Picking up where the original, ‘Waiting for Kovalchuk,’ left off, this sequel captures the continued back and forth uncertainty of the Ilya Kovalchuk saga, including Kings fans reactions to him ‘signing’ in New Jersey.

Shot over 15 days, this documentary/short film captures the up and down roller coaster ride of the Ilya Kovalchuk saga with the Los Angeles Kings.

The 2010 NHL Entry Draft took place at Staples Center and the Los Angeles Kings traded up to grab 6’5″ defenseman Derek Forbort. In this show, Keith and Chris talk about the draft experience, upcoming free agency and interviewed a few Michal Jackson fans about hockey. Your thoughts about the draft?

Read Alex’s post-draft blog on all of the new Los Angeles Kings prospects here.

This season, history will be made….from your boys at KingsCast.

Now that the playoffs are almost over and the Los Angeles Kings have been enjoying early tee times, the boys at KingsCast too are taking a little breather. It’s not easy producing a video show and as much as Keith and Chris would like to think they’re perfect, they’re not. So we bring to you our biggest screw-ups and bloopers this season. (There is mildly offensive language).

In the final installment of the Los Angeles Kings Post-Season roundtable, the group discusses the needs of the Kings next season, the Free Agents available and the future of Brayden Schenn. What do you think the Kings need to make that next step?

If you missed a segment, check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

As expected during this roundtable, the subject of goaltending for the Los Angeles Kings came up. Here we talk about Jonathin Quick’s performance, whether or not Terry Murray trusts Erik Ersberg and if Jonathan Bernier is the future netminder for the team. Which goaltender do you think starts the majority of the games next season?

If you missed a segment, check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

The Los Angeles Kings Post-Season Roundtable discussion continues with Part 3. In this installment, the group breaks down the pros and cons of acquiring the Russian star forward Ilya Kovalchuk with some interesting arguments from both sides. Should the Kings go after Ilya Kovalchuk?

Miss a segment? Check out Part 2 and Part 1.

The Los Angeles Kings Post-Season Roundtable continues with the media that covers the Kings on a regular basis. In this segment we talk about the progress and future of Kings defenseman Jack Johnson as well as Alexander Frolov’s status with the team and contract situation for next year. Should the LA Kings re-sign Frolov?

In case you missed Part 1, you can find it here.

Now that the LA Kings season has concluded, it was time to sum up the season and talk about the future. That’s why we assembled some of the brightest minds in local media to talk Kings hockey. In this segment we talk about the coaching, line combinations, staying on message and Drew Doughty. Stay tuned for much, much more!

As always, we hope you find the content we provide for you here at KingsCast to be entertaining and worth while. If you like something, why not Like it on Facebook or re-Tweet it. Thanks for spreading the love! Here’s some of the latest LA Kings news from around the blogosphere:

Eulogy: Remembering the 2009-10 Los Angeles Kings by Earl Sleek of Battle of California via Puck Daddy.

The IIHF World Championships are starting in Germany. The question here is does anybody really care? via Battle of California.

Excellent analysis from Quisp: What to expect from Kings’ 19th or 20th overall pick via Jewels from the Crown.

The Manchester Monarchs (the Kings farm team) are having a decent playoff run. Here’s some insight via the Mayor’s Manor.

Keith offers you a few suggestions on what to do during a summer when the Los Angeles Kings are playing hockey via KingsCast.

The Los Angeles Kings sent out a survey this week to the fans. Here’s a breakdown via Jewels From the Crown.

Making a case for Ilya Kovalchuk (a good one I might add), via Surly & Scribe.

Our favorite Ice Girl, Ice Captain Debbie runs the emotional gamut now that the Kings season is over via Hockeywood LA.

Jack Johnson was just named captain of Team USA for the IIHF World Championships. Here’s Rich Hammond’s evaluation of Jack this year (part of a continuing series) via LA Kings Insider.

We’re going to be talking about Alexander Frolov until he’s no longer an LA King on July 1st. So let’s get into it via Hockeywood LA.

Are Kings fans becoming Raider Nation? via View From My Seats.

Did we miss something? Leave it in the comments…downstairs.

The Off-Season has officially started for LA Kings fans. KingsCast starts the transition with an upcoming Season Finale, 2nd Round Playoff breakdowns and a look into the past year. Stay tuned…

If you’re a Los Angeles Kings fan, you know last night sucked. The Vancouver Canucks steamrolled the Kings in Game 5. Jonathan Quick was pulled. Erik Ersberg was pulled. Everybody was downright awful. Game 6 is a must-win for the boys in black. Can they do it? Question of the Day: Where do you golf in the offseason?

