There is no deal in principle... there is no handshake agreement... there are no verbal confirmations... it's 100%, absolutely signed, sealed and delivered!!!

THE ROYAL HALF IS GOING TO EUROPE!!!

That's right! In early October I'll be watching my favorite Los Angeles based professional ice hockey team start its season in beautiful downtown.... Europe! I mean, it's the same great game but just in a different country.... how different can it really be?

The players look exactly the same.

The fans are just like us... but with more body odor!

And the people in the arena are on their cell phones all the time!

In Stockholm I'll be checking out the nightlife with Mike Richards... and in Berlin, Anze Kopitar and I can tour Sachsenhausen and reminisce about the Slovene Home Guard who fought for the Nazi's. Awkward!

An artists rendering of me and Mike Richards sightseeing.

So if Drew Doughty re-signs, I'll be able to see him play in the land of wonderful German pastries. I really hope he gets his contract worked out so we can enjoy a Berliner Pfannkuchen together!

Mmm... European donuts!!
Ryan Smyth isn't on the team anymore, Drew! You can eat all you want!!!

Now, I've been to some hockey games in some amazing places but I'm really excited to check it out in Sweden and Germany. Maybe I'll even convince Peter Forsberg to give it one more try and play on the Kings 3rd line. It should be an amazing trip but I have a feeling a lot of it will be like this.

Besides, nothing ever good comes out of starting a season in Europe, right? Right? RIGHT?!?!

2008-2009 Pittsburgh played Ottawa in Sweden (Penguins win cup)
2009-2010 Chicago played Florida in Helsinki (Hawks win cup)
2010-2011 Boston played Phoenix in Prague (Bruins win cup)

Well, the fans of pun-filled NHL.com headlines have spoken! We had nearly 1000 votes in the 1st round of the Pundays Playoffs, where the best NHL.com Pun Headlines from the 2010-2011 season go head to head until a winner is declared. And just like in the NHL... a Washington Capital isn't making it out of the 1st round! 

Try again next season, Ovi.

Now we head into exciting Conference Semifinals action, as the final 8 Pundays are seeded into head to head battle. Who will survive this round and make it into the Conference Finals? Once again, you... the fan of awful pun headlines... gets to decide with your vote! 

Click here to check out and vote in the 2nd Round of the best NHL.com pun headlines from the past season!!!

Here at The Royal Half HQ... every August 9th is a national holiday. 

Happy "There is a Professional Hockey Team in Los Angeles" Day!!!

For anyone who doubts the underground popularity of the NHL.com Front Page Pun Headlines... be sure you check out the "90s NHL.com Headlines" hashtag meme that was started Monday afternoon by Ryan Classic. The premise was simple... take your favorite NHL star from the 1990's and insert them into the format of a NHL.com Pun Headline that could grace the front page of NHL.com... if there were an NHL.com in the 1990's. 

Hasn't changed one bit!

The initial tweet from Ryan Classic of "Tricks are for Kidd" created quite the rush of great 90's-era pun headlines.

Even the folks over at NHL.com took notice of this latest episode of The 90s Are All That...

But as Owen Nolan taught us this past week... you can't live in the past forever. That's why it's time for the Eastern Conference Edition of the Pundays Playoffs... where your favorite NHL.com Pun Filled Headlines battle it out each week until a Pundays Champion is crowned. And the best part of all... you decide the winner!

Last week, we released the 8 best Western Conference Pun Headlines from the 2010-2011 NHL season. This week, it's the East's time to shine. We are doing this NHL Playoff style... there will be 8 Pun Headlines from the West and 8 from the East. Each week, you'll vote on your favorites and the ones with the most votes will continue on to the next round until we have 1 Pun Headline from each Conference. Then... they will battle it out in the ultimate Punday Cup Final.

What do you say? Are you ready to have at it?!?

Click here to check out and vote on the 8 best and worst NHL.com Eastern Conference pun headlines from the past season!!!

Well, we have reached the middle ground of the NHL off-season and with 66 days left until the start of the 2011-2012 regular season... there really isn't much to talk about in terms of the NHL.com pun-filled front page headlines. In fact, the summer is the time of year we here at The Royal Half take a little hiatus and say "see ya later" to the NHL.com pun headlines. 

You know, the constant work we do each week collecting the best and worst NHL.com pun headlines can take a toll on our old bones. We've really reached our limit. 

And since it's summer... sometimes we want to be relaxing on the couch with the AC on full blast... and sometimes we want to be at the beach soaking in the sun.

But, overall... I think a lot of people are worried that they'd have to go a whole summer without enjoying some sort of NHL.com pun headline related activity. And I'm here to put those concerns to rest.

That's right! We've decided to start a Pundays Playoff... where your favorite NHL.com Pun Filled Headlines battle it out each week until a Pundays Champion is crowned. And the best part of all... you decide the winner! 

