Coming off a perfect road trip in which they won all five contests, including triumphs at Detroit, Boston, and New Jersey, the Los Angeles Kings will now play six games over the next two weeks – all of which are in southern California. They host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, the archrival Anaheim Ducks on Thursday evening, and have another showdown with the Red Wings on Saturday afternoon.
Kings’ fans already know that they need to root hard for their team to try to pick up as many points as possible this week. With the team in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, every single point they can grab is important.
But Kings’ fans shouldn’t only be paying attention to what their team is doing. Allow this weekly submission to serve as a guide to scoreboard watching:
MONDAY FEBRUARY 1
KINGS have the day off – After a long cross-country flight following Sunday’s dramatic victory for the ages at New Jersey, the Kings will unpack their bags and take a breather before finishing their pre-Olympic schedule with five out of six games at Staples Center. The last time the Kings had at least 69 points on the first day of February was back in 1981 when they had 71 points to lead the Wales Conference.
Anaheim @ Florida – The Ducks continue to tread water in the Western Conference, yet are still on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. They begin the week in 12th place with 57 points, five out of the final spot in the Western Conference. They were able to trade J.S. Giguere to Toronto for Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala, got on the winning side of their Southeast Division tour with a shootout victory Friday in Tampa, and Teemu Selanne is back on the ice skating. But of course, we’re rooting for the Panthers in this one.
Philadelphia @ Calgary – It took until the last day of January, but the first major trade of the NHL season was one that the Flames had to make. Never mind that they were able to receive four quality players that will help them, but it’s addition by subtraction in sending Dion Phaneuf to Montreal. The question for the Flames now is: was it enough to stop their free fall down the standings? Tonight will be the first test as we root for the Flyers to continue the Flames misery.
Carolina @ Edmonton – Two names that Kings’ fans have and will likely continue to hear trade talk concerning a possible acquisition by their team is that of Ray Whitney and Niclas Wallin of the Hurricanes. Both have low cap numbers, and both are in walk years of their contracts, which means that they’ll come off the books this summer. This also means that two veterans with Stanley Cup experience will be available at low cost. The 2006 Stanley Cup Finals between these two teams sure seems like a lifetime ago to their fans.
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2
New York Rangers @ KINGS – Here’s a shout out to two different people that are connected to this contest, and neither of them are Sean Avery. One is Eddie Nathan, a fellow Jersey transplant who will be in the building rooting on against the Kings for the only time the rest of the way (go easy on him fans). The other is new BFF Ron Duguay, whom I coached during the recent Kings Fantasy Camp last month. He played for the Rangers and Kings during his career, and now works for MSG Network in New York City serving as a Rangers Studio Analyst. This is the first of two straight games for the Kings’ third jersey this week. By the way, late on monday, the Rangers acquired underachievement's poster boy Olli Jokinen along with Brandon Prust from Calgary for Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins.
Minnesota @ Dallas – The Stars continue to hang around in the playoff mix, just three points out of a playoff spot with 59 points as the week begins. The Wild take to the ice with 58 points, just one spot behind the Stars in 11th place in the West. Since both teams are behind the Kings in the standings, we’ll root for the Stars because the Kings still have three games head-to-head against Dallas.
Phoenix @ Nashville – The surprising Coyotes start the week in 4th place in the Western Conference with 71 points, while the Predators begin the week with 63 points. Nashville is six points behind the Kings in 7th place in the West. Phoenix is only two games above .500 on the road, and start the week two points ahead o Los Angeles, though the Kings do have one game in hand. We’ll root for Nashville to win in regulation.
Detroit @ San Jose – We’ve talked in the past this season about how this is just an 82-game pre-season for the Sharks. With their past playoff troubles, their season really doesn’t start until mid-April when the playoffs begin. But one thing that would certainly cause almost as much angst as someone trying to make a bad Dionne Warwick reference in San Jose is having the Sharks draw the Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs. As of now, that’s how it’s shaping up, so look for this to be a ‘message’ game for both teams. With Detroit seven points behind the Kings, and the Sharks still seemingly out of reach with 81, we’ll root for the Sharks.
Columbus @ Colorado – The Avalanche begin this week with 66 points and are in 6th place in the Western Conference. They also trail Vancouver by four points for the lead in the Northwest Division. Columbus begins the week in 14th place with 53 points, nine out of the final playoff spot. We’ll root for the Blue Jackets on the road here since the Avalanche start the week three points behind the Kings.
Vancouver @ Montreal – Game two of a league-record 14-game road trip for the Canucks finds them starting the week in first place in the Northwest Division. Vancouver has a league-best 23 home triumphs, but are 11-11-1 on the road. They’ll be leaning on goaltender Roberto Luongo during the stretch, but also watch for backup Andrew Raycroft to be used during this stretch as well. The Canadiens begin the week in 10th place in the East, just one point out of the playoffs. Since a Montreal regulation victory would have no impact on the Kings, we’ll root on the Habs.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 3
KINGS practice in El Segundo – On this date in Kings history in 1998, Josef Stumpel recorded his first hat trick as a member of the Kings during a 6-3 victory at Calgary. He also assisted on what would be Rob Blake’s game-winning goal.