It was a good effort by the LA Kings in Game 4 but the Vancouver Canucks came up the winners in regulation. With a series now a 2-2 tie, Keith and Chris talk about the Kings and the game that was and the games to come. Question of the Day: What does Terry Murray with the lineup in the upcoming game?

The playoffs draught for the Los Angeles Kings has ended and KingsCast chimes in (Tiger Woods style) with the long, painful journey it took to get there. Remember the years of pain? The more it resonates, the more it makes today sweet. Go Kings!

That’s right, folks, the season ain’t over..yet. The Los Angeles Kings, for the first time in eight years (and four years of the show) have finally made the playoffs. In this episode we talk about the upcoming matchup with the Vancouver Canucks, give our ideas for fan giveaways and take your questions from Twitter and Facebook. So settle back and listen to the hockey talk!

In this exclusive guest blog for KingsCast, Clayton Corley from OpiatedSherpa.com stops by and gives us his breakdown, and the Canadian perspective, of the Vancouver vs. Los Angeles series starting Thursday, April 15.

Thankfully, it’s just about that time again. Time for the playoffs to get started around the NHL and as fans (of teams that made the playoffs), we get to see how our team test’s their mettle against the other qualified teams that each provide their own challenge and reason for winning. I suppose I wouldn’t be doing a guest blog here, if I wasn’t going to do one for the Kings and Canucks series, the latter being my favourite team; plus, I think this is going to be one hell of a series to watch for both sides. I like to be fair when it comes to categorizing some teams, that way I know what to expect when I watch two teams go head-to-head and I really think this young & exuberant Kings team will be jumping on the learning curve with a lot of enthusiasm against the Canucks team that has been trying oh-so-hard to build their team on patience and puck-possession and try to seize a winning opportunity.

