Round 2 : Game 1

I guess having my bracket messed up was worth getting home ice advantage against the Sharks.

Game 1 began on Tuesday. The air of champions has filled Staples Center and the Kings got back to playing hockey like they are supposed to.

In Game 1 it became apparent that Slava Voynov finally figured out that when the puck goes in the other teams net, it usually works out better for him than if he puts it in our net.

Just sayin.

Anyways Voynov started the game off early with a goal. With only 13 seconds left in the 1st period Voynov rips one passed Niemi to put the Kings up 1-0 heading in to the locker room.

And then later in the 2nd period we have some great hard hits!

Let’s talk about Robyn Reghr for a moment.

We acquired him late in the season, but thank god we did.

He is awesome.

He plays hockey how hockey should be played.

He takes crap from nobody and he let’s them know he isn’t anyone to be messed with.

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King Without A Crown

No, I am not going to write a blog about Matisyahu’s song, but it is good, no I am talking about my beloved Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings.

What happened?

They came back after the break which was way too long might I add, and the first game back the Blackhawks destroyed them.

How does a team go from best 8 seed in the western conference to #1 in the NHL one season and then come back to be 28th in the league and last in their division.

So far this season they have a record of 3-5-2 and only a total of 8 points from a possible 20, a 14 point gap between the #1 Chicago Blackhawks.

This is how last season started out and they came back to win the whole shabang, but keep in mind this is a shortened season.

The teams are playing pretty much half of a season, so there isn’t really room for anyone to mess up, but especially not for the reigning cup champions.

This past weekend the Kings played the Detroit Red Wings.

Despite defenseman Drew Doughty setting the tone early  with a monster hit on Pavel Datsyuk about 5 minutes after the puck dropped, the Kings were trailing 2-1 going into the second, and remained that way well into the 3rd.

The Kings picked up their play and were connecting on passes and shots, but nothing was getting past Jimmy Howard, and so I thought Jonathan Quick.

With 52.8 seconds left in the 3rd period Alec Martinez fired one past Howard just after Quick had skated to the bench to get an extra attacker out on the ice.

But with 4.5 seconds left Detroit Red Wings’ Jonathan Ericcson got one right through the pads of Quick, and it seemed to just slowly trickle past the goal line making it impossible for the Kings to come back, leaving them with yet another loss.

Wow really?

Well, the first four games of the Stanley Cup finals did not go as planned. This was gunna be a far more exciting series but unfortunately, the Kings had other ideas.

The Kings had a 3-0 series lead over the Devils going into tonight’s game. Thankfully, the Devils were able to win game 4, and we get at least one more hockey game. That’s good since I’m not ready to stop watching hockey yet. It’s incredible.

Now, as I am a die-hard Devils fan, I’d like to share my thoughts on the series so far. I have nothing good to say about the Devils really. We played strong games for the first two and arguably the worst game I’ve ever seen in game 3. 1 and 2 ended in overtime heartbreak, and really, the emotions of fans everywhere are simply crushed. I love the Devils, but I’m not expecting the Cup will return to New Jersey.

I will leave you all with this, as we close out the year of blogging. Jonathan Quick is the sole reason, if not a huge reason that the Kings are as strong as they are. He has stopped some very wild scoring chances and he only allowed two goals through the first three games, including one that was an own goal off of a defender.

Well, depending on whether or not I decide to blog actively this summer, I will bid you farewell for now. I hope that you will all remember my numerous rants on awful athletes and my love for Philadelphia.

Stanley CUP!!!!! I WAS RIGHT!!!!

Well, I called it. My team, the New Jersey Devils have taken down the New York Rangers and have secured their spot in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Los Angeles Kings. This has supreme potential to be one of the most exciting and nail-biting series in the history of the NHL. I’m gonna tell you why.

1. The Goalies-Martin Brodeur and Jonathan Quick are going to square off against each other, which usually isn’t a marquee matchup. Well, I’ll rephrase that. It will always be marquee. However, during the season, this wasn’t a matchup that was always seen. The Devils and Kings rarely play each other. These two teams are fairly unknown to each other.

2. The Defense-Offense mismatch-The Devils have flashed some brutal offense this postseason. They’ve been firing on all cylinders and have kept defenses on their toes. Personally, I believe the Devils could have easily exploited Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers had they not been such superior shot blockers. However, the Kings’ defense is no easier. While they are not supreme shot blockers, they are fundamentally gifted. Players like Drew Doughty lead the defensive unit of the Kings. This will be a showdown.

3. Sheer Power-Both teams can hit. That’s no secret. Both powerplay units are above average, as are each team’s penalty kill units. The teams should still try to keep the hits under control.

This is going to be an astounding matchup. I predicted this matchup before the second round. I can’t wait to watch these games. It’s going to be something special.