VIDEO: What type of music do the Kings players listen to?

You might have seen the tweet we posted a few weeks ago of Colin Fraser taking a lap around the Kings locker room with a microphone and camera in tow. Here's his report, as he finds out what type of music his teammates listen to on the way to the rink...

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What I've learned so far... by LA Kings Mike Richards

Mike Richards - LA v Phx (photo: M. Zampelli)

From heated toilet seats to a good geek vs. nerd battle, this new 'What I've learned so far...' series has turned out some interesting answers from several members of the LA Kings.

Over the last two weeks, Simon Gagne, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty and a handful of others have stopped by MayorsManor to share a few thoughts from the early part of the season.

Each had their own take on things, as expected. However, the one common thread has been Mike Richards.

Every time his name came up during the interviews, the first words were always the same - 'great guy.'

So, now we turn to the man they've nicknamed Ricky (explained, in detail, here by his road roommate - Trevor Lewis).

By all accounts, Richards has been fitting in nicely. Off the ice his teammates seem to love him and he's put up nine points in nine games - and almost always seems to be involved in the action.

Still, one thing bubbled up quickly and he was ready to get it off his chest.

"The dance music in the locker room is something that I did not expect," said Richards.

When are you going to take over the ipod then?

"Nah, that's not me, I'm not going to be doing too much of that."

Let's move on then. Here's what he's learned so far this season...

About Anze Kopitar - "He kills me on the game 'Words with Friends.' I don't know how though. It's his second language and he still kills me."

What I've learned so far... by LA forward Kevin Westgarth

Don Draper or Ethan Moreau? You decide.

Earlier this week we kicked off a new series here on MayorsManor, titled 'What I've learned so far..."

Kings forwards Ethan Moreau and Trent Hunter were the first two to file a report, largely based around them getting to know some of their new teammates.

Here, we'll switch things up a bit and allow newly married Kevin Westgarth to share some observations he collected while the team was out on the road for the first few weeks of October.

This is what Westgarth says he's recently learned...

About Ethan Moreau - "It's been great getting to know him, he's a veteran presence in the NHL. He's the king of the one-liners and a real funny guy. I now know that he probably looks better with his teeth in than out. I also feel like his doppelganger is Don Draper from Mad Men. I don't know if it's his personality or reflected in what he looks like, I just get that vibe from him. He's a cool customer, I guess."

About Justin Williams - "Willie just turned 30, so he's old now. We celebrated his birthday over there, the night we got into Sweden. That was pretty low key - we were at the hotel, in a little lounge area, and just ordered some room service. It was kinda cool though to just hang out with the guys. So, I know now that he's an old man. I can give him crap about that until - well, I guess until I turn 30."

VIDEO: 'LA Kings players' sing an American classic

On a day like today, there are few things more American than baseball.

Well, maybe hot dogs. And the video below touches on that too.

Enjoy a partially animated Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Dustin Penner, Jack Johnson and Jonathan Quick as they temporarily trade in their Kings sweaters for some Los Angeles Dodgers gear.

SPECIAL NOTE: There's still time to enter the Drew Doughty contract contest! If you want to win a free t-shirt just by making a simple guess, click here.

Finally, several Dodger players stopped by MayorsManor this summer - including Matt Kemp, James Loney and Tony Gwynn - to check out what they had to say about the Kings and hockey in general, click here.

The Mayor
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The Colonel Loves His Country

Prior to the Kings leaving town for Pittsburgh I had a chance to catch up with everybody's favorite rookie, Kyle Clifford, to see what's been going on away from the ice...

MM: You went back home for the All Star break. How did that go?

KC: I had a couple days in there to spend a lot of time with friends and family and threw a nice little party at the local Queen's Tavern bar (note: it's located at 99 Stanley St, a hockey place if there ever was one) for the town. So, it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it a lot. It was nice to see a couple familiar faces.

MM: How about the rookie party in Calgary...

KC: It was our way of showing that we appreciate the veterans. Actually, really it's just a night out for the guys. Every year they do it, so it was a lot of fun. It was good to have it in Calgary, a nice little western town. It was pretty low key. We just had a nice dinner and went out for a little bit of fun, dancing and stuff like that. We put together a few little skits and it was a lot of fun.

MM: The cameras caught Drew Doughty singing on the bench in Calgary during one of the stops in play. I think they might have caught you as well..

KC: Yeah, I'm kind of a country-boy type of person. So, I love the country music. It's always nice to hear it and you don't get it too often. So, you really have to take it all in while you can.

Hopefully Clifford brought his ipod. There probably won't be much country music on this leg of the trip.

