Indiana Matt may still be learning his way around a hockey rink... but recently he came to me with an astute observation about a glaring hole in the Los Angeles Kings lineup. 

The lack of a proper camera phone for its Tweets.

That's right. Whoever does the Tweeting of photos for the Kings Marketing Department either has Parkinson's Disease or the world's shittiest camera phone. But we here at The Royal Half care. We care about the Kings... and we care about the quality of our favorite hockey team's Photo Tweets. This is what sets us apart from other Kings blogs. So we decided to do something. And we are holding a Kings Camera Phone Fund Drive for the rest of October. 

Click to Enlarge!

And to really get the message out about the Crystal Clear for the Kings Foundation... we put together a Public Service Announcement.

This is a serious problem... with a simple solution. Join our cause today.

Game #6

LA Kings 
(3-1-1, 11th in NHL)
vs
Phoenix Coyotes
(2-2-1, 17th in NHL)

7:00pm, Jobing.com Arena
Phoenix, AZ

BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:

Hipchecks
Yotesgurl
Five For Howling

I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited about the return of the Winnipeg franchise to the NHL. The Kings and Jets had some classic Smythe Division battles over the years and it's great that a franchise has returned to Can.... AWWWWW, it's just the Coyotes?!?

Wait... I'm so confused.

Tonight Jon Quick goes for his 100th win as a Los Angeles Kings goaltender... or as I like to call it.. "Ethan Moreau's Age." By getting his 100th win, Quick would be joining some pretty, pretty, pretty elite company.

I may have no idea what the word "elite" means.

That graphic pretty much sums up the position of goaltender for the Los Angeles Kings. Well, almost as well as this one does.

Buy yours now!

Can the Kings keep up the momentum from their impressive shellacking of the St. Louis Blues against another Western Conference team with sub-par goaltending?

Also... be sure to play the Internet's hottest new game show... PennerPoint! That's right, if you can correctly predict what period and what time Dustin Penner gets his 1st point of the night in the game against the Coyotes... you win a free t-shirt. Feel free to enter in the comments below here or reply to me on Twitter with your predictions using the hashtag #PennerPoint. 

Sure, the Los Angeles Kings might have been the home team last week when they opened up their season halfway around the world... but Tuesday night at Staples Center was the true home opener. And with the Kings expected to compete this NHL season, the Kings Marketing Department wanted to make sure the 18,000+ fans descending on downtown would get the most passionate, most raw, most intense hockey experience around.

Nothing screams hockey like the 2012 Toyota Prius V. Coming Soon!

KINGS 5, BLUES 0

Click Here to Read the Rest of The Royal Half Recap from the Kings 1st Home Game of the Season!!!

Game #5

LA Kings 
(2-1-1, 16th in NHL)
vs
St. Louis Blues
(2-3-0, 21st in NHL)

7:30pm, Staples Center
Los Angeles, CA

BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

I mean... does Gretzky look ridiculous in that Blues jersey or what?

IN MEMORY OF A GREAT PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

Do your part to support the Lokomotiv Wives at the game tonight.
Information here. 

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:

St. Louis Game Time
Thrashing the Blues 

Well, we are now 4 games into the season and we've got our first Los Angeles Kings controversy of the season! Thankfully, Jon Bernier did his part in Germany to make sure it wasn't a goaltending controversy. No, instead we've got a good ole fashioned Player/Coach Dispute Over Injury!!! And I have a feeling it looks something like this:

Apparently when Dustin Penner stepped in to start a fight after Drew Doughty's season was ruined, Penner tweaked his knee. So the Kings sent him to the Flyers Team Doctor. And via Mayors Manor... this is what Coach Murray had to say when Dustin Penner pulled out of practice yesterday:

"Obviously it's bothering him and he's been reassured by the doctor in Philadelphia and the training staff here. But, something's on his mind. So, we sent him to our team doctor."

Murray went on to praise the Flyers medical staff, a group he said he knew well, referring to them as 'world class' and 'top shelf' - and very helpful with the evaluation of Penner while the team was in Philly.

