Life In Hockeywood: L.A. Kings Blog • Podcast • Video

#GetOnTheBus! The Frozen and The Furious road trip!

Matt — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:55:47 GMT

Even though the Kings are in the midst of defending their Stanley Cup championship, it's never too early to start planning for the annual trek to Las Vegas for Frozen Fury.

Thanks to the NHL Lockout, we were robbed of the opportunity of extending our Stanley Cup Hangover in Las Vegas. To make up for it, we will be treated to TWO opponents at the MGM Grand: On Friday, it'll be the Kings taking on the Rangers, then Saturday it'll be Kings/Avs.

We tried to pull together a trip last year, but couldn't quite get it pulled together. So this year, thanks to Chris from Change In Latitude Travel, we have got our stuff together.

For $65, Kings fans can ride in comfort aboard one of two styling Gold Coast coach buses. We will have two pickup spots: starting at Long Beach Airport at 7 a.m., then head to Ontario Airport to pick up more Kings fans at 9 a.m.

Along the way, we'll be screening Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup championship, the new Stanley Cup Moments DVD, Goon, Slap Shot... whatever we want.

We plan on making a stop in Barstow for grub and refills. We should roll into Vegas around 1 p.m. Game time for Kings/Rangers is 7 p.m., so we'll have enough time to check in and get ready for the game.

Click here for more information,. including a KILLER deal at MGM Grand...

Hockeywood Dailies: May 23

Matt — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:09:20 GMT

For the complete game recap, as well as analysis from NHL Network and interviews with Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, Matt Greene, Darryl Sutter and Luc Robitaille, click here…

#140Recap: #LAKings one win away from conference finals

Matt — Fri, 24 May 2013 05:29:11 GMT

#140Recap: Series now returns to LA tied at 2-2

Matt — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:59:10 GMT

Hockeywood Dailies: May 18

Matt — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:40:28 GMT

For the complete game recap, as well as analysis from NHL Network and interviews with Rob Scuderi, Dustin Penner and Tyler Toffoli, click here…

#140Recap: Sharts steal Game 3 from #LAKings

Matt — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:24:02 GMT

All hail the Birthday Kings!

Matt — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:47:18 GMT

One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was to open the newspaper on my birthday and see which people shared my birthday, which is May 18th . And I was always greeted with names like director Frank Capra, singer Perry Como and Pope John Paul II. Admittedly, not the sexiest of names, but it is what it is.

As it turns out, the newspaper routinely left out a bunch of names, mostly because they weren't "big enough" names in the world of news. They are, however, some decent names in the world of sports. In baseball, there was Babe Adams, Reggie Jackson and Brooks Robinson. Basketball players Sam Vincent, Donyell Marshall and Ron Mercer are all Tauruses. Race car driver Dario Franchitti, quarterback Vince Young and professional wrestler James William Reiher were also born on the 18th. (What, you do recognize Reiher's name? Perhaps you know him better as Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.)

But the craziest thing that I have learned with the advent of the Interwebz is the discovery that I also share a birthday with four former Kings. (Actually five, but I'll touch on that in a moment.) Jay Wells (1959), Jari Kurri (1960), Jim Fox (1960) and Marty McSorley (1963) were all born on the 18th. Wells and Fox played together in L.A. from 1981 through 1988, while Kurri and McSorley donned the black and silver from 1991 to 1996.

The fifth player I eluded to was Oleg Tverdovsky, who had four assists in 26 games in the forgettable 2006 season. The only thing memorable about Tverdovsky's arrival in L.A. was he accompanied current Kings defenseman Jack Johnson in the trade with the Carolina Hurricanes. (A Jack Johnson also shares a May 18th birthday with all these Kings players, although it's singer Jack Johnson.)

Since there's only 366 dates in a year, people are going to share birthdays. But I'm not entirely sure if there's a date that has more athletes that have played for a particular team. I'm sure there might be, but I'm not going to research it. In fact, the only thing I'm going to do right now is help myself to another serving of cake.

Happy Birthday Jay Wells (51), Jari Kurri and Jimmy Fox (50) and Marty McSorley (47)!

Click inside for a birthday video...

Hockeywood Dailies: May. 16

Matt — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:56:08 GMT

For the complete game recap, as well as analysis from NHL Network and NBC Sports and interviews with Trevor Lewis, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Tyler Toffoli and coach Darryl Sutter, click here…

#140Recap: #LAKings survive Shark attack, win Game 2

Matt — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:08:40 GMT

Hockeywood Dailies: May 14

Matt — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:45:28 GMT

For the complete game recap, as well as analysis from NHL Network, NBC Sports and interviews from Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and coach Darryl Sutter, click here…

#140Recap: Quick stops Sharks in Game 1

Matt — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:14:12 GMT

Hockeywood Dailies: Game 6

Matt — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:03:27 GMT

For the complete game recap, as well as analysis and interviews with Dustin Penner, Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, MIke Richards and coach Darryl Sutter, click here…

#140Recap: #LAKings take out the Blues in six games

Matt — Sat, 11 May 2013 05:44:35 GMT

Hockeywood Dailies: Game 5

Matt — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:19:31 GMT

For the complete game recap, as well as analysis and interviews with Jeff Carter, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick and coach Darryl Sutter, click here…

#140Recap: #LAKings seize Game 5

Matt — Thu, 09 May 2013 06:41:45 GMT

Hockeywood Dailies: Game 4

Matt — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:07:26 GMT

For the complete game recap, analysis from the nHL Network and interviews with Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Dustin Penner, Jeff Carter, Alex Steen, Jay Bouwmeester, David Backes and head coaches Ken Hitchcock and Darryl Sutter, click here…

#140Recap: #LAKings even series with comeback win.

Matt — Tue, 07 May 2013 05:00:45 GMT

Hockeywood Dailies: Game 3 videos

Matt — Sun, 05 May 2013 06:04:00 GMT

For the complete game recap, as well as analysis and interviews with Jonathan Quick, Dustin Brown, Justin Williams, Jordan Leopold, Alex Steen and coaches Ken Hitchcock and coach Darryl Sutter, click here…

#140Recap: #LAKings survive Game 3

Matt — Sun, 05 May 2013 04:07:00 GMT

Hockeywood Dailies: WCSF Game 3 Previews

Matt — Sun, 05 May 2013 02:18:13 GMT

Jim Fox reports on game 3 between the Los Angeles Kings and the St. Louis Blues from the Staples Center in LA.

Daryl Evans and Jon Rosen break down game 3. For interviews with Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and coach Darryl Sutter, click here...