The Mayor
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Kings Gifts of The Future - the Kyle Clifford bobblehead

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Clifford and Westgarth Respond to Biz Nasty

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Whiskey In The Morning

No, that's not Davis Drewiske sportin' some new ink.

That king tattoo belongs to Josh Todd, lead singer for Buckcherry.

If you've never heard of them, you're probably at least heard them - provided you've been to Staples Center this season and returned to your seat prior to the end of the second intermission. Right before the players come out for the third period, blaring through the speakers is a newer track from the the L.A.-based rock group.

However, many years ago, they released a tune titled 'Whiskey in the Morning.'  Which is, of course, only appropriate considering we have some comments from Drewiske to share...

MM:  Even though the season is still young, the defensive pairings have gone through some changes at times, first with (Drew) Doughty and (Matt) Greene out and now Willie Mitchell.  Any thoughts on how it's coming together with all the moving pieces around the blue line?

SP:  You know, I think pretty well.  So far, certainly Quicky (Jonathan Quick) has been pretty good - which has helped.  So, we're kinda mixing and matching throughout the game.  But, for the most part, we're doing a good job of keeping things on the perimeter.  We're not giving up a lot of goals.  I think that has a lot to do with the way Quicky is playing.  There's still room for improvement, but there's some stuff to build on.

Room for improvement?  The guy seems to be giving up just one goal a game, especially at home.  Yet, there's still room for improvement?

2010 Season Preview w/ ESPN's John Buccigross

All week long we'll be talking with people around the world of hockey to get their take on the upcoming NHL season. Prior to posting my predictions later this week, we'll check in with experts from places like Hockey Night in Canada and USA Today.

Kicking things off though - making his second trip into MayorsManor - is ESPN hockey guru John Buccigross.

Last summer, Buccigross endeared himself to Kings fans while hosting the inaugural HockeyFest at LA Live, when he proclaimed the team would be returning to the playoffs. Then, he backed off those statements just a few weeks later in his ESPN article. So, of course, he was a natural to bring in last fall. Kings fans wanted answers on his about face. To his credit, he owned it, admitting he wasn't sold on their goaltending.

Of course, the Kings did make the playoffs. In the article below we'll see what he thinks about that, as well as look at some of the burning issues around the Pacific Division.

MM: After flip-flopping your opinion on the Kings and then seeing them in the playoffs, what do you think was the big difference for them and why did they end up having such a good regular season?

Interview with Greg Hetson

Sports and music go hand in hand. I haven't been to an arena or stadium in the country that doesn't blare some music - usually rock music - during breaks in the action. So, it's not surprising that hidden among the 18,000 faithful that fill Staples Center most nights the Kings play is a true punk rock legend. In the last 25 years this man has toured the world over several times with multiple bands. He is a member of two of the most important and influential punk bands of all time, the Circle Jerks and Bad Religion.

And he's a Kings fan!

MayorsManor had a chance to chat with guitarist Greg Hetson recently; not just about music, but his other passion too - Kings hockey.

MM:  You were born in NY, but have lived in LA practically your whole life. So, how did you get into hockey?

GH:  I was pretty much hooked from the first time I saw it. I grew up in Hawthorne, so we went to the local ice skating rink - I think it was called Olympic Ice Arena or something like that over in Harbor City. We were just there for public skating but we couldn't skate because the ice was being used for hockey. I thought it was cool and just got into it from that moment. That was around 1971. Soon after I found out about the Kings and started going to games.

Being a fan for that long you've seen a lot of different players come through Los Angeles. Do you have one all time favorite?

Marcel Dionne. The guy was so talented. He was like Mario Lemieux, just about a foot shorter. Every time he was on the ice you just knew something great was about to happen. I loved watching him play. Actually, just recently I had the chance to meet him and he is a super cool guy. I played in Luc's celebrity game with him up in Park City. That was a lot of fun.

Sounds like it. What position did you play and did you score at all?

I was a winger. Unfortunately, I didn't get any goals. I did have about 7 shots on goal though. Just never put one in.

If you were a player on the current team, who would you be?

I'd have to be a forecheck guy. I'd be a pest. Not dirty, just a pest. Like maybe Esa Tikkanen back in the day. On the current team I'd probably be Wayne Simmonds.

Coming to games since the 70's means you've seen a lot of memorable games. Is there any one game that stands out in your mind?

Well, the '93 Finals. Of course, it was heartbreaking!  But it was good too. Good to actually see the Stanley Cup Finals in LA. There have been some double or triple overtime games in the playoffs that were pretty cool too. There was a game against Calgary back at the Forum with a disputed goal (the famous 1990 playoff game, where later Mike Krushelnyski scored to beat Vernon and win the game). I don't remember it being a goal, but they gave it the Kings.


