Sleeksays

LA Kings vs. Washington Bolsheviks 7:30 PST, Fox Sports West Tonight is Russian Heritage Night at Staples Center, which is a great idea because it gets all of them in one spot so we can capture them. I stopped paying attention to politics in 1989, so I don't know too much, but I do know that commies are bad and I hate them. They tried to trick me with that whole Glasnost thing, but I know what's up: Russians, having failed to take over the world economically, are now trying to take over through hockey. They've infiltrated our nation's capital, led by their furry leader, Alex Ovechkin. His comrades Alex Semin (hehe) and Sergei Fedorov are probably "out" tonight, but I'm pretty sure it's all a ruse for some sort of un-American activity.* Standing in their way? The good, solid, American squad of Los Angeles Kings, led by Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Erik Ersberg. The Kings are the only thing standing in the way of a Russian invasion, and I...

Terry Murray has reunited the Patrick O'Sullivan-Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown line that was such a surprising success in the 2nd half of last season. If that sentence sounds familiar it's because I wrote it about 3 weeks ago the first time Murray did this; then they played one game together and Murray put O'Sullivan on the 4th line. Now O'Sullivan is seemingly back and I think it's time the line deserved a name. because I had this all set up before Murray dicked them (and me around) . Here's a few options I came up with, and then I'll take a few good suggestions in the comments and have a vote tomorrow. Hooray for democracy! Option A: LAPD, Central Division- This option evokes memories of the old LAPD line (Allison-Palffy-Deadmarsh) , but it has the added bonus of being a little bit more rough 'n tumble than the old line. The name works because their names work (Anze-Patrick-Dustin) and it's similar to the older incarnation because all three had a...

Los Angeles Kings (3-4-1) vs. Vancouver Canucks (4-5) 7:30 PST, Fox Sports West Patrick O'Sullivan will skate with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar tonight, reuniting the Sandman Line* that was so effective in the 2nd half of last season. It's all well and good for those three because they love playing with one another, but the question I have is: why? Kopitar, Brown, and O'Sullivan are all playing over 18 minutes a game and they're all averaging about a point a game on separate lines. Kopitar and Brown have been effective though somewhat smothered by opposing defenses, while O'Sullivan has been the driving force on the third line** alongside Jarret Stoll and Oscar Moller. It seems like this is a move designed to end Kopitar's perceived struggles, but at the expense of the Kings' newfound offensive depth. *I call them the Sandman Line because they put opponents to sleep. Actually, it's because they all look really tired. **Can we end the whole chara...

Los Angeles Kings (2-3) @ St. Louis Blues (4-2) 5:30 PST, FSN West, FSN Mountain West Whenever the Kings play the St. Louis Blues I always get uncomfortable. I liked Andy Murray when he was the coach of the Kings, crazy tests notwithstanding, but it gives me a weird vibe every time I see him. It's like when you see an old high school teacher that you thought was cool but now the whole relationship between the two of you has been changed and neither one knows how to act. So you just kind of fumble a hello and then awkwardly explain why the dreams you had in high school are long since dead and they just kind of look at you with that weird cross between wonderment and bewilderment. I don't like it and I just wish it would be over. No, Mr. Murray, I'm actually writing a hockey blog... hey, why are you crying? The Blues are off to a nice little start, led by Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk, Andy MacDonald, and Brad Boyes... wait, what the hell? They're going to tail off, ...

(Scroll down past this post if you want to see one of Earl's crazy charts. Yeah, I wouldn't either.) I was lying in bed trying to think of how I'd integrate Patrick O'Sullivan back into the lineup and I came up with this: The first game, I'd bench him. I'd take him to my office and explain that there are 22 other guys in the locker room that worked hard the past 2 weeks to get a chance to play in the NHL and I was going to reward him for that. Plus, he's still a little out of game shape and I don't want him getting hurt. The second game, I'd suit him up. I'd let his name get announced in front of the Staples Center crowd and let him experience a big ovation to let him know that the fans welcome him back and everything's okay. I'd only play him maybe 4 or 5 minutes, though, and scratch Ivanans. Let Calder skate on the 4th line and use Patty sparingly. I'd sit him the 3rd game against Anaheim so he can work on his conditioning and...

Rich Hammond is reporting that Patrick O'Sullivan has signed a three-year deal. No word on numbers yet. "I shot him with a small revolver I keep near my balls." I'm starting to wonder if Oscar Moller is being treated like Robert Downey, Jr.'s character in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang . In the movie, Downey is brought to LA and shown off at a lot of parties by a movie producer to bring down the number on Colin Farrell. The same thing may be happening here. I think the Kings are hoping Ted Purcell and Patrick O'Sullivan see Oscar Moller taking their spots and start working a little harder to improve their game. Then, after 10 games, Moller can go down to Junior feeling better about himself and Purcell and O'Sullivan can join the team properly motivated. Is it a crazy theory? Yeah. Hey, you don't pay for this stuff, pipe down. Awesome Update: The numbers average out to $2.95 million dollars a season over 3 years but will pay him $4 million this year to ...