A few random hockey notes

•I'm going to the Kings game tonight against Phoenix, which means the boys are unlikely to clinch a playoff spot because I'm there.

The last two games I've attended, the sound system was turned up louder than a Who concert and it was nearly impossible to talk to the person next to me. Hey L.A. Kings management: I'M PAYING YOU TO WATCH PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY NOT BE STUNNED INTO SUBMISSION!!

The more Kings games I go to, the more clear it is that their marketing department must be run by 15-year-old boys.

I'll save you the trouble of clinking on the link--here's the photo.

•Twitter is mostly stupid, but following Coyotes player Paul Bissonnette makes it somewhat worthwhile -- the rare pro athlete who doesn't talk in cliches. One recent tweet:

BizNasty2point0 Who is the blonde ice girl for the flames? Someone tell her i love her and she got more ice time then me tonight. #IfYouLikeItPutARingOnIt

AustinJohnson19 @BizNasty2point0 http://cdn.nhl.com/flames/images/upload/2009/10/bigcountry_ice_crew.jpg Which one is she? 

 

BizNasty2point0 Second row down and farthest right. Shes got curves. I like a little meat with my potatoes. someone get me her name, need to #Creep

 

•If your team is looking to design a jersey, here's a decent online customizer (although it runs a little slow on my laptop): http://www.athleticknit.com/customizer_popup.asp. Can't wait to see the fight my team has selecting colors and a logo -- which I assume is the fight every team has when it comes to uniforms.

 

--S.H.

 

Who do you want Kings to play in the playoffs?

Thanks to the NHL's liberal rules that allow a majority of the team's leagues into the playoffs, the Los Angeles Kings are almost certainly going to the post-season barring a catastrophic collapse in the next two weeks.

But how good are the Kings?

Throughout the season I've been trying to keep an eye on the transparent standings published occasionally by the New York Times. The transparent standings are a bit old-school, as they separate how a team performs in regulation from how it does in overtime.

The NHL standings, on the other hand, only show wins-losses-overtime losses. The standings do not show how many wins were the result of winning the skills competition at the end of overtime -- i.e. the shootout.

In the transparent standings, as of Friday morning, the Kings have a record of 30-25-18 in regulation, meaning they win 41% of their games in regulation. But they've excelled in overtime, going 12-6, including a 9-5 record in the shootout.

One team the Kings should be scared of is the Vancouver Canucks. They are 40-25-10 in regulation time for a win percentage of 53% in regulation. The Canucks are 6-4 in overtime as of Tuesday and 3-3 in the shootout. But who cares about the pedestrian OT stats? More often than not, the Canucks only need 60 minutes to put teams away.