I'm glad that Coach Murray is so confident with the Flyers medical staff... because they've never made a mistake before.

"Let's see... internal bleeding. Concussion like symptoms...
I'm think we've got an ankle sprain here, Eric. Can you walk it off?" 

The best part about this recent controversy is it makes me look back fondly on one of the greatest Kings fights ever...

"You look fine to me, Allison. Get out there."

Yes, the great Andy Murray-Jason Allison tete-a-tete from 2003. And people wonder why Andy Murray loses his locker room eventually.

"We want our players saying they're going to be back," Murray said. "Jason's not a doctor. If it was Dr. Allison, then he could make that decision. But right now it's just Jason."

Damn, if only this blog existed in 2003... we'd have the sweetest Dr. Allison in ER photoshop you'd ever seen. But for now, we can only concentrate on the war of words at hand between the current Coach Murray and Dustin Penner. But I have to say... it's a little bit awkward of a time for the Kings Marketing Department to be launching their latest billboard campaign.

This photoshop was the 1st ever combined photoshop effort here at The Royal Half.
Kudos to Jersey Brian and Indiana Matt! 

Kings-Blues tonight at Staples Center. 7:30pm. Myself and Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy are starting our 9th season as Half Season Ticket Holders. Sure... I might have seen some "home" games overseas... but tonight is the real deal. 

It seems that something called the "NBA Lockout" might be leaving several thousand fans without a league to follow come November 1st. So you can bet that the good folks at the NHL.com Pun Headline Writing Department are going to jump on the opportunity to have the great sport of hockey appeal to a whole new fanbase. But I think they got their fledgling sports leagues mixed up. 

I am really not comfortable with the way Mike Komisarek is looking at Kessel.

Click here to check out the best and worst NHL.com pun headlines from the past week!!!

Coming into the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night game against the Philadelphia Flyers, all the talk was about the emotional return of a prominent former Flyer who was unceremoniously traded away. 

I'm sorry... were you expecting someone else?

FORMER FLYERS 3, CURRENT FLYERS 2 (OT)

Click Here to Read the Rest of The Royal Half Recap!!!

Game #4

LA Kings 
(1-1-1, 18th in NHL)
vs
Philadelphia Flyers
(3-0-0, 3rd in NHL)

4pm, Wells Fargo Arena
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

Not Pictured:
Jim Johnson
Larry Hillman
Bill Lesuk
Jari Kurri (technically)
Colin Fraser

The official Kings-Flyers ledger is located here. 

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:

Flyers Goal Scored By

I know that the Los Angeles Kings have every reason to launch a big ad campaign push for this season... but I think they may be getting a little too confident about reaching into some new markets.

What's the only thing more fragile than Martin Brodeur's right arm?

My Directv HD DVR, that's what!

I came home early for Thursday's game against the New Jersey Devils... settled into the couch and then watched 10 minutes of fantastic Los Angeles Kings hockey. Then my Directv HD DVR began to freeze frames every couple seconds or so... making the game unwatchable. So did I miss anything in the last 50 minutes of the game?

Sometimes being a Kings fan makes you feel all twisted up inside.

.

KINGS 1, DEVILS 2 (SO)

Click Here to Read the Rest of The Royal Half Recap!!!

Game #3

LA Kings 
(1-1-0, 20th in NHL)
vs
New Jersey Devils
(1-1-0, 21st in NHL)

4pm, Prudential Center
Newark, New Jersey

BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

Corey Millen.

BEST DEVILS PLAYER TO ALMOST WEAR KINGS COLORS:

BEST DEVILS PLAYER WHO WILL SOON BE WEARING KINGS COLORS:

"So, Zach... they really gonna trade you for Bernier... even after that Buffalo game?"

