Our buddy Gann Matsuda at Frozen Royalty has been churning out the interviews and stories all summer long. Now, as KingsCast emerges from the summer hangover we’ll get back to regularly linking his stories. However, if you’re relying on us to get your Frozen Royalty goodness, you’re an idiot. Just subscribe to his blog and be done with it. It’s required reading if you’re a Kings enthusiast.

Dustin Penner, Slava Voynov Are Both Anxious Get Off To Strong Start – link.

Los Angeles Kings Are Getting Really Offensive…And That’s A Good Thing – link.

Down On The Farm With The Manchester Monarchs: Can Jeff Zatkoff Reclaim Top Goalie Spot? – link.

Down On The Farm With The Manchester Monarchs: Blue Line Corps May Be Their Greatest Assetlink.

Down On The Farm With The Manchester Monarchs: Departures Create Opportunities – link.

2011-12 Los Angeles Kings Could Contend For Pacific Division, Western Conference Titles – link.

BOOM.

The Los Angeles Kings are on an a post-Europe tear winning four in a row. Jonathan Quick is playing terrific hockey and Jack Johnson has found his “clutch”. In this episode we talk about the Phoenix Coyotes and Dallas Stars games, float out a few players that could take home some hardware after the season over and pledge our eternal love for Mike Richards.

KingsCast returns…to Staples Center for our third “home” game (but the home opener, go figure). The Kings had yet to win in regulation, Drew Doughty was injured and Slava Voynov got the call. In this episode we talk about the road trip, the home opener and more LA Kings hockey. Relax and let’s get into this!

The Los Angeles Kings are back in regular season action and so are Keith and Chris. In this episode we talk about Drew Doughty’s contract, analyze the regular season games, talk about playing “at home” and give our Top 10 Reasons why we love Europe. Kings hockey and KingsCast…is back!

Training camp is open and hockey is back in Los Angeles. The good news for you news junkies is that Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty is at training camp and he’s not playing Angry Birds. Here’s a great list of stories and interviews has done thus far. Tune in to Frozen Royalty for the latest. Enjoy, folks!

2011 LA Kings Training Camp: Andrei Loktionov Clears The Air While Thomas Hickey, Tyler Toffoli Turn Heads can be read here.

LA Kings 2011 Training Camp: Time To Start Thinking About The Stanley Cup can be read here.

LA Kings 2011 Training Camp: No More Stick Handling In A Phone Booth For Dustin Penner can be read here.

LA Kings 2011 Training Camp: Netminder Jonathan Bernier Is Focused On His Game…And Nothing Else can be read here.

Making Do Without Doughty: Los Angeles Kings Open 2011 Training Camp can be read here.

You can also follow Frozen Royalty on Twitter.

The puck is close to dropping on a new season of LA Kings hockey and what a better way to ring it in than the annual Hockey Fest? In this show we show some highlights of the day including Dean Lombardi’s State of the Kings, we show a clip of the Kids Press Conference and interview Dustin Brown, Dustin Penner and Anze Kopitar.

Hockey Fest 2011 is in the can and the Kings are set to open training camp. Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty has a nice little write-up on Dustin Penner and his physical conditioning coming into the 2011-2012 season.

LOS ANGELES — Back in July, during the Los Angeles Kings’ 2011 Development Camp for their young prospects, veteran and much-maligned left wing Dustin Penner emerged from the team’s dressing/weight room area to take a break during a workout.

Penner made his appearance on a day when the local media covering the team, including those representing two major newspapers in the area, the team’s official web site, a web site operated by NBC Sports, and several other web sites known for having solid reputations and writers with real sources, were all gathered at the Kings’ practice facility to cover the Development Camp.

As the target of frequent, heavy criticism for his poor play after he was traded to the Kings, Penner immediately became the big story, not the young prospects.

Following the Kings’ first round exit from the playoffs in April, Penner was openly criticized by Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi and Kings head coach Terry Murray for his poor conditioning. But he did not take the criticism negatively. Instead, he used it as motivation, spending at least three days each week during the off-season working out.

Indeed, when he came out of the dressing room area and spoke to the the throng of reporters that fateful day in July, Penner stood there in sweaty, workout clothing, looking trim, fit—considerably leaner and meaner than he did at any time after he joined the Kings last season.

At the time, Penner said that he had already lost about ten pounds.

Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.

Guest blogger Dan Goodkin joins us with a new post about Hockey Fest ’11 coming up this weekend. You can follow him on Twitter at @dangoodkin.

Hockey Fest 2011 is only four days away!

After an incredibly exciting June and July for Los Angeles Kings fans, marked by the trade for Mike Richards and the signing of Simon Gagne, the summer settled into endless speculation about when Doughty would sign (it will be soon, right? Right?). Of course this summer also has to go down as one of the worst off-seasons for hockey.  So I recognize that my indignation and confusion regarding the announcement of the Kings alumni who will attend Hockey Fest is petty and insignificant in light of the real tragedies experienced by the hockey world over the past few months. Nonetheless I feel compelled to complain a bit and since I had to look up who some of these people were I figured I’d save some people some time and share the results of my research.

