Drew Doughty for Norris? We kid. In this episode we talk about the Jack Johnson trade rumors, the search for the elusive left winger, Anze Kopitar’s scoring drought, Jonathan Quick for MVP, the surprising lack of Kings on the All Star lineup, and (of course) LA Kings hockey. Strap in, Episode 138 is live!

Very good story from Gann Matsuda on concussions. As you know, Willie Mitchell suffered a concussion prior to signing in Los Angeles. Here’s some great stuff from the defenseman.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — We’re not even at the halfway point of the 2011-12 National Hockey League season, but far too many players have already gone down due to concussions.

In no particular order, the NHL has lost stars like Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers, Milan Michalek of the Ottawa Senators, Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators, all to concussions.

Most notably, the league has also lost Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger, who is expected to miss the rest of the season, and Pittsburgh Penguins superstar forward Sidney Crosby is out indefinitely after a recurrence of post-concussion syndrome.

Crosby, who is, arguably, the best player in the league, missed 41 games last season, and has played in just eight this season with no timetable for his return, after a high hit by then-Washington Capitals forward David Steckel during the 2011 Winter Classic, followed by another big hit by Victor Hedman on January 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Here in Southern California, Los Angeles Kings center Mike Richards recently missed eight games due to a concussion. Without him, the Kings went into a nose dive, losing five straight before winning a 2-1 decision at Columbus on December 15, on their way to a dismal 2-6-0 record in those eight games.

Since returning to the lineup on December 22, the Kings are undefeated in regulation play, earning a 3-0-1 record in their last four games.

The Kings most recent concussion victim is left wing Simon Gagne, who suffered his injury on December 26 against the Phoenix Coyotes at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Gagne, who has a history of concussions, was placed on injured reserve, and did not make the Kings’ current two-game trip to Chicago and Winnipeg. The earliest he can return to the lineup would be on January 5, 2012, when the Kings host the Coyotes.

Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.

Unless you’ve been taking a holiday-inspired technology break (does anyone actually do that anymore?), Terry Murray was fired and Darryl Sutter was hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings. Our pal, Gann Matsuda was at the press conference and has some good quotes LA Kings fans. Take a read! We hope everyone had a happy holiday!

EL SEGUNDO AND LOS ANGELES, CA — On this Christmas Day 2011, families around the world are celebrating the holiday season, while young children, who have been dreaming for weeks about what Santa Claus might bring them, are, hopefully, waking to find that their dreams have come true.

For the Los Angeles Kings, they are hoping that Santa will bring them the extra goal or two per game that they have sorely missed all season long. They are also hoping that they have found their savior in new head coach Darryl Sutter, the 53-year-old native of Viking, Alberta, who was hired on December 20, replacing Terry Murray, who was fired on December 12, after the Kings slipped and slid their way through the last few weeks.

The 24th head coach of the Kings, Sutter has earned a 409-320-131 record in 860 regular season games. He is tied for 27th among all-time National Hockey League head coaches in games, and is ranked seventh among active coaches). He is also tied for 24th all-time among NHL head coaches in wins, seventh among active coaches.

Sutter is also one of only nine head coaches in NHL history to lead three different teams to 100 wins. Only Scotty Bowman and Ron Wilson have coached four different teams to 100 wins.

Despite having a losing record (47-54) in 101 post-season games, Sutter’s teams have qualified for the playoffs in ten out of eleven seasons, leading the Calgary Flames to the seventh game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.

On this Christmas Eve, KingsCast returns with our annual holiday special! In this episode we talk LA Kings hockey, the games against the Red Wings, Maple Leafs and Ducks, give some holiday gifts to Kings players and show the Xmas cards we received from Los Angeles Kings players.

This show is sponsored by Barry’s Tickets. Enter the promo code “kingscast25″ to receive 10% off!

