Kings Improve to 3-1

After a couple of solid wins in which they scored six goals apiece against San Jose and Minnesota following the loss on opening night, the Kings took to the road to begin a six-game road trip and came away with a well-played defensive effort in St. Louis, beating the Blues 2-1.

The Kings were just 4 of 11 on the penalty kill going into the game, but tonight they killed off all five St. Louis power plays.

Ryan Smyth, his fourth of the season, on a power play, and Michal Handzus, his second, recorded the two goals tonight. The Kings top line of Smyth, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams has now combined for a total of 20 points in four games.

Meanwhile, Drew Doughty took a puck to the face midway through the second period and left the ice, but returned for the start of the third period.

The Kings hit Long Island in New York for a date with the Islanders on Monday afternoon.

Kings Drop Opener

And it wasn't pretty. The Kings lost 6-3 to Phoenix in their season and home opener last night, and were booed off the Staples Center ice after the game. They made several turnovers defensively in their own zone that led to at least two Coyotes goals. The Kings didn't handle or pass the puck well all night.

Anze Kopitar, Alexander Frolov and Drew Doughty had the three Kings goals.

One other note, Dustin Brown has a muscle strain in his glute and was held out of today's skate-around. He is expected to be back on the ice tomorrow.

Hammond's New Kings Blog

Rich Hammond's new Kings blog is up and running on the Kings website. Other than the location, expect nothing less than the great insight he was already providing over at Inside the Kings. In other words, only the address is changing.

Enjoy!

Opening Night Roster

With the season opener just days away, the Kings announced their roster for Saturday's season/home opener against Phoenix. There are no major surprises.

Kings Hire Beat Writer Hammond

The Kings on Wednesday hired Kings Daily News beat writer Rich Hammond for the same role with the team's official website. Hammond spent the last 10 years with the newspaper covering the Kings in numerous aspects, including the "Inside the Kings" blog, which consistently ranked as the top pro sports blog on the paper's website.

Hammond had this to say on his Daily News Kings blog just after the announcement was made.

In reaction to this, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had this to say about the move.

At first, I wasn't sure why Cuban had not only responded to this kind of news, but why he responded the way he did. But after thinking about his background, and all of his endeavors as a businessman, it dawned on me that this sort of hiring is right up his alley.

A quick background: Cuban completely revolutionized television viewing and the industry as we see it today. He launched the first-ever high-definition channel for DirecTV in 2001. His HDNet now includes several different high-definition networks, and today, nearly every major network and cable network broadcasts in digital high-definition.

Cuban is also an avid and active investor in leading and cutting-edge technology. He uses his blog as a forum to share his thoughts and ideas on topics such as politics, entrepreneurship, as well as technology.

So how does this all tie in to the Kings hiring Hammond? Well, the newspaper as we know it is a dying breed. We've already seen the Daily News alone lose two of its top beat writers in Hammond, and former Dodger beat writer, Tony Jackson, because of the sign of the times. While the internet is now the number one source for the general public to get its daily news, papers such as the Daily News are starting to struggle to hang on to its precious insiders because of cost-cutting, including those like Hammond, who use their blogs as an avenue to give us information as they see and hear it without having to have their thoughts regulated by the powers that may be.

So the Kings hiring of Hammond to do just that makes perfect sense. Hammond will be able to provide the fans inside information directly from the team. And in the future, we'll probably see many more teams begin to hire beat writers like Hammond, not just in the NHL, but in all of the major sports.

NHL Realignment Plans?

With the current messes that are the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Islanders, the big Four-Letter Sports Network that is partially responsible for the NHL receiving very little national exposure since the strike five years ago decided it would be fun to have four of its hockey-thumpers play NHL Commissioner and offer up some ideas for realignment in the NHL.

Here are some of idea highlights:

