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A day after a big win in San Jose, Terry Murray, in anticipation of needing some serious blue line depth to compensate for the speed of the young Jets Coyotes, has scratched enforcer Raitis Ivanans and re-inserted Davis Drewiske as a 7th defenseman, likely to line up as a left wing on a 4th line of Brad Richardson and Oscar Möller.  Phoenix comes into LA

Not going to do as comprehensive of a minute-by-minute blog tonight, going to just add some commentary to the major highlights and touch on some topics that have been on my mind of late. 1st period 5:00 Torrey Pines Mitchell trips Jarret Stoll in the Sharks’ zone during the second solid cycle put together by that line; Teddy Purcell has already had a couple of

Hey folks. The pride of Calgary descends on the Staples Center tonight and I’ll be updating this blog as frequently as possible tonight. 1st Period 1:25 So far so good; Jarome Iginla has not yet scored. 1:37 Michal Handzus takes a completely ludicrous boarding call on Nystrom, Flames on the PP. Rob Scuderi returns to the lineup for LA after a lengthy absence with an ankle sprain.  Also into the

I just wanted to post a link to Wayne Simmonds’ penalty shot goal against Ottawa last night.  It’s still making me giggle.  Simmonds, like Drew Doughty, is only in the second year of his ELC.  I want them both signed for 100 years at 12:01AM GMT on 1 July 2010. Thought question of the day:  which goalie has suffered a more hilarious injury?  Pascal Leclaire getting a puck to

Tonight, the Kings host the Senators of Ottawa for their last interconference matchup of 2009.  Still on the shelf are Ryan Smyth and Rob Scuderi.  Into the lineup is Peter Harrold to take 4th line RW in Brandon Segal’s stead.  Wayne Simmonds is red hot and the center of the secondary scoring that has kept the Kings in good position in the Campbell Conference despite missing the two big-name acquisitions

The first installment of this season’s Freeway Faceoff kicked off tonight, and, as has become my custom, I kept a running diary throughout the game.  Most hockey fans outside of Southern California were probably more intrigued by Dany Heatley facing his former mates tonight, but there’s just nothing compelling about Senators-Sharks when you have a legitimate geographical rivalry (Montréal-Toronto earlier tonight certainly compares) to enjoy. Pre-game Painfully, I only have

The Kings returned to action in SoCal tonight to take on the potent Chicago Blackhawks, who were coming off of an uncharacteristic shutout loss at the hands of the Ducks.  The good news:  Jarret Stoll returns, stabilizing that second line center spot and giving the Kings a much needed one-timer option on the PP; the bad news:  Kane-Toews-Hossa is a line.  Earlier this season, the Hawks shut down the Kings

After a disappointing debut for Andrei Loktionov, who dislocated his shoulder after being called up to replace normal second line center Jarret Stoll, the Kings went deeper into the organization, signing Brayden Schenn to a one-game tryout.  With Schenn already in town to play an exhibition against a Russian team, Dean Lombardi made the unorthodox move to give this past year’s 5th overall pick a preview of the highest level

Another running diary for me–Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American readers. The Kings skate into Edmonton Wednesday night pretty banged up.  Stoll is out after taking a knock in the last game, Smyth and Scuderi are still out.  Simmonds should be careful because anyone with an S-name looks to be in jeopardy.  Jeff Deslauriers is coming off of a 36-save shutout of the Coyotes–amazingly, the first ever shutout by

Sony, you have released a commercial so unoriginal that it would make an onion cry.  I hope the Amp marketing folks catch wind of this. lame ping pong ad cool insult battle ad Along these lines…NHL commercials are quite good… so why are they only on the NHL network and Vs.? (I’m assuming they’re on Vs., as I have DirecTV and as such no longer get Vs. unless I’m listening to old Pearl Jam, but that’s a discussion for another day.)  NHL, you make great commercials that are wasted on networks being viewed by fans you already have.  Preaching to the choir, as it were.  Spring for some spots on other networks to draw in more fans. twitter.com/mitokon5