SoCal HockeyCast

1. When Alexander Frolov scores, the Kings win.
2. When Oleg Tverdovsky plays, the Kings win.

1. The Ducks played a hard fought seven-game series against the Flames.
2. The Avalanche have been able to rest after beating the Dallas Stars in five games.
3. The Ducks easily beat the Flames 3-0 in the final match, which often results in a let-down the next game.
4. The Avalanche have more offensive depth than the Flames.
5. Jose Theodore, the Avalanche goalie and former Vezina Trophy winner, has been looking better and better.
6. The Ducks have had consistency issues all season long.
7. The Avalanche are former Stanley Cup winners and are led by future hall-of-famers Joe Sakic and Rob Blake.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL... but so have the Calgary Flames.  This round of the battle went to the Flames, 3-0.  Calgary's win can be summed up in two words, "Miikka Kiprusoff."  In a few more weeks, his play may be summed up as "Vezina Trophy."  Kiprusoff blanked the Ducks even though the Flames were outshot 32-25.  He made several spectacular saves, including a fast a furious flurry during the second period when the Ducks had 13 shots on goal.

Chris Simon netted the game winner in the second period and the Flames also got goals from Daymond Langkow and Kristian Huselius (his 20th this season... not bad for the Florida Panthers' cast-off).

The loss meant that the Ducks were unable to gain any ground on the Nashville Predators for fourth place in the Western Conference.  With three games remaining, they need to win at least two of those games and hope that Nashville loses all three.

In other news, the Los Angeles Kings' very slim playoff hopes stayed alive as the Edmonton Oilers were blanked by the Detroit Red Wings 2-0.  The Kings' only hope will be if they win all three remaining games and both Edmonton and Vancouver lose all their remaining matches.  The Kings would also have to make up a little ground in terms of goals scored so that they would get the nod if the teams all have equal points.  In other words... the hopes are slim.

We're back from Spring Break!  With the majority of my workshops, conferences, and vacation behind me, it's time to make this blog regular for the playoffs and rev up the Podcast!

The Ducks jumped out to a 4-0 lead against the Canucks before Vancouver answered with two goals to end it 4-2.  This was the Ducks' fifth win in the last six games and 14th in the last 18.  They continue to dominate opponents on the scoreboard.  The win clinches a spot in the playoffs for the Mighty Ducks!

The interesting thing about this game was the fact that the Canucks outshot the Ducks 41 to 18 and won almost 2/3 of the faceoffs.  By those stats alone, Vancouver should have walked all over the Ducks.  However, time and time again, Anaheim exploited Vancouver's #1 weakness... their goalie.  Alex Auld allowed three goals on seven shots in the first period and then one more on only three shots in the second.  He finally "shut the door" on the Ducks in the third, stopping all eight shots he faced.  In all honesty, he had no chance on two of the goals, but could have been sharper in net on the other two.  Meanwhile, Giguere continued his dominant form and stopped 39-of-41 shots for the game.

The Ducks continued to get a good balance of scoring.  Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer had a goal and an assist, and Andy McDonald had two assists to go with his game-winning goal.  Rob Niedermayer added the other goal for the Ducks.

Anaheim takes on Calgary tonight.  Now the Ducks can focus on wrapping up fourth place in the Western Conference by surpassing Nashville in their final games.  The Predators were dealt a serious blow to their playoff hopes when it was announced that #1 goalie Tomas Vokoun will miss the playoffs due to blood clots.

Alex Burrows scored a hat trick to lead the Canucks in a romp over the Kings.

Who?

Exactly.

He just doubled his goal output for the 2005-2006 season.

The Kings hope to rebound against Calgary on Wednesday night.

Quick quiz here:  Which NHL team has five straight wins, is 9-2-1 since the Olympic Break, and recently beat Dallas and Nashville in this streak.  Think that team is Detroit or Ottawa?  Well, both of them have done really well since the break (the Red Wings are also 9-2-1 and the Senators are 11-1-1), but the team we're talking about is the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.  Their 6-3 win against the Predators almost looked too easy as they dominated the second period and received some timely saves by Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

They spotted Nashville a goal in the first period, then roared to life at the end of the first period and through the second, scoring five straight goals.  The Ducks got scoring from many places, and several of players had multi-point nights, including:  Teemu Selanne who registered two goals and two assists, Corey Perry and Chris Kunitz who each had a goal and an assist, Andy McDonald who had two goals and an assist, and Ryan Getzlaf who had four assists.  As with many of their recent games, the kids energized the team, Teemu was dependable at both ends of the ice, and Giguere made the big saves at the right times.  He made 36 saves on 39 shots and was especially strong in the first and third periods where the Predators out-shot the Ducks 32-17.

The win puts Anaheim in fifth place in the Western Conference.  They're not in the clear yet, but they're definitely peaking at the right moment.  They look to continue their streak on the road tonight against Phoenix (winners of three straight and four of the last five games).

Meanwhile, the Kings hope to impress new coach John Torchetti in their game tonight against the Predators.  They will get back Alexander Frolov and definitely have a lot to prove because they want to erase the memory of losing 11 straight games at the end of the 2003-2004.

Through rain, sleet, snow, Educational Technology conferences, and back troubles, we finally got out our Post-Trade Deadline Podcast! In this enhanced Podcast, we answer a voicemail, talk about the moves by the Ducks and Kings, and give our take on the moves by some of the other teams in the NHL.

How did the elite teams do this trade deadline? Who were the big winners on March 9th? Find out here!

Don't forget to call us with questions or comments at 206-337-1885.

The Kings were able to break out of their brief three-game losing streak by beating the Blues 3-1 in Los Angeles. After losing to San Jose, Phoenix, and Dallas, the Kings looked like they were about to embark on another extended losing streak.

Things didn't look much better after they went down 1-0 against the Blues off a power play goal by Mike Glumac in the 2nd period. They were outshot 17-12 in that period. However, the Kings were able to muster a comeback by scoring three straight goals in the third period. They came out firing in the third and outshot the Blues 18-3 for the final 20 minutes.

Mike Cammelleri scored the game-winner on the power play, his 14th power play goal and 4th game winner. Sean Avery had a goal and an assist, Brent Sopel got his first point in a Kings' uniform, and Eric Belanger added an insurance goal. Sopel was especially impressive, getting an assist on Avery's goal, posting a +2 rating, and playing a team high 23 minutes and 27 seconds. He was a steadying influence on the blueline and jumped up into the play several times in the third period, ending up with four shots on goal for the night.

The Kings were again playing without Pavol Demitra (concussion) and Alexander Frolov (separated shoulder). However, they did get a boost with Craig Conroy back in the line-up.

They continue their homestand against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night. The Avalanche are winners of three of their last four games. Los Angeles is currently tied for sixth in the Western Conference, one point behind Colorado.

Hey folks,

A very busy conference schedule with poor internet connections kept me from doing my daily blog... unfortunately, I have three more big conferences this month for my Educational Technology work. This means that, most likely, I won't have a regular blog for most of March. It's funny, we actually wrote up three blog entries that we couldn't post because of the poor connections... then you wait a few days and it just seems so fruitless because they're late!

On other news, a back injury has hampered my production of this week's Podcast. Afterall, you can't really edit if you can't sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time. SO, I'll be getting the Podcast up as soon as I'm able. It's a good one, though! It's our Trade Deadline Wrap-Up Show.

Thanks for your patience and continued support!

NHL hockey's back and so are we! In this episode, Genevieve and Zoe do our usual Kings and Ducks Reports. We also give you some of the big news in ice hockey this week including information on Mario Lemieux's operation, Erik Cole's Injury, and Pat LaFontaine's honoring (hope that's a real word). We also have a special feature on the the playoff bound teams (and some teams that are close), and what they might be shopping for with the trade deadline quickly approaching. We're summoning our inner Nostradamus to make a few predictions based on teams' needs.

Remember, this is an enhanced Podcast with images, URL links, and bookmarks. It's viewable in iTunes (free for any Windows or Mac) or any player that supports the AAC file format (also known as .m4a and mp4). Devices like the iPod and PSP also support the AAC format. We use this because it's dynamic!

You can leave comments here on our Libsyn site, or you can call us at 206-337-1885. Thanks for tuning in and have a great week of hockey!

Speaking of deja vu... The Kings must have felt a little of it after getting tied by an opponent 2-2, sticking to their game plan, and coming up big with the the game-winner in the third period. It was a similar situation to their last game but a different opponent. This time it was the Columbus Blue Jackets who were victimized by the Kings' newfound effort and determination.

The Kings opened up the scoring with two goals by Sean Avery (one of them shorthanded), but Columbus tied it up on two goals by Nikolai Zherdev in the third period. Mike Cammalleri, one of the scorers in the win over the Wild netted the game-winner with 5:55 left to play. Although not as spectacular as his sliding-on-his-knees goal against the Wild, this powerplay goal made him the hero against the Blue Jackets.

For the second straight game, the Kings had a distinct advantage on face-offs. In this game, they dominated the face-off circle, winning 44 out of 62 face-offs. Also, for the second straight game, the Kings were able to kill off all their penalties. Although they weren't as disciplined as they were against the Wild (only two penalties), the six penalties taken were spread out and never put the Kings in too bad of a position. For the most part, whenever the Blue Jackets did get a scoring chance, Mathieu Garon was there to thwart them. He ended up with 24 saves on 26 shots.

The win (their fourth straight) puts them six points behind the Pacific Division-leading Dallas Stars and six above the Mighty Ducks (ninth in the Western Conference). As the race for the playoffs heats up, the Kings have picked a perfect time to begin pulling out of their downward spiral. The Kings begin a pivotal four-game road trip on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.

It's a known recipe for success: Lose a tough game where you didn't play your best, take on a tired team that played the day before, and prove that you're not as bad as you were the other game. It worked for the Ducks last night as they beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2. It must have felt like deja vu for the Wild who came back to tie the game after being down 1-0 and 2-1. However, newly reinstated defenseman, Sandis Ozolnish reminded everyone how valuable he is by scoring the winner in the third period. Teemu Selanne added an empty-net goal to round out the scoring. The Wild almost went through the exact same situation last night against the Kings.

It was a nice win for the Ducks who were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in their last game. The Ducks also had a shorthanded goal by Sammy Pahlsson and a power play tally by Corey Perry. Ducks' goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere had a very good game, making 36 saves on 38 shots. He made some great saves in the first period when Minnesota out-shot the Ducks 15-9. The Wild ended up out-shooting the Ducks 38-32 for the game.

The win brought the Ducks back within four points of the Kings who are seventh in the Western Conference. They take on the Columbus Blue Jackets Sunday afternoon... another team that will have played the Kings the day before.

The visiting Minnesota Wild came into Los Angeles looking for blood. At the beginning of the night, they were a mere five points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and they were taking on the Kings, a team playing without two of their top scorers (Demitra and Frolov). Instead, it was the Kings who got the best of the Wild, winning 3-2 in a tight match. It was a tough battle against one of the best defensive (and boring) teams in the Western Conference.

Mike Cammalleri got the scoring started on the power play by putting in a beautiful shot while sliding on his knees. Although he was hooked on the play, Cammalleri was able to have the presence of mind to keep control of the puck and put it over a surprised Manny Fernandez. The Minnesota goalie ended the night with 35 saves on 38 shots. Mathieu Garon was equally spectacular, making 29-of-31 saves. It was due to Garon's stellar play that the Kings stayed in the game during the third period, despite being out-shot by the Wild 13-7.

Luc Robitaille also scored a goal in the second period off of a great no-look pass by Craig Conroy (two assists on the night). Unfortunately, the Kings' 1-0 and 2-1 leads didn't last. Marian Gaborik scored a pair of goals to tie the game with less than five minutes to play in the third period. However, as with their two games prior to the Olympic Break, the Kings found a way to win. This time it was Lubomir Visnovky, the leading point-scorer among NHL defenseman, who netted the game winner. With less than three minutes to play, Eric Belanger won a key faceoff, and Tom Kostopoulos got the puck over to Visnovsky who blasted in a slap shot from the right point.