• John Buccigross adds 10 new teams in smaller markets, including adding another team in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, as well as another in the Toronto area) without dumping or or relocating any of the current 30 teams, and splits the league up into two monster conferences (the Gretzky Conference and the Orr Conference) with no divisions. His idea is simple: to have an aggressive shared-revenue system that could create more total revenue than the current system.
• Scott Burnside offers a simple plan, as well. He suggests not eliminating the Coyotes altogether, but rather have them as a roving, nomad-ish kind of franchise. They'll play in whatever city can sellout at least two games. He, too, offers adding another team in the Toronto area. His realignment also eliminates the Panthers since no one cares about them in Miami, or anywhere else. And his divisions are basically the same other than renaming them with corporate sponsors (Atlantic: Shales Cafe; Northeast: Upfront; Southeast: Flying Saucer; Pacific: Paul's Cocktail; Central: Rossi's; Northwest: Sherlocks) and moving one or two teams around.
• Pierre LeBrun's realignment has the most changes, and might be the most far-fetch idea of the four. He's eliminated eight current teams and relocated five of them overseas to Europe. The eight eliminated: Phoenix, Tampa, Atlanta, Florida, Carolina, Nashville, Long Island and yes, Jersey. The five new Euro-teams: Prague, Stockholm, Moscow, Helsinki and Cologne. He's also added another team in Toronto courtesy of the Islanders, moved the Coyotes back to Winnipeg and added a team in Seattle. The conferences have been renamed back to Wales and Campbell, and four of the six divisions have the old names back, as well: Adams, Patrick, Norris and Smythe. The last two divisions would be Salming (the European teams) and (Jack Kent) Cooke (the current Pacific Division with Phoenix substituted for Seattle).
• Barry Melrose's idea is the most simplest idea of them all. The Mullet has relocated three teams (Phoenix, Atlanta and Florida) to Toronto, Saskatoon and Portland. He's left everything else unchanged.

And just for the sake of this post, I have a plan, as well. I would take bits and pieces of the four ideas above to come up with my own new NHL.

As much as I like the idea of Euro-teams, the travel would be brutal, thus making that idea almost impossible. So instead of five Euro-teams, I would relocate six teams: Phoenix, Atlanta, Florida, Tampa, Carolina and the Islanders. Three of them go to Canada (Coyotes back to Winnipeg, the Islanders become Toronto's second team and one team goes to Saskatoon in Central Canada), one goes to Milwaukee, one goes to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area as a second team there and the last heads to Seattle or Portland on the west coast.

I like the idea of renaming the conferences and divisions back to the way it was before they went to six divisions. The Wales Conference would house the old Patrick (NY, NJ, Philly, Boston and Washington) and Adams (Pittsburgh, Columbus, Nashville, Milwaukee and St. Paul) divisions and add the Gretzky (Montreal, the two Toronto teams, Ottawa and Buffalo) division, while the Campbell Conference gets the old Norris (Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota and Colorado) and Smythe (Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatoon) divisions while adding the Cooke (LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Dallas and Seattle/Portland) division.

O'Donnell Suspended Five Games

Defenseman Sean O'Donnell has been suspended for the final three pre-season games and the first two regular season games by the NHL for his cross-check on the Islanders' Matt Martin in K.C. two nights ago during a pre-season match-up. O'Donnell received a match penalty during the game for his hit on Martin.

Gretzky Quits

The drama that is the Phoenix Coyotes has taken another turn. Wayne Gretzky, who had yet to report to training camp in light of his contract status due to the organization's financial woes and ownership situation, has finally stepped down as head coach. Former Kings assistant and Dallas head coach Dave Tippet is expected to replace him.

Heatley Finally Traded

These Dany Heatley trade reports are taking on its own life now. Word now from TSN and ESPN is Heatley has indeed been traded to San Jose, but not as part of a three-way deal with the Kings, and not involving Patrick Marleau. Heatley reportedly has been traded, along with a fifth round pick, for LW Jonathan Cheechoo, RW Milan Michalek and a second round draft pick. Here is TSN.ca's report.

BREAKING..................??

Update (10:10 PM CT): How about another link. This one has a little more to the story in that it breaks down how ESPN seems to be ahead of the game in reporting deals and whatnot of late.

Not to say this is dead or alive, but something about this Puck Daddy story tells me there's more to this than we know, and that this one is far from over as I mentioned an hour ago.

In other words, there's still tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

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Update (9:15 PM CT): Kings GM Dean Lombardi, as well as Ottawa GM Brian Burke and San Jose GM Doug Wilson, has denied this trade. In a two-word text back to ESPN and to the Daily News' Rich Hammond, Lombardi says the deal is "complete bull".

So much for that!

The deal didn't make any sense from the Kings standpoint anyway.

Stay tuned. We probably haven't heard the last of this one.

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UPDATE (8:06 PM CT): Here's ESPN's link to the trade. Still no confirmation from any of the teams.

Talk of this deal was reported yesterday by The Fourth Period.

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ESPN's John Buccigross is reporting a blockbuster three-team trade that sends Dany Heatley to San Jose, Patrick Marleau to the Kings, and Alexander Frolov and Jarrett Stoll to Ottawa.

More on this as information becomes available.

Kings Add Scorer in Smyth

With a sudden surplus in defenseman, and a much bigger need for a scoring left-winger, the Kings pulled the trigger on a trade with the Avalanche, sending defensemen Tom Preissing and Kyle Quincy, along with a fifth round draft pick in exchange for Ryan Smyth.

