Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty had a chance to talk with Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Kings great Marcel Dionne at Hockey Fest ’09 last weekend. Here’s his latest article on HockeyTalk.biz.

LOS ANGELES — Despite the fact that he is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, making him one of the all-time greatest players to have ever played the game, former Los Angeles Kings superstar center Marcel Dionne is not exactly a household name in Southern California.

Dionne was acquired by the Kings on June 23, 1975, along with Bart Crashley, from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Terry Harper, Dan Maloney and a second round draft choice (later transferred to the Minnesota North Stars) in the 1976 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

From that day forward, the Kings finally had that elite, superstar forward they had lacked since they joined the NHL in 1967.

Dionne made a huge and immediate impact. In the 1975-76 season, his first with the Kings, Dionne scored forty goals and tallied 54 assists for 94 points in eighty games.

Dionne never looked back after that, scoring 550 goals and contributing 757 assists for 1,307 points in 921 regular season games with the Kings. He still leads the team on their all-time assists list (757), ranks second all-time in goals (550), and to top it all off, he was part of the famed Triple Crown Line, along with Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor, that was so dominant for six seasons.

Dionne played in twenty NHL seasons with the Red Wings, Kings and Rangers, scoring 731 regular season goals and adding 1,040 assists for 1,771 points. He ranks fourth all-time in the NHL in goals, ninth in assists, fifth in points, second in goals by a center and ranks fourth all-time in points by a center.

Perhaps more eye-opening is that Dionne scored forty or more goals in ten seasons and scored fifty or more in five straight seasons. He also scored 100 or more points in eight seasons (ranked third all-time in the NHL)…

Read the rest on HockeyTalk.biz.

In this special edition podcast, Keith and Chris head to Hockey Fest and score interviews with Drew Doughty, Marcel Dionne and Ray Ferraro. This podcast is a must for all Los Angeles Kings fans.

Hockey Fest Day 2 Interviews [ 10:38 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

This weekend the Los Angeles Kings held the first annual Hockey Fest at LA Live, which is another shindig in order to help build excitement for the 09-10 season. I must admit I held some skepticism about what the event would end up accomplishing, and I guess we won’t really know the success of it until the Kings hit the ice and actually start winning some games. It’s hard to build hype around a team that consistently gives so little in return.

I wasn’t planning on attending Hockey Fest was was pleasantly surprised and flattered to have been offered media access for this event. I graciously accepted and entered into uncharted territory. All-in-all it was a very relaxed Blue Room with no real stress present at any point. I will admit my heart was pumping a bit of adrenaline when I lobbed my first question at Teddy Purcell asking him what he’s done this summer to ensure his spot on the roster. His answer? Just what you’d expect a professional athlete to say; hard work, get stronger, stay focused.

Even though it was very cool to be a part of the ask-and-answer sessions, no one reinvented the wheel today. That being said, there was some very good insight by all the alumni in attendance with a few statements here and there that caught my attention.

Ray Ferraro put it best by saying the fans in the event tent are “cautiously optimistic.” The fans have been burned by their beloved team for the past 41 years and now is really not the time to state with confidence that they’re going to make the playoffs. I don’t know anyone who is currently that confident with this young roster. Of course, the fans shouldn’t be chastising the team before they can prove cohesiveness as a roster with consistent chemistry, especially with the new players in the room. There are realistic expectations for all the players that everyone has to be aware of with the best stated expectation by Ferraro (and one that I wholly agreed with) that fans shouldn’t be expecting Ryan Smyth to be a 40-goal scorer. Instead he should be a lock for 27 goals next season. I think that’s a very reasonable number and can stand behind that, but that doesn’t mean I think he’s worth his $6.25 million cap hit.

The most notable:

• Ray Ferraro stated that all of the Kings teams since its inception have never lost their commitment to win, but it was the ability to win has been absent. Cold hard truth.
• Marcel Dionne said during the Triple Crown Line session that back in his time the players controlled the game whereas today the game is controlled by the coaches. This idea was so matter-of-factly stated that I was very impressed by the simplicity and reality of that insight. Having a system placed upon players is now so normalized that no one gives it another thought, but having it verbalized for the audience today was something I really appreciated.
• I asked Ferraro about what his thoughts were concerning the hype machine that is college-stud Jack Johnson. His response was that Jack is still trying to find himself as an NHL player and that Drew Doughty’s presence shouldn’t be considered a threat. Bottom line: Jack needs to make that jump this season.