Also of note was the highly disciplined play of the Kings. They took no penalties in the first and third period, and only had four minutes total for the game. They also came up big in the second period by killing off a brief two-man advantage. This was the first game that the Kings didn't allow a power play goal in the last twelve contests. If the Kings hope to continue their momentum, and extend their three-game winning streak, they need to prove that playing with discipline isn't a fluke. The Dallas Stars, losers of three straight, are only eight points ahead of the Kings. Los Angeles continues this homestand against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

The Ducks, hoping to take advantage of a tired team that played the night before, were surprised by the focus and intensity of the Red Wings and lost 2-0. Detroit's five Swedish gold medalists, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronval, and Mikael Samuelsson completed a 30-hour flight to help lead the club to a victory over Anaheim. In fact, Holmstrom and Zetterberg scored the two lone goals 46 seconds apart during the first period. That was all Chris Osgood needed as he stopped all 24 shots he faced.

The Ducks lacked focus and effort in the first period and didn't challenge for the majority of the game. Jean-Sebastien Giguere had a solid effort, making 31 saves on 33 shots, but it wasn't enough because the players in front of him were unable to generate any real scoring opportunities.

The good news for Ducks' fans was the surprise return of Scott Niedermayer who had arthroscopic knee surgery a little over two weeks ago (16 days). He recovered quickly and said that he felt fine. Sandis Ozolnish also returned to action after sitting out 20 games in a substance abuse program.

In the end, the return of those two gifted defensemen wasn't enough to boost the Ducks. They were the ones who looked like they had played the night before or flown for 30 hours prior to the game. Holmstrom commented that this was a "three Red Bull night." Perhaps the Ducks should try that as their next pre-game meal.

The Kings return to action tonight against Minnesota. After snapping a seven-game losing streak with two straight wins before the Olympic Break, the Kings hope to continue their momentum. If they do, it will be without without two of their top players, Pavol Demitra and Alexander Frolov. Demitra took a puck to the face during the Olympic Games and suffered a broken nose and bleeding behind an eye. Frolov had a partially separated shoulder and will likely miss two weeks of action.

Ahhhh... life after the Olympics. For many, the Olympic Games were the eye of the storm... a slight bit of calm before the frantic finale to the regular season in the NHL. The Mighty Ducks return to action tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. The Ducks will be facing a Detroit team full of Olympic medalists who missed their 5-1 loss to San Jose last night. Detroit will be looking to prove that the previous night's loss was a fluke due to their five missing players.

The Ducks hope to continue the momentum they had prior to the break. They're led by the amazing Teemu Selanne who had a terrific tournament in Torino while helping Finland win the silver medal. He was playing great before the break and he was one of the most dominant players in the Olympic Games. Ducks and Finnish fans should all be proud of Teemu!

The Ducks should also be getting back Sandis Ozolnish who has been re-instated after missing the season so far while in substance abuse rehab. His steady defensive play and accurate puck movement will be welcome in the absence of a hugely important part of blueline... they may be without team captain Scott Niedermayer who had surgery during the Olympic break on his injured knee.

At 27-19-11, Anaheim is in third place in the Pacific Division and ninth place in the Western Conference (just three points behind Edmonton for the final spot in the playoffs). If they want to make a movie, now is the right time because they only have 25 games remaining.

This episode features a summary of the women's and men's Olympic hockey tournaments. We give our thoughts on what worked and didn't for the different teams in this year's Winter Games. In addition to sounding off on some of the big disappointments of the tournament, we also honor the winners and overachievers... like the Canadian, Swedish, and U.S. Women, and the Swedish, Finnish, and Czech Men... and those are just the winners! We also admired the play of the Swiss and Slovakian Men's teams.

Although the Canadian and U.S. men's teams were very disappointing in the Torino Games, we give our thoughts on why the NHL should continue their involvement in the Winter Olympics.

Finally, we also honor a few of the notable speedskaters who won medals in the Olympics. Yes, it's not ice hockey, but it's on ice, so it's good enough for us. Besides, Apolo Anton Ohno, Joey Cheek, and Cindy Klassen are just so darn likeable that we need to mention them!

Next week marks the return of our regular NHL-focused Podcast, and we will feature our predictions and advice for the remaining quarter of the season.

Please call us with questions or comments at 206-337-1885. Have a great week of hockey!

The Olympics are over. It was a great tournment for some... not so good for others. For us, we got a small break because we found it too hard with the odd times of the live games to continue the daily blog or Podcast. Due to the time difference and compressed, frenetic schedule, we would have been reporting on games that were two days old at times... so, as entertaining as some of the hockey was in the Olympics, it's good to have the NHL back in business again.

Look out for our Post-Olympic Wrap-up Podcast in the next few days that will summarize the medals for all things hockey and skating in the Torino Games. We will also take a moment to feature some thoughts on the injuries that happened during the Winter Games and wonder aloud about NHL involvement in the Olympics after 2010. Will there be NHL players present after Vancouver... hard to tell, but we'll talk a little about it.

We're also preparing for our Guide to the Stretch Drive Podcast coming out in two weeks. Zoe, Genevieve, and I will be talking about the teams that we think are playoff bound or on the cusp, trade rumors, and the next steps for the teams vying for the first pick in the NHL Entry Draft.

So stay tuned... our blog will be coming out almost everyday again and the Podcast is returning to its weekly schedule! In the meantime, you can still contact us with questions or comments through our email at technologyted@mac.com or via phone at 206-337-1885.

This enhanced Podcast features a look at the U.S. and Canadian Women's Olympic teams. We also bring in the Good, the Sad, and the Ugly as we close out the NHL action prior to the Olympic break. Hear why the New York Rangers are our pick for the Good Team of the week. We also report on the honoring of Jim Fox and Luc Robitaille in Genevieve's Kings Report. Zoe also talks over some Ducks' information in her Mighty Ducks' Report. We also pay tribute to the Chad Hedrick and Joey Cheek, two U.S. speedskating champions!

Don't forget, our phone number has changed to 206-337-1885!

For the second straight game, the Kings held a pre-game ceremony to honor a player; and for the second straight game, the Kings pulled out a gutsy, exciting win. This time it was Luc Robitaille who was honored and the Pacific Division-leading Dallas Stars who were defeated. Robitaille, who recently surpassed the legendary Marcel Dionne for the most career goals in a Kings' uniform, was honored in an emotional ceremony prior to the game. Then he went out and recorded a goal and an assist to help Los Angeles defeat Dallas 6-5.

Energized by the pre-game ceremony, the Kings played a solid first period and jumped out to a 2-1 lead off of goals by Pavol Demitra and Jeremy Roenick. However, as good as they looked in the first period, they seemed hesitant in the second. With several good bounces going their way, and a killer instinct to bury the chances they got, Dallas scored four straight goals to take a commanding 5-2 lead going into the third period.

Knowing that this would be their final period prior to the break for the Olympic Games, the Kings rallied for four straight goals of their own as they out-shot the Stars 16-6 in the final period and shut them down on both their powerplays. Los Angeles scored three goals to tie the game within the first three minutes of the period (they actually scored the three in 2:12). Then, with less than 7 minutes left in the game, Derek Armstrong scored a powerplay goal to win the game. The Kings were 2-for-10 with the man-advantage, and they only allowed one powerplay goal on five tries by the Stars.

During the Kings' slide, they weren't getting consistent scoring from their big line or key players. As with the Chicago game, the Kings' stars delivered. Demitra had a powerplay goal to go along with four assists, Lubomir Visnovsky recorded a goal and two assists, and Alexander Frolov added an assist. Now the Kings can go into the Olympic break with their heads held high after winning two straight games. They remain four points ahead of the Ducks and are only two behind Vancouver for fifth in the Western Conference.

Special Note: Our Podcast will be out a day later so that we can report on all the final NHL action prior to the Olympic break. Thanks for your patience. Don't forget, our phone number has changed. We can be reached at 206-337-1885.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim go into the Olympic break mighty pleased with themselves. They have been on a tear of late, going 9-3-4 since January 9th. Their 4-1 win over the Blackhawks was another example of their recent disciplined, patient style. They've been utilizing their speed and work ethic to wear down opponents.

Going into the third period, the Ducks and Hawks had played even at 1-1. The Ducks had outshot the Hawks 12-7 in the opening twenty, but Adam Munro, Chicago's third string goalie was sharp in the first. Anaheim lost some focus in the second period, getting out-played and outshot 11-7. However, the Ducks were able to jump on the tired Blackhawks right away in the third. Dustin Penner scored the game-winner a mere 17 seconds into the third period and Corey Perry scored about three minutes later. Joffrey Lupul scored two goals to round out the scoring. Jean-Sebastien Giguere looked solid in goal, rebounding from his less-than-convincing 3-1 loss to Calgary on Wednesday night.

Andy McDonald had an assist on Lupul's first goal, extending his scoring streak to 11 games. Prior to the game, the Anaheim organization honored Teemu Selanne for his recent entrance into the 1,000-point Club.

Los Angeles hockey fans all breathed a collective sigh of relief as the Kings snapped a seven-game losing streak in an ugly overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4. Joe Corvo scored an overtime powerplay goal 40 seconds into the extra period to pull out the win for Los Angeles. It was an up-and-down game that saw the Kings lose leads of 1-0, 3-1, and 4-2 before winning it. In the end, though, it won't be a question of how they won, just how many.

The Kings had a few defensive breakdowns, but for the most part, they out-played the Blackhawks and looked good. However, the main weak point was between the pipes. Jason LaBarbera only made 14 saves on 18 shots, looked bad on all four goals, and was pulled with ten minutes to go. Mathieu Garon saved the only three shots he faced to get the win for the Kings.

The Kings scored more than four goals for the first time since January 19th. They got a goal and an assist from Corvo, Pavol Demitra, Tom Kostopoulos, and Craig Conroy. Los Angeles also got a goal from Eric Belanger (his third in as many games) and two assists from Lubomir Visnovsky. Chicago battled back with goals from Brent Seabrook, Rene Bourque, Tyler Arnason, and Martin Lapointe.

Other than the win, the best news for the Kings was the offensive involvement of Demitra, Conroy, and Visnovsky. If the Kings are to hold onto a playoff spot in the tight Western Conference, they'll need offense from their stars and more dependable goaltending. They get one more chance to test out their abilities before the Olympic break today against the Pacific Division-leading Dallas Stars.

The Kings held a ten-minute pre-game ceremony to honor their TV color commentator, Jim Fox, for his 25 years with the organization. Among the gifts given was a framed #25 jersey for his years with the LA Kings. The jersey was presented by Belanger and Luc Robitaille. Before today's game, the team will honor Luc Robitaille as the all-time leading goal scorer in Kings' history.

Meanwhile, the Mighty Ducks face-off against the Chicago Blackhawks in Anaheim.

Just in case you didn't hear, our phone number has changed! You can now reach us at 206-337-1885!

After a shaky outing against the Calgary Flames, the Mighty Ducks rebounded with a solid win against the Vancouver Canucks, 3-1. Anaheim dominated the play in the first and second periods and jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first off of goals by Joe DiPenta, Andy McDonald, and Joffrey Lupul. The Canucks were only able to answer with a single goal in the first period by Markus Naslund.

The goal and assist by McDonald give him points in ten straight games. Meanwhile, Ilya Bryzgalov, making another start after Giguere's poor performance against the Flames, made 27 saves on 28 shots. He stood especially tall in the third period as the Canucks outshot the Ducks 14-7 in the final frame.

More importantly for the Ducks, the win puts them a mere two points behind the Kings in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Their next game will be agains the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. The Blackhawks, tied for third worst in the league, face the Kings on Saturday, so the Ducks, with their superior skating, hope to take advantage of a tired a team.

Our phone number has changed!

If you want to call and leave a voice message, our new number is 206-337-1885.

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The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were burned for three powerplay goals against the Calgary Flames and lost 3-1. All-World goalie Miikka Kiprusoff did the rest, making 31 saves on 32 shots. As spectacular as Giguere was in the shutout over San Jose, he looked rather ordinary on this night. The loss meant that the Ducks were unable to gain any ground on the Los Angeles Kings who lost against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The lone goal for the Ducks came from Andy McDonald, his 18th of the season. Meanwhile the Flames answered with goals by Matthew Lombardi, Daymond Langkow, and Chris Simon. Calgary only managed 24 shots on goal, but many of them were quality chances that were the result of less than stellar work by the Ducks' defensive coverage.

