A few Friday hockey notes

•If you correctly found much of the NCAA basketball tourney a bore -- all those fouls, free throws and timeouts are NOT exciting -- the college hockey finals are tomorrow pitting Michigan against the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The game is at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Pacific time) on ESPN. Set your DVRs.

•As I wrote recently, I think the fate of the Kings post-season rests with winger Dustin Brown, a guy known for his checking game who should be focusing more on his offensive game. I was in attendance Wednesday night when Brown uncorked this super sweet rush, ending with a beautiful pass to Jarrett Stoll, who tapped the puck in for the score. 



•A Non-Hockey Opinion: Dodger Stadium sucks. It's a nice ballpark in a lousy location -- on top of a hill surrounded by acres of parking lots -- and completely disconnected from the city it intends to serve. The team and city should have worked together to build a true downtown ballpark years ago that would have helped downtown L.A. become an actual destination and make it easier for people to reach the ballpark without having to sit in traffic and pay $15 for a space. I also think that having acres of parking lots makes it hard to patrol the place and increases the likelihood of something bad happening, such as the tragic beating of a Giants fan that left him in a coma.

Dustin Brown must read this blog!

Yeah, right. But playing a more disciplined game focused on scoring -- as I suggested in the previous post -- resulted in Brown scoring two goals in the Kings 2 to 0 win over Edmonton last night.

And he missed an empty netter by a couple of inches that would have given him a hat trick.

Of course, one dude on the LA Kings Insider blog took exception with my view that Brown should worry less about smearing people on the boards and more about scoring. His point:

I disagree with what you said. DB has drawn countless retaliation penalties on other teams due to his huge hits, those PP chances win games. Checking is what he does, it's in his blood. Would you tell Ovechkin not to check anymore? I don't think so. Brownie is who he is, a 25 goal- 25 assist-50 point checking machine. His checks also inspire his teammates and get them fired up for the game. He's never going to be a 40-40-80 guy, he just doesn't have the great skill like other players. With that being said I think he does a great job with the skill that he has and has been a great leader these past few years with an extremely young hockey team.

My counterview: maybe he could score more if he tried. I don't think he should stop checking, but I think he could expand his game. Why limit yourself to 25-25-50?

--S.H. 

It's Dustin Brown time

Does the Internet really need yet another blogger/expert/idiot weighing in on Anze Kopitar's injury and how it will impact the Kings' post-season chances?

Did the Internet really need the video of me carving my holiday prime rib? No! But it got it anyway.

So here's my decidedly non-expert take on the Kings: I think the next few weeks will offer a good chance for Kings captain and winger Dustin Brown to transform his game, and for the better.

As many of you know, Brown has earned a reputation for his big-time hits on opponents. Although hits are a meaningless statistic -- and have little to do with actually winning a hockey game -- Brown's checking game has come to define him because big hits are part of the hockey mythology.

The above screen shot from the Kings website neatly sums it up: Dustin Brown smears people. (And sometimes he hits them in the head. The fact that this is being celebrated on the Kings website also might tell you how much individual clubs care about protecting -- or not -- players from head trauma.)

The funny thing about it is that Dustin Brown is also an immensely talented skater, shooter and stickhandler. He hustles. He has heart. He is, by all accounts, a good guy. He didn't end up as team captain by accident.

How can anyone ever watch baseball again after that?

The final score of the Winter Olympics' gold medal hockey game on Sunday may be disappointing to those of us who badly wanted to witness Canada get whooped on their home ice.

Yet, it was such a thrilling game hat it's hard to be too bummed that the Frozen People of the North got the medal they needed to validate their when-will-my-balls-thaw existence.

At least you weren't stuck on the subway in Vancouver yesterday; check out the above video to see how that went.

My observations on the game:

1. There should not even be a discussion over whether the NHL should send its players to the Winter Games in Sochi in 2014. The past week earned more publicity for the sport than the NHL can ever generate on its own with less-than-brilliant marketing techniques such as ice girls and strobe lights.

2. As my friend Scott pointed out in an extremely caffeinated phone call before the third period, did you happen to notice that the game was really exciting despite there being no fighting? Fighting isn't permitted in the international game and I didn't hear one person say they missed it. As I've written before, fighting may be fun sometimes, but it likely turns off more people than it turns on and gives a beautiful sport (which is plenty violent without fighting) a bad image. As long as fighting is allowed and encouraged by the NHL, the NHL will be treated as a minor league sport on par with tractor pulls, pig races and funnel cake eating contests.

3. Which, of course, is a shame. Can anyone who watched today's game imagine sitting in front of a TV for 2 1/2 hours watching a baseball game? Or golf? I think the only sport that comes close on excitement level is pro football and let's face it, today's game was at least 37.3 more times exciting than the Super Bowl -- which featured about 10 minutes of game action and three hours of nut-scratching (albeit nut-scratching in high def!).

