Game #66

LA KINGS
30-23-12
72 pts, 9th in Western Conference
vs
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
38-20-7
83 pts, 5th in Western Conference

Season Series Tied 1-1

5:00pm, Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, TN

BEST PHOTO FROM THE LAST TIME NASHVILLE LOST AT HOME:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOGS:
On The Forecheck
Preds On The Glass

ARE THE LA KINGS IN THE PLAYOFFS?
NO.

CARTER VS CARTER UPDATE:

Win. There really is nothing more to say about this game. So that's why Jesse from All The Kings Men Podcast did an in-depth interview with Buddy Oakes from Preds on the Glass. Buddy isn't just a knowledgeable guy when it comes to the Nashville Predators... he's just a knowledgeable guy about hockey in general. Click here to check out Jesse's interview with Buddy as well as my thoughts on Carter vs Carter and of course, Mondays with The Mayor. Or you can subscribe to it on iTunes or listen below.

Game #65

LA KINGS
29-23-12
70 pts, 9th in Western Conference
vs
ANAHEIM DUCKS
28-27-10
66 pts, 12th in Western Conference

Kings Lead Season Series 3-1

7:30pm, Staples Center
Los Angeles, CA

BEST PLAYER IN THE WORST JERSEY:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOGS:
Battle of California
Anaheim Calling

ARE THE LA KINGS IN THE PLAYOFFS?
NO. 

Saturday night at Staples Center is the 3rd Annual Burger King Jersey Appreciation Day. The Royal Half has been your exclusive home for coverage of the first two Burger King Appreciation Days and we've even gone in-depth into the origin story of the jersey itself, a wondrous monstrosity that is well sought after amongst jersey collectors. So for this 3rd year of Burger King Jersey coverage... we present two amazing un-earthed discoveries from the vault of the Burger King Jersey Legend. Courtesy of Spike Coffman, long-time friend of the blog and current producer of The Fourth Period Radio Show on XM Home Ice... screengrabs from the Los Angeles Kings-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim game on January 27th, 1996... aka the 1st time the now-famous alternate jerseys of these two teams were seen by fans.

Honestly, those jerseys were so bad even the Fox Robots wouldn't wear them.

Forget about the rarity of seeing these jerseys in action...
how about the rarity of seeing Valeri Karpov in a NHL game?

Original Gangster Robinson.

I mean... seriously... could you imagine anything uglier on the body of the Great One?

Close.

Closer.

Nailed it.

This game was sponsored by Zima. I think that says it all.

Hrudey's on Duty Tonight.
Mopping up the puke from fans duty that is.

This is the one NHL jersey Mike Sillinger wishes he didn't wear.
Okay... maybe this one too.

Never change, Fox Sports. Never change.

This jersey just proves my theory that Jari Kurri could score in anything.

I don't know what amazes me more about this screengrab...
Robert Lang's sexy glare... 
or that Robert Lang scored the first 19 goals of his NHL career with the LA Kings.

Why yes, that is ex-NHL coach Ron Wilson in the upper right corner.

Wow, Sean O'Donnell's dad played in this game.
WHAAAAA?!? THAT IS SEAN O'DONNELL?!?

A few years ago, friend of the blog Lisa Gansky, was digging through her high-school photography projects and found some amazing photos of the Burger King Jersey in the wild. And speaking of how incredibly old Sean O'Donnell is...

Sean O'Donnell was 24 years old during the 1995-96 NHL season.
He is currently 84 years old.

Lisa Gansky has one of the most impressive Nathan LaFayette game-worn jersey collections in the world.  

Yanic Perreault, Nathan LaFayette and Eric Lacroix.
I'll take "Some of the Worst LA Kings Ever" for 1000, please.

For all you LA Kings fans that are jumping on the Jeff Carter bandwagon...
never forget that Rob Cowie was the original #77 for the Kings. Well, right after Paul Coffey.

And while you are at it, never forget that Vitali Yachmenev (on the left) was tied for second in NHL rookie scoring
with Eric Daze during the 1995-96 season with 53 points, just 8 points behind Daniel Alfredsson.

Move over Nathan LaFayette and Robert Lang... and hellooooo Mike Sillinger #26???
Wait... did we just discover that Mike Sillinger wore both the Anaheim Ducks AND Vancouver Canucks
Alternate Jersey during the 1995-1996 season?!? 