The Flames on the other hand allowed more shots, but they seemed to always be there to clear the rebounds away or lower the quality on the Ducks' attempts. This definitely was a game where the amount of shots didn't tell the whole story.

In this stretch prior to the Turin Olympics, the Ducks will face Vancouver and Chicago. The Kings will also face two opponents (Chicago and Dallas). Anaheim hopes to gain more ground and could possibly tie the Kings for eighth in the Western Conference by Sunday.

For a little over twenty glorious minutes, the Kings looked like they were going to play well and match up against the Columbus Blue Jackets. They took no penalties in the first period and were leading 3-1... wait a minute... this feels like deja vu. If the loss against the Wild was like the wheels falling off the cart, then this loss against the Blue Jackets was like the cart itself falling apart. Up 3-1, the Kings stopped playing, were out-shot 26-18 in the final two periods, and allowed five straight goals to lose 7-4. Seven goals! Seven losses in a row!

By the time the Kings woke up and began fighting for loose pucks, there were less than five minutes to play in the third period. Easy tap-ins were the story for the Blue Jackets as Garon was left out to dry too often. Columbus got goals from Letowski (2), Balastik, Vyborny, Federov, and Chimera (2). The Kings answered with goals by Belanger, Brown, Gleason (his first ever), and Armstrong. The line of Belanger, Brown, and Kostopoulos was the lone bright spot for Los Angeles. They seemed to be the only ones skating hard for the Kings and winning individual battles. Blue Jackets' goalie Marc Denis hardly out-played Mathieu Garon, but the sheer amount and quality of shots that Garon faced was a big reason he allowed more. However, Denis did come up with a few spectacular saves to rob Kings' players in the second and third periods, whereas Garon didn't seem to pull off as many miracles.

The Kings' losing streak is now at seven straight and they are in eighth place in the Western Conference, four points ahead of the Mighty Ducks. Los Angeles will try to rebound on Saturday against one of the worst teams in the league, Chicago.

For a little over twenty glorious minutes, the well-rested Kings looked like they were going to have a solid game and match up against the Minnesota Wild. They only took two penalties in the first period as they out-shot the Wild 7-6. Then the second period began, and the wheels fell off of the cart.

Once again, penalties and the Kings' penalty-killing proficiency (or lack thereof) were at the root of the troubles for Los Angeles. They allowed five powerplay goals enroute to a ludicrous 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Wild. As the Kings' frustration level increased, they took more foolish penalties, leading to more powerplay goals and more frustration. The defensive coverage for the Kings was non-existent as they allowed five straight easy tap-ins by Minnesota players. Time and time again, Mathieu Garon was left alone to deal with trying to make miraculous saves on any number of Wild players a few feet away.

Eric Belanger, scored the lone goal for the Kings, and the team was only able to generate twenty shots on goal. Minnesota got a goal by Brian Rolston and two apiece from Gaborik and Dupuis. Manny Fernandez stood tall in net and saved nineteen shots. The Kings hope to end this six-game slide tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets, one of the leagues hotter teams the last few weeks.

Our Features Section is skipped this week in lieu of an expanded Good Section with the Players of the Month. We've got big trades, notable news, and an expanded Ugly Section to talk about some long losing streaks the past two weeks. Scott Stevens had his number retired by the New Jersey Devils, and we give a tribute to the defensive warrior.

Zoe and Genevieve do their Kings and Ducks Reports, and we also take a moment to talk about our recent press. Yes, folks, we were mentioned in the Sharkspages (a site about the San Jose Sharks, hockey, and San Jose sports) a few weeks ago, but this past week, we were the Podcast of the Week at LAist. If you've never heard of LAist, they're a great site that talks about all the happenings in and around Los Angeles. They were very complimentary of our Podcast and our analysts. They even made a point of mentioning Genevieve and her very honest assessment of how the Kings have been doing. It was a huge honor to be their very first Featured Podcast. You can find LAist by clicking here. You can also find the Sharkspages by clicking here.

Don't forget, if you have any questions or comments, email technologyted@mac.com or call 206-600-6216.

Have a great week of hockey!

Tomorrow night, the Ducks take on the Edmonton Oilers for a re-match of their embarrassing 3-6 loss on January 25th. This was the game that Jean-Sebastien Giguere lost his cool and decided to show Ryan Smyth his fighting spirit enroute to gathering 16 minutes of penalties. Unfortunately, his imitation of "Battling" Billy Smith didn't include stopping the puck particularly well, as he allowed five goals on only 25 shots.

Anaheim hopes that Giguere will show the same mettle he did in Saturday night's game against the Sharks, where their #1 netminder blanked San Jose for his second shutout of the season. Edmonton has been on a strong streak. They have four wins in their last five games. However, their goaltending has been suspect, and the Ducks quick transition game may generate more scoring chances.

The Kings continue their much needed rest. After playing the most games in the NHL, the Kings have been able to relax and take a few days off. The last game they played was Thursday against the Coyotes. Their next game will be in Minnesota on Tuesday night. Los Angeles is mired in a five game losing streak, but the last two games have seen more consistent play and a return to the fundamentals that saw the Kings lead the Pacific Division for much of the first half of the season.

Coaches bench players when they want them to work harder and think about how they've been playing. This is one of the few strategies that coaches have for getting results from the players they have. It looks like the Ducks' Randy Carlyle did the right thing by benching number one goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere for four games. Starting in his first game since a 3-6 loss to Edmonton on January 25th where he amassed 16 penalty minutes, Giguere responded by shutting out the San Jose Sharks 2-0.

The only scoring Anaheim needed was a second period goal by the normally ham-fisted Todd Fedoruk. Giguere made all 35 saves and Teemu Selanne added an empty-netter (his 26th of the season) to round out the scoring. Nabokov and the Sharks continued their splotchy play, mounting some serious, sustained attack, but not able to cash in on their chances. Although they out-shot the Ducks 35 to 23, Nabokov was unable to out-play Giguere, and the Sharks lost their second in a row.

Giguere really was the story of the game. He showed the brilliance, fire, and athleticism that made him the 2003 NHL Playoff MVP. The Ducks have a re-match with Edmonton on Monday, and they will need Giguere to play as well as he did tonight to beat the Oilers. It will also help if he doesn't lose his cool and chase down any of the Oiler players like he did the last time these two teams met up.

The story of the night was the goalie battle, and how Cujo (goalie Curtish Joseph) was spectacular and stole a win for the Coyotes. Newly acquired forward Steven Reinprecht's lone goal of the shootout won it for Phoenix. The 2-1 loss gave the Kings five straight losses, a season high, but the night's news wasn't all bad.

How are five straight losses a good thing? Well, it's not, but there was a silver lining to this current black cloud the Kings have been in. This was the second straight overtime loss for Los Angeles, and they played their second straight solid game. Getting one point is always preferable to no points. Almost all their injured players are back, and even Mattias Norstrom, who had his jaw wired shut after getting hit by a puck, was able to play. They only allowed one powerplay goal on seven tries by the Coyotes, and they outshot Phoenix 38 to 35. Garon was Joseph's equal until the shootout, matching him almost save for save for the night.

So there were some encouraging signs that the Kings will break out of this funk and retain their playoff spot. They currently hang onto sixth in the Western Conference by a fingernail over Colorado (one point ahead) and Edmonton (two points ahead). Anaheim is a mere seven points back and are in ninth place.

Coming off of three straight wins, the Ducks played fairly well against the struggling Sharks. However, Jonathon Cheechoo, who previously had a hat trick against the Ducks on December 20th, had another to help the Sharks win 6-4. Anaheim outshot San Jose 39 to 34, and were buzzing the net toward the end of the game. Dustin Penner scored with 23 seconds left to pull the Ducks within one of the Sharks, but Evgeni Nabokov made some key saves to preserve their victory.

The Ducks, who led 1-0 and 2-1 before the Sharks came to life, also had goals from Selanne, McDonald, and Kunitz. This was Bryzgalov's first loss in four games. The Sharks also had goals from Mark Smith, Tom Preissing, and Nils Ekman.

Tonight, the Kings, with an almost healthy line-up, take on the Phoenix Coyotes. Los Angeles hopes to stop their current slide which has seen them lose four straight games.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, looking to win their fourth straight game, face off against San Jose tonight at The Pond. Winners of the last three games, the Ducks are finding strength from some unlikely players. Rookie goalie Ilya Bryzgalov will likely start his fourth straight game. His strong play in net has been one of the big reasons for Anaheim's recent surge. They have also gotten scoring from many of their youngsters like Chris Kunitz and Joffrely Lupul.

Veterans Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer also hope to continue their hot streaks. Their experience has really helped the club mature quickly. Selanne, who became the 70th player in league history to score 1,000 points, looks to continue his "fountain of youth" season. Niedermayer, playing with cartilage damage in his knee, has been dominant the last few games.

The inconsistent Sharks have struggled lately, losing their last three games to Anaheim, Phoenix, and Dallas. They have had a difficult time playing solidly for more than two games at a time.

This enhanced podcast features a shout out to some notable players who achieved some notable milestones. We bid adieu to Super Mario who retired for the second (and final time) in his career. His irregular heartbeat was the final obstacle that did something that no defender was able to do consistently... stop Lemieux.

We also take a look at our picks for the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly this week. Hockey analysts Zoe and Genevieve also talk frankly about the Ducks and Kings this week, and TechnologyTed blasts the lack of respect in the NHL these days. We have returned to the studio and are LOVING it! The new portable USB microphones are good, but they don't compare to a good home studio set-up.

Don't forget... you can contact us with questions or comments at technologyted@mac.com or 206-600-6216.

The Kings came into Anaheim looking to play better than their last game where the Ducks embarrassed them 6-2. They achieved a little redemption by tying the Ducks with 2:03 left to play on a powerplay goal by Joe Corvo, but Los Angeles lost the game in overtime when Scott Niedermayer scored with a quick shot that beat Mathieu Garon. He ended the night with one goal and two assists.

The Ducks, inspired by Teemu Selanne's 1,000th career point, outplayed the Kings but not as badly as Saturday night. Although they outshot the Kings 45 to 32, Mathieu Garon was spectacular and kept the Kings in the game all night long. Anaheim got two goals from Selanne and one each from Niedermayer and Getzlaf. The Kings got goals from Brown, Armstrong, and Corvo. Selanne is the 70th player to reach 1,000 career points in the NHL, and he is the 7th European player to do achieve this milestone.

This was the first overtime win for the Ducks outside of a shootout. It was also the third win in a row for the team. Meanwhile, the Kings have now lost four straight games. The bright spot for Los Angeles is the fact that they were competitive for the majority of this game, and the players they recently got back from injury (Demitra, Frolov, and Belanger) all played stronger.

Our apologies for missing a few days of our "daily" blog. Life on the road is difficult when you're trying to find Internet connections outside of meeting areas... and typing your hockey blog during meetings isn't always acceptable. So, as always, thanks for your continued patience and support!

In our hockey news, the Kings scored the first and last goals of the game, but the Ducks scored the middle six to beat Los Angeles 6-2 at the Staples Center. Mike Cammalleri scored both goals for the Kings on the powerplay, and their 2-for-9 conversion rate was actually decent. However, the Kings blew it on a full two-minute 5-on-3 advantage that was in the middle of a 5-minute major powerplay.

The Ducks, to their credit, won the game with intensity, great skating, and cashing in on more of their opportunities. They went 4-for-10 with the man-advantage and got goals from Lupul, Perry (2), Getzlaf, Kunitz, and Niedermayer. Ducks' back-up goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov easily out-dueled both Garon and LaBarbera, making 30 of 32 saves compared to the Kings' tandem's 27 saves on 33 shots.

This was the second straight impressive win for the Ducks who beat the Sharks 2-0 on Thursday night. This was the third straight loss for the Kings who are now a full seven points behind the division-leading Stars. The Kings have received no boost whatsoever from the recent return of Pavol Demitra, Eric Belanger, Aaron Miller, and Lubomir Visnovsky.

