Oh... this is happening, people.

When Brigitte from One Girl, One Puck started writing her Know Your Opponent series for The Royal Half just 2 1/2 months ago... I had no idea that her record when she previewed the opposing teams in the most sexist, objectifying way would be 5-1. (Curse you, regular season game against Vancouver!) So basically what I'm saying is that if the Los Angeles Kings lose the Stanley Cup Final to the New Jersey Devils... it will all be Brigitte's fault. Without any further ado... Brigitte's complete mental breakdown over the Kings-Devils Stanley Cup Final!!!

Click Here to Check Out "Know Your Opponent" for the Kings vs Devils Stanley Cup Final!!!

It all started with an innocent late night tweet...

That's right. I had spent the better part of a few hours watching videos like this. And then... within seconds of posting that Tweet...

And then finally... just like he's been doing all playoffs long... Colin Fraser dropped some knowledge on our asses. 

Colin Fraser tweeted at me. I could almost cry.

Within minutes, Brigitte from One Girl, One Puck was on the case. There is a reason she has won The Royal Half Investigative Reporter of the Year Award seven straight years. Here she is with her latest field report... The 2012 Los Angeles Kings... and the Cars That Love Them. Take it away, Brigitte!!!

This post is an example of what happens when there's no hockey on TV. The Kings punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final the other night in Phoenix and when the team arrived in LA, thousands of Kings fans greeted them. It was a crazy scene as the players drove their cars past passionate and excited fans. Of course, the only thing that's really important about the video is seeing what the players drive.

Jonathan Quick drives a giant S-Class Mercedes.
He also drove Willie Mitchell because an adult over the age of 25
must be present when you're driving with your learner's permit.  

Anze Kopitar gets driven around in a white Escalade, because he's Anze Fucking Kopitar.

Rob Scuderi drives Jarret Stoll in a Porsche Cayenne, because Stoll is clearly hammered. 

The legend himself Bob Miller drives a Lexus (because he's old),
but it's a SC model (because he doesn't want to believe he's old). 

Trevor Lewis drives a white Mercedes C-Class with red interior... of course he does.
Drew Doughty laughs at how poor Trevor Lewis is. 
(Seriously... does Drew Doughty even remember who Wayne Simmonds was?) 

Dustin Brown drives a ridiculously dirty Mercedes. Seriously, clean your damn car.  

Power couple Mike Richards and Jeff Carter head home for a romantic evening in Mike's Range Rover.

Seriously Quick... are you allowed to be driving at night?

Matt Greene ironically drives a beat up Jeep. He's the Kings designated hipster.

Jarret Stoll is definitely drunk.

I have no idea what Jordan Nolan is driving, but I bet it's a piece of crap.
(I also can't be the only one who thought the guy in the passenger seat was Jack Johnson at first glance.) 

Even Coach Sutter got caught up in the fun!

This is why there needs to be hockey on every night. While I'm already dwelling in ridiculous fan girl territory... Royal Half... can you get me a screengrab of Jeff Carter's ass as the Kings are leaving the plane?

Thanks.

Oh man, oh man... even 2 days later it's still hard to believe that the Los Angeles Kings are in the Stanley Cup Finals Final. And if you've been a frequent listener of the All The Kings Men Podcast... you know that Podmaster General Jesse Cohen and I still can't believe it... and that John Hoven from Mayor's Manor knew it all along. Take a ride with the 3 of us as we breakdown the Game 5 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes that has earned the LA Kings an enormous amount of respect from all of the hockey world.

I love that it says "Alex Kopitar" not only in the body of the page but also on the header at the top.

Check the latest All The Kings Men here, subscribe to it on iTunes or listen below.

And also be sure to check out Jesse Cohen's exclusive chat with Jim Fox about the Kings improbable Stanley Cup run.

I wish there was some way to visually describe how I'm feeling right now...

Nope.

Closer.

Nailed it.

The Los Angeles Kings are Stanley Cup Finalists. Man... let that soak in for a while. Or at least long enough for Jesse Cohen and I to talk about it one hour after it happened. Listen below.

GAME #5

LA KINGS
40-27-15
95 pts, 8th in Western Conference, 13th in NHL
vs
PHOENIX COYOTES
42-27-13
97 pts, 3rd in Western Conference, 11th in NHL

Regular Season Series Tied 3-3

Kings Lead Playoff Series 3-1

6:00pm, Jobing.Com Arena
Glendale, AZ
NBC SN

BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:
Five For Howling

BEST COYOTES FANS TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER:
Carl Putnam
Hipchecks
Yotesgurl

ARE THE LA KINGS IN THE NEXT ROUND?
NO!

Man... I feel really guilty saying this... but I totally didn't expect to write a Gameday Post for a Game 5. Thank god for Indiana Matt, huh?

No matter when you started following this team... we can all agree on one thing...
GO KINGS GO!!! 