Holy shit... I think we just did.

Be sure to check out more of Lisa Gansky's photography as well as her unparalleled collection of 1990's hockey autographs.

Podcaster General Jesse has a brand new episode of All The Kings Men up for your listening pleasure featuring Matt from Life in Hockeywood and myself. Check it out here, subscribe to it on iTunes or you can listen below. In this week's episode we cover Dustin Brown's Hat Trick, Dustin Penner's Divorce and how to fix NHL Free Agency. And also Dustin Penner's Divorce.

I'm quickly becoming the Los Angeles Kings Disaster Correspondent for The War Room with Mick Kern on XM Home Ice Radio. After the Kings lost a 4-0 lead to the San Jose Sharks in Game #3 of the playoffs... I was on their radio show the next morning. And when the Los Angeles Kings fired Terry Murray and were at the peak of the John Stevens Era... I was on their radio show the next morning. And the day after the Los Angeles Kings beat the 22nd overall team in the NHL 4-0... well... you get the drift. Here is my interview from XM Home Ice from Wednesday morning.

3 Games. 0 Points. 1 Epic Bromance.

Carter Watch 2012.

In other news... it's IHOP's Annual Free Pancake Day... and that can only mean one thing... BRAND NEW ROYAL HALF T-SHIRTS!!!

The 1st ever T-Shirt collaboration between The Royal Half and IronSight Design.

Since he was traded for Jack Johnson...
please welcome Jeff MutherFucking Carter to the team!

For those that continue to be Jack Johnson fans, we present:
JMFBJ

For those who choose to root for a Los Angeles-based team that actually scores points.

Get them Quick... before he signs with Boston in 1 year.

Check out all of our t-shirts at The Royal Half Gift Shoppe!

MONDAY

Game #63

LA KINGS 
28-22-12
68 pts, 9th in Western Conference
vs
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
36-19-7
79 pts, 5th in Western Conference

Kings Lead Season Series 1-0 

5:00pm, Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, TN

BEST TRADE DEADLINE DEAL BETWEEN BOTH TEAMS:

March 16, 2002 – LA Kings acquire Cliff Ronning from Nashville for
Jere Karalahti and a conditional choice in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

BEST OPPOSITION BLOGS:
On The Forecheck
Preds On The Glass

TUESDAY

Game #64

LA KINGS
28-22-12
68 pts, 9th in Western Conference
vs
MINNESOTA WILD
28-25-9
65 pts, 12th in Western Conference

Season Series Tied 1-1

4:30pm, Xcel Energy Center
Saint Paul, MN
TV: NBCSN 

BEST TRADE DEADLINE DEAL BETWEEN BOTH TEAMS:

March 5, 1991 – LA Kings acquire Ilkka Sinisalo from Minnesota
for an eighth-round choice (#174-Michael Burkett) in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

BEST OPPOSITION BLOGS:
Hockey Wilderness
The State of Hockey News
Wild Puck Banter

In the time-honored tradition of The Royal Half Playoff Tracker 3000!!!, The Royal Half Playoff Threat Level Meter and the Terry Murray Fire Watch 2011 comes the latest Royal Half Info-Graphic that will help you track the greatest concern amongst Los Angeles Kings fans at this very moment...

WILL JEFF CARTER OUTSCORE ANSON CARTER?!?

CARTERGEDDON!!!

I wouldn't say that the LA Kings are feeling pretty solid about their playoff hopes after acquiring Jeff Carter for Jack Johnson... but I saw this billboard on the way into work this morning.

Sure, beating a injured Chicago Blackhawks team 4-0 is one thing. Now let's see how the LA Kings v3.0 do against a really awesome Nashville Predators team that got even awesome-er at the Trade Deadline. And against a Minnesota Wild team... well... that sucks. But they did beat the Sharks Sunday night.

While fans love the NHL Trading Deadline, for players, it's especially tough as they have their names tossed back and forth by every expert on Twitter in possible trade scenarios. And while it's hard on the players, it's even more difficult on the Pun Headline Writers of NHL.com who have to consistently stay on top of which player is rumored to be traded to which team. Like for instance, when Dustin Brown was rumored to be available for 15 minutes last Friday, NHL.com reacted with the lightning quick reflexes of a beat reporter who posts on Twitter.

For a while, I totally thought this headline was slang for some sexual maneuver
 that Jeff Carter and Mike Richards had pulled off together.