And then there was the playoff game versus Detroit a few years ago at Staples. It went into several overtimes and my daughter had fallen asleep in my arms in the third period. I didn't want to move her. So, the longer the game went on the more numb my hand got. My pinky still has some slight nerve damage left over from that night. So, I took one for the team. (he laughs)

Athletes have lots of crazy stories from being on the road so much. What about you - anything significant stand out from all the touring you've done?

Probably the craziest thing I ever saw was a show Bad Religion did in San Sebastian, Spain. About 20 seconds into the first song the floor collapsed and all the fans fell through to the level below us. It was scary seeing all of these people in what looked like a giant sink hole. They were just looking up at us scared, not knowing what to do. Some of them had broken bones and stuff. The place was like 1,000 people over capacity. It was nuts.

Sounds scary. When you're in other countries that have hockey, like places in Europe, do ever get a chance to catch a game?

We did go see a Swedish game in Stockholm once. It was good quality, just not as intense as an NHL game. There wasn't as much hitting. I've also seen some Jr. games in Canada.

How about the Kings - do you ever squeeze in a road game while touring in North America?

Of yea, I've had the chance to see lots of road games - New York, Boston, Chicago, Toronto. We actually went to a lot of those cities and saw the old buildings before they tore them down - like old Chicago Stadium, Boston Gardens and Toronto. I've seen a few of the newer buildings too.

Any memories from those games that stand out?

Well, I loved old Boston Garden. It was so cool. I even wore my Kings shirt and the fans there were giving me shit when the Kings scored. It was a great time.

You've played with lots of other musicians in super groups or whatever you want to call them...the Kings have several other musicians as fans. If there was a super group put together of just Kings fans who else would be in the band with you?

Rob Zombie, of course, he is a huge Kings fan. Jay and Greg (from Bad Religion) are fans too. They come to games with me sometimes. The guys in the Briggs are fans. Darrin from Goldfinger. And on the last Warped Tour I was talking with one of the guys from Bayside - he was a hockey fan too. Oh yea, and we can't forget Melvin (from NOFX).


Recently you've been DJing. That's quite different from playing guitar in a punk band. How did you get into that?

A friend of mine is the manager of a bar and just said he needed somebody and asked me if I was interested. He said he liked my taste in music. Its fun. I try to play some stuff that people probably don't hear otherwise.

Is that something you plan on doing more often in the future?

I don't know. I'll probably do it occasionally.

You've obviously been to tons of Kings games, have any players returned the favor and come see you perform?

The only one I know of was Felix Potvin. We actually met him back when he was in Toronto and he likes punk music, so he came to some shows. So that was pretty cool to have him there being that I'm such a hockey groupie. But, he's the only Kings player that I know has come to one of our shows.

I see a lot similarities between being on a hockey team and being in a band. Like, the travel, everybody needing to know their role, etc. Do you see any comparisons between the two?

For sure. First off, your paid to perform. The need for good chemistry. Communication. They're a lot alike.


Actually, both need a little dysfunction to be successful too. You need that grit to sometimes light a fire under the ass of some guys. In both professions you need that team captain to sometimes come into the room and get after the other guys. It's important.

You're getting ready to tour Australia soon. What's the story with that and any plans when you get back?

Well, we (Bad Religion) leave this weekend for a tour of Australia and New Zealand. We'll be playing with NOFX.


Then in October we have a couple of shows with Pearl Jam in Philadelphia. In fact, we're playing at the Spectrum and I heard it will be the last set of shows there before they blow the place up. So, as a hockey fan that's pretty special. The Flyers made that place famous.


When all of that is finished it'll probably be time to start working on a new Bad Religion record.

Finally, if Bad religion was going to play one last show, who would you pick to open up for you?

Oh, that's a tough one. I guess I'd have to go with NOFX.

Thanks for your time. Travel safe.

Thank you. Can't wait to get back to Staples for some more Kings games once I'm home.

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Big thanks to Greg for taking some time out of his busy schedule. It's always great to talk hockey with Kings fans, especially those as passionate as he is.

Someday when the Kings finally win the Stanley Cup, I hope it's Wild in the Streets all throughout downtown LA.

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


RELATED ARTICLES YOU MAY ENJOY:

Interview with Joey from The Briggs - they sing the Kings anthem 'This is LA'

Interview with Luc Robitaille - Kings legend, member of Hockey Hall of Fame

Interview with Marcel Dionne - Kings legend, member of Hockey Hall of Fame


Old flyer photo courtesy of hardcoreshowflyers.com  *  Hetson photo courtesy of Denis Farley

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