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:

Running with the Devils
In Lou We Trust

BEST KINGS FANS TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER
(SINCE THEY'LL BE AT THE GAME TONIGHT) 

BR527
Lisa617

Thankfully, I'm finally back in Los Angeles after my whirlwind trip to Europe. And unlike you guys had to do last weekend, I get to watch the Los Angeles Kings on television at a more reasonable hour. I can't wait to come home after work, kick up my feet, and tune in to watch the Kings play live....AW WHAT? THE GAME'S AT 4PM.... UGH! Actually, this is a great early season opportunity for myself and Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy to dust off the cobwebs on what we call "Operation Shutdown." For when it's 4pm, all contact with anything that would provide a glimpse of Kings hockey is turned off. This year we are thinking about calling it "Trent Hunter."

Trent Hunter was barely passable as a professional hockey player in his 1st NHL game for the Kings against the Rangers in Stockholm. He was pulled out of the Germany game against the Sabres in favor of Kevin Westgarth but he's back in the lineup tonight against the Devils. So Scott Parse sits and with Colin Fraser now cleared for practice... the competition for healthy scratch is getting more and more competitive each day. So I thought I'd turn to a great New York Islanders fan and one of the Original Hockey Bloggers, Kevin Schultz of Barry Melrose Rocks, to see what he thought of Trent Hunter's chances to make the daily Kings lineup.

Oh, Trent Hunter. Aside from Rick DiPietro -- God rest his knees -- Hunter was the last connection to the Alexei Yashin/Mark Parrish/Dave Scatchard era of Islanders hockey. The one that took a lot of guys who were viable but not great professional hockey players on their own and turned them into a team that was, also, viable but not great. He broke in the second year they made the playoffs, 2003-04, playing the final eight regular season games and an awful five-game first round exit to Ottawa. He was a lone bright spot and showed promise after the Islanders failed to build on the lightning in a bottle they had found a year prior in a mini-renaissance. A year and 25 goals later, he led the same team in points and an equally absymal first round exit. These Islanders were a Frankenstein put together by Mike Milbury, Charles Wang and who knows who else had a hand in it. The unfortunate thing for Hunter is that he stepped into this franchise on its most recent downswing, and yes, save the jokes about there not being any ups. The best years of his career were used up toiling on teams that ended up drafting in the top five.

Hunter spent the last three seasons fighting injuries and decreasing production to the tune of four points and 17 games last season. He has produced solidly and consistently when healthy as a third line grinder, second line on some truly awful Islander teams. It's amazing he didn't get shipped off sooner and that's probably thanks to some loyalty from the Islanders -- he was given a 5-year extension in 2008 (remember this team is barely scraping the cap floor). When Scott Gordon's overspeed system was implemented that same season the slow-footed Hunter fit like a retirement community would mesh with Laguna Beach. Now with Michael Grabner pin-balling around the rink and a whole bunch of young, quick kids there was no doubt he didn't fit, even though Gordon is gone.

Here's a comparison: remember that brief time we sent you Mark Parrish? This will go something like that except Hunter doesn't reside solely in front of the net. He's solid if healthy but is clearly on the downside of his career and it's hard to wonder if the roster spot isn't better used on a kid who needs an opportunity. I know nothing about the Kings' roster, so you'll have to excuse my inability to analyze that thought.

He doesn't get his due from Islanders fans and never will for being a part of some truly shitty teams. He was better than the minor league filler than inhabited those rosters but let's not have any delusions that he was Kenny Jonsson or Ziggy Palffy, worthy All-Stars doing garbage duty.

Well, there you have it from an Islanders expert. Even though he's signed a 1 year contract, Hunter might be playing for a spot on the roster right now. As Quisp has discovered, if Colin Fraser is to be on the active roster, the Kings will need to make some choices soon on who to waive in order to clear up a spot to activate him. 

Oh... and Dustin Penner plays his first game of the season after successfully fighting off the heartburn from all the food he ate in Europe. Or rehabbing his groin injury... whichever. Even though Simon Gagne has already stolen Penner's spot on the top line... I'm interested to see how Penner fits on the 2nd line with Mike Richards and Dustin Brown. Because those are 3 dudes who, if they wanted to, could hit some bodies and score some goals. (Okay, 2 guys to hit bodies and 3 guys to score goals.)