Brian Kennedy

Growing Up Moments

Growing Up Moments

After the LA Kings went down to Tampa Bay 6-4, Coach McLellan spared no criticism. He wasn’t angry, on the surface at least. But he methodically dismantled the first three goals against. Make that four, because he added the fourth as a kind of afterthought. “We ran...

Didn’t You Used to Work Here?

Didn’t You Used to Work Here?

It was a night of two debuts and  a return as the Kings took on the Penguins in downtown Los Angeles Thursday. For LA, the game marked another chance  to  show what they can do after they upset the New York Rangers three nights  prior. For Pittsburgh, it was the ...

Nuclear Power on Display

Nuclear Power on Display

No easy test, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Not with you-know-who  (Evgeni Malkin)  back in the lineup for the first time this year, and especially not when that same person scores two of four goals and almost gets an empty net marker to complete the hat trick.  He...

We Have A Chance

We Have A Chance

The New York Rangers came to LA Monday night  with the chance  to  become the league’s point-leading team. Their opponents, the Kings, merely hoped to vault themselves out of a Wild Card spot and into their Division’s top three teams. The Rangers would have to do it...

Ducks Roll Over Red Wings

Ducks Roll Over Red Wings

When a monkey wearing  a diaper drops the ceremonial first puck  of a hockey game, you  know you’re in for a show. The Anaheim Ducks celebrated Anaheim Angels night with just such an occurrence, and the little dude threw the puck right down flat on the ice between the...

Opposite, But the Same

Opposite, But the Same

Has the Great Compression begun? That’s  got to be a question that is starting to occur to West Coast hockey fans as teams battle a tight race for the Wild Card positions in the Conference. This is  aided by the observation that at the very least,  Anaheim is ...

Lotsa Shots, No Win for Kings

Lotsa Shots, No Win for Kings

It was supposed to  be a big NHL double-header night uin  SoCal  Thursday. The  Kings  would host Nashville while down the highway the Ducks were set for Detroit. Never happened, as you likely know—the  Ducks have Covid problems and had to postpone their contest until...

Flames Sneak One Out

Flames Sneak One Out

Calgary didn’t exactly romp through Los Angeles on Thursday night in the first of a SoCal back-to-back, but  Darryl Sutter was the coach who said “It’s a 3-2 league” a few years ago when he coached in Cali, and that was the score by which his second-time-new team, the...

More Drama

More Drama

The Anaheim Ducks love to make things exciting. Take for example Wednesday  night in Anaheim  with Vegas in town. They kept the pace even and the score 0-0 through one period. Then they exploded in the second, scoring four  goals while allowing one, to appear to be...

Doughty’s Back

Doughty’s Back

It would have been advisable for the Kings to beat that Ducks Tuesday night. After all, they had two games in hand, and they came into the game having gone 1-3-1 in their prior five games, but winning the  last of those, against Ottawa, 4-2. All of these contests, by...

Ducks Can’t Sustain

Ducks Can’t Sustain

The Anaheim Ducks started  well against the Toronto Maple Leafs at home  in a Sunday 5pm start. The  measure of their early success was that period one ended 0-0 with the shots in favor of the Ducks, 14-10. They were on their way to a 40-31 margin, including 20 shots...

Ouch! He Bit Me!

Ouch! He Bit Me!

It was all LA Kings to start the game versus Ottawa at 4pm Saturday. Los Angeles got the first goal and dominated in the shots. But by the end of one period, the game was tied. What did this signal for a team that came in badly needing a win to get back to positive...

Black Friday or Good Friday?

Black Friday or Good Friday?

I’ve spent  lot of Black Fridays in the Anaheim Ducks’  barn watching hockey. They were  all good Fridays, as far as I was concerned. This year, I’m still sitting out due to Covid  concerns, but with  me or without me, the  Ducks rocked the Senators, ending up winning...

Ducks Can’t Sustain

Still Thanksgiving?

Worse and worser. Things  were like that for the LA Kings versus Toronto in Los Angeles on Wednesday  night. To start, Andreas Athanasiou was on the Covid protocol list and thus not playing. He was replaced by Lias Andersson. Also out was Kale Clague. Sean Durzi took...

It’s So  Disappointing

It’s So Disappointing

The Kings would be off a bit had they read their game versus  Arizona as a must-win. More like a got-to-have. Sounds the  same, but at this point in the season, less is at stake, despite two points counting the same no matter what time of the year they’re gained. But...