When the Kings and Ducks meet, you can always count on having a spirited, competitive game. Riddled with injuries for the past two months, the Kings were able to come from behind to beat Anaheim 3-2 in the shootout. Mathieu Garon matched J.S. Giguere save for save throughout the game (33 saves to Giguere's 32) and out-dueled him in the shootout. The loss dropped the Ducks to 2-9 after regulation.

Defenseman Francois Beauchemin scored both goals for the Ducks and the Kings answered with goals by Frolov and Robitaille. The special teams played a big part of this game. One of Beauchemin's goals came on the powerplay and Frolov's was shorthanded. Robitaille continued sipping from the fountain of youth and scored the game-tying goal with 8:22 left in regulation.

After a scoreless overtime where the Kings failed to score on the powerplay (0-for-10 on the night), the stage was set for the shootout. Frolov and Robitaille both scored but were matched by McDonald and Selanne. In the fifth round of sudden death, Garon stopped Getzlaf and Corvo scored for the Kings.

The Kings, who have already played the most games in the NHL, continue their torrid pace and take on the San Jose Sharks tonight.

This week's enhanced Podcast is back to our regular format. We have the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, comments on the Nedved trade, Palffy's retirement, Luc Robitaille thoughts, and a big raspberry to Bryan Berard. Come and listen to our Ducks and Kings report! As always, we also talk about the hot teams and players. We also bring you an installment of our Pool Tips. This is a slightly shorter Podcast because we are recording on the road and needed to keep things brief. Just a bit of extra news, we are quickly approaching 3,000 total downloads for all our episodes. Thanks for making us so successful... and to think, we began this Podcast just to have fun together as a family and talk about Hockey!

As always, please feel free to contact us with questions or comments to technologyted@mac.com or call us at 206-600-6216.

Coming off of a big shootout win against the Senators, the Ducks continued to play strong and beat the Florida Panthers 1-0. The heroes of the night were Chris Kunitz and J.S. Giguere. Rookie Kunitz, playing impressively the last few games, scored the lone goal for the night. The other big story on the night was the Goalies' Duel with both goalies making 30 saves. The difference was that Giguere was perfect and Luongo allowed one.

The win gave the Ducks their second straight win and five out of six points for the past week. Playing solid team defense, Anaheim was able to hold Olli Jokinen in check. Giguere turned aside all six of his shots.

The Ducks continue to hold onto third in the Pacific Division and are five points out of the last playoff spot. They face their rivals the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.

The Kings continued to have difficulty playing consistently without their injured players. In their 4-3 overtime loss to the Sharks, the Kings led 2-0 and 3-2 before giving up the game-tying goal with 29 seconds left to play in the third period and the winning goal with nine seconds left in OT. These late meltdowns were the result of inexperienced players making mistakes.

San Jose easily neutralized Craig Conroy who again played without Pavol Demitra and Alexander Frolov. The scoring was left to Parros, Cowan, and Corvo. The Kings played hard throughout most of the game, but got into penalty trouble, allowing three Sharks' powerplay goals. Garon did all he could, but allowed four goals on 33 shots.

Even with the overtime loss, the point put the Kings one point behind the Pacific Division leading Dallas Stars. The Kings hope to regroup against their highway rivals, the Mighty Ducks, on Monday night.

It was a wild night at the Staples Center. To report that the Kings won 8-6 over the Thrashers would only scratch the surface of how strange the game was. The Kings led 2-0 and 3-2 before falling behind 3-5, rallying to go up 6-5, getting tied up at 6-6, and finally taking the lead for good at 7-6. Hard-working forward Jeff Giuliano had two goals for the night... tripling his season output. The Kings got an injured player back (Lubomir Visnovsky) and nobody else left the game injured. Jason LaBarbera got a rare start and won his first game since November 5th. "Defensive" defenseman Mattias Norstrom netted a shorthanded goal (the second of his career) and four assists for five points. The Atlanta Thrashers, with the fourth best powerplay in the league, were blanked with the man-advantage. Luc Robitaille, criticized throughout his career for his lack of speed, had a breakaway. In fact, Robitaille's hat trick to surpass Marcel Dionne for the most goals in a Kings' uniform was actually relatively normal... monumental but normal.

Giuliano got the game-winner in a true battle of teams playing the new style of the NHL. LaBarbera was average, making 33 saves on 39 shots and had moments of looking lost scattered with a greater number of times where he looked very good. The Thrasher super-trio of Hossa, Kovalchuk, and Savard were "held" to three goals and one assist and were a collective -5. In fact, the checkers assigned to neutralize the Kovalchuk line actually outscored them.

However, the night belonged to Robitaille. He now leads all Kings' goal scorers with 552. Marcel Dionne (L.A.'s first hockey superstar) had 550 as a King. Robitaille, the league's highest scoring leftwinger in history, now has 663 goals, 723 assists, and 1386 points in 1401 career games. In three stints with Los Angeles, Robitaille has played 14 seasons with the Kings and calls it home... making this accomplishment even sweeter. He got the record, and, more importantly to Luc, it was meaningful because it helped the Kings win a big game.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim outplayed the mighty Ottawa Senators on the road! Teemu Selanne returned to the team and scored his team-leading 20th goal, and the Ducks won just their second game in extra time. To say that the win was unexpected would be an understatement. With under two and a half minutes to play, the Senators scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game at three, and it looked like the writing was on the wall for a comeback by Ottawa that would result in a mighty disappointing loss for Anaheim... afterall, the Senators are one of the best teams in the league, right? And they know how to close out a game.

The Ducks limited the Senators to only one shot on goal in the overtime period and forced a shootout. J.S. Giguere, shakey in the shootouts this year, had to match skills with legendary goalie Dominik Hasek. Giguere faced Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson, and Patrick Eaves, and blanked all three of them. Meanwhile, Chris Kunitz, one of many pleasant surprises for the Ducks this year, scored the lone goal and won the game for Anaheim. Giguere made 33 saves on 36 shots for the night.

Although they lost their previous game in overtime to Boston, the Ducks come out of this two-game roadtrip with three out of a possible four points and have to be proud of that. In their next game, they face Florida back at home on Saturday.

The good news for the Kings is that the Dallas Stars were beaten by the Atlanta Thrashers 5-2. The bad news is that the Thrashers, who are riding an extremely hot streak (five straight wins and 13-2-3 in their last 18) will visit the injury-depleted Kings tonight. Los Angeles may get Garon and Visnovsky back, but they will still be without leading scorer Pavol Demitra, and they continue to resemble the Manchester Monarchs more than the Kings lineup that began the season. Kara Yorio of the Sporting News wrote a nice article on the Kings injury woes and how well they've fared... all things considered. You can find her article here.

The Anaheim Mighty Ducks take on the powerful Ottawa Senators on the road. Like the Kings, they've been playing without their leading scorer as well, Teemu Selanne, who has a groin strain. They hope to break out of a recent slump that has seen them lose four of the last five games (three in overtime). They'll need to play perfectly against the division leading Senators (2nd overall in the Eastern Conference and league).

Meanwhile, in other NHL news, Penguins' star Ziggy Palffy, who had 42 points in 42 games this season, has hung up his skates after 12 years in the league. The 33-year-old right winger cited a shoulder injury as one of the reasons for his retirement. Best wishes to Palffy! We really enjoyed his skills and play in his five years in Los Angeles. Here is the Pens' press release.

Here it is, hockey fans... The Mid-Season Report! This enhanced Podcast is a little longer than usual because it has in-depth mid-season reports on the Kings and the Ducks as well as our Award Predictions. Based on the accomplishments thus far, our analysts make the predictions for the Rocket Richard, Hart, Vezina, Norris, Jack Adams, President's, and Lady Byng Trophies. We also give out a couple of "special" awards to predict some of the worst things we've seen this season. Come and listen to Zoe, Genevieve, and Technology Ted as they take a close look at how the season has gone so far.

This Podcast was created with the new Podcast Studio in GarageBand 3. Let us know what you think! Email technologyted@mac.com or call 206-600-6216. Have a great week of hockey!

The Kings desperately try to stay afloat as they lose another game. This one was to the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. The 4-1 loss was disappointing, but the even worse news on the night was the loss of #1 goalie Mathieu Garon who was hit on the collar bone by a puck. Already playing the game without Pavol Demitra, Eric Belanger, Aaron Miller, Alexander Frolov, Lubomir Visnovsky, Jeremy Roenick, Ryan Flinn, and Valeri Bure, the Kings had good effort, but were sorely overmatched by the talented Lightning.

One of the few bright spots was play of Dustin Brown. Like the last game, he played hard and got on the scoresheet for Los Angeles. Up next for the Kings are the Atlanta Thrashers this Thursday night.

The visiting Ducks were able to overcome 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to tie the Bruins in regulation only to lose the game 4-3 in overtime. It seems like a mantra, this Achilles' Heel of the Ducks. They have won only one one game in the extra period, compared to nine losses.

Ilya Bryzgalov was ordinary in goal, only stopping 24 of 28 shots, and the Ducks didn't show up to play in the first period (getting outshot 12-5). They outshot the Bruins 23-10 in the final two periods, but it wasn't enough to overcome the strong play of Bruins' goalie Tim Thomas who preserved the tie to go into overtime.

The Ducks got goals from Scott Niedermayer, Chris Kunitz, and Ryan Getzlaf, but it was all for naught when Patrice Bergeron scored at 1:55 of overtime.

The Kings return home to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. Los Angeles is coming off of a horrendous road trip that saw them lose three of four with the final game a 10-1 blowout to the Buffalo Sabres

Apologies for the lateness of our podcast. We have had human and technical difficulties. We're trying out the new (and totally wonderful) Podcast Studio in GarageBand 3, and we're also trying to learn how to use the M-Audio iControl and the Shuttle Xpress. Things are going well, but slower than normal because of the slight learning curve. It should be up in a day or so. Also, this Podcast is a big one! It's our First Annual Mid-Season Report!

Two nights after the Kings soundly defeated Boston 6-0 with a superlative effort, Los Angeles was thoroughly embarrassed by the Buffalo Sabres 10-1. That's right. 10-1. Kings' TV Play-By-Play Man Bob Miller said, "Burn your tape of this game," and that about summed it up. On a night that saw not one but two hat tricks, the Kings looked like a minor league team... a very bad minor league team. Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville both recorded hat tricks and Ryan Miller saved 32 of 33 shots.

The Kings rarely did more than stand around and watch the fast-skating, clean-passing Sabres. Denis Grebeshkov, one of the worst Kings in the game, was -5 for the night and gave up the puck for a few of Buffalo's goals. With this defeat, they went 1-3 on their four-game road trip, and they displayed how much they truly miss the recently injured Pavol Demitra. Lubomir Visnovsky also missed the game due to flu-like symptoms. Even Mathieu Garon, normally steady in net, looked out of place for two of the four goals he allowed (on only ten shots). Adam Hauser, playing in his first NHL game, was filling in for Jason LaBarbera who is on a minor-league conditioning assignment. Hauser also faced several quality chances due to the Kings' "matador defense." He ended up allowing six more goals on 24 shots.

Possibly the only bright spot for the Kings was recently returned forward Dustin Brown who played over 16 minutes, had an assist, and was the only L.A. player with a + rating on the night.

Every team has a lopsided defeat now and then. Afterall, one game does not a season make... so the sky is not falling, but the Kings do have to question the utter lack of effort they displayed in this embarrassment. The good teams rebound from it and display good effort the next game. The Kings, as injured as they are, need to show their mettle by coming back and demonstrating why they deserve their reputation as a "hard-working" team.

For the eighth time in nine tries, the Ducks fell in overtime. This time, on the strength of a hat trick by Alexander the Great, the Ducks lost 3-2 to the lowly Washington Capitals. Anaheim got goals from Lupul and Moen, but lost it in overtime when Ovechkin scored his 30th goal of the season. The Ducks outshot the Caps 34 to 26, but Brent Johnson outplayed J.S. Giguere and earned his third win of the season. The Ducks travel to Boston to face the struggling Bruins on Monday night.

