helped him a lot. The good thing this time was he was more prepared for the trade to happen.

* Going back to California is a positive in the deal. He loved it in San Jose and knew he wanted to come back this way. As soon as he heard Dean Lombardi was interested, it was an easy decision for him to waive his no trade clause.

* At the time he joined the Bruins (2005-06), he thinks the Eastern Conference had the "big guys, the tougher guys." Now, hockey has changed. The West is tight - not only the standings, but how they play the game. Recently, he's been trying to watch as many games from the West as possible to familiarize himself with things.

* He's pushing to play two games before Christmas, might only get one though.

* He had a good week of practice in Boston, including full contact. He wants one week with the Kings before getting into a game. He feels good, feels healthy.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119
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RELATED ARTICLES:

10 Tidbits on Marco Sturm

Marco Sturm:  Five Points on the LA-Boston Trade

Sturm Completes the St. Louis Circle

How the Sturm Trade Affects Schenn

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Cam Janssen's Five Minute Major Preview: LA v StL

Cam Janssen is in his sixth NHL season, the last four with the St. Louis Blues. He's posted only two goals while racking up 589 penalty minutes in 219 games. It's what you call 'knowing your role.'

In the interview below he helps us preview tonight's Kings - Blues game. We talk about LA's tough guys, playing for his hometown team, scouting NHL enforcers, BizNasty's tweets, Keith Tkachuk's retirement, adding Jaroslav Halak...and he even gives a prediction for the game.

MM: Although the Blues didn't make the playoffs last year and the Kings did, you guys took the season series from LA 3-1. Tonight will be the first match-up this season. What will be the keys to the game?

CJ: They're a good young, skilled team. They're playing good solid hockey right now and they're one of the best teams in the Western Conference. We have a lot of injuries right now. So, we have to come out and immediately get our feet going on our forecheck.  Also, the first five strikes back are so key for us. Catching up with an odd man rush or what could be an odd man rush is important, knowing that we don't have the skill or power we're used to because of our injuries. So, we need to be effective with our details - that's skating hard, being in the right position and back checking with a purpose. The Kings offense is good. So, if we don't do that, they're going to take advantage of us.

Over the summer there were a few significant changes to the Blues' line-up. What were your first thoughts when you heard goaltender Jaroslav Halak was coming to St. Louis?

Welcome to LA - 10 Tidbits on Marco Sturm

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The last time the Kings went looking for help on the left side it took almost the whole summer to figure out that Ilya Kovalchuk would be staying in New Jersey.

Fortunately, this time around, it only took around 10 days to officially announce Marco Sturm had been traded to Los Angeles.

While it may still be another week or so until he sees game action (more on that in a minute), now's as good a time as any to get to know the newest King.

We'll get you started with 10 Tidbits on Marco Sturm...

1. He was born in Dingolfing, Germany - home of the world's largest BMW plant.  Several other German players have made the NHL too, most were goaltenders (Olaf Kolzig being the most famous) or are currently playing for the Nashville Predators (Marcel Goc and Alexander Sulzer).

2. Sturm will be the second German born player to wear a Kings jersey. Randy Gilhen was the first back in 1991-92 when he sported #15 for 33 games.

3. He shares his September 8th birthday with Kings legend Rogie Vachon, former Kings forward Teddy Purcell and one of the most exciting players from last year's NHL draft class, Nino Niederreiter (NY Islanders).

Sturm Completes St. Louis Circle

The Marco Sturm to LA trade is now complete.

And while many will write about the past relationship between Kings GM Dean Lombardi and Sturm, there is another interesting aspect to the 'full circle' part of this story.

It was on June 22, 1996 when Dean Lombardi - then GM of the San Jose Sharks - extended his arm to shake the hand of Sturm, whom he had just selected with the 21st overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft.

That event took place at the Kiel Center (now renamed to the Scottrade Center) in St. Louis, Missouri. Assuming Lombardi is traveling with the team, it's safe to assume he'll be waiting in St. Louis again tomorrow to complete the circle - hand extended, with a smile, happy to once again be welcoming Sturm into the fold.