Kings Hold Carolina Close

Kings Hold Carolina Close

The Kings faced a test on Saturday afternoon which the Ducks failed a couple of nights ago: needing to beat the Carolina Hurricanes. By measure of the score, the Kings failed the test, just as the Ducks had. But by the eye test, LA was way, way stronger than the Ducks...

Ducks Crash, Gently

Ducks Crash, Gently

Now this is a test. The Carolina Hurricanes  stormed out of the gate, winning nine games in a  row. Coming into Anaheim on Thursday, they were 12-2-0. The Ducks, after limping out of the gate, are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games. They had a league-leading eight-game win...

Shiny Helmets No Help

Shiny Helmets No Help

A month ago, Los Angeles losing to the Washington Capitals in a tight 2-goal game (the second of which  was an empty netter) would have provoked a mild reaction. “Oh, that’s too bad, but, you know, the Kings . . . .” As the voice trailed off, it would signal the...

1000 and 1000

1000 and 1000

Would he or wouldn’t he—get his thousandth point? Would they or wouldn’t they—get their thousandth win? Yes, he would, and yes, they would. And it didn’t take long to deal with the first of those “would he’s?”. With under five minutes gone, Getzlaf spotted a breaking...

Ducks Keep Streak Going

Ducks Keep Streak Going

The Trevor Zegras show continues. He buried two goals and added an assist as the Ducks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 in a 5pm start on Sunday in Anaheim. The first one was a one-timer that Zegras buried on the power play. The chance came nearly at the end of a...

Ducks Stay on Winning Path

Ducks Stay on Winning Path

Things went so well for the Anaheim Ducks to start the season. For one game. Then so poorly for two entire weeks. And now, the situation is bright again. The Ducks defeated the Blues at Honda Center on Sunday in the early evening, their 4-1 victory completing a...

1000 and 1000

All-Time Leader, All-Time Lead

Ryan  Getzlaf was bound to  become the single  highest point-getter in Anaheim Ducks history eventually, but  he made it quick as he gained seven points—all assists—to start the year. He has played  in all of the  team’s ten games.  The  crucial seventh of those was...

Not Today, Habs

Not Today, Habs

If ever a team needed a win, it was the LA Kings on Saturday  afternoon. The Montreal Canadiens, their opponent, could have said the same for themselves, but  they had just defeated the  San Jose Sharks Thursday night after a big 5-1 loss to Seattle to start their...

Ducks Gain Point, Kings Sputter

Ducks Gain Point, Kings Sputter

Jack Eichol. There, I said it. You wouldn’t expect a story about the Buffalo Sabres without that, would you? But there’s nothing new to report. Nothing except that the Sabres are actually  comporting themselves pretty well this year. They started out 4-1-1. They ...

Undone in the End

Undone in the End

The Anaheim Ducks were up  by six goals  from last year through  their first six games of the year. They looked to push this advantage playing their  third game of the year against the Winnipeg Jets in Anaheim on Tuesday night. It would be the first of two games at...

Pure Greed, Total Nonsense

Pure Greed, Total Nonsense

Maybe you tried to tune your TV to watch the Anaheim Ducks’ game tonight and got the same nasty surprise that I did. You started out hopeful. “This is so great, all this new hockey on TV. Let’s see. It’s on Bally Sports SoCal, right? "Nope. "Gee. ESPN?" Football....

Kings Trounce Vegas

Kings Trounce Vegas

Small sample size. Keep  in mind that this is a small sample size. That’s got to be what SoCal hockey fans are telling themselves in the light of the hot starts their two NHL teams have had. The Ducks defeated the Jets Wednesday night, 4-1. They got scoring from their...

So Hope Does Work

So Hope Does Work

Well, well, what do we have here? The whole world has the Anaheim Ducks losing more games than they’ll win this season. Nobody believed they would open their season well, with  Winnipeg in town on Wednesday night. But look hard—they won, convincingly. And they did...

Ducks Living on Hope

Ducks Living on Hope

What exactly have the  Anaheim Ducks done in their very lengthy off-season? Adding players has not been on that list. Firing their AHL coach and replacing him with a new one is one thing. Is this a strategy to scare the old-old San Diego Gulls’ coach, who now happens...

LA Kings Not So Quick as Before

LA Kings Not So Quick as Before

The rebuild is over. That’s about the sum of what the LA Kings would have you know about their plans for the upcoming NHL season. Probably the wording is a little off there. Think “retooling” and you’d be closer to what the Kings have done. What’s “retooling”? Well,...

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