The Kings end their four-game road trip tonight by taking on the strong Buffalo Sabres. The Kings, 6-0 winners in their last game, are 1-2 on this road trip. Alexander Frolov broke out of a 21-game slump with a hat trick against the Bruins. Their injury woes continue, though, as Lubomir Visnovsky left the Boston game early with flu-like symptoms. He returned to L.A. to be examined for possible post-concussion symptoms. This would be a huge blow for the Kings who have had to endure recent losses to key contributors Pavol Demitra and Eric Belanger. The Sabres have played well most of this season, but have struggled with three losses in the last four games of their six-game homestand. They are led by their two quality goalies Ryan Miller and Martin Biron.

The NHL returns to NBC today with three different regional games being televised. Depending on the region, viewers may get to see Colorado vs. Philadelphia, Dallas vs. Boston, or Detroit vs. New York Rangers. These are the first of six Saturday telecasts that NBC will air this season. They will also air 14 nights of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Los Angeles and Boston were both coming off embarrassing 6-2 losses, but the Kings were the ones who came out looking like they wanted to prove something. The 6-0 shutout victory over the Bruins was one of the Kings best performances for this season. Alexander Frolov had his best game in the last 22, scoring a hat trick in the third period. His goals included a waist-level deflection of a Dempsey point shot, a penalty shot, and a breakaway.

From the beginning, they skated hard, battled for loose pucks, and helped each other out. The stagnant defense that stood around watching the Ducks were particularly active, always pouncing on any rebound that Garon might have left out... not that there were many. Garon looked superb, turning aside all 30 shots that he faced and looking sharp in the first and second when the Bruins showed little bits of pressure.

The offense was provided by Joe Corvo, Mike Cammalleri, Dustin Brown, and Frolov. Brown scored in his first game back from injury - good news for the Kings. Unfortunately, the game also saw both Visnovsky (flu) and Avery (hit by shot) leave before the final buzzer. Hopefully both will be well for the Kings' next game against the tough Buffalo Sabres.

Our next Podcast will be the mid-year report with our reflections and award predictions.

The Kings, looking to rebound from two straight losses, will face the Boston Bruins tonight in Beantown. The Kings have been able to survive the majority of their injuries, but the most recent to leading scorer Pavol Demitra exposed their lack of game-breaking scorers. Although he isn't a replacement for Demitra, the return of Dustin Brown will give the Kings someone who's willing to skate hard, hit anything that moves, crash the net, and possibly contribute a goal.

In other big news, Mike Milbury has agreed to resign as GM once he and owner Charles Wang find a replacement. Milbury made some daring moves that paid off, but he has assembled a team this year that lacks leadership and effort.

In a not-too-surprising turn of events, Steve Stirling was fired by the struggling Islanders. New York posted an 18-22-2 record in their first 42 games, good for fourth in the division and twelfth in the conference. Although not the most talented of teams, the Islanders have a balanced team with several stars, solid scorers, mobile defenseman, and able goalies. Some of their brighter stars, like Jason Blake, have had injury problems.

However, their inconsistent, often un-inspiring play cost Stirling his job. The next coach can only hope that he will be that leader who can finally motivate and bring consistentcy to players like Yashin, Satan, Kvasha, and DiPietro. With this move, Mike Milbury, the Isles' very un-popular GM, is trying to look like he's actually doing something about his poor team. If the owner is smart, he'll fire Milbury as well.

In happier New York news, the Rangers will retire Mark Messier's number. In what will be an emotional ceremony, Messier's number will be raised to the rafters at Madison Square Garden while friends, family, and fans watch on. Messier, an integral part of the Oilers' Dynasty, came to Broadway in 1991 and helped the Rangers win their first Stanley Cup in 54 years in 1994.

Messier was a competitor, team player, clutch scorer, power forward, and the ultimate hockey leader. He had announced his retirement prior to the start of this season. Thanks for the memories, "Moose."

The battle-weary, injury-riddled, Los Angeles Kings lost their second game in a row as the Mighty Ducks pounced on LA and beat them 6-2 in Anaheim. The Kings out-shot the Ducks on paper, but that seemed to be the only "advantage" the Kings had all night. The Ducks fought for loose pucks, skated well, and buried their chances. Mathieu Garon let in some questionable goals, but was rarely supported when Anaheim went on the attack. The Monarch Call-ups were unable to keep pace with the high-flying Ducks.

Mighty Ducks' scoring was led by Jonathan Hedstrom's hat trick, but they also got contribution from Getzlaf, McDonald, and Kunitz. L.A.'s goals were scored by Conroy and Visnovsky... two of the few non-injured Kings who continue to produce. The Duck's team defense and forechecking kept the front of the net clear, and Giguere made 41 saves, mostly from the perimenter. The Kings lead this season's rivalry 2-1 (with one win on the shootout). The Ducks face Washington on Friday while the Kings continue their roadtrip in Boston.

Our latest Podcast features an expanded "Good" Section with coverage of the Players of the Month and Week. We also salute the Canadian Junior Team and the Philadelphia Flyers, the first team to 60 points.

Listen for some big news with a trade as well as our take on the BAD Chicago Blackhawks and Ugly World Junior Americans.

We also have a return of our rotational feature on Pool Tips. Please don't forget to email or call with questions or comments to technologyted@mac.com or 206-600-6216.

The Mighty Ducks look to give the Los Angeles Kings a chilly reception tonight in Anaheim. The Kings have many question marks for tonight's game. The only certainty is that tonight's game will be played with the intensity only befitting a cross-freeway rivalry. Among the questions for tonight are...

How will the Ducks react to the recent trade of Petr Sykora? Will the Kings lose more players to injury? Can J.S. Giguere gain some consistency? Will the Kings get any of their injured players back (they had ten regulars missing from their last game against the Sharks)? Will the Ducks learn to play some solid team defense for 60 minutes? Can the Manchester Monarch's additions to the Kings line-up continue to keep the parent club in the game?

All this and more will be answered tonight in Anaheim. Our next podcast will be up later tonight.

It was the "other" Thornton (cousin Scott, not superstar Joe) that took advantage of the Kings' defensive lapses by scoring two goals - including the game-winner - enroute to the Sharks 3-2 victory over the Kings. The injury-plagued Los Angeles Kings played with decent intensity and speed for the first ten minutes of the game, jumping out to a 2-0 lead, until the San Jose regulars began playing better and took advantage of mistakes by the patchwork L.A. team. All three San Jose goals were the result of Kings' players not picking up their assignment quickly.

The game also featured a true rarity: Mathieu Garon was beaten cleanly by a good hard shot that took him by surprise. The un-screened shot by Thornton was the game-winner and capped off a three-goal comeback by the Sharks. With ten players injured for Los Angeles (leading scorer Pavol Demitra being the latest), the Kings have had to rely on key contributions from players who began the season in the minor leagues. The Kings will continue their current four-game road trip in Anaheim on Monday night.

For the second consecutive night, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were out-worked and out-played, losing 4-1 to the stingy Minnesota Wild. The Ducks lone goal was scored by Todd Fedoruk. Minnesota's Manny Fernandez made 22 saves enroute to his sixth straight victory. The Ducks, who blew a three-goal lead in Dallas the night before, ended this road trip 2-2-1.

The sieve-like Ducks defense allowed the offensively-anemic Wild four goals on 36 shots and never looked like they were in the game. The inconsistent Ducks have struggled to stay above .500 as they try to find a way to go on a winning streak to get into the playoffs. With this loss, Anaheim drops to 10th in the conference but face dropping further if they continue their poor play. Phoenix is one point behind them and San Jose is only two points back.

To turn things around, they will need to take advantage of the injury-plagued Los Angeles Kings on Monday night in Anaheim.

A few nights after an inspiring come-from-behind victory against Nashville, the Mighty Ducks went ahead three goals agains the Stars but allowed Dallas to comeback and win 4-3 in overtime. The shootout loss was the seventh in eight times for the Ducks this season.

Tonight they get another chance to make amends as Anaheim takes on the Wild in Minnesota. The last place Wild are led by goalie of the week Manny Fernandez and their leading scorer Brian Rolston. The Wild continues to play solid defensive hockey and have allowed the third least in the NHL.

Meanwhile, the Kings will faceoff against the Sharks in San Jose. Los Angeles has been flying high despite numerous injuries to many regulars. Led by Mathieu Garon, the Kings have not had a regulation loss since December 23rd in Edmonton. San Jose has won two straight games and has responded well to the new line change that put Nils Ekman on the top unit with Jonathon Cheechoo and Joe Thornton.

Mathieu Garon and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0 at the Staples Center. Except for a few rare instances, the Kings dominated from start to finish with Garon making several spectacular saves to maintain the shutout. Garon challenged the Phoenix shooters and stymied them time and time again.

The Kings got two goals from Luc Robitaille who is now only two goals away from surpassing Marcel Dionne for most goals as a King. Los Angeles also got goals from Corvo and Conroy. They continued to get contribution on the powerplay (they were 1-for-7) and their penalty killing was perfect.

Robitaille, who had previously been benched for three straight games, was involved in many key plays and seemed to be finding the openings he has been accustomed to over his career. The Kings also got a boost from the return of Sean Avery who was skating hard, making hits, and seeing the ice well.

With this win, the Kings have won three straight and lead the Dallas Stars by four points again. They are only one point behind the Detroit Red Wings for best in the Western Conference.

For the second year in a row, the Canadian Men's National Junior Team won a Gold Medal at the annual World Junior Championship. The Canadians defeated the Russians in the Gold Medal Game 5-0. Just like the rest of their games this tournament, Canada did it with great goaltending from Justin Pogge, solid team defense (they never surrendered more than three goals in a game during the whole tournament), and dedication to the team system developed by coach Brent Sutter.

Unlike U.S.A. and Russia who both had many returning players to this tournament, Canada had a team filled with newbies for a national tournament of this size. Even in their "rebuilding" year, Canada showed the world that they have plenty of talent and, more importantly, a great deal more heart and coaching talent.

The U.S. team left extremely disappointed, as they turned in another less-than-adequate effort and lost the Bronze Medal Game to Finland 4-2. The favored U.S. team again failed to get any medal in a tournament they have the talent to win.

The reasons for Canada's success are the exact same causes of the U.S. downfall. For the whole tournament, they did not play like a team, did not get stellar goaltending at all times, and did not get a coaching system that the players followed. Walt Kyle is a good coach, but it was apparent that the Canadian squad had much more "buy-in" to Coach Sutter's system. Much like the U.S. Men's Olympic Squad of 2002, the star-studded line-up played like skating prima donnas instead of working together... for fans of the U.S. Junior Team, we can only hope that "next year" they can show better effort.

The Los Angeles Kings and Mathieu Garon, December Defensive Player of the Month, look to continue their winning ways against the Phoenix Coyotes tonight at the Staples Center. The Kings are 8-1-1 in their last ten games with their most recent loss (in overtime) coming against the Coyotes. Their recent spurt has put them two points ahead of the Dallas Stars for first in the Pacific Division.

The Coyotes are 2-1 since the return of head coach Wayne Gretzky and have been playing inspired hockey. Meanwhile, the Kings have been playing very well and are led by Garon, a steady team defense, and an awakening powerplay (10-for-35 in the last five games). They will need all three of these positives to continue winning. Los Angeles has nine players who are listed as day-to-day or on injured reserve. Forwards Sean Avery and Dustin Brown are the latest two to miss games with "upper body" injuries.

Phil Kessel, Cory Schneider, Bobby Ryan, Chris Bourque, and the rest of the U.S. Junior Team lost to Russia 5-1. Their hopes of winning a Gold Medal at the World Junior Championships are over. The best they can do now is a Bronze Medal when they face the Finnish team (4-0 losers to Canada in the other semi-final match-up).

For the second straight year, a strong U.S. team, favored to win, will leave the tournament disappointed. Meanwhile, Canada, supposedly in a rebuilding year, have had a great tournament, boosted by the home crowd. They hope to win their second straight World Junior Championship in a match against the equally impressive Russian Team.

In other hockey news, Mathieu Garon of the Los Angeles Kings was named the Defensive Player of the Month for December. We knew that Garon and the Kings were doing well. Now the rest of the league has acknowledged it. Jaromir Jagr was named the Offensive Player of the Month. More on that in our next Podcast!