Detroit @ Anaheim – The Ducks play the second of three games in four nights when they return from the Sunshine State to host the Red Wings. Detroit begins the week with 62 points and begin the week tied with Calgary for the final playoff spot in the West. The Red Wings also are hopeful to get Johan Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom back in the lineup this week during their California trip. Grit your teeth and say it with me Kings’ fans: let’s go Ducks.
St. Louis @ Chicago – The Blackhawks still comfortably lead the Central Division with 78 points, 15 points clear of their nearest division rival. They start the week trailing San Jose by three points for the top spot in the conference standings. The Blues continue to flounder near the bottom of the conference standings with 57 points, tied with Anaheim for 12th as the week begins. The Blues are seven games over .500 on the road, while Chicago has lost just five of 27 home games all season. St. Louis is now 12 points back of the Kings, so we’ll take them to win since the Kings are now just nine points behind Chicago.
Carolina @ Calgary – The Flames have just one win in their last ten games thanks to their final matchup with the Oilers this season. We’ll see if the additions of Niklas Hagman, Ian White, and Matt Stajan will add some grit and scoring depth to the Flames. We’ll be rooting for the Hurricanes regardless.
Philadelphia @ Edmonton – People that know me wonder why I continue to hold a grudge against hockey writers that voted the 2003 Conn Smythe Trophy to J.S. Giguere. Never mind that he was badly outplayed in the Stanley Cup Finals by Martin Brodeur (who recorded three shutouts in the finals that year). Part of me is upset by the fact that Giguere is the last non-champion to win the playoff MVP. That’s because the guy who previously held that unofficial moniker was current Kings assistant GM Ron Hextall. Anyone who remembers the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals between the Flyers and Oilers will remember that Hextall practically made that series go seven games by himself.
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4
Anaheim @ KINGS – Round three of the SoCal Showdown takes place at Staples Center. And even though Jonas Hiller signed a new contract with the Ducks, he can only hope that this edition of the rivalry goes better for him than the last time, when he was pulled midway through the second period of a 4-0 Kings triumph which might have been their best 60 minute performance all season. The addition of Jason Blake will help the Ducks depth and penalty killing.
Dallas @ Columbus – The Stars are four games over .500 as the week begins despite a goal differential of -20. Marty Turco is expected to start getting the call in goal more frequently.Brad Richards of the Stars and Rick Nash of the Blue Jackets are both in the top 25 in the league in scoring, but both players also have a -13 plus/minus rating. This time we’ll take Columbus to win.
San Jose @ St. Louis – It’s been a struggle this season for goaltenders named Mason. Columbus netminder Steve Mason won the Calder last season, but is five games under .500 with a 3.28 GAA. Chris Mason plays for the Blues between the pipes, but even though his GAA is nearly a goal-per-game better, he’s only 16-15-8 on the year. It makes both teams wish that Bob Mason, best known for his Easter Epic duel with former King Kelly Hrudey during Game 7 of the 1987 playoff series between the Capitals and Islanders, could be available.
Colorado @ Nashville – The sign of a balanced team is to see them in playoff position without having a single player in the top 30 in the league in scoring. Both the Avalanche and Predators seem to be winning games using this ‘smoke and mirrors’ approach. The Predators have had an equal splitting of the goaltending duties between Pekka Rinne and Dan Ellis, while Craig Anderson has been a superb workhorse for Colorado. We’ll go for Colorado because the Kings still play four games straight up against the Avalanche.
Edmonton @ Minnesota – The Oilers’ woes continue to mount. Not only have they been unable to break the string of endless losses, but they also lost a huge trade deadline bargaining chip when defenseman Sheldon Souray went down for the season with a wrist injury. The Oilers are 24 points behind with 29 games to play, so it seems they’ll likely be the first team eliminated from the playoff race. Which is why starting a win streak by defeating Minnesota won’t boost them upwards in the standings, but will help continue to tame the Wild.
Vancouver @ Ottawa – The Canucks will be severely tested when they visit the Canadian capital city to9 face the Senators. Ottawa begins the week having won nine out of their last ten games, in 5th place in the East and just five points back of Buffalo in the Northeast Division. The Sens are also 20-8-3 at home. However, the Senators haven’t defeated the Canucks since March of 2003, and they posted a home win against the Canucks since November of 2001. Here’s hoping they reverse that trend.
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5
KINGS practice in El Segundo – Wayne Gretzky made a lot of significant contributions to the history of the Kings’ franchise. But because of his trade in 1996 to St. Louis, he made it possible for team history to be made on this date just one season later. That’s because Roman Vopat, one of the players that came from the Blues in the second Gretzky trade, joined his brother Jan Vopat on the ice, marking the first time that two brothers played in a game together wearing the Kings’ jerseys. San Jose wound up winning that game 3-2. The brothers participated in 122 career games together while in Los Angeles.
