LA Kings at Colorado Avalanche - what to watch for

Today's will be just the second back-to-back series of the season for LA...and, unfortunately, they'll be doing it at high altitude.

On the plus side, the Kings have dominated the Avs of late - winning eight of the last nine games, including five straight and the last three in Denver.

Colorado's home record is also one of the key story lines, as their 6-4 record this season features six wins on the road (tops in the NHL) and not a single win at home in four tries.

Here are some other things to watch for...

- Left Wing Stats: Who would have ever thought that after 10 games, Scott Parse would have more goals than Dustin Penner?

- Richie, not Ricky: Brad Richardson, a former Avs draft pick (2003, fifth round), loves to play against his old team.  Last season, he had a hat trick in Denver and has seven points in nine games lifetime vs. Colorado. Don't be surprised to see him spend a little time on the top line with Anze Kopitar.

Five final thoughts on the Kings vs Avs at Frozen Fury 2011

In front of a sell-out crowd at the MGM Grand on Saturday (announced as 11.478), the Kings lost 4-1 to the Colorado Avalanche. To close the chapter on this year's event, here are five post-game notes...

- The last time the Kings lost a 60-minute game to the Avalanche in Las Vegas was all the way back on September 30, 2000. Peter Forsberg had four points that night (two goals, two assists), including setting up Chris Drury for the game winner with 31 seconds left.

- The only other time the Kings scored a single goal in a Frozen Fury game was 2005. Fresh off the NHL lockout the season before, Dustin Brown scored for LA that night. But, it wasn't enough, as the Kings eventually lost in overtime by a score of 2-1.

- Frozen Fury IX in 2006 saw the Las Vegas debut of Anze Kopitar, and he waited until late in the game to let his full presence be known, setting up Patrick O'Sullivan for the game winning goal with 52 seconds remaining. Since then, he had picked up at least one goal in every game - 2007 (goal and an assist), 2008 (power play goal), 2009 (two goals) and 2010 (goal and an assist). This year, he came away empty handed in the goal department. However, with an assist on Simon Gagne's goal, Kopitar pushed his points streak to six straight games in Las Vegas.

- All three stars of the game were from the Avs - 1. Matt Duchene, 2. Milan Hejduk, 3. Eric Johnson

- Although the event wasn't televised, fan-filmed footage of Gagne's goal can be found here

The Mayor
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POLL: Los Angeles Kings - Which record falls first?

Taking a break from all the Development Camp interviews and notes, let's look at the Los Angeles Kings record book.

It's fairly safe to say that Jonathan Quick is well on his way to rewriting the chapters on goaltending. He's already established new single season marks for games played (72 in 2009-10) and wins (39, 2009-10). Plus, last season he tied Rogie Vachon's 2.24 goals-against average (1974-75) for tops all-time in franchise history.

So, how about over on the offensive side of the puck. Will one of the team's records be in jeopardy anytime soon?

Center Bernie Nicholls holds the goal mark, netting 70 in the 1988-89 season. Breaking it down by position, Luc Robitaille had 63 as a left wing in 1992-93 and right wing Dave Taylor scored 47 in 1980-81. Among the defensmen, Steve Duchesne found the back of the net from the blueline 25 times in 1988-89.

With the man advantage, Robitaille set the power play goals mark in 1991-92 with 26.

He also holds the record for most goals in a season by a Kings rookie, picking up 45 in 1986-87. Larry Murphy had a whopping 60 assists as a rookie in 1980-81.

Wayne Gretzky picked up 122 assists in 1990-91 and 168 total points in 1988-89. Neither of those will ever be broken, so - moving right along...

If it's penalty minutes you like, Dave 'Tiger' Williams racked up 358 during the 1986-87 season, a number that was eclipsed by Marty McSorley in the magical 1992-93 season (399 PIM).

Looking over the above numbers, which record do you think is most likely to be broken?


Poll closes Sunday at 7pm PST.

The Mayor
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RELATED ARTICLES:

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Bernier and Canada nearly give it all away vs. Norway

Photo by Jukka Rautio/HHOF-IIHF

If results are the only thing that matters, Team Canada is doing just fine.