Smyth is a 33-year older who spend the bulk of his 12-year career with Edmonton. A contract dispute in 2007 resulted in him being traded to the Islanders. He signed with Colorado as a free agent after the 2006-2007 season.

Smyth should provide some much-needed scoring for the Kings.

Kings Ink Blue-liner Scuderi

While it's not the signing the Kings had hoped for, they did make a solid splash in the free agent market on Day 2, reaching out to Rob Scuderi, defenseman formerly of the now Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Rob Scuderi and the Kings agreed on a four-year deal worth approximately $13.6MM over the duration.

Scuderi isn't what you would call an offensive-minded defenseman, which is just fine with the Kings. What they wanted was another defensive-minded veteran presence at the blue-line to go along with Sean O'Donnell. The Kings feel they have their man.

Meanwhile, a Daily News report says the Kings were very much players on Day 1 yesterday, only to come up short on a number of free agents. According to GM Dean Lombardi, the big name who got away, Marian Hossa, nearly signed with the Kings, but ultimately chose Chicago because they were closer to being a 100-point, Stanley Cup champion-caliber team. But Hossa supposedly had some very nice things to say about the Kings and the direction they're headed, saying they are the next Chicago Blackhawks, referring to the quick turnaround made by the team from mediocrity to serious Cup contenders.

The Kings were also very much involved with Marian Gaborik, who signed a ridiculous five-year deal with the Rangers, Martin Havlat, who signed a five-year deal with the Wild, and Mike Knuble, who chose to stay on the East Coast with Washington. They have no turned their attention to Alex Tanguay and Alex Kovalev.

Scratch Gaborik Off The Kings Wishlist

He just reportedly signed with the Rangers as I was typing out my previous post. Deal is five years, $7.5MM per year.

Yikes! Good luck with that contract, Rangers.

All Quiet on the Kings Front

Free agency started earlier this afternoon, and the Kings had been linked to a number of players. So far, however, it's been a relatively quiet day for the Kings. They are rumored to have made an offer to winger Marian Gaborik, and word is they were interested in winger Martin Havlat. For the time being, both players remained unsigned.

Meanwhile, there were some other big free agent signings today. Among others, Marian Hossa inked a 12-year deal with Chicago. Nikolai Khabibulin signed a four-year deal with Edmonton. Former King Michael Cammalleri signed with Montreal for five years. Defenseman Mike Komisarek is headed to Toronto for the next five years. The Sedin twins re-upped in Vancouver for five years, as well.

For a complete list of who went where, TSN has a free agent tracker up and running.

Yesterday, Jay Bouwmeester, whose rights were traded to Calgary on draft day by Florida, signed for five years with the Flames. The Rangers traded Chris Gomez to the Canadiens for Chris Higgins as part of a six-player deal. And the Oilers and Senators agreed in principle on a deal that would send disgruntled forward Dany Heatley from Ottawa to Edmonton, pending Heatley's approval as he has a no-trade clause. So far, the deal is still waiting a decision from Heatley.

After Much Speculation...

The Kings have selected center Brayden Schenn with the 5th overall pick in tonight's NHL Entry Draft in Montreal. Schenn is the younger brother of Leafs defenseman Luke Schenn.

Dean Lombardi appeared to be busy just before it was the Kings turn to pick. He was up and down from the Kings table several times right before the pick was made. There was speculation this pick could be dealt, but for now, Schenn is a King.

Solid pick for the Kings. If you were watching the draft on Versus tonight, the look on Toronto GM Brian Burke's face when this pick was announced was priceless! Burke and the Leafs really wanted Schenn.

The Islanders selected center John Tavares with the first overall pick, followed by Tampa Bay who selected defenseman Victor Hedman second, while Colorado took center Matt Duchene third, and Atlanta took center Evander Kane fourth just ahead of the Kings.

Also, the Ducks traded defenseman Chris Pronger to the Flyers in exchange for winger Joffrey Lupul, defenseman Luca Sbisa, two first round picks (one tonight, and one next year) and a conditional draft pick. Philly also gets a minor leaguer in the deal.

As much as it hurts me to admit, this is a great deal for the Ducks. The Flyers just got owned by the Ducks.

Lucky Luc Headed to the Hall

No surprise here. Luc Robitaille is headed for the NHL Hall of Fame. He joins a stellar 2009 class that includes Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman and Brian Leetch. Luc's 668 goals are the most ever by a left winger.

