Today Bloguin upgraded our comments here at The Royal Half to the LiveFyre system. It's really awesome and easy to use. Here are a few tips:

#1 - You will need to either register with Livefyre.com or sign in using Facebook or Twitter. Everyone has Facebook or Twitter, right? You can't post as a guest or anonymous... sorry. But take the few seconds to sign up for LiveFyre and it will be worth it. And if you says something SUPER clever in the comments here... you can post it directly to Facebook or Twitter. Cool, right?

#2 - If you already have a Bloguin user name and password integration will be coming soon. But just do LiveFyre, Facebook or Twitter for now.

#3 - Flickr, Twitpic, tinypic, and imgur are the supported image sources, which means you just copy and paste the URL into the comment box and the image shows up as a thumbnail. And you all know we love attaching images here at The Royal Half.

#4- For videos, YouTube and Vimeo work. Just paste the URL, and your video will show up. And you all know we love attaching videos here at The Royal Half.

Hopefully the new comment system will encourage all of my awesome readers to chime in and speak up... especially with the NHL Playoffs right around the corner. (Hopefully.) You can sign up to get notified right away if some one replies to your comment or adds something new. To see how it works, check out this epic comment battle going on at Days of Yorr right now! Also, check out this great blog post about how to get the most out of LiveFyre.

Now a lot of people might think that the Los Angeles Kings came into the NHL during the 2009-2010 season. But in actuality they've been in the league since 1967. And as a long time Kings fan, I'm old enough to remember back to the last few weeks of the 2003-2004 season, when the Kings were in a playoff spot... and then lost 11 straight games to fall out of the post-season.

Oh boy what a ride that was!

With some combination of a Los Angeles Kings win or a Dallas Stars loss in regulation, the Kings can clinch a playoff spot. Easy right? I mean, I haven't looked at the schedule but there is no way the Stars can win out the rest of their games, right?

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

Well I'm sure the Kings have just as easy of a schedule, right? RIGHT?!?

Shit.

Well, on the brightside, at least the Stars have one more game to play than the Kings. But honestly, 2 games against the Avalanche really count as 1. Man, the Stars are really going all out with their playoff drive. Check out the splash page to DallasStars.com.

I think it's nice of them to still include Minnesota.

The Kings are just as pumped... check out the front page of Kings.com.

Although it's a little strange to remind us fans that the Kings have
made it this far without Drew Doughty all season. 

Sure, you can shake off last night's embarrassment in San Jose as a 1 game letdown... but the curtain behind the Kings may have been lifted a bit. This Western Conference is loaded with talent amongst the top 10 teams. And the Kings are going to have to face a team of San Jose's caliber not just in the 1st round... but in every round. And after watching the Sharks roll 3 excellent lines last night, it doesn't matter which player Coach Murray puts on which line... it's going to be tough to match a lot of the firepower in the West with the Kings top 2 offensive players injured. 

I think this accurately sums up last nights game.

I've been trying this "believing" thing... I really have. And trust me, there is nothing Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy and I want to do than meet up next week at a Los Angeles Kings Playoff Game. But I'm worried... I really, really am. The sensible hockey fan in me realizes that it would take both a total collapse AND a total miracle for the Kings to not clinch a playoff spot. But oh... my... god... if the Kings don't make it into the post-season... I wish there was some sort of way to visually represent how I would be feeling if that happened.

Well, here we are. The final week of the 2010-2011 NHL season. We've come so far since that first week of hockey in October. Our favorite teams have lifted our hopes in November and subsequently crushed them in February. And now, with exactly 7 days left in the regular season and only 8 of the possible 16 teams having locked up a playoff spot... for the fans of the remaining franchises all you can do is hope and pray your team makes through this week so it can taste the sweet nectar of the post-season.

Click here to check out the final regular season edition of the best and worst NHL.com pun headlines from the past week!!!

Well, at least it was an isolated incident.

If the Dallas Stars lose a game, then the Gates of Hell known as the Western Conference finally fly open as the Kings, Anaheim Ducks and Phoenix Coyotes would all clinch a playoff spot. For the Kings, this would be the first time they've been in the playoff in back-to-back years since 2002. How long ago was that?

Nickelback's, "How You Remind Me" was the #1 hit. 

Well, at least they are Canadian, right?

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the number 1 movie in 2002. And I had totally forgot about the failed start-up hockey league that was formed out of it.

The Hobbits took it all that year, but the league really wanted the Rangers to win.

And making its television debut in 2002 was the reality hit, American Idol.

Which allowed Mike Fisher to be traded to the Predators so he could score 4 goals in 24 games.

So here we are in 2011 and with any combination of a Dallas Stars loss and a Los Angeles Kings win, the Kings will taste the sweet nectar of the post-season for the second straight year. And this time, to make it interesting, they are doing it without their 2 leading scorers!

"Wayne, don't worry. I got this. A lot of people don't know...
but I scored 4 goals for the Green Bay Gamblers in 2002." 

Matt Greene played for the Green Bay Gamblers?
That must have been a marketing departments wet dream.

Even after beating the Stars 3-1, the Los Angeles Kings technically haven't scored on an NHL goaltender for 5 periods. I'm really diggin' Coach Murray's new strategy for scoring off the opponents defensemen.

That Goligoski trade really paid off here for the Kings.