KingsCast presents…The Most Miserable Time of the Year for the LA Kings. When you think of cheesy YouTube Christmas songs sung in a miserable harmony, think of KingsCast! So settle back and enjoy some tidings of great joy from Keith and Chris!

The Los Angeles Kings have hit (close to) rock bottom since the last show. Terry Murray has been fired, the Kings still can’t score and we’re in the market for a new coach that can bring on the goal-scoring fury…right? Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period joins us and brings the knowledge on Coach Murray, future Coach Sutter, Dean Lombardi and more LA Kings hockey talk. Listen to The Fourth Period Radio on Saturdays 4-7PM EST on Sirius 207, XM 92 NHL Home Ice.

This episode is sponsored by Barry’s Tickets. Click the link and enter the discount code “kingscast25″ to receive a 10% discount.
Music by The Graveyard Bandits.

We’re fans of Gann’s writing here at KingsCast but I really don’t understand how a coach whose team that is the bottom of the league in scoring after more than a quarter of the season shouldn’t be ultimately responsible. But that’s just us. Take a read. It’s a good counter-point.

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — After all but one other player had disappeared from the main dressing room area to shower and change clothes, Los Angeles Kings right wing and team captain Dustin Brown sat dejectedly in his locker, slouched down, probably brooding about his team’s performance, or lack thereof, in a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on December 10, at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

This is not a first for Brown, who has been seen doing the exact same thing in seasons past.

But this time, something was different.

Indeed, Brown sat there, unmoving, with the same dejected, disgusted look on his face, for considerably longer than the times I have seen him do that over the past few seasons since he was named as the Kings’ captain.

Sensing that leaving him alone in his thoughts was the wise and appropriate thing to do, especially since the media had already spoken with him, I do not know what was going through his mind. As such, I can only speculate. But an educated guess is that he has had enough of his team not playing the way they are supposed to.

Contrary to popular belief, the Kings’ problems on the ice boil down to execution, as detailed in an earlier story here on Frozen Royalty. In fact, what may not be evident to many is that their problems often start 200 feet from their opponent’s net.

Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.

Hey, Kings fans, we have some exciting news for you we we think you’re going to love.

First up, we have an exciting new program that we are helping to pilot called Incrwd. It’s a really cool rewards program that gives all of our users the chance to win a real reward simply for interacting with our site.

Here’s how it works:

1) Click on the green Rewards tab on the right hand side of the KingsCast website.

2) Choose from one of our real rewards (you have to choose a reward before you can start winning points).

3) Interact with us— visit us, share your favorite articles on Facebook and Twitter, and add thoughtful comments to articles.

4) After unlocking your prize, a reward code will show up in the trophy case that you can take to the brand’s store or website to redeem!

Initially, not everyone will be offered the opportunity participate in the program. Incrwd will roll out their platform to all of our users over the course of a few weeks.

We think it’s a nice way to reward you guys for your contributions, and hopefully it makes your reading experience a little more fun!

For Incrwd customer service, please contact customer@myincrwd.com.

Next up, as we mentioned on our last show, we have teamed up with Barry’s Tickets, official partners of the Los Angeles Kings, to provide you with the best Kings tickets available. In addition to their already low prices, they have given KingsCast fans a 10% discount by entering the code “kingscast25″ at the time of purchase. So, next time you’re scouring the net for tickets (to any event), hit them up!

Finally, we have done a little housekeeping on our Facebook page. It’s cosmetic only but it’s still pretty cool (in our humble opinion). So head on over to http://facebook.com/kingscast and check it out. If you’re already a fan, you’ll notice our new Welcome tab.

Go Kings!

When the top team in the NHL comes to town and is known for playing a tight defensive game, do you really expect the Los Angeles Kings to drop five goals on them? Of course not. In this episode we talk about the Kings play of late, mention the games against the Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota Wild as well as give our reasons why Terry Murray will not be fired. Do you think the Kings will replace coach Murray?

Sponsored by Barry’s Tickets. Enter the discount “kingscast25″ to get a 10% discount!