Since I had Anze Kopitar on my fantasy hockey team this season, I actually watched a good number of Kings games this season and enjoyed watching them in their number of stages this year. When Kopitar was burning up barns to Quick being lights out and then a more well-rounded approach when both their superstars became a little bit more human. There is a lot to like about this Kings team, especially their desire to want to play hard, skate fast and not quit, which will make them a tough team to play against. With players like Dustin Brown, Wayne Simmonds, Brad Richardson and Jack Johnson, the Kings have a great core of players that should be able to lift their “x-factor” into new levels when Game One starts and really have an influence on the game.
I’ve watched the Canucks all year and the key to their success, as much as I hate to say it, has been coaching and the system in place. If it wasn’t for the two rounds in the playoffs in 2009, there probably would have been a little less hope for this team that had a very hard time getting started this season. With injuries to some key players early on in the season, the Canucks managed to stick to their game plan and brought some new players to the forefront, while some of the old favourites took their game to the next level. In this early round, I’ll be looking towards Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows and Kevin Bieksa to help build the team up when its slipping a little bit and earn their way out of some tough spots. That’s what the playoffs are really about in the end.
Thanks to the Kings website, I managed to look at some of the statistical comparisons between the two teams and it’s fairly safe to say that they do tilt in one direction a fair bit, north. In a lot of cases, the tilt isn’t that big or terribly significant, but in more cases than not, the Canucks do hold a slight advantage in categories. When we start the playoffs, there is plenty of excitement to get going that a lot of teams, especially the young ones that haven’t been to the dance before, get a little overexcited and try to do too much when it gets going and that leads to penalties and the special teams. I’m expecting a pretty physical series between Los Angeles and Vancouver, so the blood is likely going to boil over quite quickly and we’ll probably see more than our fair share of rough stuff from either side, but it will be the team that stays out of the box and/or the team that has the better special teams that will move on to round two. Both the power play and the penalty kill for both teams are exceptionally close, according to their regular season numbers and both have combined percentages over 100%, which is a good index for comparison for NHL teams. It will definitely be interesting to see what lessons learned during the regular season get applied to the meaningful games of the playoffs.
The Canucks hold an edge in the regular season series, going 3-1-0 against the Kings, but Los Angeles did avoid the season sweep in the last game of the season, thanks in large part to a big offensive push and a good outing from Jonathan Bernier on April 1st. I try not to hold too much stock in the season series, because there are a lot of mitigating factors when it comes to what it really means, but it also doesn’t hurt to use against your opponents in trash-talking or clever word play.
Like any good playoff series, goaltending will be front and centre and this series will feature a couple of goaltenders who have had their seasons questioned a little bit from some inconsistencies in their recent games. Both Jonathan Quick and Roberto Luongo are workhorses when it comes to their respective team’s nets, so it should come to no surprise to anyone when fatigue levels start to sink in a little bit. Quick was an absolute warrior in the NHL this season, ranking 2nd in minutes played by a goaltender and picking up 39 wins. Luongo did have a spell where he was injured, so his minutes played numbers are down to Quick’s, but an Olympic appearance and a 40-win season was still manageable for the Canucks keeper, which is likely considered to be a pretty big plus. Like I said earlier, it has been a shaky go of it leading up to the playoffs, as Quick has gone 0-1-3 in his last five appearances for the Kings, including two fantastic appearances in overtime against the Coyotes and Ducks, just falling short in extra time. Luongo, in his last five appearances, did go 3-1-1, but had some shaky performances, including the last game to the Kings, where he was in for all eight of the Kings goals in the 8-3 loss.
Looking at the stats again, the last bit of comparison that I think should be done should look at the experience levels of both teams. The Kings have a 11 players that have played in the playoffs before, while the Canucks have 23, thanks to keeping a good core from last year’s appearance. The Canucks do have a pretty big edge when it comes to playoff experience, but I don’t want to count out the Kings, because there are certain levels of leadership that the Canucks do not have that the Kings are spoiled with from Ryan Smyth, Sean O’Donnell and Rob Scuderi. Now, whether or not those three players can reel in some of the youth on the Kings team is another question that can only be answered on the ice, but you have to know that the Kings dressing room will have a fair bit of confidence oozing from the pores. If anything, Dustin Brown will get a very thorough learning experience on how to become a great NHL captain, thanks to these rugged, playoff-tested veterans.
I think all things considered, it’s pretty lopsided towards the Canucks to start this playoff run, but for Kings fans that saw an excellent regular season, there should be a lot of good taken from this playoff experience for a lot of the young leaders on the Kings, because the team is being built to be a contender for the foreseeable future. It might not be an immediate championship, but much like the Canucks and their slow build towards being an elite team, it does take a lot of time when you’re not drafting players like Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin 1st overall. Then again, that Drew Doughty guy is already blossoming into a purebred superstar himself and he’ll be the cornerstone of this franchise for years to come.
My official prediction is seeing the Canucks go through in five games, with the Kings taking one in front of their home fans. It’ll be a high-tempo, hard-hitting series, but experience and system should prevail, much like it did against the St. Louis Blues last Spring.

Visit Clayton Corley at his website www.opiatedsherpa.com.
Follow on Twitter: @opiatedsherpa.

The bet between Keith of KingsCast and Chris of The Hockey Zen has come to a close. The Los Angeles Kings finished 37 points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers (with one game left to play) this season which means Chris has to do some serious drinking. In this episode we discuss today’s shootout loss to the Oilers and celebrate the most lopsided bet in history.

Keith and Chris are back talking LA Kings hockey. In this episode we take you back to 2005-2006 to experience our agony of what it’s like to barely miss the playoffs. We also introduce a brand new segment entitled “If I Were…” and talk a little goaltending. Question of the Day: Who Should be the Backup Goaltender Going into the Playoffs?

As if adjusting to daylight savings time wasn’t hard enough, the Los Angeles Kings played Sunday’s game at 12PM. In this episode, we talk about the games against the Stars and Predators, discuss the Jonathan Bernier/Erik Ersberg situation and give some thoughts on the upcoming playoff run. Question of the Day: Which team do you want the Kings to face in the first round of the playoffs?

The team is back in action and the LA Kings are surging into the playoffs. Tonight, Keith and Chris talk about the games up to now, enjoy the thoughts of the upcoming playoffs and say goodbye to Teddy Purcell. Enjoy!

Prior to Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, Chris Kaliszewski took part in an interview with Team 990 Montreal. Here he talks about the Los Angeles Kings and guarantees a victory. If the Kings don’t win, Chris has to wear a Montreal jersey in the next edition of Overtime. We all know who won and look forward to seeing Chris in a Habs jersey soon!

If you’ve ever watched Overtime then you know who Chris and Adrian Nadeau at The Hockey Zen are. Chris and I have a bit of history as we made a little bet in the off-season that has materialized into the most lopsided bet in history.

