It's almost the end of July... what are we doing here? Summer usually means spending time down by the pool, sipping suicide Slurpees while catching the latest and greatest summer blockbuster down at the local multiplex. Long days, short nights and farmer tans.

Granted, it's been a long time, but Jesse and I decided to grace the airwaves OUTDOORS to touch on the whole Ilya Kovalchuk situation. After all, the Kings ALMOST signed a key piece to leap ahead in the Western Conference a few lightyears. Instead, the team's efforts were rebuffed by a player who decided to sign the largest deal in NHL history. Too bad the deal was denied by the league.

Yeah, good times. So, to help make sense of the whole situation, we turn to a consummate professional, L.A. Times columnist Helene (Not Helen) Elliott. Helene breaks it down from the front lines, and talks about a wide variety of subjects, from the Kings newest acquisition, Alexei Ponikarovski, to how reporting has been forever altered by Twitter. It's an interesting discussion and we tahnk Helene for taking time out of her vacation to talk with us.

It's the Hockeywood Insider: slathered with enough SPF 500 we could walk on the face of the Sun and not get burned.

Played: 175 | Download | Duration: 00:48:28

        

<< MORE >>

The Chicago Blackhawks have hoisted the Stanley Cup, and the off-season is officially underway. But before we start focusing what the Kings are going to do to build off their playoff experience, we're going to take a final look at the 2010 Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks.

And to do that, we bring in a former Chicagoian and former Blackhawk fan Matt "Money" Smith, from the great radio station 570 KLAC here in Los Angeles. We talk to Money about the state of the NHL, his prized hockey trophies from McDonalds, and how he once wrote a letter to then-owner Bill Wirtz, resigning as a Blackhawks fan. We also get his take on former 'Hawk Jeremy Roenick's teary-eyed reaction to the team hoisting the Cup, what Gary Bettman sucks and where the NHL should go after a successful Olympics and Stanley Cup playoffs.

It's an engaging discussion that many Kings fans will enjoy. We enjoyed it so much that time got away from us, and we had to cut away before we could promote Money's book, The Great Book of Los Angeles Sports Lists, which is available right now at Amazon.com. Why is this book a must? Well, in the book, Money and fellow broadcaster Steve Hartman break down the top 10 fan bases in L.A., and guess who they tabbed as No. 1? That's right... Kings fans. At least we got that going for us, which is nice.

It's going to be a long summer, so be sure to head onto iTunes and download the full season of the Hockeywood Insider. Sure, some of the conversations may seem dated now, but what are you going in the meantime? Baseball broadcasts?

Click here for the podcast<< MORE >>

With the Stanley Cup coming to a close, Kings fans now face two options to get their fill of puck: watched their backlog of TIVO'ed games from the previous season, or pop in a hockey video game.

It just so happens that Electronic Arts' latest version of their NHL franchise, NHL 10, was able to improve on its predecessor, NHL 09. Whether or not it will eventually join the Hockeywood Video Game Hall of Fame remains to be seen. But there's definitely potential there to certainly be considered one day.

I view it like this: Drew Doughty has the potential to be one of those once-in-a-generation players that graces the league, but I'd like to see his career play out before we erect a statue. It's the same thing with the EA franchise. NHL 09 was so widely agreed upon as the one of best hockey games ever, it's amazing to me that they improved the game. But they did.

And here's the best part about hockey being over: used copies of both NHL 09 and NHL 10 are widely available to pick up cheap. So in case you haven't picked up a copy yet (guilty as charged. Hey, I don't have a next-gen console yet. I'm still rocking my PS2), now's the time to strike.

EA Sports is hardly sitting on their laurels, as they are currently working on a new game that just might blow both of these games out of the water. And best of all, it's releasing a game that's exclusive to a current system I do have, the Wii (Hey, I got kids.).

NHL Slapshot is coming to stores in September, and is EA's first Wii-exclusive game. Turns out, EA has smelled blood in the water and wants a bigger piece of the pie (I was going to write Pii as a joke, but realized it would be pronounced 'pee,' so I passed.)

EA's main competitor, Take-Two Studios, announced it was taking a season off to "evaluate" their sports portfolio. Bad decision, because EA announced NHL Slap Shot for the Wii. But in my opinion, the actual game is second to the peripheral that will accompany the game: a Wii hockey stick.
<< MORE >>