Well, I'm getting on a plane in a couple hours to head to Stockholm to follow my favorite ice hockey team as they battle the two good New York based teams in Sweden and Berlin, Germany. If you don't follow me on Twitter by now... you are a damn fool as I'll be live tweeting from all over Europe. It will look something like this.

In other news, this happened over the weekend...

Boy that young, millionaire stud is looking pretty, pretty thin.
Drew Doughty looks good too.

As they say in Sweden.... Gå Kingston Gå!!!

You would think with the recent verbal racial and homophobic attacks that have been occurring in the NHL that the Pun Headline writers at NHL.com would be a little bit more sensitive when it comes to making fun of someone...

The Midwest accent is one of the last things in America you can still make fun of.

Click here to check out the best and worst NHL.com pun headlines from the last week of Pre-Season!!!

So far, in our Los Angeles Kings season previews we've taken an in-depth look at Team Communication and Team Responsibility. But now it's time to delve deeper into the upcoming season and find out who the winners and losers will be... what the biggest addition and worst subtraction was... and who is primed for the biggest breakout. They say that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In professional ice hockey, a franchise is only as interesting to follow as its bloggers are. So we here at The Royal Half present the 1st Annual Los Angeles Kings Bloggers Season Preview. 

I don't know about you guys... but I'll take these nerd hockey bloggers
matched up against Getzlaf, Perry and Ryan any day of the week. 

Click Here to Read The Royal Half's 1st Annual Los Angeles Kings Bloggers Season Preview!!!

Pre-season Game #7

LA Kings vs Colorado Avalanche
6pm, MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada

BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:

Hockey Without Oxygen

OR

Tom Preissing's Blog

So what is the 2nd best thing to actually being at Frozen Fury in Las Vegas??? Having Los Angeles Kings fans wearing your t-shirts at Frozen Fury!!!

@BajaChasr rocking the Kings new motto. (Photo via @kids2kings)

@TheMouthLAKings takes a break from drinking to wear
his favorite shirt that is a conversation starter with the ladies. 

And what's the only thing better than awesome LA Kings fans wearing your t-shirts at Frozen Fury??? The LA Kings tweeting out a photo of one of your t-shirts at Frozen Fury, that's what!!!

And what's the only thing better than the LA Kings tweeting out a photo of Indiana Matt in one of our t-shirts at Frozen Fury? A loyal Colorado Avalanche fan wearing one of our Drew Doughty t-shirts at a Colorado Rockies game on July 15th.

Some Av's fan, huh?

What does it all mean? Well, if you are reading this now... you aren't shit-faced-drunk at the MGM gauntlet screaming "GO KINGS GO" from the top of your lungs. So who cares what you think? I just wish there was a visual way to represent my decision to stay at home for Frozen Fury.

Pre-season Game #6

LA Kings vs Anaheim Ducks
7pm, Hond.... AWW WHO GIVES A SHIT.... FROZEN FURY IS TOMORROW!!!!!!

Even though I had an amazing time last year at my 1st ever Frozen Fury... this year I decided to skip the Vegas trip and instead follow the Los Angeles Kings to Europe for 10 days. Or as I like to call it... Rich White People Problems. Indiana Matt and Twitter Doug will be making the Voyage to Vegas for the game on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche*.

*The Vegas game will still be Doughty-Free. No refunds.

So keep your eyes out for two hicks from Indiana that know nothing about ice hockey but are fun guys. Here is a recent photo. 

You can figure out on your own who is whom.

And in completely unrelated news...

He better keep that number so I can call him AK-47.

It's the feel good story of the pre-season! Except if you are Scott Parse. Especially except if you are Scott Parse. 

As we get closer to the start of the regular season, we here at The Royal Half are taking an in-depth look at some of the biggest holes in the Los Angeles Kings roster. This off-season was one of the busiest for the Kings in recent memory with 6 roster players (okay, 4 plus Brayden Schenn and Oscar Moller) leaving the team via trades or free agency. Sure, Mike Richards has come in to fill the hole of 2nd line center. Simon Gagne has come in to fill the hole of 2nd line left wing. And Ethan Moreau was signed to fill the hole of veteran leadership on the 4th line. But there is still one major glaring hole in the lineup of the 2011-2012 Los Angeles Kings that is yet to be filled.

Click Here to Read The Royal Half's Season Preview of the Los Angeles Kings Whipping Boy!!!

Dean Doughty 56,000,000 - Dean Lombardi, 8 years

Drew Doughty is back as a Los Angeles King... and just in time for Europe. (I have a feeling Drew will be playing when it counts.) According to Bob McKenzie, it's 8 years at 7 million dollars per year. Drew Doughty and Don Meehan got the money they wanted and Dean Lombardi and the Kings organization got the years they wanted. I guess there is only 1 thing to say....

I'm rich, bitch.