We're Back! Despite hard drive failures, we're back to report on ice hockey around the NHL! Join us for our Kings and Ducks Report as well as three of the hottest teams in the league. Our special feature this week is a report on the World Junior Championships.

Thanks for all your loyal support and encouragement during our recent absence from the airwaves.

The Kings gave a warm welcome to the visiting Dallas Stars by spotting them a two-goal lead. The welcome mat was pulled out from under Dallas as the Kings scored three powerplay goals enroute to a huge come-from-behind victory over their rival for first place in the Pacific Division.

Mathieu Garon and Lubomir Visnovsky had stellar nights. Garon stopped 31 of 33 shots, shutout the Stars for the last half of the game, and assisted on the game-winning goal by Mattias Norstrom. Visnovsky scored two goals and had an assist on the game-winner as well. His first goal was scored with less than one second left in the second period while the Kings had a two-man advantage. His second goal, the game-tying goal, came with 27 seconds left in the game with Garon pulled for the extra attacker. The Kings now lead the Pacific Division by four points.

In other big news, the U.S. National Junior Team defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in quarterfinal action at the World Junior Championships. Phil Kessel and Chris Bourque scored for the U.S. team while Cory Schneider made 30 saves on 31 shots. The U.S. Team faces Russia next in the semifinal round. Canada will face-off against Finland (1-0 winners against Sweden).

Happy New Year!!!!

Mathieu Garon turned aside 38 of 40 shots to lead the Kings to another road win over Dallas 3-2. Los Angeles celebrated New Year's Eve by dominating the first two periods with goals by Frolov, Armstrong, and Kostopoulos (the game-winner).

Down 3-0, the Stars came back in the third period, out-shooting the Kings 17-1 in the period. Garon made several stellar saves and was able to shut down the Stars after Mike Modano's second powerplay goal at 6:52 of the third period. Although the Kings allowed several shots and were out-played by the Stars in the third period, many of Dallas' chances were from the perimeter. The Kings held onto the win with great goaltending and more disciplined play, only taking one more penalty in the period.

With this win, the Kings have beaten the Stars three times on the road and currently hold first in the Pacific Division by three points. The two teams will meet again on Monday at the Staples Center.

In other SoCal Hockey News, the Ducks managed to hang onto a win against the lowly St. Louis Blues. Anaheim trailed 1-0 after only 30 seconds, but they fought hard and held leads of 3-1 and 4-2 (with a very strange goal scored by the Blues' Dean McAmmond on his own net), before allowing the Blues to battle back to tie the game at 10:51 of the third period. After a scoreless overtime, the Ducks were able to win outside of regulation for the first time in seven tries. Chris Kunitz scored two goals for the night and also had the only shootout goal for either team as J.S. Giguere proved that he can handle the overtime pressure.

The Ducks have been trying to find a little consistency in their play so that they are in a position to be in the playoffs, but they wound up winning another sloppy game with mistakes at both ends. The best news on the night was the fact that they did end up with a win with a shootout. Hopefully this first OT win will give the team and #1 netminder Giguere a boost of confidence.

When a team has 40 shots on net and scores five times, including one powerplay and one shorthanded goal, they normally win. However, the Kings, displaying terrible penalty-killing, poor goaltending, and mediocre team defense, lost 6-5 to the Phoenix Coyotes in overtime. The bright spot was Derek Armstrong who had a hat trick and sent the game into overtime with about one minute to go in the third period. Kevin Ballard, taking advantage of a bad line change and an even worse bounce, scored the shorthanded game-winner in overtime. The win for the Coyotes gives them two straight since Wayne Gretzky returned to the team from a ten-day leave of absence to be with his mother.

Jason LaBarbera didn't get much help from the team defense, but he also didn't help himself, allowing several soft goals enroute to his 20 saves on only 26 shots by Phoenix. The penalty-killers allowed three goals on six chances, and the powerplay units converted two goals on eight tries but also gave up the shorthanded tally in the end. The Kings continued to get scoring from different players with goals by Cammalleri and Avery (a shorthander) in addition to Armstrong's hat trick. Perhaps the worst news on the night was the loss of Eric Belanger who re-aggravated his groin injury and will be out indefinitely. Belanger, one of the Kings' most consistent players and a faceoff specialist, previously missed two games due to a groin pull.

With the salvaged point, the Kings remain one point ahead of Dallas for first in the Pacific Division. They now face the Stars in an important home-and-home series on Saturday and Monday.

In other news, Sandis Ozolnish took a leave of absence from the Mighty Ducks to help treat a substance abuse problem. The veteran defensman has only played in thirteen games this season due to injuries. Because this is his first offense, and because he is voluntarily undergoing treatment, the team and the league will not penalize Ozolnish further. Our thoughts go out to him in beating this problem.

The Los Angeles Kings went to Denver to face the Colorado Avalanche and their myriad of sub-standard "NHL" goalies. Next to St. Louis, the Avalanche sport some of the most inconsistent goaltending in the league. The Kings took advantage of this, scoring five goals enroute to a 5-3 victory, as they had a chance to see both Aebischer and Budaj.

Mathieu Garon showed the Avalanche what a good goalie can do, as he made 32 saves for the win. Demitra scored twice and three other Kings (Cammalleri, Visnovsky, and Kostopoulos) contributed to continue the recent trend in balanced scoring.

In Columbus, Ducks' goalie J.S. Giguere played one of his best games in recent weeks only to be spolied by a accidental tip-in by his own teammate Teemu Selanne. Giguere ended up making 42 saves to Denis' 40 as the Blue Jackets beat the Ducks 1-0.

Tonight, the Kings take on the Avalanche and the Ducks face off against the Blue Jackets.

Los Angeles, winners of five of their last six games, will try to win their second game in a row against a high-scoring but inconsistent Colorado club. The Kings need to continue their recent success on the powerplay (3-for-9 against San Jose) and get good goaltending from Mathieu Garon for their best chance at a victory tonight.

Anaheim, also an inconsistent but talented club, will face former Duck Sergei Fedorov for the first time since his trade to Columbus. So far, the trade has worked in Anaheim's favor. Fedorov, known for his solid all-around play has only one goal and six assists in eighteen games with the Blue Jackets. Meanwhile, defenseman Francois Beauchemin, part of that trade, has two goals and seven assists in fifteen games. Tyler Wright, the other player in that trade, has chipped in two goals and two assists along with solid, energetic play.

Laptop Update: Bad news... The hard drive couldn't be recovered, so I have lost the Holiday show. We hope to have our next Podcast up on New Year's Day or the day after. Thanks for all the continued support!

The Kings, 0-for-12 on the powerplay in their most recent game agains the Oilers, were 3-for-9 with the man-advantage against the Sharks to win 4-3 at the Staples Center.

Los Angeles showed a lot of jump in their step and dominated the first two periods and beginning of the third, staking a 4-1 lead. They showed heart and determination, holding off San Jose's third period onslaught and getting the victory.

With this victory, the Kings have won six of their last eight games and keep pace with the Dallas Stars for first in the division.

Thanks for your continued patience on the posting of our latest Podcast. Our dead laptop still has the latest episode, and we are currently writing this report from the Sacramento Apple Store as we await a free Genius to help us.

Our apologies for the delays on our latest Podcast. We had a hard drive failure that contained this week's episode all ready to go. We apologize for any inconvenience and are working hard to get everything up and running again. Until then, there may be a small gap in our blog and Podcast. Thanks!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukkah, Kwanzaa, or the Winter Solstice... the staff of the SoCal HockeyCast would like to wish you all a Happy Holiday!

Two teams with four-game winning streaks met... and, of course, only one could walk away with a five-game streak. In an ironic turn of events, the Kings allowed their opponent to come from behind and win the game. The Oilers, 5-3 winners with an empty-net goal, were able to dominate the Kings in the third period, tie the score at three and go ahead with about five minutes to play.

Playing the last game of a three-game roadtrip, the Kings looked decent in the first period, dominated the second, and seemed to run out of gas in the third. Andy Murray, with an injury-depleted line-up, again relied on two main lines to take most of the skating duties, and the penalty-filled game seemed to sap those lines of the necessary energy to create any momentum.

The Kings also continued to have problems on the special teams, going 0-for-12 on the powerplay and allowing three goals during penalty killing. The winning goal, scored by Ales Hemsky, was a controversial one as he moved his foot forward and changed the angle to deflect the puck past Garon. After video review, it was deemed a goal, and the Kings had lost the lead and the game.

Two-and-a-half weeks ago, the Los Angeles Kings looked like a team that had lost their direction and identity. Mired in their worst losing streak of the season, they were playing with little energy or determination. Inconsistent play throughout the middle and end of November caught up with them as they lost seven out of ten games through the beginning of December. "Hard to play against," a motto they used in coach Andy Murray's first season, had become, "Hardly playing again."

Fast forward to their final game before the holiday break... the Kings are looking for their fifth straight victory, a season high. Their 45 points puts them in a tie for 1st in the Pacific and 7th most points in the league. Perhaps the biggest things they've discovered are distributed scoring across their team and a solid goaltender in Mathieu Garon.

The Kings recently beat two of the top home teams (Vancouver and Calgary) with a mix of timely goal-scoring, grit, and solid goaltending. They will need all three to beat the Oilers tonight in Edmonton. The Oilers are also winners of four straight and have beaten Vancouver and Calgary with convincing performances.

The visiting Kings won their fourth straight game 5-2 against the Calgary Flames. This was another come-from-behind victory for Los Angeles who spotted the Flames two goals in the first period. Thereafter, it was all Garon and the Kings, as Cammalleri, Giuliano, Demitra, and Kostopoulos scored five straight goals. They also played good team defense and showed heart and determination by not giving up against a Calgary team that had only lost two regulation home games this season.

This makes two straight games the Kings have won against strong home teams. In their previous comeback victory, the Kings beat Vancouver who were 13-1-2 at home this season. Down 2-1 after two periods, Mike Cammalleri and Jeff Giuliano scored 27 seconds apart to help unravel an otherwise steady Calgary team. In all, player-of-the-week Kiprusoff allowed four goals on just 17 shots.

With this win, the Kings stayed tied with the Stars for most points in the Pacific Division. It was an especially rewarding victory for the Kings who were without regulars Roenick (broken finger), Conroy (flu), and Belanger (groin). The Kings finish off this pre-holiday road trip with a visit to Edmonton on Friday.

In Anaheim, the Ducks took on the last place St. Louis Blues and rebounded from their loss to the Sharks by winning 6-3. After playing to an even score for almost eight minutes, the Ducks scored three goals in a little over three minutes and never looked back. The penalty-laden, fight-filled game saw Anaheim score shorthanded, four-on-four, even strength, and on the powerplay. They got two goals from Andy McDonald and another strong performance from Petr Sykora who had two assists. The Ducks took advantage of the fact that the Blues lack an NHL goalie... Bacashihua and Divis both allowed three goals. Here's what our on-location correspondent, Adrienne, had to say about the game...

Teemu was really on the ball. At one point, Giggy had let the puck get behind him but it didn't go into the net. Teemu jumped behind him and swept it away. Lots of near misses. Giggy is looking sloppy. His wins are almost due to luck now, not skill. The first two St. Louis goals were sloppy and should never have happened. I think Giggy knew it too because he threw a mini tantrum.

Overall, the team as a whole chipped in again on this game, as they have been doing in many games we've seen. Everyone contributes, which is obviously, what makes the difference.

St. Louis was haphazard and chippy. They're fast, I'll give them that. The speed was turned up a bit, but I found that they couldn't necessarily control the puck for an extended period of time. Lots of hotheadedness and fighting erupted all the time. I agree with you about the lack of leadership. They seem really immature and unsure of what direction they're going!

Jonathon Cheechoo will probably never be known for his dance moves, but he's making quite a name for himself with his goal scoring. After his first career hat trick, the Sharks' forward now leads the team with 16 goals (nine since the arrival of Joe Thornton). His two third period goals (30 seconds apart) turned a close game against Anaheim into a 4-2 win for the Sharks. San Jose was looking to avenge a 5-4 loss on Sunday to the Ducks (their first in the Joe Thornton Era), but they actually didn't look convincing in their win.