Phoenix @ Chicago – The Coyotes continue to get consistently courageous play in goal from Ilya Bryzgalov. He is in the top ten in the league in wins, shutouts, GAA and save percentage. But in this game, we’ll root for the Blackhawks since Phoenix is within striking distance of the Kings.
Calgary @ Florida – After hosting a Southeast Division team earlier this week, the Flames now travel to the Southeast to face the Panthers. Figure on the Florida fans to boo as loudly Kings’ fans do for Rob Blake when former Panther and current Flame Jay Bouwmeester has the puck.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 6
Detroit @ KINGS – This is the last of the four scheduled meetings between the Kings and Wings this season. It’s also a weekend afternoon matinee. The Kings have struggled in recent years on Saturday afternoons, but they have won their last two home games in such situations, and after today’s contest they play just one more Saturday afternoon games, as well as a very strange noon time Sunday contest in March.
Phoenix @ Dallas – The only ‘Pacific Division four point’ match-up of the week not involving the Kings pits the Coyotes against the Stars. In this instance, with Phoenix ahead of the Kings and just one games against Coyotes remaining head-to-head, we’ll root on the Stars in this one.
San Jose @ Nashville – Everyone talks about the Sharks success and very obviously points to the play of Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton, and Patrick Marleau. But Evgeni Nabokov also deserves some praise. He’s tied with Jonathan Quick for second in the league in victories beginning the week with 31, just one behind Martin Brodeur for the league lead. And even though Nabokov gets the benefit of the second best scoring team in the league in front of him, he still ranks among league leaders in GAA and save percentage. Sharks’ fans only hope he can continue this performance when it counts most.
Chicago @ St. Louis – Second matchup of the week between these bitter rivals, who have been in the same division going way back to their days together in the Norris Division. Duncan Keith continues to impress for the Hawks, starting the week second only to Mike Green in the entire league in points scored by a defenseman with 49. And he only has 28 PIM’s all season despite playing over 26 ½ minutes per contest.
Edmonton @ Colorado – It’s time for this week’s ‘Edmonton Kings’ updates: Lubomir Visnovsky has nine goals and 20 assists in 49 games, and has a +4 plus/minus rating for the season; Patrick O’Sullivan has ten goals and 20 assists in 53 games, but has a -24 plus/minus rating.
Buffalo @ Columbus – We’ll take the Sabres here simply because they are in the Eastern Conference, and a regulation win would prevent one of the teams pursuing the Kings from gaining any ground.
Calgary @ Tampa Bay – The Flames leave the Super Bowl hype and parties of this weekend in South Florida for a visit to the Gulf Coast to take on the Lightning in a rematch of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. Steve Downie has been a nice surprise for Tampa Bay this season, with 11 goals and 15 assists in 52 goals, giving some scoring punch to his other punching abilities (149 PIM’s this season).
Philadelphia @ Minnesota – The Flyers begin the week in 6th place in the Eastern Conference with 57 points. This means that they are one of eight teams that are separated by just three points in the race for the final three playoff berths. For the Wild, Owen Nolan leads the team in career scoring against Philadelphia, with eight goals and 11 assists. But the Wild are just 2-6-1 all-time versus the Flyers and have dropped four straight in the series. Let’s make that five straight.
Vancouver @ Boston – The Canucks version of the Magical Mystery Tour takes them along the long and winding road down the Mass Pike to Boston Garden. The Bruins begin the week with 55 points, tied for 11th with Tampa Bay, just two points out of the playoffs. And Marc Savard showed last Saturday that his return couldn’t come at a better time for the struggling B’s. Perhaps it’s time to start talking about Henrik Sedin as a possible Hart Trophy candidate. He’s averaging an assist per game this season, with five game-winning goals, and scoring goals at 22.3% clip, all while leading the league in points.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 7
KINGS practice in El Segundo – At least one player can be forgiven if he displays a solid rooting interest in Super Bowl XLIV on this day. He may have grown in Michigan and played his college hockey in Ann Arbor for the Wolverines, but Jack Johnson was born in Indianapolis. So it would be somewhat understandable if he was cheering for the Colts to defeat the Saints. Of course, the rest of the team might look to the Saints as a possible omen: they played their first football game in the NFL one month before the Kings began their NHL odyssey, and they are one win away from their first ever championship after a mostly star-crossed existence.
No Games involving Western Conference teams on this Super Bowl Sunday.
Be sure to check back next Monday for another edition of “Who Kings fans should root for!” Kings games next week: Monday at Anaheim, Thursday home versus Edmonton, and Saturday home versus Colorado.
*******************
Check out my latest thoughts on hockey, sports, and life in general, on Twitter by clicking here.
Comments