Recently, Chris and Adrian started doing a Fan Series on their show. Here, they invite a fan of each NHL team to do a quick video explaining why they are so passionately devoted to their team. This time, the Los Angeles Kings get their turn and your favorite LA vloggers got a shot to make their case for the Kings.

Affectionately called California Love, this episode is a must watch for any LA Kings fans. So jump on over to The Hockey Zen and share your love of the team!

Check out the video on The Hockey Zen TV Show.

The Los Angeles Kings closed out February with a nice win over the Colorado Avalanche and some of the team can enjoy a nice break during the Olympics. In this episode we talk about the Kings play going into the Olympic break as well as the game against the Avs. Question of the Day: What LA King will have the biggest impact on their Olympic Roster?

Gann Matsuda continues his interview with Dean Lombardi and talks a little goaltending. via Frozen Royalty

Is Anze Kopitar an elite player? via View From My Seats

Everybody’s favorite LA Kings reporter has an open forum. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 & Part 7. Part 7. via LA Kings Insider

Was Don Waddell in New Jersey to talk with Dean Lombardi or just to scout opponents? via Jewels From the Crown

Breakdown of the Kings/Ducks game on Thursday night. via Jewels from the Crown

The one blog whose game day previews actually crack me up. via Battle of California

A lot of talk going on about Anze Kopitar. Is Kopi’s “resurgence” the reason why we’re in a really good place right now? via NHL.com

Who do you trust when it comes to the rumor mill? via Jewels from the Crown

Your favorite vloggers are back in action talking about the latest in Kings hockey. via KingsCast

The LA Kings are on fire. In this episode we talk about the Kings 8-game win streak, give our thoughts on the game against the Anaheim Ducks, interview a guy who didn’t have an NHL team to cheer for and discuss the Devils trade for Ilya Kovalchuk. Question of the Day: Who should the Los Angeles Kings trade for at the deadline?

John T. Meyer’s PickMyNHLTeam.com

Back in studio to talk a little LA Kings hockey, and we just couldn’t think of an appropriate title. Why? The Los Angeles Kings have been doing some winning as of late and are playing like a solid NHL hockey team. In this show we talk about the overall play of the Los Angeles Kings, spend some time on the Ilya Kovalchuk situation and talk about Connie’s new blog. Sit back and enjoy!

KingsCast invaded Staples Center for Tip a King 2010 and got interviews by Raitus Ivanans, Oscar Moller, Jim Fox, Scott Parse, Ice Captain Debbie and Bailey. It was a great day for the Los Angeles Kings fans. If you were there, what was your favorite experience? How many Kings autographs did you score?

When the LA Kings play the Anaheim Ducks, you know it’s going to be a spirited game. In this episode we break down the game, give some thoughts on the fan atmosphere and crown a new Fan of the Game. Question of the Day: What would you re-name the Kings/Ducks rivalry to?

On behalf of myself and Chris, KingsCast is proud to be partnering with ticket broker viagogo for Los Angeles Kings tickets. As you know, we have never partnered with anyone before and never endorse a company that we don’t believe in or personally use on a regular basis.

But, the good folks over at viagogo are a site that has a wide variety of sports and concert tickets at venues across the country at very low prices. In the past, we have personally used other services to get last-minute tickets on the cheap. However, it looks like viagogo is going to be one of the premier ticket brokers on the market as they are undercutting the competition.

So, if you need tickets to the Los Angeles Kings (or any other sports franchise, for that matter), click on the big purple box on the right and enjoy the event! Has anyone used viagogo before and, if so, how was your experience?

Disclaimer: A portion of ticket sales purchased through viagogo by way of KingsCast will go to our site.

We love it when you guys send us email, Tweets and notes on Facebook but this one takes the cake. Recently, Chris Kaliszewski and I had the opportunity to do a little dance number with LA Kings Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. It was for the kids. But one of you out there must have had a hidden camera and captured this little ditty. Enjoy!

The Holidays come to a close, the Kings are back in action and the injuries never stop mounting. That’s right, it’s the Los Angeles Kings. Here’s hoping the team can dig deep and figure out a way to win. Question of the Day: To help cope with the Williams injury, who would you trade and for what?

Continuing with Hockeywood, LA’s “Figure Eight” promotion, we close it out with a Christmas Day treat giving you our reasons to be a Los Angeles Kings fan. What are yours?