We are doing this NHL Playoff style... there will be 8 Pun Headlines from the West and 8 from the East. Each week, you'll vote on your favorites and the ones with the most votes will continue on to the next round until we have 1 Pun Headline from the West and 1 from the East. Then... they will battle it out in the ultimate Punday Cup Final. 

This week we will start off in the Western Conference with 8 amazing NHL.com pun headlines that I feel are all contenders for the best Punday of the Year. 

Click here to check out and vote on the 8 best and worst NHL.com Western Conference pun headlines from the past season!!!

No way I can believe that newly acquired Los Angeles Kings forward Mike Richards likes to wet his whistle on occasion. No way! Can't believe it one bit!

I know, right? What a crazy rumor that Coach Laviolette asked his Philadelphia Flyers players to join a "team ritual called the Dry Island, where every player on the team has to pledge to go a month without drinking during the season by putting their numbers on a board in the locker room." And so weird that Mike Richards was one of the players that never made it to Dry Island. Well, Mike Richards is in Hollywood now... and if there is one thing Hollywood Producers love... it's films about alcoholics!

Seriously, professional athletes that can't booze hard? What is this world coming to? Next thing you know, they'll outlaw dancing in the locker rooms!

Even though there is no action on the ice for the next few months... the good folks at the NHL.com Pun Headline Writing Department isn't going to let that stop them from doing what they do best. In fact, the truest test of a talented pun headline writer is performing your magic during the off-season. There are no rookie sensations... no goalies on hot streaks...  no teams battling it out on the ice to inspire you. Nope, all there is from June until September is the sound of cash registers dinging as NHL GM's spend money like crazy for NHL talent. So if all I'm going to be able to see for the next 2 months are pun headlines about the crazy moves that NHL GM's make... then I'd say that'd be a fair trade. 

Click here for the Free Agent Frenzy Edition of Pundays!!!

Man... Mike Richards and Simon Gagne look pretty, pretty good in those brand new Los Angeles Kings uniforms, huh?

Remember, you can't spell Philadelphia without "LA."

UPDATED: Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy just chimed in with his expert analysis. "Gagn-YAY!"

You know... sometimes a guy just wants to play with his friends.

Sean Avery, Brad Richards and Aaron Voros at a "private" resort.

Sean Avery must be pumped to show his friend and new teammate, Brad Richards, all the best spots to go shopping in New York City. I guess "B-Rich" wasn't so much a clever nickname but rather a verb. Add Brad Richards to Chris Drury, Patrick Elias, Zdeno Chara and Ilya Kovalchuk on the list of All-Star Free Agents that chose to pass on signing a deal in the great city of Los Angeles. 

I can't imagine that Brad Richards was the end-all, be-all for the Los Angeles Kings this summer. I'm sure Dean Lombardi has an idea or two up his designer shirt sleeves. 

I don't think anyone, especially well-established Los Angeles Kings journalists thought that the Kings Management would be making this hard of a push to sign Free Agent White Whale™, Brad Richards. But the Kings Management is trying.... oh lord, they are trying! So as team by team signed players to awful contracts.... Dean Lombardi knew that if you want the job done right... you better do it yourself... with 6 of your co-workers. To the Kings Copter!

That's right, Dean Lombardi and 6 (actually 7, sorry Lee Callans) of his Kings buddies headed up to Toronto today and gave Brad Richards what is known in the business world as the "hard sell." I really don't know what to think of this. While Thomas Fleischmann and Erik Cole went to brand new and more expensive homes, the Kings have gone all-in on the sweet Chablis of Brad Richards. 

Sup.

I wouldn't say it's the first time Dean Lombardi has gone all-in on a powerhouse free agent, but you have to wonder... if Richards chooses any of the other teams he's rumored to be interested in... then for a 2nd summer in a row, the Los Angeles Kings will have missed out on any significant free agent signings. Sure, Willie Mitchell turned out alright... but Willie Mitchell is not going to help Anze Kopitar or Mike Richards on the wing. But also signing Brad Richards is not going to help Anze Kopitar or Mike Richards on the wing... unless Brad Richards plays wing. 

Other potential Richards for Dean Lombardi to go after.

Apparently the Kings Management put together quite the sizzle reel to entice Brad Richards to come to Los Angeles. And it even featured special guest appearances by Wayne Gretzky and Kobe Bryant. So you know the acting had to be top notch. 

I'm surprised that fellow Canadian, Shawn Green, didn't appear in the video.
But I guess if you want people to come play sports in Los Angeles,
the Dodgers may not be the best role model right now. 

It looks like we will find out Saturday which team Brad Richards is taking his talents to. I'd be surprised if Richards chooses Los Angeles. I'd be even more surprised if he did without the team signing Drew Doughty first. Yeah, remember that guy? Is anyone else the slightest bit concerned that there has been no news of Doughty being any closer to signing a contract with the Kings?Unless he's in on the Brad Richards deal as well and waiting for an answer before telling the Kings just how many millions of dollars he should make. Now that would be a player committed to the team.