This is a guest-post from Dan Goodkin, a Los Angeles Kings fan and contributor from time-to-time on KingsCast. Check out his response to the media and their position on Terry Murray.

The focus on the Los Angeles Kings “system” of hockey has been subject to ridicule and scrutiny by fans as of late. Members of the media, who are kind enough to respond to on social media have pointed out that fans do not know exactly how the system works. Ok, fine. So let’s look at the explanations Terry Murray has given to Rich Hammond who has repeatedly questioned him about the “system” and the Kings’ lack of offensive production. I have grouped the arguments together with my responses. I am a fan. I have questions. I want answers that make logical sense. These do not.

1. Lack of a shot mentality. Not getting enough pucks to the net.

Well, ok. You have to shoot if you want to score, but it also counts as a shot on goal if you shoot from the red line. But where are those shots coming from? A fine article by Bobby Scribe makes the point that just throwing the puck at the net is not a recipe for success. If one wants a more recent example, take the fact that in the last five games, the Kings had 39 (a loss to the Ducks), 27 (a loss to Montreal), 26 (a win against Florida), 27 (a loss to Chicago) and 33 (a win over SJ). In none of those games did the Kings score more than two goals. So we can dispense with the “more shots equals more goals” theory. More quality shots equals more goals. Just throwing it at the net works now and then (see: Ethan Moreau’s goal against San Jose), but more often than not it’s an easy save and a momentum killer.

2. Teams are all playing traps and blocking more shots

I accept that as fact, because I’m not a hockey expert, that more teams are playing more defensively. I accept that there are more blocked shots. However, the playing field is level. There are 29 teams doing a better job of scoring than the Los Angeles Kings. Do the 29 other teams have better players? Better coaches? Or is this just a temporary rough patch that has lasted over a quarter of the season? One can fairly complain that it’s hard to score goals in the current NHL. One cannot use that as an excuse for being dead last.

3. Other teams are playing this system and scoring goals. Players need time to learn the system.

We have been told that Philadelphia, who has been leading the league in scoring, plays the same system. Great for Philly! The question must be whether it is right for this specific group of players. Kings announcers have pointed out that there are many new faces that need to adjust to the system. It is unclear to me who they are referring to given that Mike Richards apparently played in the same system his whole career and leads the team in goals. Similarly, Simon Gagne played in the Philly system and also in the Tampa Bay system which Anze Kopitar pointed out is similar to the Kings system. I don’t think anyone is looking to Ethan Moreau or Trent Hunter as the source of the Kings problems (editors note: it’s part of it). The lack of goal scoring is from players who have experience with this system, with this coach, on this team. Stoll, Williams, Clifford, Penner, Doughty. Kopitar has even gone ice cold as of late. So, if this is the same system, it isn’t working for these players.

4. It’s early and the Kings aren’t that far out of first. Fans want instant gratification.

Don’t you dare tell us to accept mediocrity. After decades of suffering through one empty promise after another, the consensus at the start of the season amongst fans and pundits was that this would be a breakthrough season for the Kings. This was felt to be one of the best, if not the best roster on paper the LA Kings have ever had. So don’t tell fans to relax and just hope that the Kings win enough games to make the playoffs in the admittedly tight Western Conference race. We have been promised more and we expect more. This team will get no props from this writer for being hard to play against or well respected. We should be past that. We are 27 games into the season. This is beyond the window that Dean Lombardi has talked about, at the last two Hockey Fest events, as being the time where you really know what you have on your roster and what you need.

What concerns me most is that the players seem to have bought in to these explanations. At this point, I see no reason to expect or hope for a change. Hopefully, Mr. Lombardi will hold someone accountable and take some sort of action. Coasting through this season on excuses is just not acceptable.

Dan Goodkin is an attorney by day, fantasy hockey commissioner and Los Angeles Kings fan by night. Give him a follow on Twitter.