The Los Angeles Kings are on an 8-day break so we take the time to spread some holiday cheer. In this episode we show you some Christmas cards we received from players on the Kings, talk about the team’s performance and announce our give away on December 28th. Question of the Day: What gift do you give the Kings fan in your life?

What can I say, folks, we’re on a lot of mailing lists. And this year we received a few Christmas cards from some of the players on the Los Angeles Kings. That’s right, Teddy Purcell, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Wayne Simmonds and Justin Williams thought of us during the holiday season. We thought we’d spread the holiday cheer they sent us with you. Those of you that saw our Holiday Spectacular video and asked for stills of the cards, here you go. Enjoy!

Teddy Purcell sent us this:

Justin Williams sent us this:

Anze Kopitar sent us this:

Wayne Simmonds sent us this:

Finally, Drew Doughty sent us this:

Sweet gestures from these players. Which is your favorite?

Disclaimer: These holiday cards were not actually sent by players but are representations created solely by KingsCast. (Duh)

The Los Angeles Kings continue their “Figure Eight” promotion where they re-cap the best of the decade. Here, KingsCast breaks down the best (and worst) goalies of the 2000′s. What’s your best or worst LA Kings goaltender?

The Los Angeles Kings are back in Oiler town and that means it’s time for KingsCast and The Hockey Zen to drop the gloves and get down to business. Get in on the action as both shows talk about the Kings and Oilers game last night at Rexall Place. Question of the Day: What’s your beverage of choice while watching hockey?

Last night I had the opportunity to be a part of the first episode of View From My Seats Radio featuring Matt Reitz and co-host (and Dallas Stars fan) Jen. We had a good time talking about my favorite subject, Los Angeles Kings hockey.

For those of you that don’t read Matt’s blog, you really ought to bookmark (and subscribe) to a View From My Seats. His blog is about the National Hockey League and his razor-sharp wit comes through with each post. For those of us stuck in the Kings hockey land, it’s nice to get a league-wide perspective.

Also recommended is their new show, VFMS Radio. By now you should be able to subscribe to the show on iTunes and take it with you on your favorite mobile device.

Listen to the show here:

So what do you think of their first show?

While Kopitar’s points have trailed off into oblivion, secondary scoring has kicked into high gear. Here we’ll break down the games and make some observations about FSN’s TV advertising. Question of the Day: if you got a new jersey for Christmas, what player would be on the back?

We love it when you send us email and love on the social networks. But, we love it even more when we can rip off your material that you send us. Christian Mora from the University of Texas – Arlington chimes in once again with some great analysis. This time, in addition to his spreadsheet, he has some graphs. You can follow Christian on Twitter. What do you think of his analysis?

Here’s the latest spreadsheet. Looking at the games 17-24 was ugly. We scored 15 goals. We gave up 28 (7 of which was on a night I’d rather not remember). To try and look at the bright side/big picture, we are still on pace for making the playoffs, although just by the thinnest of margins. I included some graphs because hey, who doesn’t like pictures? If you notice I also added 3 more tabs.

Our 5on5 ratio came back down to earth and is at .94. The 2 percentage point decline on the PP dropped us down 8 ranks to 18th overall. Fortunately our PK is ever so slowly climbing its way out of the gutter at 76.7%.

Explanation: In order to make all of the graphs look a lot nicer in terms of rankings 30th equates to NHL best and 1st equates to the worst

As you guys touched upon in Episode 4 of the podcast, Jonathan Quick’s win column continues to spit in the face of a mediocre goals against and a poor save percentage. What I really want to know is how the King’s 2nd best shots against of 26.6/G factors in to everything. To me, it could mean a few things. Either the defense is doing a really good job of blocking shots and taking away shooting lanes or Quick is just not that good. OR we do great in most of the game but break down a couple of times and give up really juicy scoring chances which other teams pounce upon much to our disappointment. Here are a couple of games that highlight my question:

11/18 vs Philly: 3 goals on 20 shots. Loss.
11/7 vs Nashville: 3 goals on 25 shots. Loss.
11/2 vs Phoenix: 3 goals on 16 shots. Win.

I know Quick played really well last night against Chicago and that’s kick-ass, but we need that kind of goaltending a lot more consistently if we want to last. Personally I think he needs to play less often. All of the people ahead of him in the win column have played fewer minutes. Brodeur has played 3 fewer games and I feel those are all important rest days. And I know a lot of people say that we can’t ease up on Quick because we don’t have much confidence in Ersberg but playing him once every month doesn’t exactly boost his bravado.