The announced alumni, subject to change are: Daryl Evans, Jim Fox, Mark Hardy, Bernie Nicholls, goaltender Gary Edwards, Glen Murray, Brandon Convery, Brad Norton and Ian Turnbull.

When I first saw this list I wondered whether it was a list of Kings broadcasters and wondered whether Bernie would be doing the sideline reporting in place of Heidi Androl. As I read further and recognized a few of the names, I had to wonder..well..why these guys?

Here is some information about the attendees and my grades for these selections:

Daryl Evans and Jim Fox, though significant and treasured parts of Kings history, are at Hockey Fest every year because they work for the Kings. Mark Hardy was an assistant for the Kings for years and now works for the Kings ECHL affiliate. So, I’m not impressed with any of the three attending. Grade: C (would be an A, but knocked down two grades for cheating)

Bernie Nichols is legit. He scored more than 30 goals in six straight seasons for the Kings (1983-1988), topped off by his 70 goal performance in 1988-89. He was the star of the team and I look forward to hearing from him and would be happy to get an autograph. Grade: A

Gary Edwards played five seasons for the Kings between 1971-1977 primarily as Rogie Vachon’s backup. As Vachon and Edwards were runners up for the Vezina trophy in 1975, he is a part of Kings history, although the lesser part, but how many times can the Kings make Vachon appear at these things? My answer would be every year until the NHL wises up and gives him his Hall of Fame jacket, but that’s a rant for another day. Grade: B

Glen Murray had a few nice seasons with 29 goals for the Kings in two out of the four that he played with the club. He went on to better seasons with the Boston Bruins, three times eclipsing the 30 goal mark (2001-2004). Still, I find myself wondering if Mr. Murray was involved in any defining or even interesting moment in Kings history. I suppose he was on the 2001 team that defeated the Red Wings, but did not score during that series. Grade: C

Now is where it gets bizarre.

Brandon Convery? Who? I had to look him up. He played 3 games for the Kings in the 1998-199 season. I don’t think there’s much more for me to say about this choice. I guess “once a King, always a King” doesn’t have a games played requirement? Grade: F

Brad Norton played for the Kings for a total of 73 games over two seasons (02-04) before fading into obscurity. I do recall Norton, mostly because he was a fighter (97 PIM in 55 games in 2002-2003 and 77 PIM in 20 games in 2003-2004) and because it was fun to shout “Hey Norton!” when he was on the ice, a reference to the Honeymooners. Other than that, his stint with the Kings was no more significant than say Matt Johnson, Steve McKenna or Ryan Flinn. This is the second time Norton has appeared at Hockey Fest. I guess he impressed the first time? Grade: D (not an F because I hope to be able to shout “Hey Norton!” when he is introduced.

Ian Turnbull played for the Kings for 42 games during his one and only season (1981-1982). He had a stellar career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, cementing his place in hockey history with the record for most goals by a defenseman with five for Toronto in a game against Detroit in 1977. If this was a Maple Leafs Hockey Fest, I would understand his inclusion. As it is a Kings Hockey Fest, I’m left to scratch my head and wonder. Grade: D (not an F because he holds an NHL record and that’s neat)

In summary, the alumni trotted out by the Kings this year is somewhat pedestrian and in other ways confusing. There are plenty of players that hold a dear place in the hearts of Kings fans and hopefully will be part of Hockey Fest in the future. But Brandon Convery? Come on.

Which Kings alum would you love to see at Hockey Fest this year?

Training camp is finally upon us and the media is starting to roll through Toyota Sports Center and work the phones. Gann Matsuda has already sat down with Terry Murray for a little in-depth interview prior to the season. As always, it’s a good long read packed with good stuff. Take a look!

Los Angeles Kings Head Coach Terry Murray Looks Back At 2010-11 Season can be found here.

Terry Murray Dishes On 2010-11 LA Kings’ Offensive Zone, Power Play Struggles can be found here.

LA Kings Head Coach Terry Murray: Drew Doughty And Jack Johnson Need To Take Steps Forward In 2011-12 can be found here.

Terry Murray: Added Talent Up Front Does Not Mean A New Style Of Play Is On The Horizon For LA Kings can be found here.

LA Kings Head Coach Terry Murray Talks Prospects, Goaltending, And The Return Of The Trap can be found here.

You can also listen to the full interview here.

Nothing says off-season like a blooper reel from last years episodes! No, we’re not perfect, so check out the flubs, the cursing, the unplanned interruptions and so much more. Rated R for language. Special appearances by Drew Doughty, Ice Captain Debbie and random people from Frozen Fury. Cheers!