The Ducks held their own for most of the first two periods in the 4-2 loss, but they had defensive lapses that cost them dearly. J.S. Giguere was shakier than normal, allowing four goals on 18 shots before giving way to back-up goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.

Although Giguere wasn't spectacular, more of the blame should be put on the team defense that did not clear out players crashing the net or looking for rebounds. The two bright spots for the Ducks were Petr Sykora, who played another strong game, and Teemu Selanne, who has been re-energized by the addition of Sykora to the first line.

The Kings, hoping to win four straight games, take on the Calgary Flames tonight at the Saddledome. They'll try it without Jeremy Roenick, one of the stars in their win against Vancouver on Monday. JR has a broken finger and is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks.

Three games... three wins... three styles of play. The Los Angeles Kings who have now won three in a row were 4-3 winners in a shootout game against the Vancouver Canucks. The impressive thing about their recent winning streak is the fact that Los Angeles has shown that they can play a diverse style and are able to win when they show patience and good effort.

In the game against Anaheim, the Kings matched the Ducks' intensity and skating, displaying a run-and-gun style. Against the Coyotes, the Kings played a slower, more careful game that they won by capitalizing on their few opportunities. In last night's game, L.A. beat the Canucks by coming from behind 2-0 and 3-2. In all three of these wins, the Kings have shown much more effort and intensity, winning the battles for loose pucks and keeping their legs moving.

Jeremy Roenick, playing another game on a line with Pavol Demitra and Craig Conroy, played his best game of the season. His effort and skating were apparent as he registered a goal, an assist, and several big hits. Conroy also had a goal and an assist in the win.

The big story was the shootout, the Kings' second in three games. As with the Anaheim game, Mathieu Garon stopped all the shootout attempts he faced, Alexander Frolov scored, and the Kings won. With this win, and the Stars' loss, Los Angeles climbs back into a tie with Dallas for first in the Pacific. The Kings hope to keep the momentum going when they visit the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.

In other news: Ed Belfour, after five unsuccessful attempts, now has sole possession of second in all-time career wins for a goalie! The Maple Leafs rebounded from their 8-2 loss to Ottawa and helped Belfour make history by beating the Islanders in a wild 9-6 game. In the end, nobody will ask Belfour how he did it... just how many. Congratulations on moving past Terry Sawchuk for career win 448!

Also, Phyllis Gretzky, the mother of Wayne Gretzky passed away last night from lung cancer. Our best wishes go out to the Great One, his father Walter, and the rest of his family in this tough time. He's a class act and always has been. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree there. She and Walter were always generous of their time for their family, fans of Wayne, and the world of Hockey. We'll miss you.

This week's episode has a Ducks' Report and Kings' Report provided by our two expert anaylsts, Zoe and Genevieve. We also salute the Players of the Week, Martin Biron, and the Little Guys who make a big impact (like Martin St. Louis, Paul Kariya, Petr Prucha, Jason Blake, Mike Cammalleri, and more)! In our feature of the week, we talk about three of the Terrible Teams in the league.

We have a new phone number that you can call and leave messages on! Call us at 206-600-6216 and leave comments or questions!

Have a great week of hockey!

The Ducks, once again displaying their wild inconsistency, handed the Sharks their first defeat in the Joe Thornton Era. Getting goals from Kunitz, Fedoruk, Marchant, and both Niedermayer brothers, the Ducks held on to defeat the Sharks 5-4. The scoring was back and forth with San Jose battling back to tie the game four times, but Anaheim prevailed on Rob Niedermayer's tip-in with about ten minutes left in the third period.

The relatively wide-open game saw J.S. Giguere get one more save than the Shark's Evgeni Nabokov and several saves on end-to-end rushes. Each team had 34 shots on goal. The Ducks hope to gain some momentum from beating one of the hotter teams in the league... a knack the Ducks seem to have this season with wins against Nashville, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Montreal, and the current Sharks team. San Jose will have to wait until Tuesday to see if they can begin a new winning streak.

For the first time since November 22nd, the Kings have won two games in a row. Facing off against the Phoenix Coyotes, Los Angeles was able to grind out a 4-1 victory with Joe Corvo netting the game-winner. The Coyotes, playing without coach Wayne Gretzky (who took a leave of absence to be with his mother who's suffering from Lung Cancer), played well on the powerplays, but were unable to convert their five-on-five chances.

Garon was less spectacular in goal against the Coyotes, but he didn't need to be amazing because the Kings played much more solid team defense, only allowing 26 shots on goal. Garon earned his second straight win through great positional play and just being steady. With this win, the Kings are in a tie for first in the Pacific Division with the Dallas Stars... but before we break out the champagne or sparkling apple cider, just remember, the Stars have five games in hand.

In the "Terrible Teams" Match-up, the Atlanta Thrashers, 11th in the Eastern Conference played against the Florida Panthers, 13th in the Eastern Conference. The Thrashers, who have played better of late, narrowly beat the Panthers 2-1 on solid goaltending by Michael Garnett. Who? Just kidding, I'm sure everyone knows that he's the most used of the five Thrasher goalies who have played this season.

New Podcast up by tomorrow!

The Kings and Ducks faced off last night at the Arrowhead Pond. The wide open game ended with a 4-3 win for Los Angeles but featured two lead changes, intense hitting, a shootout, and some incredible goaltending by J.S. Giguere and Mathieu Garon. The Kings, who have been mired in a deep, listless funk for much of the last month, played with an intensity that they seem to always have when facing off against their cross-freeway rivals. Anaheim, on the other hand, have seen a general upward trend in their playing, but have also had some inconsistency. The Ducks played with intensity and good effort.

The Kings dominated the first period scoring with two powerplay goals by Dustin Brown and Derek Armstrong. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the Ducks came back with a goal in the first by Petr Sykora and two in the second by Marchant and Lupul.

The third period mostly belonged to the Ducks with shots on goal (16-7), but Garon shut the door and the Kings made the most of their scoring chances when they picked up their intensity during that period. Rookie Petr Kanko scored a goal off the skate of Keith Carney after a superb forechecking effort by fellow rookie Jeff Giuliano. With intense pressure, Giuliano knocked the puck away from Carney toward Kanko who quickly protected it from the Ducks' Joe DiPenta. With his quick centering pass out front, Kanko banked it off of Carney's skate and past Giguere for the equalizer. Playing for Robitaille (a healthy scratch), Kanko demonstrated how effort, skating, and determination can create chances. Although some may call his goal a "fluke" or "lucky," it would have never happened without the intensity of Giuliano and Kanko on their shift.

The goalie duel continued with amazing, acrobatic saves on a number of odd-man rushes, and the teams had to decide the game in an overtime shootout. Pavol Demitra and Alexander Frolov scored for the Kings while Garon stopped Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer. Garon's last save was especially incredible as he stayed with the defenseman and kicked out his right pad to smother Niedermayer's stuff-in attempt. The 4-3 score didn't tell how much of a goalie duel it was as the netminders faced a total of 82 shots total. Garon turned aside 42 shots enroute to the well-deserved victory.

Meanwhile in our report of the terrible teams, Pittsburgh lost their first game under new coach Michel Therrien 4-3. They were facing the high-flying Buffalo Sabres. Goalie Martin Biron is the first goalie in eight years to record 12 straight wins. In other terrible teams, St. Louis lost 5-1 to the mildly better Chicago Blackhawks.

In this week's expanded coverage of the leagues teams with poor records, we take a look at the shocking victory enjoyed by the Panthers. The Detroit Red Wings were surprised by a strong Panthers' effort and lost 2-3 in overtime on Olli Jokinen's powerplay goal. Florida, tied for fifth least points in the league, have actually won four of their last five games at home.

Penguins' coach Ed Olczyk, was fired on Thursday for failing to take a star-studded line-up much past the cellar of their division. He'll be replaced by Michel Therrien, the former coach of the Montreal Candiens who was running the Penguins' minor league team in Wilkes-Barre. Fans with good memories will recall the emotion that Therrien brought to the game. Penguins' GM Craig Patrick had better hope Therrien can transfer that emotion to the players or it'll be his job next!

In really important news: The Kings travel to Anaheim to take on the Mighty Ducks. The Kings hope to break out of a listless funk that has seen them drop from the third most points in the league down to a tie for 13th. Meanwhile, the Ducks have steadily improved and are a mere two points out of a playoff spot after initially playing like they were hoping to have the first pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Tonight's game marks the first of 13 straight for the Kings against Western Conference teams... a stretch of games that will see them come out with a strong identity as winners, losers, or (most likely) somewhere in-between (it's called parity in the league.

When you're at home and facing the the worst road team in the league (also the worst team in the Eastern Conference), it's expected that you will win. Kings's fans left the game shaking their heads at this latest pathetic display of lack of effort against the Washington Capitals. The score was 3-2, but the Kings were outplayed for 2 full periods and never truly looked in the game after the first period.

Although the whole team played terribly, the goalies were the difference. Ollie the Goalie looked sharp and made many difficult and routine saves. Jason LaBarbera, starting in the place of an ill Mathieu Garon, looked shaky and allowed three soft goals, including Jamie Heward's game-winner with about a minute to play. The Kings need a shake-up on their team... perhaps not to the extent of the Thornton Trade, but they need something to shake-up their ranks.

Down the freeway from the Kings game, the Mighty Ducks looked extremely sharp in their 4-2 win of the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning. They did everything that a good hockey team wants to. They finished their checks, skated hard, fought for loose pucks, buried their chances, and got solid goaltending.

New addition, Francois Beauchemin, had two assists and scored the game-winning goal. J.S. Giguere put in another solid performance as he and the Ducks ended John Grahame's nine-game winning streak.

Next up for the Kings and Ducks is a face-off this Friday night. The Kings hope to take a firmer grip on their meager hold of second place in the Pacific Division while the Ducks hope to give themselves some breathing room above .500.

Our next enhanced Podcast will have a feature on Who's the Worst of the Worst? In preparation for that Podcast, we will be covering a few of these teams in our daily blog (in addition to our usual coverage of the SoCal Hockey teams).

Last night, the inconsistent Penguins faced off against the even lower Blues. The Blues, losers of the last three, produced 41 shots against the Pens and won 3-0. Curtis Sanford, a former defensive player of the week this season, earned another shutout. He only has three wins total this season, but two of them are shutouts.

Tonight the L.A. Kings take on the Eastern Conference's worst team, the Washington Capitals. The caps come in with 4 losses in their last five games. Their one bright spot has been Alexander Ovechkin, their rookie of the year candidate.

Meanwhile, the Ducks face off against the surging Tampa Bay Lightning. They hope to avoid a two-game losing streak after Monday's lackluster effort against the Toronto Maple Leafs. If Giguere gives the same solid performance, he will keep the Ducks within striking distance if they come out with a solid effort.

The Toronoto Maple Leafs, trying to break out of a four-game slide and help Ed Belfour become the goalie with the second most career wins, was able to gain a win against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim by a score of 3-2. However, Belfour, nursing a sore groin missed the game and the chance to make history.

The Ducks, who lacked energy for the most of the match, were kept in the game by J.S. Giguere who was started his second straight game since returning from injury. Giguere looked sharp and saved the Ducks from being totally embarrassed.

The Ducks take on a resurgent Tampa Bay team on Wednesday and hope to face the Lightning with more energy than they displayed last night. Meanwhile, the Leafs have a break until Saturday when they take on the Ottawa Senators. If Belfour returns by then, the Leafs will need an outstanding effort because the Senators will want to continue to prove that their recent two-game losing streak was nothing more than a fluke.

Good luck, Eddie! We're rooting for you!

Our latest enhanced podcast covering the Sharks, Sabres, Lightning, Kings, Ducks, and "other" notable rookies playing who aren't named Ovechkin or Crosby.

Genevieve and Zoe let you know which rookies they think are impressive and why. We also have more news and rumors. Enjoy!

Go Kings! Go Ducks!

