This is LA - live at Staples Center

You know the song you always hear at Staples Center before the Kings games that you just can't get out of your head...THIS IS LA...

Well, as a special treat for Kings fans attending the upcoming home playoff games, the Briggs will be performing their song live inside the arena prior to next week's action vs Vancouver.  According to the band, the plan is for them to also perform the song after the game, provided the Kings win!

Taking a look at the video below it looks like they'll be setting up shop right outside of section 308 in the upper bowl.  The video also provides some behind-the-scenes type footage from a dress rehearsal the band did inside the arena last week.


The Briggs play LA Kings Playoff Home Games!
note - the dates are wrong in the video, as it was mixed prior to the playoff schedule being released

Kings vs. Vancouver - playoffs, round one.  Game three is at Staples Center next Monday.  You'll want to be there when the playoffs return to Los Angeles for the first time in eight years.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119

Interview with Kings Playoff Hero - Gary Shuchuk

Gary Shuchuk is one in a long line of unsuspecting NHL playoff heroes. Ironically, his brightest moment in a Kings uniform was against the Vancouver Canucks - the same team LA will begin battle with later this week.

An LA Times article recapping the May 11, 1993 game began with 'The hero of the Kings' double-overtime victory over the Canucks in Game 5 was a player who had not taken a single shift in the first four games of the Smythe Division final.'

It was the longest game in Kings history and the biggest goal in Shuchuk's NHL career.  The few years prior hadn't been that bad for him either, be won the NCAA hockey championship at Wisconsin in 1990 and the AHL Calder Cup in 1992.

Last week we sat down with Shuchuk to talk college hockey life in an interview published here.  This week, he's back to share memories of making to the NHL, Barry Melrose, the Kings, Wayne Gretzky, Dan Blysma, Warren Rychel and more.

Another Mayors Manor exclusive interview - welcome in Gary Shuchuk...

A Mere 82 Games Ago

Throughout training camp in September the Kings players were sporting shirts reading The Only Reason We're Here. At first, some wondered what it meant. However, it quickly became apparent that the team was now on the same page as fans and management - a return to the playoffs was a must this season.

The majority of experts had the Kings finishing out of the playoffs yet again. The more optimistic ones had the Kings finishing 8th...maybe 7th.

Yet, let's take a look at what the Mayor said in his October 3, 2009 article just prior to Game One:

My fearless predictions for the upcoming season:

Western Conference
1. San Jose Sharks
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Calgary Flames
4. Detroit Red Wings
5. Vancouver Canucks
6. Los Angeles Kings
7. St Louis Blues
8. Dallas Stars

I then went on to explain why I felt the Kings would not only make the playoffs, but actually finish HIGHER than 7th or 8th.

Overall, I would say things unfolded pretty much as expected.  Sure, Colorado made the playoffs.  Nobody saw that coming.  I challenge anybody to find a news source claiming the Avs would make the playoffs.  Calgary and Vancouver were seen as 'even' coming into the season.  You could have flip-flopped those two in the standings.  In the end, Calgary just didn't come together as quickly as the Canucks did.

In hindsight, the one team that should have been given more respect was the Phoenix Coyotes.  They were in the playoff race for the first 2/3 of last season.  Then the wheels fell off.  The coaching change was bound to do them some good - and it did.  Overlooking them was a mistake.

As for St Louis...well, as Andy Murray said in his interview with the Mayor - expectations were just too high for the Blues.  Unrealistic expectations.

Back to the Kings...all season long I've written about the importance of EVERY SINGLE POINT.  The Kings should have finished fifth in the West, perhaps even fourth if you really look at things.  They simply gave away too many points throughout the season. 

They can't continue to give games away if they expect to upset Vancouver in the first round.

In another article (posted here) where I made some predictions on player performance I had penciled Michal Handzus in for 25 goals and Ryan Smyth for 27.  Each fell just a few shy of those numbers.  Too bad they couldn't have chipped in just a couple more...if they had, the Kings probably would be playing Phoenix later this week instead of traveling to Canada.

That same article featured these words about Anze Kopitar - read carefully, THE KINGS NEED YOU, need you to play big every night, need you to become dominant.

It's probably even more true now than it was a mere 82 games ago.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119

Interview w/ former Hobey Baker winner & Kings goalie Robb Stabuer

College hockey is alive and well people. Just look at the LA Kings roster - Jonathan Quick, Jack Johnson, Davis Drewiske, Peter Harrold, Matt Greene, Rob Scuderi, Scott Parse...they all played NCAA hockey prior to becoming NHL players.