Robitaille was drafted by the Kings in the 9th round of the 1984 draft. (That same season, the Kings drafted future MLB Hall of Famer and 300-game winner Tom Glavine in the 4th round, but Glavine opted to pitch in the Major Leagues for the Atlanta Braves). He won the Calder Trophy as the league's Rookie of the Year in 1987, where he recorded 45 goals and 84 points, and quickly became synonymous with the Kings, becoming a fan favorite. Luc played his first eight seasons with the Kings, his best season coming in 1992-93, where he scored 62 goals and 125 total points. That same year, Luc helped lead an all-star roster that included Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Rob Blake, as the Kings reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first and only time in franchise history. The Kings lost to Patrick Roy and the Montreal Canadiens in five games.

Luc was then traded to Pittsburgh after the 1994 season, and played there for one season before being traded to the Rangers for two years. The Rangers then traded him back to the Kings after the 1997 season, and Luc played for the Kings for four more seasons. As a free agent after the 2001 season, Luc signed with Detroit for two seasons, where he helped the Red Wings win a Stanley Cup in 2002, along with Yzerman and Leetch. Luc then returned to L.A. for his third and final stint with the Kings, which lasted two seasons.

Along the way, Luc broke the all-time records for goals and points (1,394) by a left-winger, and in his last season in the league, he set the Kings franchise record for goals and points. On the night he surpassed former Kings great Marcel Dionne as the all-time leading scorer in frachise history, he fittingly recorded the 15th hat trick of his career. On April 11, 2006, he officially announced his retirement from the game, and retired from the game following the 2006 season after 19 stellar seasons in the NHL. Luc retired as the most popular player in Kings history, and his sweater No. 20 was retired and raised to the rafters of Staples Center on January 20, 2007. His jersey is one of five retired by the Kings, along with Dionne's No. 16, Dave Taylor's No. 18, Rogie Vachon's No. 30, and Gretzky's No. 99.

Congratulations Luc, on a well-deserved honor for your hard work and dedication to being one of the greatest hockey players ever, and one of the nicest and humble people I have met.

Pens Win Cup in 7

Just wanted to congratulate the Pittsburgh Penguins on a job well done. The Pens beat the Wings tonight 2-1 in Game 7 of the Cup Finals to earn their third Stanley Cup title in franchise history. Tonight's game was perhaps one of the best games in years from what I heard. The Pens won the the Cup in back-to-back seasons way back in 1991 and 1992 during the initial Mario Lemieux years. The Pens and Wings met in a rematch of last year's Finals, which was won by Detroit. Evgeni Malkin was named Finals MVP.

On a personal level, I'm thrilled the Pens won. Whatever has to be done to prevent the Squids (Red Wings) from winning is fine by me!

One Last Item On Pronger

Found this post on the L.A. Times' Fabulous Forum blog. There's nothing to the rumor. At least, for now, anyway.

Crawford Hired by Dallas; Pronger to L.A.?

First, the Chris Pronger reports.

There are unconfirmed rumors flying around the internet today that suggest the Kings are on the verge of acquiring Chris Pronger from the Ducks for Jack Johnson and the 5th overall pick in this year's draft next month. The rumor initiated on the website HockeyBuzz and made its rounds through the internet. Some media outlets picked up on the initial report as a done deal but have retracted it since. The rumor is nowhere to be found on any of the major national hockey media outlets such as TSN.ca, or even ESPN.com.

Several sources, including Rich Hammond of the Daily News on his Inside the Kings blog, have claimed to have received word from one team or the other that no deal is in place. Hammond says he received a "Rumor not true" text from Dean Lombardi himself. And granted Hammond broke the Patrick O'Sullivan-Justin Williams trade a day before it happened taht Lombardi denied at first, who's to say the trade won't still happen?

And for what it's worth, Pronger has said he has not been notified either.

However, one source says the two players are still likely to be traded as the teams try to haggle on the draft pick going from the Kings to the Ducks.

All that aside, I think this would be a ridiculously dumb move on the Kings part if they do anything close to it. I can't see the upside behind it when you're trying to build around the youth, and Jack Johnson is part of that youth movement. Obviously this would be a salary dump for the Ducks to get under the cap, but I don't understand it from the Kings side.

Either way, well done by both SoCal teams for stealing some of the thunder of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight in Detroit.

And lastly, former Kings head coach Marc Crawford was indeed hired as the Dallas Stars new head coach yesterday, a day after it was speculated they had called the Kings to ask for permission to talk to him after the Stars fired former Kings assistant Dave Tippett.

Dallas Fires Tippett

Just in a bit ago: the Dallas Stars have fired former Kings assistant Dave Tippett as their head coach. Tippett led the Stars to playoff berths in his first five seasons as head coach until they failed to make the post-season this year. Rumors have it that new Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk has asked for permission from the Kings to speak to another of their former head coaches, Marc Crawford, who is still under contract with the Kings.

He's all yours, Dallas!