LA Kings vs Philadelphia Flyers Pre-Game Notes

The Kings are attempting to earn at least a point in their ninth straight game, having gone 6-0-2 recently.

With that in mind, here are nine things you need to know prior to the puck dropping at noon PST...

* The last time... Coming off of two of their best games of the year (against the Ducks and Sharks), the Kings lost back-to-back games to the Coyotes and Flyers to end 2010. Those were the only two games coach Terry Murray has pulled his starting goalie and the seven goals given up to the Flyers were the most all season

* As of late, the Flyers have owned the Kings (undefeated in six, 5-0-1 record). You have to go all the way back to the pre-lockout days to find the last Kings win (2002-04 season). Making matters even more daunting, the Kings have never won in the Flyers (not so) new (anymore) building, sporting an 0-9-1 record there. They exercised their demons in Calgary recently, can they do it again in Philadelphia today?

* The Kings continue to have a balanced attack when looking at goals scored by period (49 in the first, 50 in the second and 49 in the third). On the other had, the Flyers have been notoriously slow starters this season - scoring 47 goals in the first and then 66 in both the second and third periods. However, their third period stat is probably misleading, as it includes empty net goals too. The Flyers have the fewest shots in the third period (only 527, compared to 555 and 643). So, the key is to shut them down in the second...as evidenced earlier this year when they scored four goals on the Kings.

Throwback Thursdays - Interview with Dave Schultz

These days the connection between the Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings is largely off the ice, through members of management.

Back in the '70s it was completely different.

Not only did they come into the league together in 1967, but they shared a few players early on - including the Kings sending two of their more popular players to the City of Brotherly Love in January 1972, Cowboy Bill Flett and Eddie Joyal.

In 1976 Dave 'the Hammer' Schultz joined the list, joining the Kings after winning two Stanley Cups with the Flyers ('74, '75).

As a rookie in 1972-73, he led the league with 259 penalty minutes. He nearly doubled that two years later when he posted 472 penalty minutes, setting the NHL's single season record - a mark that still stands today and will probably never be broken.

He had 232 penalty minutes in his only full season with the Kings ('76-77), a record that stood for 10 years - until being broken by 'Tiger' Williams.

With the Flyers in town tonight to take on the Kings it was only natural that we reached out to the man who was one of the most feared enforcers the game has ever known.

In the interview below he shares some thoughts on his days as a player as well as the Kings and Flyers of current...

Tuesday's 10 Tidbits on the Hockey-n-Wrestling connection

In 1985, in what's billed as the World's Most Famous Arena, Vince McMahon launched his version of professional wrestling into super-stardom, live from Madison Square Garden. Largely on the back of a "Rock-n-Wrestling" connection - fueled in part by a partnership with MTV - his World Wrestling Federation staged the first WrestleMania.

Fast forward 25 years...just a few weeks ago McMahon and crew were at the sold out Staples Center for SummerSlam, their annual mid-year spectacular. While connections to Cindi Lauper and MTV have long been removed from the on camera presentation, strong ties to the world of hockey still exist behind the scenes.

It only makes sense too. Professional wrestling has deep roots in Canada. And certainly there is nothing more Canadian than hockey, right?

Here in the U.S., many of the greatest wrestlers in history come from Minnesota, a state that promotes itself as 'The State of Hockey'. Thus, the opportunities for overlap are similar to our friends north of the border.

Sure enough, in today's 10 Tidbits article we take a look at several such connections, including at least two linked to the Los Angeles Kings.

1 - The most obvious connection between wrestling and the Kings is tied to a man considered to be one of the best wrestlers of his generation, the first ever unified world heavyweight champion, Chris Jericho.  His father was Ted Irvine (pictured), a member of the inaugural L.A. team in '67-68.  Wearing jersey #15 that season, Irvine scored 18 goals and had 22 assists, including a helper on the first goal ever scored in Kings history (October 14, 1967).