Between those two hand shakes 14 1/2 years apart, Sturm has played 855 NHL games for the Sharks and Bruins. He's posted 466 points (234g, 232a) and scored over 20 goals in seven of his 12 NHL seasons.

We'll have more on the 6'0' left wing later today in a separate article, using our popular '10 Tidbits' format.



The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119
www.MayorsManor.com

RELATED ARTICLE:

Marco Sturm:  Five Points on LA-Boston Trade

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Drew Doughty Is Odd Man Out in LA

LOS ANGELES, CA -- The Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings each have one. So, we can't be talking about Stanley Cups.

The Chicago Blackhawks have a pair. No, this has nothing to do with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

In San Jose, they have a trio. While the Penguins have four.

Yet in L.A., the Kings have six and one more an injured reserve.

You see, every defenseman on the Kings' roster is from a U.S. college hockey program - with one exception, Drew Doughty.

It's a rather surprising statistic considering outside of a few pockets - Boston and Minnesota, for example - most Americans don't even have college hockey on their radar. In fact, casual hockey fans in the U.S. probably just think that hockey players come from...um, Canada. While that may be true historically, there is a major shift underway.

College sports news tends to come in two waves. Right now it's bowl season, so it's college football 24/7. This gives fans of the Raiders, Giants, Cowboys, etc. a chance to see some of the best up and coming grid iron warriors.

In the spring, it's March Madness - featuring non-stop college hoops news. Again, giving fans of the Lakers, Celtics, Heat, etc. the opportunity to check out future NBA ballers.

But, what about hockey?

It's become a big time part of hockey development.

The Kings are not only stacked with former college hockey players at the NHL level, they're betting big on the future too - having taken Derek Forbort in the first round of last June's draft. He's currently a freshman at the University of North Dakota, one of the top college programs in the country.

Equally as impressive as the sheer numbers on the Kings' roster are the accomplishments of those players while in school...

[note: The remainder of this article appears exclusively on TheFourthPeriod.com, where The Mayor will be providing additional Kings coverage throughout the season. Please click here now to continue reading...and learn more about Jack Johnson, Matt Greene, Rob Scuderi, Willie Mitchell and others.]

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Kings in Giving Mood on Red Kettle Night

Jonathan Quick just might be the biggest Grinch in all of HockeyTown, USA right now.

The Red Wings were trying to get into the holiday spirit by hosting Red Kettle night on Monday. And why not - the Salvation Army has a big presence in Detroit, including hosting the world's largest kettle in Campus Martius Park.

While the visiting Kings were in the giving mood - allowing a season high 51 shots on goal, the stingy Quick stopped them all.

At the other end of the ice, the Kings deposited five goals in Detroit's net and picked up a huge win to kick off their five-game road trip.

Here are some other news and notes from the game...

* Wayne Simmonds opened the scoring. All I can say is be sure to read this article from yesterday to understand why it was bound to happen.

* Oscar Moller scored his first goal of the season, to put LA up 2-0. This could (read: should) be his final audition for the Kings prior to being part of a trade (we look at the issue here).  The play was set up by Drew Doughty 'walking the line' and taking a shot - a move he used so effectively last season, yet is hardly doing this year for some reason.

* Anze Kopitar put in the third goal of the game. During the pre-game radio show Daryl Evans said Kopitar needs to learn to be more selfish. I couldn't agree more. He should have 40+ goals every year.

He's Back... Five Questions with Willie Mitchell

As Willie Mitchell prepares for his return to the Kings line-up tonight, we caught up with him for an exclusive interview.

Among the topics he talks about is trying to find a positive in being out injured, tonight's milestone game and he weighs in on young defenseman, Alec Martinez.

MM: Any observations while watching the team from the sidelines over the last few weeks?