Click here to check out the Trade Deadline Buyers and Sellers with the best and worst NHL.com pun headlines from the past few weeks!!!

Game #62

LA KINGS
27-22-12
66 pts, 10th in Western Conference
vs
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
33-22-7
73 pts, 6th in Western Conference 

Season Series Tied 1-1

5:00pm (!), Staples Center
Los Angeles, CA

BEST CURRENT KINGS TO PLAY AGAINST THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS IN THE
STANLEY CUP FINALS WHILE PLAYING FOR THE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOGS:
Blackhawks Down Low
Hockeenight
Second City Hockey
Cheer the Anthem

They say the 3rd time is the charm, right? Or is it 3 strikes and you are out?

1) October 7th, 2011. The start of the NHL season.
2) December 12th, 2011. Terry Murray is fired as Head Coach.
3) February 23rd, 2012. Mike Richards' drinking buddy is traded to LA for Jack Johnson.

Alright boys, it's your turn to take it from here.
Let's see what you got.

So let me see if I'm doing my math correctly here...

+

=

So Dean Lombardi is able to bring in a player with nearly 200 goals in his first 500 games for an expendable defenseman and a #1 pick in either the 2012 or 2013 draft? And this player is best friends with Mike Richards? And he didn't have to trade his backup goalie? Why that's enough to make anyone associated with the Los Angeles Kings smile!

Oh... this is awkward.

I'm fine with this trade. So Jeff Carter is a bad boy. You know what... Bobby Hull was drunk for most of his career. But he put the puck in the net, so who cares? If Jeff Carter comes to LA and can score goals then he can spend his nights clubbing with Brad Richardson for all I care. Because he can do this.

Of course, as LA Kings fans, we have to approach any acquisition for a goal scoring forward carefully. Because everyone thought Dustin Penner would come to LA and score goals non-stop, myself included. But Jeff Carter kinda has a better resume than Dustin Penner, except for that pesky Stanley Cup win when Penner was a rookie. Carter won 2 gold medals at the World Juniors and is tied as Canada's all-time leading scorer for the tournament. In 2005, Carter won a Calder Cup with the Philadelphia Flyers. And he's been a consistent goal scorer his entire career. Oh, and has anyone mentioned... HE'S MIKE RICHARDS BEST FRIEND.

Holy shit, look at that playoff run in the AHL in 2005.

But what kind of a player is Jeff Carter? We asked our Flyers East friend, Flyers Goal Scored By, for the low down on Carter.

I just felt a great disturbance in the force.  As if millions of Los Angeles coeds suddenly cried out in pleasure, and were suddenly silenced.  Jeff Carter is a Los Angeles King.  The Kings traded away a guy that can disappear from his defensive role for a guy that can disappear from his offensive role.  A move had to be made to jumpstart the Kings offense, and this will do it.  A happy Jeff Carter is a productive Jeff Carter, and nobody makes him happier than Mike Richards.  Carter is the caramel whipped cream to Richards BROcchiato. Carter is big, has an excellent, albeit erratic, shot and can play center or wing.  He's going to fit right in the way Matt Brody fit into Baywatch.  He will disappear in the playoffs, but until then, it'll be a great show in Tinseltown.

So Jeff Carter and Mike Richards are in Tinseltown, huh?

He just doesn't know how to quit Richards.

In terms of what the LA Kings gave up for Jeff Carter and his 11-year contract... I'm totally fine with it. In fact, the bigger loss is now two years in a row without a 1st overall draft pick. There has been an outpouring of stories on the internet today covering exactly how overrated Jack Johnson is as a NHL defenseman. Johnson was labeled a "can't miss" prospect growing up as the poster boy for USA Hockey. But the truth is that Jack Johnson is a slightly above average defenseman who will probably play better in Columbus as the #1 guy instead of the #2 guy in Los Angeles. And if any real LA Kings fan is so distraught over the trading of Jack Johnson... then that person was probably more of a fan of Johnson's cheekbones than his play in the defensive end. 

My god they are amazing.

I mean is anyone really surprised that a superstar Los Angeles King center worked with team management to trade for one of his best friends?

Nope.

Let's just hope that this Los Angeles Kings trade deadline deal for Carter is better than the last Los Angeles Kings trade deadline deal for Carter.

15 games as a LA King.
0 goals, 1 assists, 1 points.