Scoring has also been extremely sparse. 13 goals the past 8 games dating back from last night. I don’t what needs to happen to get those pucks in the net but I hope it happens soon. We can’t wait on Smyth to come back and fix everything.

Hopefully the big win against a scary good team in the Blackhawks will serve as a momentum builder as the dog days of December embark upon us.

As usual, questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Go Kings – screw Anaheim.

On behalf of Chris, Connie and Matt “the Sound Guy”, we would like to wish all of you a happy, healthy and somewhat drunken (American) Thanksgiving.

This has been a fun year at the KingsCast studios and we wanted to take the time to thank each and everyone of you who has been watching, listening and commenting on our shows. As passionate Los Angeles Kings fans, we’re thankful to have fans like you who tune in to hear our endless droning about our favorite hockey team. We truly appreciate your feedback and support.

And, while some of you will be watching football, causing a drunken scene at dinner or already passed out, we’ll be tuning in to see our Kings take on the Vancouver Canucks. Let’s hope they don’t amplify our Black Friday hangover.

So, on this Thanksgiving day, as a hockey fan, what are you most thankful for?

On the eve of Luc Robitaille’s induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame, we release this episode about the face of the Los Angeles Kings. Here we discuss what Luc has meant to the hearts of the fans of the LA Kings and pay our special tribute. What are your favorite memories of Luc?

While the offense tapered off in the last two games, the Los Angeles Kings squeezed out a couple of points in overtime to remain at the top of the Pacific Division. Here we take you through “Canada Night” at Staples Center and give some in-game Kings analysis.

The penalty kill might need work but these Los Angeles Kings have found a way to score in bunches. In this episode we walk you through the game against the Wild and talk about where the Kings need to improve.

The puck has dropped on the 09-10 NHL season. In this episode we returned to Staples Center to watch the Los Angeles Kings take on the Phoenix Coyotes. It was a very tough game. Where do we go from here?

Frozen Fury is a pre-season mecca for Los Angeles Kings fans in Las Vegas. As the Kings take on the Colorado Avalanche, Keith and Chris look at the game, and the fan experience. In this episode we introduce a new segment we call Fan of the Game. Part 1 of 3 in our Frozen Fury “Vegas Trilogy” series.

In the last week before Pre-Season, Keith and Chris talk about what’s going on in the NHL, including Dan Cloutier, the Phoenix Coyotes, Paul Kelly, Derek Armstrong, Kings Rookie Camp and the KingsCast Frozen Fury event.

The final day of Hockey Fest 09 proved that the Los Angeles Kings remain on the path Dean Lombardi set out since he arrived on the scene, which was to strip down the roster and organization and build it back up by getting to the draft table. Since then the Kings have had more picks than I can remember (273?) and have built a franchise full of young potential studs.

From the weekend festivities I felt the main message for fans to take with them was that the Kings are still moving in the same direction toward the same goal. The management team hasn’t deviated from its original end goal and there’s no reason to think it might happen this year. If anything, the fruits of this plan should be showing itself with more goals from the forwards, continued solid defensive support, reliable goaltending, and an elevated consistency across the board. The team has been working towards this ideal, and I think they will finally make something of their potential this season. This doesn’t mean it will happen automatically; the steps to the finish line will be siphoning more blood and sweat from the players with rabid fans looking on.

Day 3 of Hockey Fest had three panels with the first consisting of current management. Dean Lombardi, Ron Hextall, and Terry Murray expressed the commitment of further improvements from the roster. As I said in my first recap, no one reinvented the wheel this past weekend; everything has been said before and other things seemed more common sense than anything else. For example, Lombardi stated that the Kings did not market Drew Doughty like the Tampa Bay Lightening did with Steven Stamkos. They let him come in and earn the respect of his teammates. Essentially if Doughty did not live up to any marketing hype, “the veterans would resent him.”

Any sort of resentment would not have been the product of unsuccessful marketing; rather, the resentment would have stemmed from the expectations of an 18-year-old kid leading this team into the playoffs. Lombardi also mentioned Doughty has been rounding out his nutrition and shedding his baby fat and was now developing into an athlete with more upside than one with minimal bodyfat coming in. This obviously has been a topic that has generated enough attention since the summer before he was drafted, which is why I made sure to ask Doughty about what steps he had been taking in regards to his nutrition.