There have been many more before the current group though, including an unheralded member of the Kings team that made a run to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals...Robb Stauber.

Blueline, as he was affectionately known during his playing days, was the first goalie to ever win the Hobey Baker Award in 1988...as a sophomore! For those unfamiliar, that's hockey's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. He also went to the Frozen Four three times as a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. After wrapping up his pro career he returned to his alma mater and joined the coaching staff, where he helped guide the team to three more Frozen Four appearances.

Tonight in Detroit this year's college hockey championship will be decided when two of the premier programs in the country battle for the title, Wisconsin and Boston College.

To help get everybody ready for the season ending game we sat down with Robb for a conversation about college hockey - both as a player and as a coach.
Straight out of the net and racing towards the blueline, it's Robb Stauber...

Free tickets to the regular season finale at home!

The contest for a free pair of tickets to the Kings vs. Oilers game on April 10, 2010 is now closed. The winner has been selected, contacted and confirmed. Thank you for entering. Please continue to read MayorsManor for future contests.

The original posting can be viewed after the jump...

NCAA Frozen Four preview with Gary Shuchuk

The NCAA hockey championship will be decided over the next three days in Detroit, Michigan - with semi final action kicking off in just a few hours. One team vying for the crown is the Wisconsin Badgers, the former home of many NHL players - including Kings defenseman Davis Drewiske and Sharks sniper Dany Heatley.

And there's another former Badger on the loose out there...a guy who led the Badgers in goals and points in 1990...his team also won the NCAA hockey championship that season...none other than former Kings forward Gary Shuchuk.

We caught up with Gary to get some thoughts about his college days and to get a prediction on this year's tournament.  Here's part one of an exclusive MayorsManor interview with Shuchuk...

The next Frolov sits at #20

The Kings are getting ready to throw a party like Los Angeles and the NHL has never seen before. And no, I'm not talking about the playoffs. The NHL Entry Draft heads to SoCal for the first time ever this June. While this event is usually reserved almost exclusively for northeastern cities, the Kings staff convinced the NHL brass it was time to come west.

Earlier today the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau published its latest player rankings...with an interesting twist. They've now given us their comparisons to current and former stars.

Some People Just Don't Get It

It's called a cross town rival for a reason.  You're either a Rangers fan or an Islanders fan.  Jets fans and Giants fans don't bro out together.  Kings - Ducks...well...

Apparently some people didnt get the memo...

Right after this pic was snapped on Saturday night, Mr One-liner turns to me and says "You know the worst part about that jersey? (a million thoughts rushed to my brain)... If there's one of 'em, that means there is another one out there just like it!"

Why people?  Why?

The Mayor

www.twitter.com/Mayor119

Bernier named AHL Goalie of the Year

Over the last several years Kings GM Dean Lombardi has made numerous changes to the organization. He's done simple things behind the scenes, like upgrading the workout facilities in El Segundo. He's been an open book with fans and media alike.  Yet, when all is said and done, the most significant mark he may leave on the Kings outside of a championship could be his commitment to developing goaltenders.

Jonathan Bernier was drafted in the first round just months after Dean Lombardi was hired in April 2006.  From day one both Dean and Assistant GM Ron Hextall have been insistent on not rushing Bernier to the NHL. Nobody wants to see a repeat of what happened to the only other Kings goalie drafted in the first round, Jamie Storr. His NHL career never really materialized after basically winning every award there is to win for younger players.

While Jonathan Quick has been the main man in net for LA this year, Kings fans and players have been treated to a few brief glimpses of Bernier this season...and he looks to be the real deal.

Earlier today he was rewarded for his hard work in the minors as the AHL named him their Top Goalie for 2009-2010.

Negative Nancy Night at Staples Center

Saturday night's game was a sellout...and it brought out plenty of Negative Nancys.

Finding some positives in the game may be difficult, but let's give it a try:

* First off, I'll get the obligatory Easter reference out of the way...can somebody please find the egg holding the key to the Kings offense? It's probably hidden well though, so search behind all the bushes and around all corners.

* A long list of players and coaches have...um, "exchanged pleasantries" with the folks in Section 119 as they come and go from the ice. However, the one coach I never expected to break was Randy Carlyle of the Ducks. This guy is usually so calm and in control. Like a machine. Nothing seems to get to him. And the irony of it is, I never said anything to him last night during the game (unlike previous games). Apparently he missed my jabs though, as he practically came running into the tunnel to bump his gums when things were over last night. Keep it up Randy. We miss McToilet in Edmonton and need a new coach to befriend.