There were a lot of great things to see on the second day of Hockey Fest. The first was seeing the Kids Press Conference in the morning with Anze Kopitar, Matt Greene, Wayne Simmonds, and Teddy Purcell. The kids were asking some solid questions while the players cracked each other up.

• Ego buster: “In April where did you play golf?”
• The question that brought the house down: “Anze, do you still live with your parents?

Stay tuned for another recap from Sunday’s event tomorrow night.

If you’re a Los Angeles Kings fan, then you know that Hockey Fest ’09 starts tonight in Downtown Los Angeles with a live acoustic performance by Eddie Kowalczyk of the band “Live”. Despite the 100 degree weather, the Kings are looking to put on quite a show this weekend.

Saturday you’ll have the opportunity to meet Dave Taylor, Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer of the Triple Crown Line in person. The stories this group must have as they made up one of the best lines in Los Angeles Kings history. This is my must-see event for Saturday. Also featured will be an enforcer panel and an NHL experts discussion. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet some of your current Kings and get some long-awaited autographs.

Sunday is the coup de grace for any Kings Fan as Bob Miller will be starring in his own one-man show at the Nokia Theatre. In this special performance, Bob will re-live many of his favorite (and funny) Kings moments. I absolutely cannot wait for this one. Also on Sunday will be a panel on “Growing Up Kings” with Jim Fox, Luc Robitaille, Bernie Nicholls and Mark Hardy where they will talk about growing up in the farm system and finally making the team. At 10AM, there will be a discussion with Terry Murray, Dean Lombardi and Ron Hextall where you’ll get the “inside scoop” on what’s happening with the team. Think of this as a condensed Breakfast with the GM.

Of course, KingsCast will be there as part of the media giving you up to the minute updates on Twitter as well as the blog. We’ll be trying to get a few interviews as well for you. Also, we’re hoping to meet some of you this weekend and get your take on this year’s squad on video for Overtime. Thanks for all of the support this off-season!

For more information, and to purchase tickets to the LA Kings Hockey Fest ’09, click here. See you this weekend!

Kings fans, this off-season represents big changes within the LA Kings organization. There’s the impressive signings and trades that Dean Lombardi has made. The organization is openly talking about contending for the playoffs next season. Finally, Los Angeles is doing something very similar to what the Chicago Blackhawks did last season. You’d have to be living on a remote island if you haven’t heard about the Los Angeles Kings upcoming Hockey Fest ’09 being held on August 28-30, 2009 at LA Live.

Hosted by ESPN.com’s John Buccigross, this three-day event will feature a “one-man show” with Bob Miller, a Q&A with the Triple Crown Line, a speakers series with former Kings greats, live music with Eddie Kowalczyk, autograph sessions and much more. This event is like Tip a King on Red Bull and speed.

The Los Angeles Kings have packed so much into these three days that it’s like boot camp for the Kings fan. However, Hockey Fest is much more than a three-day celebration of all things Kings: it’s symbolic. Do you think they would have done this if all we had done in the offseason is sign Brian Wilsie 2.0? Exactly, the Kings want you to be excited about Kings hockey this season. The Chicago Blackhawks missed the playoffs in 2007-2008, held their own Hockey Fest that summer and went on to the Western Conference Finals. Now I’m not suggesting that’s going to happen for Los Angeles, but the playoff spirit is in the air and it’s time to jump on the train. Personally, I can’t wait to see Bob Miller’s one-man show. This is a Hall of Fame living legend of broadcasting live on stage. It’s going to be pretty special.

If you think your child will be born that weekend, see if there’s a way to switch that around. If you’re getting married that weekend: put. it. off. If you’re an LA Kings fan, this is an event not to be missed.

Now you know Team KingsCast will be there, what about you? What are you most looking forward to?

Keith Korneluk is a co-host on KingsCast. Follow him on Twitter

The greatest comeback in Los Angeles Kings history took place on April 10, 1982. Known as the Miracle on Manchester, this event will always be remembered by the hardcore LA Kings fans.