4. I'm not so sure that Team Canada is better than Team USA. After two games plus part of an OT period, the U.S. had scored seven goals to Canada's six. The Canadians seemed to have a little more offensive flash throughout the Olympic tournament, but I don't think anyone can argue they were a dominant team. Yes, they slayed Russia. But Russia's goaltender had a mental meltdown that in the old says would have earned him hard time on the Siberian outpost.

Three Kings to play for U.S. in Olympics

I'm just catching up on news from the past few days. So you may have heard by now that three members of the Kings made the American squad that will go to Vancouver next month: goalie Jonathan Quick, defenseman Jack Johnson and winger and Kings captain Dustin Brown.

It doesn't sound as if Quick will get much playing time, but Johnson and Brown certainly will. I'm a big fan of Johnson and think he may be the Kings' best overall player -- not only can he remove man from puck, but he also has the skating and stickhandling chops to take the puck up the ice. And his shot is a rifle.

Here's a USA Today analysis of the U.S. men's roster. Sounds like the writer is a Johnson fan, too.

While it's fun to see the Kings compete for a playoff spot this season, I'm more stoked for the Olympic tournament at this point. Unlike the regular NHL season, the Olympic hockey tournament is short and sweet and every second of every game will count.

The Canada-U.S. game is Feb. 21 at 4:40 p.m., by the way. That's just as the Sunday stick time session at the Pasadena rink is ending. If the game is shown live -- and if it's not, someone should throw the president of NBC to the wolves in San Quentin -- I look forward to plopping down at the bar in the adjacent Sheraton hotel, stinky and sweaty, and quaffing a few while watching the game.

Here's the link to the press release about the U.S. team from USA Hockey. 

One other sidenote: the Kings' Michael Handzus will be playing for Slovakia at the Winter games. If you're wondering why Anze Kopitar won't be going to Vancouver it's because he's from Slovenia and Slovenia doesn't have a team going to the games.

Doughty makes Canadian Olympic team

The big hockey news of the day was the naming of the Canadian men's hockey team that will be trying to bring home the gold medal for the home squad in Vancouver in February. And, to boot, it's a great day for local hockey -- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty made the cut, as did a trio from the Anaheim Ducks -- defenseman Scott Niedermayer and forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

Here's the full roster. The Sharks also placed four players: forwards Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton and defenseman Dan Boyle.

Sadly, the Kings' Ryan Smyth didn't make the team -- likely because he's coming off an injury that forced him to miss more than a month of play. 

Former Ducks player and current Flyer Chris Pronger got the nod and a goalie that both the Ducks and Kings know well -- the Canucks' Roberto Luongo -- will get to mind the net on his home ice in Vancouver. In other words, the West Coast will be well represented on Team Canada.

The U.S. team will be named during the Winter Classic on Friday in Boston. Three members of the Kings are said to be under consideration: foward and team captain Dustin Brown, defenseman Jack Johnson and goalie Jonathan Quick. Brown, by the way, his Doughty's teammate on the road.

Good coverage of the Doughty selection can be found at LAKingsInsider. 

My completely uninformed opinion about this: I thought Doughty played better last year than this season. There's no doubt he is very skilled, but he also seems badly out of position at times. About this, I know a little something: I'm often several country miles out of position.

In any event, all of this extremely excites Puck Boy. As cynical as we all sometimes can be about politics and such, there's still something to be said about playing for your country and the Olympic hockey tournament is the game's best chance to make a case for itself to millions of people around the world. And, if it ignites more interest in hockey locally, all the better.

--Steve Hymon

Hey Dustin Brown: that was sweet. Now do it again tomorrow night!

I got home from my weekly adult hockey clinic tonight to catch the end of the Kings game. In overtime against the division-leading Sharks, Kings winger Dustin Brown decided he was not going to be denied. Holding onto the puck, he pulled a sweet spin move and then nailed a shot between the legs of the Sharks' goalie.

I loved it. One of the things I'm slowly learning in hockey is there are times you simply have to decide 'the puck is mine and if you try to take it, I will put a hand grenade in your shorts.' Or something like that. You just simply refuse to surrender the puck or at least die trying.

Brown, by the way, had a tough game previous to his overtime score. He missed a key scoring chance in the third period and landed in the penalty box with about five minutes to go, nearly costing the Kings the game. But then he played OT like a man possessed and the Kings got the two points and are in fourth place in the western conference.

I hope it carries over to tomorrow night against Phoenix, which is sixth in the conference. I'll be there and ready to see a Kings win after another hard day of blogging for the government.

--Steve Hymon