What I've learned so far... by Penguins dman Kris Letang

Penguins Kris Letang - sharp dresser

ZZ Top were right. Every girl's crazy about a sharp dressed man.

Just ask center Jarret Stoll.

Most of his Kings' teammates have selected him as 'best dressed' guy in the room - although Brad Richardson disagrees. Regardless of who can lay claim to being the cat with the sharpest threads in LA though, based upon what I saw from the Penguins on Saturday morning, the title in Pittsburgh clearly belongs to Kris Letang.

And now that Scott Hannan has pulled a Metallica-like mistake and gone from long to short, Letang may also have the best hair in hockey.

Quick side note, can somebody please remind me to work up a 'Hannan cut his hair and his stats have never been the same' article when he and the Flames come to town next month, thanks.

Now that that's all behind us, let's see what Letang has learned so far this season. We chatted for a bit yesterday and here's what he had to say...

About Evgeni Malkin - "He's better with his English than he used to be."

About Matt Cooke - "He loves In-N-Out burgers. He's probably already been there twice today."

About Steve Sullivan - "He's old."

What I've learned so far... by Pittsburgh's James Neal

Like the Penguins' Steve Sullivan, who was profiled last hour, James Neal is one of the few Pittsburgh players who knows the Kings well. Having played for the Dallas Stars during his first three seasons in the NHL, he became well acquainted with Terry Murray's hockey club.

Another change for Neal since the last time he's been here is the addition of a Hulk Hogan-esque mustache. Not sure if that's a Movember thing or not. Either way though, we chatted for a while after morning skate today. Here's what he's learned so far this season...

About Evgeni Malkin - "He loves his Russian music. He gets his headphones on and he's jamming on the bus. His humor is great too. He's happy to be at the rink everyday."

About Steve Sullivan - "I learned that he's old and short. He's on his twitter all the time too, tweeting away."

About Brooks Orpik - "He stirs the pot behind the scenes. He's serious on the outside. But, he's behind a few things."

What I've learned so far... by Pittsburgh's Steve Sullivan

Over the past month, many of the Los Angeles Kings have been featured in a new series here, titled 'What I've learned so far...'

It's brought memorable quotes and tidbits - such as, team captain Dustin Brown is a self admitted geek (or a nerd, depending on who was being interviewed at the time), Trevor Lewis likes heated toilet seats, Brad Richardson is proud of his golf game and...well, Mike Richards is just all around good guy.

Today, we turn our attention to the visiting locker room. Up first, is Steve Sullivan - a speedy forward, perhaps best known for his six seasons in Nashville.  However, last summer, he signed with the Penguins as a free agent.

After the morning skate today, I asked him what he's learned so far...

About James Neal - "He can grow some good facial hair."

About Paul Martin - "Underrated. I knew he was a good defenseman, but playing with him on a daily basis you really realize how a lot of the things he does don't show up on the score sheet on a regular basis."

About Tyler Kennedy - "He's exactly who I thought he'd be. He's from the Soo, enough said."

Lombardi has a plan for free agents, not just wingn' it

For those not following along on twitter and/or facebook today, here is where things stand with free agency...

Back when Kings GM Dean Lombardi arrived in Los Angeles in the spring of 2006 he immediately began talking about building the team from the net out.

More recently, he's acknowledged that the team needs to be stronger at center if they want to compete with the upper echelon of the Western Conference - teams like Vancouver, San Jose and Detroit.

So, while a bunch of free agent forwards signed elsewhere today - Andrew Brunette (Chicago), Eric Cole (Montreal), Tomas Fleischmann (Florida), Jeff Halpern (Washington), Jaromir Jagr (Philadelphia), Ville Lenio (Buffalo), Alexei Ponikarovsky (Carolina), Michael Ryder (Dallas), Steve Sullivan (Pittsburgh), Marco Sturm (Vancouver), Scottie Upshall (Florida), Kris Versteeg (Florida via trade) and Joel Ward (Washington) - Lombardi headed to Toronto in pusuit of another center.

There are unconfirmed reports he's asked coach Terry Murray how feasible it is to start 12 centers on offense. Which is great news to prospects like Andrei Loktionov and Jordan Weal, who would be needed for those 11th and 12 spots.

So, for now we wait.

Three teams have yet to make a big splash today - the Los Angeles Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers.

Thus, we're actually right back where we started. The same three teams that have been rumored for over a month to be the front runners for uber UFA Brad Richards are still in the hunt.

Oh yeah, one more thing... there's also a very good, often injured, former Flyer winger who hasn't signed with anybody yet. Perhaps he's plan B.

The Mayor
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Kings - Predators Preview w/ Nashville's Marcel Goc

Against many odds, the Nashville Predators continue to find ways to win enough games to make the playoffs year after year. Last season marked their fifth post season appearance in the last six years.

Yet somehow, coach Barry Trotz, the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind only Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff, is repeatedly over looked for Coach of The Year honors.

In net, things are pretty solid with 6'5" Pekka Rinne. On defense, their young Canadian-American duo of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter rivals the Kings' Drew Doughty / Jack Johnson tandem, in terms of talent and future upside.

They also have another good one on the way in Ryan Ellis, the Team Canada captain who was just voted top defenseman of the World Junior Championship yesterday.

Offensively, well...they're still searching for the right mix of responsible forwards and ones skilled enough to put the puck in the net on a regular basis. For now, it continues to be 'scoring by committee.'

They're biggest off-season move was signing center Matthew Lombardi away from the Phoenix Coyotes - something that should have given them more team speed, in addition to some goals. Unfortunately, he's been out with a concussion since the second game.

They still had Steve Sullivan, a Kings killer (more on that here), up until two weeks ago - he's now out with a lower body injury.  Plus, they recently lost Jordin Tootoo for an unspecified period of time when he admitted himself into the league's Substance Abuse Program.

One bright spot through all of the team's challenges though has been Marcel Goc.  They signed the German-born center to a free agent contract in the summer of 2009 and it's been paying dividends. His 30 points (12g, 18a) last year were career highs and he's on pace to surpass them again this season. He comes into tonight's game with 16 points (7g, 9a).

This morning I spoke with Goc for a quick preview of tonight's game...

MM:  You've faced the Kings twice so far this season.  What have you seen from them that's different, if anything, compared to what you remember from last year?

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...

Game Preview w/ 'Kings Killer' Steve Sullivan

In 37 career games versus the Los Angeles Kings, Nashville's Steve Sullivan has 10 goals, 23 assists (33 points) and is a plus-nine. When playing at Staples Center, he has eight goals and five assists (13 points) in 15 games.

On the short list of guys known for being 'Kings Killers' - a group including Shane Doan of Phoenix and Mike Ribeiro of Dallas - Sullivan has to be near to the top.

In his inaugural stop into MayorsManor we talk about that and he gives a few keys to night's match-up...

MM: Is there anything that motivates you a little more when playing the Kings for some reason?

SS: No, I don't think so. I had no idea (of his numbers against the Kings).  Those are unexplainable stats.  I don't know why I have such good numbers against LA.  Maybe I just love California (he laughs).