Play pickup at Staples Center!

My apologies for posting this so late, but here's a neat -- and smart -- promotion from the Kings. The gist of it is the team is allowing for a pickup game at Staples after tonight's Ducks-Kings game.

Even if it's too late this time around, I hope the Kings can find a way to do this. Obviously the team shares Staples with the Lakers, Clippers and other events, but anything they can do to foster attendance among the local hockey community is ultimately good for the sport.

--Steve Hymon

When you spend all your time freezing your ass off, these are the kind of websites you create

Ever curious who may be your long lost hockey twin? The Canadian Television website has constructed a little game that will guide you to both your male and female twin.

One catch: Your twin has to be a member of Canada's Olympic hockey squad, which of course is kind of limiting and disgusting. Nothing against Canadians, mind you. But how would you like it if someone said you can date any girl you want in California -- as long as she's from Fresno?

Nothing against Fresno, of course.

My male twin was Jarome Inginla, the winger and captain of the Calgary Flames. Given that Mr. Inginla currently is eighth in the NHL in goals, I'll take it since I have hard enough time scoring on an empty net.

My female twin is Haley Irwin, a winger who shoots lefty (that's her, at right). Interesting! The Domestic Partner is also a lefty, so I must have some kind of cosmic connection with left-handed chicks. According to her bio, Haley's favorite movie is "Anchorman" and her favorite television program is "The Simpsons." Certainly can't argue with that: Welcome to the fam, Haley!

--Steve Hymon

So much for hockey. Let's just fight!

As I've made clear before on the blog, I'm not crazy about hockey's ridiculous tolerance of fighting. I think it's hurt the sport's image more than it's helped.

That said, you have to watch this -- it's the perfect Monday morning antidote to actually working (if you want to work this morning, that's fine -- but do so at your own risk). The fight is from a game over the weekend in Russia's pro league, the KHL, that had to be canceled after less than four minutes of action due to a series of fights that resulted in so many players being thrown out of the game that there weren't enough players left to actually engage in a hockey game.

Here's a description of what happened at RussianHockeyFans.com. The English-language version of the KHL website also has a description of what happened.

--Steve Hymon

You have to like Chad OchoCinco after this

This isn't hockey related, but I'm a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan -- yes, I know it's like having a disease although it's also good practice for being a Kings fan. So the Bengals finally qualified for the playoffs this year, despite losing three of their last four, including a 37 to 0 drubbing by the Jets on Sunday Night Football last week.

Bengals stud WR OchoCinco slipped and hurt his knee before the game. So he goes and gets an MRI but then declares to the press earlier this week that he tested the knee during an apparently acrobatic romp in the hay with someone and that he's healthy and ready to go.

All the details in the New York Post.

--Steve Hymon

Hockey or rugby?

IMG_4739
Originally uploaded by Capitals: View From the Uppers

Here's a nice shot I found over at Flickr of a recent Capitals-Canadiens game. I assume there's a goalie in there somewhere.

Other Winter Classic ideas

Following up on my previous post about where to put future Winter Classic games, Puck Daddy has an article with 30 suggestions -- including a game on the National Mall, in Yellowstone National Park -- I love that idea -- and putting the game somewhere in Alaska.

Winter Classic should come to the Sierra or the Rockies

With the most recent Winter Classic, held in Fenway Park in Boston, being widely judged a success, a lot of attention is now turning where to hold future outdoor NHL games. A fun article on the Fox website proposes, among other ideas, a game between the Ducks and Kings at the L.A. Coliseum.

And I came across a Tweet proposing a game on the frozen ice of the national mall in Washington D.C. Can't you just imagine an errant slapshot clanging off the head of the Abe Lincoln statue?

Well, here's my brilliant idea: Instead of putting the game in another massive stadium in the Eastern U.S., move it to a truly scenic setting. And there are few more spectacular places than the Sierra Nevada or the Rocky Mountains.

The NHL could, for example, build a temporary rink with bleachers in the giant parking lot at Squaw Valley, scene of the 1960 Winter games -- where, by the way, the U.S. team beat the Soviet Union in the first version of the Miracle on Ice. Blyth Arena, where that game was held, was torn down in the early 1980s after the roof collapsed due to heavy snowfall (above is the view of the 1960 Olympic facilities, as seen from Squaw's slopes).

A game at Squaw could pit the perpertual contender San Jose Sharks versus pretty much anyone and be a treat to watch.

Canadians won't stop until they've gouged your eyes out

Just for fun, I thought I'd poke around the internet to see if there are any rooms available in Vancouver or Whistler for the Olympic games. After all, there are tickets available to some events.

Well, the good news is that there are rooms available. The bad news: Well, how would you feel about paying $830 a night to stay in a Best Western in Vancouver? The prices are even more obscene in Whistler, where rooms at respectable establishments are going for $1,100 a night or so.

The best bet to see the Games live, I think, is to visit a geneaologist and pray you can find a Canuckian in the family tree who is willing to clear away some beer bottles and let you bed down for the night.

Geesh.

--Steve Hymon

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.

Kings beat Caps 2 to 1!

Screw you, Ovechkin! That said, even from the nosebleeds it's obvious that guy is an ox disguised as a hockey player.

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