Lombardi fielded a question specifically about Dany Heatley from the audience and I’m glad this shut down any of those still thinking his coming here was a possibility. Right after the question was asked, Lombardi spoke about two things:

1. The most important things for the team are for Anze Kopitar to step up his game and for Doughty and Jonathan Quick to keep progressing.
2. The second is to look at San Jose’s progression; they have improved six years in a row with the average age dropping each year. The Kings are on the path to now be able to find players who can be added to fit specifically into the system. He would “like this group to reach its potential before looking outside of the club.” It would be too risky of a move to take a chance on Heatley right now while the core is still forming. Basically, he doesn’t want to guess if he doesn’t have to.

If anyone is surprised by this, you should go back and read everything Lombardi has preached since he’s arrived. He wants to be sure that any big move the Kings make takes “the team to the top.” Getting Heatley could potentially do more harm than good, which would move the team backwards effectively stunting its growth. If he ends up a bust, he’ll add a negativity to the forming core while taking up the most dollars on the salary cap, which I’m sure no one else would want to deal with. The improvement of Kopitar is the key to this team making a jump. Lombardi emphatically said to look to Kopi for “that dynamic goal”and that “great things start to happen off the fundamentals of the game.”

Preaching to the choir.

DL also addressed Teddy Purcell’s roster spot saying that college players have no clue how to play in tight corners and that “he’s not going to play unless he pays the price.”

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It’s no surprise that the ex-goalie of the management group is the one to take goalie-related questions, right? Of course!

During the Q&A, Hextall said he considered Quick to be the number one goalie with Erik Ersberg as the backup, and Jonathan Bernier would be best served going back to the Manchester Monarchs. I’m sure the knowledge of Bernier’s impatience of getting to Los Angeles isn’t foreign, so I won’t feel too badly in completely agreeing with Hextall. Bernier’s cocky confidence is felt 3,000 miles away and I’m in the mood to keep him at arm’s length from the roster. The unknown for Hextall is definitely Ersberg. He’s a solid goalie but isn’t sure if he has the physical ability to play 60-65 games a season due to his size. To add to the bottom line, Hextall stated that there were no plans to move Ersberg. That being the case, anything can happen during the season. It appears the goalie situation hasn’t deviated from the end of last season up until now, which makes me a whole lot more comfortable than this time last year.

I got a rare insight into Quick from Dustin Brown that I’m sure the everyday fan is unaware of; the fact that he has a cocky attitude both on and off the ice. You’d never know it from watching the way he plays, but Brownie spoke very highly of him when we lobbed a few questions his way. Of Quick: “He’s cocky in a way that you actually like him,” and he ended that by saying, “You can have an average team in front of you. If you’re a good goalie, you have a good team.”

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Terry Murray said what Terry Murray usually says; the Kings don’t want to lose sight of last year and will focus on getting more pucks IN the net starting at training camp. He would like the team to be an aggressive forechecking team, which I am completely on board with. He also mentioned that his lines were already down on paper so he’ll have set lines to try out at training camp. The definite lines he said out loud were the first line (Ryan Smyth – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams) and the first two defensive pairings (1 – Drew Doughty – Sean O’Donnell; 2 – Rob Scuderi – Jack Johnson). The only line up in the air for TM is the 4th line. Who could it be?

Raitis Ivanans – John Zeiler – Peter Harrold? (Whoa… I just threw up in my mouth a bit.)

Other than this little tidbit, there weren’t any earth-shattering bits of insight. But one thing I asked specifically was if he had a surprise rookie forward in mind who could make a statement out of training camp. He responded by saying he wasn’t 100% sure on anyone but that Richard Clune might make a name for himself. Regarding the playoffs, he said if they didn’t make the top 8 spots in the West, it wouldn’t be a huge disappointment but that they had to show improvement. This was a bit different than what Lombardi said earlierabout the playoffs. If the Kings didn’t make it, according to DL, it “would not be a major disaster but would be a major disappointment.”

I honestly can’t disagree with anything said during the weekend. Everything was inline with how the Kings are being built up and, in the end, I’m happy with how everything went. The venue was very nice, clean, and sent the message that the Kings were continuing to move forward in the players’ development. From the fan perspective I was pretty pleased at how everything was presented although the area could have used a bit more signage on the exterior to showcase what was going on and where to go. The heat was killer but that didn’t stop the street hockey tournament even on the black asphalt. Much thanks to the Kings for providing this opportunity

Make sure to check out all the news on the event on KingsCast, Frozen Royalty, The Examiner, and the Press Box Perspective!