While you all eagerly await my next Podcast, enjoy a good edition of Facing Off with David Amber. His subject is a Q&A with Bryan McCabe. Amber writes entertaining, informative specials for a little news agency called ESPN. McCabe has been spectacular this season while leading the Leafs and all defenseman in scoring. Combined with his toughness and solid defensive play, I think McCabe is a definite candidate for the Norris Trophy this year. You can find the article here.

Podcast up later today after my Birthday celebrations!

"Hard to Play Against" is a mantra that Andy Murray would like the Kings to remember. If the Kings hope to rebound and begin winning again, they should take this saying to heart. They face the Florida Panthers (fifth worst in the league) tonight at the Staples Center and hope to avoid a three-game home losing streak. If they can produce the same effort that they did in the second half of their recent game against the Hurricanes, and if they can get more consistent goaltending, and if they can improve their special teams, then they have a good chance of winning. Wow, lots of 'if's. Against the Panthers, they've got as good a chance as any!

The Ducks continue their Eastern roadtrip by facing off against an oft-injured but well-rested Montreal Canadiens team. The Habs last played against the Kings on December 3rd. The Ducks need to get back to their fast-skating, hard-playing, team-defense-first, great goaltending strategy they had in their four-game winning streak. It would also help if their big guns (Selanne, McDonald, and Lupul score).

The Los Angeles Kings, facing the Southeast Division leading Carolina Hurricanes, played one horrible period, one decent one, and one dominant one, but it wasn't enough to overcome a three-goal deficit, and they fell 3-2. Martin Gerber, coming off a great game against the Mighty Ducks on Tuesday night, faced 37 shots for the second straight game and turned aside 35 of them. Especially in the third period, when the Kings outshot the Hurricanes 18-6, Gerber made spectacular saves and was easily the primary reason Carolina won.

Carolina dictated the pace of the game in the first period and jumped out to a two-goal lead. The Hurricanes added another goal in the second to go up by three goals, but the Kings began playing much better in that period. Although the Kings dominated the third period, and were able to make it closer with goals by Belanger and Cowan, their not-very-special teams sealed their fate once again. They failed to score a powerplay goal and are now 3-for-53 in the past eight games (an abysmal 5.7% success rate). In that time, they've also allowed two shorthanded goals. The Kings hope to rebound against a struggling Florida Panthers team on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the Mighty Ducks faced off against a hot Buffalo Sabres team and failed to protect a lead, eventually losing 3-2 in overtime. J.S. Giguere, in his first start since November 20th when he injured his hamstring, looked unstoppable before allowing a Thomas Vanek penalty shot almost mid-way through the second period. Maxim Afinogenov scored the game-winning goal on a powerplay with the Ducks' Todd Marchant off for hooking.

The Ducks looked much better than their previous game against the Carolina Hurricanes, and Giguere provided extremely solid, sometimes spectacular goaltending, but the team was unable to stop a determined, confident Sabres squad who are now 5-1 in overtime games. Losers of two straight, the Ducks need to regroup and show some more determination in close games. The call on Marchant was debatable, but a player with his speed should be able to use his skating to get in a better position to avoid a hooking call... but that takes consistent effort and determination.

The Kings hope to gain some momentum by winning their second straight game tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. Led by a strong effort in goal by Mathieu Garon, the Kings ended their recent road trip and losing streak by beating the Leafs.

The Ducks' four-game winning streak was ended in convincing fashion as the struggling Carolina Hurricanes beat Anaheim 6-2. It was a triumphant homecoming for former Duck Martin Gerber, the Hurricanes' goalie. Gerber faced 37 shots and turned aside 35 of them. Some of his saves were spectacular, displaying the reflexes and flexibility he was well-known for while with the Ducks.

Gerber and the Hurricanes only needed the three straight goals scored by Kevyn Adams. His previous three goals this season were also scored in a hat trick back on November 17th.

At times, the Ducks looked like they were being out-worked, however, they were still able to out-shoot the Hurricanes overall 37-31. In the end, the big difference was in goal. As solid as he looked in the previous four games, Bryzgalov looked tentative in the 14 shots he faced prior to being replaced by J.S. Giguere. The Ducks avoided a shutout by out-shooting the Hurricanes 15-8 in the third period and scoring two goals.

The Ducks hope to rebound against the hot Buffalo Sabres (9-2 in their last 11 games) this Thursday night.

The Los Angeles Kings successfully broke out of their longest losing streak of the season by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1. With this win, the Kings also denied Ed Belfour in his attempt to gain sole possession of second on the career win-list for goalies. The Kings generally played a smart game with consistently hard work. They managed to kill off 8 of 9 penalties, allowing a single powerplay goal while two men down during the second period.

Facing one of the best powerplays in the league, the Kings were able to stand-up to the Leafs' attack and stop them time and time again. The team effort centered around the extremely strong play of Mathieu Garon who played his finest game of the season. Garon, who appears to be making a convincing bid for the starting goalie position, made some spectacular saves by displaying good positioning and excellent agility. One big difference in Garon's play tonight was his ability to control the rebounds. The few times he didn't smother or clear a rebound, the defense was there to help carry it out of harm's way.

Although the Kings were outshot 13-4 in the third period (and 37-23 for the game), they were consistently able to stand-up to the rush and control the neutral zone with timely checks and quick stick work. Both goals were scored by Dustin Brown, his first two-goal game. Brown, like many of the Kings, had an extra jump in his step and attacked loose pucks with a vengeance.

Despite the fact that this was the lone victory on their four-game road trip, the Kings have progressively improved their play and finally were rewarded for their effort. They now come back home to play a three-game homestand against Carolina, Florida, and Washington.

The Kings, losers of four straight games, hope to rebound and topple the Maple Leafs. In their quest to end their longest losing streak of the season, the Kings also hope to deny Ed Belfour in his third attempt to surpass Hall-of-Fame goalie Terry Sawchuk in career wins.

Meanwhile, closer to home, the Ducks hope to continue their hot streak and give ex-Duck goalie Martin Gerber a rude welcome home as the Hurricanes visit Anaheim.

Join us for our Podcast on the action from week ending December 3rd. Not only do we have a new Podcast, we also have a new logo! The new logo is the fine work of Osato Design out of Los Angeles. If you want information how you too can get a rocking logo like this one, then please email me at technologyted@mac.com

This week's Podcast features our expert guest analysts, Zoe and Genevieve, as we discuss the big Thornton trade and answer E-mail. We also have a new Good, Bad, and Ugly in the NHL.

Enjoy, and have a great week of hockey!

Despite being competitive for the majority of the game, and continuing to make some gains toward the level they played at in the beginning of the season, the Kings fell to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. Breaking out of a four-game losing streak, the Habs extended the Kings' losing streak to four.

Both goalies made 28 saves, and it all boiled down to the special teams. The Kings allowed one powerplay and one shorthanded goal on the night while missing out on their only three attempts.

The Kings hope to snap out of their losing streak on Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Kings showed signs of breaking out of their funk in last night's game against the Senators, but still ended up with a 5-1 loss. Unlike the last few games, the Kings actually dominated almost an entire period, scored on the powerplay with their first unit, and looked like they wanted to win.

Unfortunately, the Senators and some truly horrendous officiating proved too insurmountable for the Kings. The turning point of the game was in the third period when the Senators killed a major penalty and came back to score two goals in 15 seconds.

Among the terrible calls by the referees in last night's game were an altercation with Avery and the Sen's McGrattan and a penalty on Conroy.

In the Avery incident, McGrattan, a career goon with 1 goal and 72 PIMs this year, attacked Avery with a cross-check to the face. Although it was clearly a cheapshot hit with an intent to injure, the referees did not call a match penalty on McGrattan and even penalized Avery on the play!

The Conroy incident involved a Senator player clearing Craig Conroy out with a hit from behind. Conroy, falling down uncontrollably, accidentally clipped Hasek on the mask with his foot. He was guilty of "goalie interference." Hopefully the league officials will review these incidents, but it's doubtful that they will make any changes in the Avery incident. He's been a marked man for the season by teams, players, and officials.

The Kings, losers of three in a row, hope to get back to the win column against Montreal tonight.

Our next podcast will be up in a few more days!

In huge news this week, Boston's Joe Thornton was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau, and Brad Stuart (one player for each of Thornton's All-Star selections). In this week's Podcast, we will take an in-depth look at that trade. Hats off to the Bruins' and Sharks' General Managers to have the guts to make a move to shake up their underperforming teams!

The theme of tonight's big match-ups is "Elite vs. Elite?". We have Ottawa versus the Los Angeles Kings and Carolina against the Dallas Stars. These are all teams that have been bandied about when discussions of "Elite" teams come up. Are the Kings an elite team? Ottawa is for sure. Let's see how they do against each other. The Senators are a bit battered and bruised and played on the road the night before (losing to the re-tooled Bruins). The Kings, highly inconsistent recently look to rebound.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes, looking to maintain their own consistency, face off against an extremely hot Dalls Stars team. Carolina, full of young talent, hope to establish their place by beating the 1998-99 Stanley Cup champs who are seeking to regain their lost glory. Which of these teams is truly elite, and who will come out on top?

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The Kings have finally lost two straight, and they looked terrible doing it. With another lackluster, but slightly better performance than Monday's game against Detroit, the Kings lost 3-2 against the Chicago Blackhawks. After getting outplayed for the majority of the game, the Kings scored two goals in the last 4 minutes.

The main bright points for the game were the play of Mathieu Garon and the ending of their powerplay goal drought. Ironically, and perhaps due to a stroke of genius, the one powerplay goal was scored by their checking line (hard-working Eric Belanger) that Andy Murray had put on the ice after the first two powerplay units had failed to convert with the man advantage in their previous 28 tries. Garon was excellent, facing 35 shots and turning away 32 of them. Khabibulin, on the other hand, faced a mere 21 shots, and very few were quality scoring chances.

Next up: Ottawa, the best team in the league. Will the Kings wake up and at least be competitive? Or are they set-up for an embarrassing loss? If they want to make a better impression, they truly need to break out of this funk that has grasped them for the majority of November and begin winning one-on-one battles, crashing the front of the net, and playing like a team.

In other news, the Ducks are winners of three straight after soundly defeating the Phoenix Coyotes 6-1. Selanne continues his hot streak and Ilya Bryzgalov only allowed 1 goal on 17 shots. Perhaps the Kings should take a look at the way the Ducks are playing team defense.

Hoping to begin their road trip on a positive note and looking to avoid two losses in a row for the first time this season, the Los Angeles Kings will take to the ice against the Chicago Blackhawks (losers of the last three games). With George Parros injured, the Kings may bring up a player from their minor league team, the Manchester Monarchs. Jeff Tambellini, the Monarchs' leading scorer and sixth overall in the league, looks to be the likely call up. Tambellini, the rookie out of University of Michigan has been lighting up the league, with 25 points in 18 games (technically in 14 games because he didn't score in his first four games).

The Mighty Ducks will face off against the Phoenix Coyotes tonight. Both teams are looking for their third win in a row. Todd Fedoruk, recently suspended for three games because of his cheapshot hit of The Coyote's Petr Nedved, returns tonight... talk about dramatic irony!

Just like the rest of the league, the Ottawa Senators have faced adversity. The beginning of the year trade of veteran Marian Hossa for Dany Heatley could have wreaked havoc with team chemistry. Talented winger Martin Havlat was suspended for 5 games after a groin kicking incident. Dominik Hasek's age was a question mark. Wade Redden, the fourth leading scorer among D-men, suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss a week so far.

However, the Senators haven't missed a beat at all and lead the league in points, goals for, and goals against. Hasek has silenced critics by being one of the top goalies this season. Heatley has fit like a glove with the rest of while helping form one of the most dynamic lines in the league (along with Spezza and Alfredsson). Of the Senators' three total losses this season, two have come against the Carolina Hurricanes. One of the many amazing statistics in this incredible season for them (so far), is the steady play of untested back-up goalie, Ray Emery. In six starts, he has six wins. Going back to the last season, he has nine wins total, a record for wins at the beginning of a career.

Added: Martin Havlat was injured in the game. His dislocated shoulder will result in him missing at least one month. With the Senator's depth, I think they will continue to flourish.

Hats off to Ray Emery and the rest of the team. There hasn't been any other team this season to play with their consistency, domination, poise, and teamwork.