Now I'm sure every single Kings fan will be rooting for the Anaheim Ducks to beat the Dallas Stars today. But just keep in mind that a victory by the Ducks puts them 1 point behind the Kings. I don't know about you, but while the travel time to each game would be pleasant, I wouldn't want to be the NHL franchise that plays the Ducks in the first round. Even after Doug Murray took a 5 mile jog at Lubomir Visnovsky. 

Battle of California has a great breakdown of how awesome the state was in March.

With a Stars loss today, all 3 California teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time ever. Meanwhile, it looks like Canada is only going to have 2 teams in the post-season. (3 if you count Buffalo.) Forget Winnipeg, I think it's time the NHL seriously considers a different destination for the Phoenix Coyotes.

Bring back the Gulls!

Is there anything more embarrassing than not putting forth your best effort in front of the opposing teams' fans?

Getting warmer...

...Nailed it.

The rumors are true! Tonight on this very here website, it's the 1st Ever Royal Half Live Game Chat! And you won't believe who we got to host!

"Sherman Oaks... go ahead!"

It's the Los Angeles Kings versus the Vancouver Canucks! So come back here at 7pm Pacific Time Thursday night and chat with myself and all the stars of The Royal Half... Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy, Indiana Matt, Jersey Brian... and we might even have a special guest calling in!

See you at 7pm! Here's hoping we don't get to witness a Kings player break his femur live!

Although Edmonton is the City of Champions, I thought it was a bit of a gutless move to unveil their brand new statue tonight, during the Los Angeles Kings first game since 2007 without Anze Kopitar. 

Kings 2, Worst Team in the NHL 0, Anze Kopitar At Home Alone

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

A lemming on ice.

Last Saturday was a tough one for me and HSTHB. After witnessing the snap heard around the world (or at least around LA Live) in person, HSTHB and I hardly spoke to each other for the rest of the game. Later that night, while I was drowning my sorrows in iMovie, HSTHB texted me around 8pm with this:

"Just woke up from a nap... please tell me I was dreaming that the Kings Ironman broke his ankle."

I know that I can be overly-realistic and under-enthusiastic as a Los Angeles Kings fan. I think I do that because... well, it's an easy way to cope with disappointment. I learned this from a Facebook thread over at the Die Hard Los Angeles Kings Fan Page.

Man, Carmela Hanna really had it in for me.
I love that "Go Be a Ducks Fan!" is still an harsh burn in this day and age.

Today, Puck Daddy said that the game tonight against the Edmonton Oilers is "Game 1, A.D." as in Anze Down. I like the sound of that. And while the cries of "I Still Believe" amongst Kings fan on the internet are starting to approach the annoying stage... at least it's inspiring fans to have better Twitter profile pictures.

Created by @KevinYoung90.

So I'm going to take some advice from the boys over at LA Kings News and pull back on the "we are doomed and cursed" throttle a little bit. Even though that is really what I believe. I'm going to look at the positives!

1) The Los Angeles Kings have back to back 40 game winning seasons for the first time... oh... for the first time EVER.
2) The Los Angeles Kings are going to be in the playoffs in back to back seasons for the first time since 2002.
3) HSTHB and I are going to be attending playoff games in back to back seasons for the first time since EVER.
4) A Los Angeles Kings goaltender won 30 games in back to back seasons for the first time since EVER. 
5) Although the Los Angeles Kings are going to make the playoffs, they will do nothing in them because their best player and leading scorer broke his fucking ankle. (Shit! This being positive thing is harder than I thought!)

Man, Parker Lewis Can't Lose really jumped the shark in it's later years.

The starting lines for tonight's game.

Penner-Handzus-Moller
Smyth-Lewis-Brown
Ponikarovsky-Stoll-Simmonds
Clifford-Richardson-Westgarth

Trevor Lewis, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you. I've been a big fan of Lewis during this season. After bouncing in and out of the lineup over the 1st month, he has solidified the 4th line center position, giving the Kings good defensive responsibility with a hint of offensive potential. And he kills penalties. The majority of his time has been spent with Kevin Westgarth as his winger, so it's easy to see why Lewis' potential hasn't translated to any points up on the board. And since he's been a 4th liner all year, Trevor Lewis is so unknown outside of Los Angeles, there are hardly any photos of him on the internet.

I'm pretty sure the one on the bottom is him, but it's so hard to tell.

Don't forget, Dean Lombardi traded Pavol Demitra in 2006 to get Trevor Lewis with the 17th overall pick. (And Patrick O'Sullivan. What ever happened to that guy?) Kingscast reminded me that when he was drafted, Bob McKenzie labeled Lewis as a Rod Brind'Amour type.

If Lewis ends up being half the man Brind'Amour was...
he'd be 8 times the man I am.

Let's be realistic. (Shit! There I go again!) The line of Ryan Smyth, Trevor Lewis and Dustin Brown is now the Los Angeles Kings' #1 line. Mainly because ever since Mayor's Manor took a photo of Dustin Penner holding a Pennermania t-shirt, Penner hasn't had a point. In fairness to the Mayor, Penner has only 1 point since we unveiled our rival Dustin Penner t-shirt. Tonight is the game that HSTHB was the most worried about, even before Kopitar went down. The Oilers are a fast, young team with a lot to prove. And the Kings? Well this is their first game since they lost their best player and leading scorer to a broken fucking ankle. Tonight... the Kings season begins again... A.D.