However, coach Ken Hitchcock has to at least be a little concerned with the overall play of his team right now at the IIHF World Championship.

Yesterday they trailed 2-1 after two periods to the U.S. Sure, they came back and won 4-3. Yet, that was in a shootout. And Ty Conklin was in goal for the U.S.

Should that really have been a problem for an offense being led by Rick Nash, James Neal, Jason Spezza, Jordan Eberle, Matt Duchene, John Tavares, Jeff Skinner, etc.?

Maybe the group says 'Hey, we put 50+ shots on goal. What more do you want from us?'

Could be.  Moving on...

After riding goalie James Reimer (Toronto Maple Leafs) for the first four games in the tournament, Hitchcock went to Kings' goalie Jonathan Bernier today versus Norway.

Things looked good when Canada was up 3-0 with 10 minutes left to play in the third. Then, Bernier gave up two (somewhat) soft goals in a less-than-two-minute span and we had a game.

When the clock got down to 90 seconds left Norway pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. However, they couldn't put another one past Bernier - so Canada won and secured their spot in the quarterfinals.

Bernier finished with 25 of 27 saves and he may not be done in the tournament. Prior to the game Hitchcock said he was giving Bernier a chance because he was told Bernier would be good on the big ice surface. Then, after the win, he was noncommittal about his starter for Canada's next game on Monday vs. Sweden - saying he'll sleep on it.

He also said "I was impressed with Bernier. I was impressed with the composure."

Finally, a few other notes...

After yesterday's game vs. Canada, Jack Johnson wasn't looking at things any differently just because of who they were playing - saying "A loss is a loss no matter who you lose to." He played a team-high 28 minutes and scored on a breakaway (coming out of the penalty box) in the second period that put Team USA up 2-1 lead. He was also the first shooter in the shootout, but missed.

Team USA is playing France this morning, in a game that will air on tape delay later tonight on VERSUS.

In case you haven't heard, Alexander Ovechkin is now in Slovakia for the tournament. He is practicing today with Team Russia and will play his first game tomorrow vs. the Czech Republic.

That should be interesting. One of my lasting memories from last year's Olympics in Vancouver was Ovi laying out Jaromir Jagr at center ice during a game between the two countries.



The Mayor
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Kopitar Comes Close at NHL All Star Game

The Los Angeles Kings (and their fans) have faced many injustices this season - from what should have been Ryan Smyth's game tying goal in Ottawa to Jonathan Quick not being included on the NHL All Star team. And yes, there was also the blown call against Phoenix, which later cost GM Dean Lombardi a $50,000 fine.

What happened in Raleigh, NC over the weekend wasn't quite to those epic levels. Yet, it did once again put the lack of respect west coast hockey faces front and center.

Friday night's All Star Draft was a fantastic event. What sounded great on paper delivered even more than expected. One criticism - how in the world does Anze Kopitar not get selected until the 15th round (30th overall)?

During Saturday's Super Skills competition you could probably argue Kopitar didn't do himself any favors. Competing in two events, he finished with less than stellar results. In the hardest shot competition he posted a best of 94.5 miles per hour, only good enough to rank him 10th out of 12 shooters. And in the breakaway challenge, which was basically a trick-shot competition, he finished fourth out of six in fan voting (12.5 percent of the vote). However, as things played out, he probably had the best shot at beating two-time defending champion Alex Ovechkin. Unfortunately for Kopitar, his super slick second shot didn't make it past the goaltender.

Then on Sunday, when it mattered most, Kopitar let his skills shine through - even though the pre-game line combinations could have been perceived as partially another slap in the face. He was placed on the fourth line, centering Phil Kessel (the last player taken in the above mentioned draft).

Once the puck dropped it didn't matter. Kopitar scored the first goal for his team - after they had dug themselves a 4-0 hole - and later added a second one for good measure.

NHL All Star Game Mock Draft with Anze Kopitar

In a little less than an hour hockey fans everywhere will be treated to something truly unique.

