Welcome to the Hockey Phanatic website

 Your daily commentary on the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and issues that involve the National Hockey League.

Sorry that my blog has been down. I had a major crash and have yet to be able to get the site back up to full speed.

 The Kings win the Stanley Cup!!

May 17th-Great comeback win last night. Ranks right up there in the Top 5. Nothing beats Miracle on Manchester or Adam Deadmarsh's OT winner to eliminate Detroit but it is right there in that company.

After the game did you hear that clown Vic the Brick asking Darryl Sutter those two stupid questions? Vic is a Laker schill who goes around town dressed in a flowing purple and gold robe and a ridiculous purple and gold crown. If he had a uterus he'd be popping out Kobe's baby. He works for a station that broadcast the Lakers for 30 plus years but lost them a few years back to KSPN. Now these two stations try to out-Laker each other at the expense of most other sports. When I do scan by these stations it is invariably Lakers talk. I don't stay long. This morning, still talking NBA even though both Lakers and Clippers are out. 

Anyway, Vic (in his dramatic east coast accent) asks Darryl if the Kings were inspired by Kopi's blood on the ice. Darryl pointed out that the Sharks scored after that. Then he asks if the Kings were inspired when Kopi came back. Darryl answered, "He was rested". That got a laugh from the rest of the reporters. Fact of the matter is the Kings played a great third period, San Jose took two penalties because of the pressure and the Kings capitalized. They weren't looking to someone for "inspiration".

KLAC, next game send a reporter who actually knows the game. Not some drama queen who got lost on the way to Kobe's house.

May 13th- The Ducks should be ashamed and embarrassed about their Game 7 performance. How can you not be fired up at the beginning of the game? To be outshot 7-1 and be scored upon in the first five minutes is pathetic.

The Ducks need to re-evaluate their defense. Souray is too slow, strictly a PP specialist. Bryan Allen is big and slow. Luca Sbisa is soft and makes stupid decisions with the puck. He covers his softness with hits along the boards that shows up in the stats but he is always outmuscled in front of the net and can't clear people out. After Fowler and Beauchemin there is a big drop in talent and performance.  

May 1st- Jonathan Quick has many great skills as an NHL goaltender. The Kings would not have won the Stanley Cup without him. However, last night exposed the one major flaw in his game. He cannot handle the puck. That was not the first time he has fumble with the puck and it cost the Kings a goal and a game. One example a few years back against Minnesota the Kings lost 2-1 and both Minny goals came as a direct result of Quick's mishandling of the puck. Now the Kings have someone in their employ who, probably next to Martin Brodeur, was the best puckhandling goalie to ever play. Has Ron Hextall ever taken the ice and given Quick a few pointers about playing the puck? I cringe every time the puck is on Quick's stick. He needs to either ring the puck around the boards, or preferably, set the puck up for his defensemen and get back in his net. The less the puck is on his stick the better.   

April 15th- Edmonton did every other team in the league a favor today. They kept the old boy's network alive. They fired Steve Tambellini and hired Craig MacTavish as the new GM. The same MacTavish who coached the team 8 years, missed the playoffs 5 of those years and got lucky one year by getting to the Cup Finals. He lived off that for two years longer than he should have.

I don't understand how owners like Darryl Katz, who made billions in business, could be so stupid when running a hockey team. Kevin Lowe can't run a donut shop, and he's proven he can't run a hockey team. Seven years in a row now out of the playoffs. And he still calls the shots and hires all his own Oiler friends and cronies to help him run the team into the ground. The Oilers will never get better until Lowe is gone. I'm not an Oiler fan, but I hate to see incompetence rewarded. We can count on three more years of the Oilers not being competitive until Katz wises up and cleans house.  

February 5th-We shouldn't be surprised where the Kings are at this point in the short season. The problem they have is the same one from last year; they can't score. The game against the Ducks was a perfect example. When the Kings play physically and cycle the puck they dominate. When they try to skate and play firewagon hockey they get smoked. The Kings need to play the physical part of the game. No team can out-muscle them. But when they try to skate with teams like Chicago and Colorado they will lose. They need to get back to the game they played at the end of last season and in the playoffs. Physical and tight defense.    

Jan 14th. 2013-The Kings traded Kevin Westgarth today to Carolina. I mean, they robbed them. Anthony Stewart would have been enough but the two draft picks were a steal. Kevin Westgarth flat out can't play. Terry Murray was fired, in part, because he insisted on playing Westgarth. When Darryl Sutter was hired he put Westgarth in a couple of games, realized he was not going to win with him in the lineup and we never saw him again. We'll see what Stewart can do. Sometimes being in a winning environment can do wonders for a guy who needs a change of scenery. 

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