Hockey New Year!

So after a long and incredibly fun night with the girls, the RIGHT thing to do on New Year's Day would be sleep in, right? Nothing doing! After getting to bed at 3 AM, Chelsea and I were up at 7:30 AM to get ready, make a Starbucks stop and head to the Toyota Sports Center to watch the visiting Washington Capitals practice. Since they played in San Jose on Wednesday, they came straight to LA to hang out until their game against the Kings tomorrow.

Nadine had gotten some good information that the Caps would start their practice at 9 AM, since the Kings flew in late the night before. When we arrived at the practice rink....no Caps. One of the staff then confirmed they had pushed their practice back to 3 PM, and the Kings didn't take the ice until 12:30, so we had time to kill. And we needed a TV....

Why? Because the other big thing going on today was the NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park in Boston, featuring the Boston Bruins vs. the Philadelphia Flyers. Hockey outside, like it was first played. AWESOME! So I remembered the name of a sports bar down the street, Googled their info (God, I love my iPhone), called and confirmed they were both open and had the game on. So off we went to kill some time, eat and watch hockey at Stick & Stein.

We left around noon, and arrived in time to find the Kings starting their practice. They had a light one owing to a very energetic game (AND A WIN!) in Minnesota the night before. They quit just before the end of the Winter Classic, which by that time was on a TV in the snack bar at TSC. So I was able to see the end of the classic game (congrats to the Bruins on their win) AND the announcement of the US Men's Olympic Hockey Team, which will include 3 KINGS!!!!! Nadine and I were sitting there on folding chairs cheering as Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson and Jonathan Quick's names were announced. What a perfect way to start the new year!

Then, it was FINALLY time to watch the Caps take the ice. Even in practice, they're impressive, and it's easy to tell why they have the best offensive numbers in the NHL. They skate FAST and intense....which makes pictures hard to get, but I managed to snag a couple of my favorites.

Ovie, of course...



And Brooks Laich (plenty to like there!).



It was also very interesting watching Coach Bruce Boudreau, who has previous ties to the Kings organization from his days coaching our AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs.



He might look like he could stand in for Santa Claus if he grew a beard, but he is TOUGH in practice, constantly chirping and pushing the guys. And he's a taskmaster in other ways too. Alexander Semin made the mistake of missing a pass on a routine drill because he wasn't paying attention, so he had to drop on the ice and do push-ups.

He looked a little embarrassed as he was getting up.



At one point, Nadine and I looked at each other, and voiced the same thought in unison regarding the Kings chances in tomorrow's game.

"We're screwed."