This year's NHL All Star teams will be selected by Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) and Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes) in a live television draft.

The pre-event storylines are abundant - will the Sedin twins be slit up? Will teammates, like Pittsburgh's Kris Letang and Marc Andre Fleury, end up on separate sides? Will Staal take fellow Hurricanes Cam Ward and Jeff Skinner? Will Lidstrom draft a heavy-Western Conference team?

It's a situation where the questions are near endless.

Yet, for the Kings' Anze Kopitar, the process will relatively stress free.  He doesn't have another guys from LA with him - so no separation anxiety here or possible hits from Jack Johnson to concern himself with. It's only been a few weeks since Slovenia even had a second player in the NHL (Jan Mursak of the red Wings). Thus, he won't be worrying about national pride when lacing up the skates this weekend either.

Perhaps the only thing on his mind right now is will he be the last player selected? A shame that nobody wanted as a kid, nor even sounds appealing to a professional athlete making millions of dollars. Regardless of circumstance, that's embarrassing.

NHL All Star Game Mock Draft with Matt Greene

Kings defenseman was Matt Greene was the 44th overall pick back at the 2002 NHL Draft. So, he knows all about waiting around to be selected.

Right now, he's probably half way to Pioneertown (story here). However, before he left we did a mock draft for this weekend's NHL All Star Game.

Like the mock drafted posted earlier today with Drew Doughty, we only took one goalie, two defensemen and three forwards from the pool of available players (excluding Anze Kopitar, due to them being teammates).

Perhaps displaying a bit of the brain power he put to use at the University of North Dakota, Greene carefully thought about each selection and provided commentary along the way.

When selecting his first forward he said "I'll take Stamkos. He scores a lot."

Then, he started talking strategy, after noting that he already has a center he added "I'll go with Giroux at wing."

NHL All Star Game Mock Draft with Drew Doughty

All Star Games in every sport have become boring.

We all know it.

If the game is in your city, it's a great experience - as it was here in Los Angeles in 2002...a weekend filled with legends of the game everywhere, the fan fest, a skills competition, etc.

However, the game itself isn't much to get pumped for unless you're there live. Even the honor of being selected to play doesn't seem to mean what it once did, with more and more athletes finding reasons to have a mini-vacation instead of attending the event with their peers.

Major League Baseball attempted to give theirs a little umph a few years ago by affixing a meaningful prize to the winning league - home field advantage in the playoffs. Sounds great on the surface, but it's hard for fans to invest emotionally in July for an outcome that may or may not mean something to their team three months later. Not to mention the nonsensical correlation between a team gaining such a critical advantage for a championship series by an All Star team victory.

This year the NHL takes its turn at trying to spice things up a bit and I love what they've done.

The game will probably be the same, perhaps only slightly better.

However, there is much more intrigue leading up to tonight than in any All Star Game of recent memory.

At 5pm PST the All Star Draft will get underway on live TV. If you haven't heard, gone is the Western Conference vs. Eastern Conference format. Instead, each team has been assigned a captain (Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings and Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes) and three assistants. All other players have been put in a general pool and one by one they'll be selected to their teams, just like kids on a school yard or frozen pond.

With that in mind, I sat down with a few Kings players to do a mock draft before they all went their separate ways this weekend.  First up, defenseman Drew Doughty.

Interview w/ ESPN's John Buccigross

Hockey seemed to finally arrive on the national scene in the late 90s when ESPN launched their nightly 30 minute show NHL2Night. Hosting the show was a self proclaimed music nut, John Buccigross, whose love for the sport spilled out through the screen. He wasn't just reading lines off the teleprompter, this guy had the fever that so many of us share. Fast forward a decade or so and he's been caught in the cross hairs of Kings fans recently. First retracting his prediction of the Kings making the playoffs this year and later proclaiming to the world that Frolov had indeed been traded. What's going on?

MayorsManor had a chance to catch up with Buccigross and get some answers...and some other hockey insight...