Next stop: the playoffs! (…or not…)

On the 3rd and final day of the LA Kings Hockey Fest 09, Keith, Chris and Connie continue their coverage of the event with exclusive interviews of Dean Lombardi, Ron Hextall and Terry Murray, chat with more Los Angeles Kings fans, check out the new NHL 2010 game and stage their own autograph session.

Hockey Fest Day 3 – Staying on Target

On this beautiful Sunday morning, and final day of the Los Angeles Kings Hockey Fest 2009, I’m starting to feel that gentle nudge that hockey is upon us. And while we would love for you to check into our site every hour on the hour, there are some other sites out there that talk about your LA Kings on a regular basis. Here’s who we’re reading and why you should too:

Frozen Royalty – Gann Matsuda is a household name if you’re a Los Angeles Kings fan. He’s been covering the Kings since they were playing at the forum. Gann gets the interviews from the top-brass and provides us with locker-room interviews after each home game. Gann was also a guest on our show last season. Why we subscribe? Gann has always provided insightful Kings news with a journalistic integrity. He’s well-respected within the organization and among the fan base.

View From My Seats – Matt Reitz is the Editor-in-Chief of this website and also guest-posted for us recently. While his site is not exclusively about the Los Angeles Kings, Reitz is a Kings fan and generously posts about his favorite team. Why we subscribe? This guy has a razor sharp wit. His posts always delight me as he can turn a phrase like nobody’s business. This hockey site is a delight to read each morning. Points to anyone who can convince Matt to write for KingsCast.

Matt Barry on Hockeybuzz.com – Everybody has strong opinions for or against anything relating to Hockeybuzz, but this site is a huge force in hockey. Matt Barry’s blogs are always entertaining, forever passionate and certainly deliver a good analysis on the LA Kings. Why we subscribe? This guy has energy. I don’t read through his blogs and wonder what I’m having for lunch that day. It’s entertaining and it’s just good.

Kings Kool-Aid – This is a new blog I found on Twitter recently and it has not disappointed. What I like about this site is that the author is smart. He gives you statistical breakdowns of the Kings with insightful commentary. Why we subscribe? Because we find interesting facts about the Kings which are no-BS and well-researched.

The Hockey Zen – Look, these guys are not Kings fans. But they are passionate hockey fans and I watch their show every time they put one out. I link these guys because I have a bet with Chris Nadeau. He believes the Edmonton Oilers will make the playoffs and beat the Kings in points. Clearly he is wrong. Why we subscribe? They may not be Kings fans but they are definitely Kings-friendly. Regardless, this is a great site and a great show. Also, I will win this bet and Chris will be doing shots of Jager in the Spring of 2010.

So, who else out there are you getting your Kings fix from?

It’s a long off-season for the Los Angeles Kings fan. In this episode we re-cap what happened in NHL hockey (this week). We talk about Patrick Kane (aka .20 cent), Jeremy Roenick, hockey rumor sites and our event at Frozen Fury. Will you be there?

We’ve been receiving a few emails from the passionate Manchester Monarchs fans out there asking for us to talk more about our AHL affiliate. And, we agree! While KingsCast has always been about the passionate fans of the Los Angeles Kings, we realize that we’ve left our Monarchs brothers and sisters out in the cold. So, we’re looking for a full-time blogger to cover the Manchester Monarchs right here on KingsCast. Once the season gets rolling, we’d love to have you have you on the podcast as well.

Ideally you attend Manchester Monarchs from time-to-time and are passionate about all things Manchester Monarchs hockey. If you have another blog, send us some of your writing samples and we’ll take a look. If you don’t, no big deal, shoot us an email and tell us why you’re right for the gig. If you’re an Ontario Reign fan, we’d like to hear from you as well. We don’t want to exclude our ECHL fans.

We look forward to hearing from you!

keith@kingscast.net

When you read, watch or listen something on KingsCast, we love it when you throw in your opinion in the comments section (whether you agree or disagree). You can even comment using your Facebook profile through Facebook Connect. Getting a dialog going with our listeners and watchers is a high priority for us. We want to make sure we’re giving you what you want as a Los Angeles Kings fan. And, hey, if you really like what we’re laying down, why not Tweet it or post it to your Facebook page? Enjoy what’s left of a beautiful Los Angeles weekend.

Dubbed the “Miracle on Chick Hearn” by KingsCast, this was one of the best comebacks we’ve seen by the Los Angeles Kings in quite some time. Watch as LA completely dismantles the Dallas Stars.