Just before the Los Angeles Kings lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Kansas City on Wednesday, I chatted with the guys over at The Pensblog on their brand new radio show. And judging from the reactions of Pensblog Nation... I think I did pretty, pretty, pretty good.

I have to think it was a little bit better than that Jonah Hill interview. You can listen to my interview with Pensblog here or click the podcast below. I start at the 10 minute mark just after one of the most beloved Pittsburgh Penguins fans talks about his recent battle with cancer. How's that for a lead in?

And while we are fellating the Pensblog... be sure to check out their awesome Fantasy Hockey League called Rinkotology. 

All the info about it is located here. So sign up there instead of using those lame-ass ESPN and Yahoo leagues. Besides, remember... if you support the Pensblog, you'll be supporting one of the biggest Royal Half fans there is. 

Pre-season Game #5

LA Kings vs Colorado Avalanche
6pm, Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado

BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:

Jibblescribbits

One of my favorite games to play in the pre-season is "What the Hell Line is That?" Luckily, thanks to Coach Murray's constant tweaking... this is a game most Los Angeles Kings fans also get to play during the regular season. So imagine how excited I was when I got my latest issue of Rich Hammond's Kings Insider delivered to my doorstep (what, you guys don't get home delivery?) and it showed me the 3rd line for tonight's pre-season game in Denver.

King-Azevedo-Moreau

So you've got former 1st line Left Winger, Dwight King...

"Hey Jeff Halpern!! You once played 1st Line Wing for the Kings too!! Weird!"

5'8" sparkplug center, Justin Azevedo...

"Hey Justin, there's only room on this team for one player with a spanish last name."

"Umm. I'm Portuguese."

"Same thing."

And at Left Wing, Ethan Moreau...

The last time Ethan Moreau scored an NHL goal.

Actually, I'm kinda glad this game isn't being streamed on the internets tonight.... because the 2nd line is Brad Richardson, Trevor Lewis and Trent Hunter. 

Pre-season Game #4

LA Kings vs Pittsburgh Penguins
5pm, Sprint Center
Kansas City, Missouri 

BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG:

The Pensblog.
(EDITORS NOTE: The Pensblog is actually the best blog, opposing or not.)

So you are a diehard hockey fan in Kansas City, Missouri. Sure, AEG took a huge gamble in building a rink in the hopes that if they built it, they may come. But they didn't. Instead they stayed in Pittsburgh and moved back to Winnipeg. (Actually, it turns out that AEG may not have been taking such a huge risk in building the Sprint Center.) So as that previously mentioned diehard hockey fan in Kansas City... what do you do? You settle for the 2nd best thing... NHL pre-season hockey. And the chance to see your two favorite NHL stars in action... live!

Taken in Kansas City from the Jumbotron outside
the Sprint Center by mega Kings fan, @s0nn.

Or not. 

"Drew... you gonna be in Kansas City?!?"

"No effin' way. I'm holding out just so I won't have to go there!!!"

"I'm retired!!!"

The game Tuesday night is sold out. And it's the highest attendance ever for a pre-season game*!!! 

*The highest attendance for a 2011 pre-season game at a neutral, non-NHL venue site in North America that is. 

All of Kansas City is abuzz with hockey fever... even Kansas City Star sportswriter, Randy Covitz, took the time to sit down and preview Tuesday nights pre-season matchup between the Kings and the Penguins. 

“We’re playing one of the premier teams in the game, too,” said Kings coach Bryan Murray. “The fact they’re coming in with a good lineup, it’s in the middle of camp and everybody is starting to move some of their younger players to the minors, we’re looking forward to seeing how our remaining players in camp compete.”

(Here is a screengrab in case it gets fixed.)

I just assumed that Randy Covitz had fired Terry Murray (like most of the Kings fans have already) and replaced him with his much less likeable brother, Bryan. 

I view Bryan and Terry Murray's relationship as brothers similar to the one in Backdraft.
In the sense that they are both Donald Sutherland. 

Okay fine... so no Crosby and no Doughty. No big deal, right? At least the rest of the Kings stars are playing. RIGHT?!?

Nope. I'm gonna sit this one out, guys.

Nope.

No way in hell.

That's right, Scott "Scooter" Parse, for the 2nd season in a row has been handed a starting Right Wing spot in the Los Angeles Kings lineup... and has pretty much blown it. When the pre-season started, never in my wildest imagination did I think I'd ever hear the phrase "and at Right Wing for the Kings, Trent Hunter." If Trent Hunter keeps up with Mike Richards and Dustin Penner on the top line Tuesday night in Kansas City... you may be hearing that phrase more than you'd ever believe. 

"Wait... that guy over there? That dude is getting time on the top line instead of me?"

Only 3 more pre-season games before that debauchery of mankind Saturday night known as Frozen Fury. And then the boys board a plane and meet me in Europe. Is this the game where the Kings get their pre-season act together?