Sure, it was a classy move by the Los Angeles Kings organization to invite the Alumni of the 2011-2012 Regular Season team to Staples Center for Game 4... but honestly... who cares? I got to take my Dad to Round 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. And that's pretty cool.

Honestly... this photo above is the second most awesome photo that involves my Dad and hockey...

This is the first.

Seriously... there are SO MANY amazing things going on in this photo.

UPDATE: The LA Kings have responded.

@theroyalhalf We're 0-1 when you bring your dad.

— LA Kings (@LAKings) May 22, 2012

A little behind on these... but here are the All The Kings Men Podcast Game 2 and Game 3 recaps in which you can hear myself, Podmaster General Jesse Cohen and John Hoven from Mayor's Manor do the radio equivalent of shitting ourselves.

Game 2 Recap:

Game 3 Recap:

As always, check All The Kings Men here or subscribe to it on iTunes.

GAME #4

LA KINGS
40-27-15
95 pts, 8th in Western Conference, 13th in NHL
vs
PHOENIX COYOTES
42-27-13
97 pts, 3rd in Western Conference, 11th in NHL

Regular Season Series Tied 3-3

Kings Lead Playoff Series 3-0

12:00pm, Staples Center
Los Angeles, CA
NBC

BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:
Five For Howling

BEST COYOTES FANS TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER:
Carl Putnam
Hipchecks
Yotesgurl

ARE THE LA KINGS IN THE NEXT ROUND?
NO!

What happens when there is a noon start for Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals and you want to write a detailed Gameday Post but you are constantly told by the Los Angeles Kings to arrive at 7am in an effort to avoid traffic? 

This is what happens.

I gotta leave for the game, folks. So here are a bunch of awesome photoshops from Indiana Matt celebrating Brad Doty's Drew Doughty's takedown of Shane Doan.

And a brand new Ironsight Design/Indiana Matt TRH T-Shirt has been unveiled celebrating the latest playoff rookie sensation!

Buy your Dwight King shirt here.

In creating the Dwight King t-shirt, we here at TRH noticed one peculiar thing.

Dwight King makes crazy faces.

I'm taking my Dad to the game today so I may not be Tweeting as much during the game because he'll keep asking me why I am constantly checking my email on my phone. The last Playoff game we went to together was in 1992 when the Los Angeles Kings lost their 1st Round series against the Edmonton Oilers 4-2. I'm pretty sure he won't think the game has changed one bit.

GO KINGS GO!

GAME #3

LA KINGS
40-27-15
95 pts, 8th in Western Conference, 13th in NHL
vs
PHOENIX COYOTES
42-27-13
97 pts, 3rd in Western Conference, 11th in NHL

Regular Season Series Tied 3-3

Kings Lead Playoff Series 2-0

6:00pm, Staples Center
Los Angeles, CA
NBC SN

BEST SLASH BY A GOALIE IN THE ORGANIZATION:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:
Five For Howling

BEST COYOTES FANS TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER:
Carl Putnam
Hipchecks
Yotesgurl

ARE THE LA KINGS IN THE NEXT ROUND?
NO!

I wish there was some way to visually represent how Los Angeles Kings fans are feeling right now, up 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals and 10-1 overall in the 2012 Playoffs...

Nope.

Close.

Closer.

Really, really close.

Nailed it.

That's right... the only thing more rare than a Los Angeles King playoff victory... is a smile from Darryl Sutter. But lo and behold... after Jeff Carter scored his 3rd goal of the night in the 4-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 2... the closest thing to a unicorn riding the White Whale was seen on national television. Now that the Kings are the talk of the town, I'm just glad that the local NBC affiliate issued a public apology for its embarrassing mix-up of the LA Kings logo.

Whoops.

Thanks to Tim at Ironsight Design... I have a feeling that the LA Kings are going to be changing their logo yet again.

Boy... this series has been quite the goalie matchup, hasn't it?

How stoned does Jon Quick look in that photo?

I would like the NHL to institute a policy that a goalie must have 
2 good seasons before being labeled an "Elite Goaltender."

Seriously, you could literally could fit a beachball in there.

Is it me... or did Jarret Stoll get a tan during the 1st two games in Phoenix?

Oh.. I'm sorry... I was confusing him with Dwight King. Speaking of Dwight King...

Suck it, Shuchuk.
awesomeness via Tim at Ironsight Design

Listen to myself, Podcaster General Jesse Cohen and John Hoven from Mayor's Manor wax philosophically about Dwight King being The Right King and all things related to the recap of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. Check it out here, subscribe to it on iTunes or you can listen below.

It's the All-Star team of Los Angeles Kings pundits! A brand-new All The Kings Men Podcast with myself, Podmaster General Jesse Cohen, The Mayor, Keith Korneluk from KingsCast and Matt from Life in Hockeywood talking about the Kings 3-2 victory in Game 1 and a preview of Game 2. Check it out here, subscribe to it on iTunes or you can listen below.