WM: Our game is starting to come around. We're starting to shoot the puck a little more. It's good. This game has peaks and valleys over the course of a season. Every team has them and we had a little bit of a valley there obviously. It's a younger team, so sometimes the trough becomes a little bit bigger because sometimes when you're a little younger you get a little emotional.  When things are going really well you get a little too cocky and when things aren't going as planned you start to shrug the shoulders and your stick gets a little heavier. It's up to (the veterans) in this room to help with that. Guys seem to be playing a little better right now though and we're trying to get back to what we were doing at the start of the year.

MM: You were acquired in late August, camp was a few weeks later, then then season started - it all happened so quickly.  So, was being out of the line-up a positive at all, in the sense that you could sit back and observe the team a little...

How the Sturm Trade Affects Schenn

About a week ago, in an article titled 'The Complete Story on Brayden Schenn' we went through the trials and tribulations of the first 18-months between the Kings and their teenage center.

It's been marked by trade rumors, a knee injury, a one day contract, loopholes in league agreements and much, more.

Well, just went you thought Schenn would be on the back burner for a while (since he's been sent back to junior hockey), think again.

No, he hasn't been recalled. Yet, he does find himself caught up in another Kings story. Just yesterday the team made a trade with the Boston Bruins for left wing Marco Sturm. Then, late today, word came out that Sturm will wear jersey #10 in Los Angeles - Schenn's number.

Yes, Schenn made his NHL debut last November wearing #55. However, once the Kings decided to keep him with the big club coming out of training camp this year he was given #10, a number he wears with both the Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) and Team Canada as a tribute to his favorite player as a child, Pavel Bure.

Sturm had been wearing #16 in Boston - a number that will never be worn again by a Kings player, having been retired in honor of Marcel Dionne. When Sturm first broke into the league with the Sharks (after being drafted by their then-GM Dean Lombardi), he wore #19.  No reason has been given yet on how/why he ended up with #10 here.

Assuming Schenn stays in the WHL all year, this could be a non-issue. Sturm will be an unrestricted free agent at season's end and may not be back next year. Or...

It is Schenn we're talking about, so... OR just add it to the list.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119
www.facebook.com/MayorsManor


RELATED ARTICLES:

The Complete Story on Brayden Schenn

Marco Sturm:  Five Points on the LA-Boston trade

Jersey Numerology

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...And Now You're Caught Up

For all the Kings fans that had a busy weekend shopping for gifts, going to holiday parties, watching football, etc. - don't worry. We've got you covered.

You should already know the score from last night's game. So, in no particular order, here are the ten other things you need to know heading into the work week ahead...

* Kyle Clifford continues to impress and now the sponsors are taking notice. This week the rookie signed an agreement with Bauer to wear their equipment from head to toe. He was already using their skates and sticks - I guess you can now add gloves, helmet, etc.

* More on The Colonel - If you missed UFC's pay-per-view card from Montreal by going to the Kings game instead Saturday night, you still got to see a great fight. Here's video of Clifford destroying Brad Staubitz.

* Last night was defenseman Rob Scuderi's 400th NHL game. It was also his 100th game with the Kings. When Willie Mitchell returns to the line-up this week it will be his 600th NHL game. We'll have more from Mitchell in an interview on Monday where he talks about reaching the milestone plus what he's learned about the team while being on the sidelines the last few weeks.

Wild 3, Kings 2, Refs -5

A few weeks ago Kings Coach Terry Murray didn't want to hear any noise about the schedule being part of the team's problems when they were losing. He wasn't concerned about the extra time off, basically saying professionals just deal with it.

Some similar thinking may be in order after the LA-Minnesota game on Saturday night because it would be too easy to simply blame the referees. From initial face-off to final whistle the game lacked any sort of flow - mainly due to a feeling that the officials spent most of the game trying to make-up for a call they missed moments earlier.

Heeding Murray's advice though, set that aside for the time being.

Here are some things the Kings can't do and expect to win a hockey game most nights...

* You can't let your goaltender be one of the other team's most productive players.

* You can't take an avoidable penalty in overtime.

* You can't let your best defenseman be the guy in the box during a crucial penalty kill in o/t.