Let's get right to it - earlier this summer while hosting the Kings HockeyFest in downtown, you said this was the year the Kings would return to the playoffs. Then, more recently, in your ESPN.com article Breaking Down the Western Conference you said "after studying things a little more, I have them outside the top eight." Why the change of heart?

I simply think there are 8 teams who are better and question they will prevent enough goals to be a playoff team. Unless they make a big trade, I don't think they are quite ready yet.

Kings fans are obviously excited about the young players on the team, guys like Anze Kopitar. There is also a feeling of an east coast bias in the media when guys like Drew Doughty hardly get noticed for Calder consideration. In your opinion, who is the most underrated player in the league today?

Niklas Kronwall of the Red Wings is real good. A #1 defenceman on most teams. He's physical and good on the power play.

Although you grew up playing basketball, golf and baseball in high school, you've obviously been following hockey for a long time. What is the greatest game you've ever seen?
Ray Bourque's Game 7 Stanley Cup clincher was a memorable one.

NOTE: Funny Bourque follow-up story, in a 2006 column Buccigross said he "once played golf with Ray Bourque and tried to intentionally three putt from 30 feet so I could say I shot a 77 playing golf with Ray Bourque. Instead, the slippery downhill putt went in and I shot a 75 not playing golf with Brett Lindros."

Over the last decade of so many of the older, traditional buildings have given way to new arenas. Of the 30 buildings currently hosting NHL games, do you have a favorite place to watch hockey?

Well...it would be hard to pick just one. Columbus, Minnesota and Toronto are the best I've been to.

During the lockout year a few rule changes were put in place to improve the game. As a fan, if you could change one rule in hockey, what would it be?

I'd implement a ten minute 4 on 4 overtime.

Interesting. I'm not sure if making the games longer is something the league would go for, yet I'm all for more puck! How about the jerseys. One of the few areas where hockey gets credit over the other big sports is on the fashion front. There are certainly some great jerseys in the league, but a few of them are embarrassing. If you could change one team's jersey, which team would you target?

Columbus' is terrible. A simple "C" would be cool at home. Maybe a diagonal Columbus on the roadies.

Probably not the team I would have gone after. However, given that you went to college in Ohio, I can see you working it. Let's move on. How about some word association? We haven't done that yet on MayorsManor. You want to give it a go?

Sure

OK, how about the teams in the Western Conference:

Anaheim Ducks - Ryan Getzlaf's hands
Calgary Flames - Jay Bouwmeester's feet
Chicago Blackhawks - Patrick Kane's feet and hands
Colorado Avalanche - Matt Duchene is for real, yo
Columbus Blue Jackets - Playoffs?!?!?! You bet.
Dallas Stars - In transition
Detroit Red Wings - Their Central Division streak ends
Edmonton Oilers - Fast but still disjointed
Los Angeles Kings - Coming together. Should be in the hunt.
Minnesota Wild - New look Wild now are a little run and gun.
Nashville Predators - Barry Trotz might coach this team for 50 years.
Phoenix Coyotes - Boring, defensive
San Jose Sharks - Heatley will score 60
St Louis Blues - Very high expectations. Simmer.
Vancouver Canucks - They will be fine.

Still working the Columbus angle, huh? No, seriously - thanks for stopping by John. We appreciate your time.

In the future we'll try and get into some of his musical favorites, like R.E.M. and Run DMC. Once upon a time, in a different interview, he said "Music has always been a big part of my life, maybe even bigger than sports, because music has never let me down."

Although they've done it plenty of times in the last 20 years, Kings fans are counting on the team to not let them down this year. LA needs to make the playoffs and remind Buccigross you should always go with your first instincts.

Its like that...and thats the way it is.

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


RELATED ARTICLES

High / Low with John Buccigross of ESPN - get his takes on the opening of the 2009-10 season

Interview with Kelly Hrudey - former Kings goalie, now a commentator on TSN

Interview with Luc Robitaille - sit down with #20 a few days before his Hall of Fame induction

Interview with Mike Modano - arguably the greatest American born hockey player of all-time

Interview with Bob Miller - legendary voice of the Kings talks favorite players, games, moments, etc.

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photo courtesy of ESPN.com