Farewell to Frolove

We suspected it by the end of last season, but the reality hit yesterday when the theories became fact. Alexander Frolov is no longer a Los Angeles King. Our Frolove is gone, and he's not coming back.



The hockey/business reasons on both sides of this parting of the ways have been exhaustively covered by people more qualified than me to write about them. But reporters, bloggers, and armchair GM's with Twitter accounts don't explore the human factor, which is where I come in.

Alexander Frolov and the Kings started out together young, with great intentions of building a beautiful future together. But like a romance between high school sweethearts, the passage of time saw them grow apart. In fairness, no one ran away at the first sign of trouble. The love was there all along, with both sides trying what they could to make it work.





It was a long, slow decline, but in the end everyone involved recognized it was unrecoverable. It's like looking across the breakfast table at someone you once loved with all your heart, knowing that you still care about them but you have no choice but to pack your bags and leave.

Alexander Frolov, the hockey player, has talent. I hope a change of scenery helps him show it again. He deserves that chance.

I only spoke to Alexander Frolov, the person, on a handful of occasions, at fan events and such. And I use the term "spoke" loosely, partly because I was hopelessly tongue-tied looking into those gorgeous blue eyes, and partly because Fro is so quiet. Sweet, kind, exceedingly polite, and a little mysterious too, with this slow smile that make you feel like he was looking into your soul with those eyes and reading your every thought. I'll miss that.



And I'm not the only fan that will miss the beautiful man that wore #24. My friend Nichole Glaze (aka "The Frotogropher") will be without her favorite subject. Nadine will miss screaming, "спасибо, Sasha! хорошую работу!" during games, and speaking Russian with Alex at player events, prompting him to sign her jerseys "To Nadia"...

And I will miss those blue eyes...



New York Rangers fans, our Frolove is now yours. Take good care of him. And love him well -- just like we did.

A Weekend on Ice

Toyota Sports Center has become my home away from home most weekends. The Kings practice there, my friends all skate, there's always hockey going on, and there's just something about being around ice even though you have the option of being at the beach every day that's just...well, fun!

Spending Friday nights at TSC is usually guaranteed since my friend Mike plays in a rec hockey league there. Jen and Brianna live really close by, so instead of hanging out at a bar, we go get Starbucks, spend the evening gossiping, and watch our Caribou at play. It costs less, it's safer, and we still get to scope cute guys.



Now, our guys keep it pretty straight up with the jersey names. Mike's last name is Timoney, so that's what he wears, even though his nickname with the team is "T-Money." Their opponents this evening choose to wear their nicknames on their backs. It's hard to read in this photo, but the guy to the right of Mike is called "Diver Dave." Make of that what you will.



Now each "season" the teams change up a bit, and last weekend I noticed this majorly hot dude that joined the league. SO majorly hot, in fact, that the girls and I stayed to watch for a bit after the Caribou were done playing. And as luck would have it, we played Majorly Hot Dude's (that's his name now) team tonight! Too bad he got a game misconduct and spent part of the evening like this (when he wasn't camped out in the penalty box).



Of course, this would be the ONE night I forgot my regular camera when I switched purses, so this photo was the best my camera phone would do. Look for close-ups of Majorly Hot Dude in a future post.

Saturday, I was back at TSC with Nadine and John to help our friend Michael celebrate his 16th birthday with a skating party!



I did actually get on the ice, but I don't balance well enough to skate and take pictures, so I mostly got ones of Nadine and John. The birthday boy is actually an amazing skater and he was WAY too fast for my camera skills.



John, in particular, was an easier target because he stops a lot (he skates like me).





The funniest part is that Nadine and John actually wear the same size skates, so those are HER hockey skates he's wearing. I think that deserves some rabbit ears!



Then Sunday, my beloved Kings returned from Vancouver, ready to play Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Play-offs first round back at Staples Center. But first practice was in order, and since I rarely get to go during the regular season with my work schedule, I decided to camp out and get some practice shots. I took a TON, so I only posted my 3 favorites.

First up, the Clunatic himself, forward Rich Clune. Some of my best action work to date.



I HAD to include at least one Drew photo, and he stayed still long enough for me to catch him. That doesn't happen every day, let me tell you...



And then there's Mr. Popularity himself, defenceman Matt Greene. He was doing his fake stretch routine and having a fun conversation with Sean O'Donnell when I took this. Possibly my favorite practice shot ever in the history of practices.



If you're a Kings fan and don't already hang out with me on Facebook, here's a link to the rest of my photo gallery from practice.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=166131&id=787837661&l=af4951c3a6

And don't be afraid to ask me to be your friend, either. I haven't met a Kings fan yet I didn't like.

Kings vs Canucks: No April Fools

Many hockey fans subscribe to the theory that the team's Captain should be one of it's best, if not THE best player on the team. For that reason, Dustin Brown has taken some heat this season for not getting it done on the ice at times. Admittedly, his scoring touch has been off compared to last season, but he's a workhorse who still gives a ton of effort every night, trying to make things happen. I've always stood behind him as the right choice for Captain for that reason. Because sooner or later, all the hard work pays off and things fall in to place.

Tonight, it paid off in spades, with Brown scoring his second career hat-trick en route to a 8-3 drubbing of the Vancouver Canucks.


(No little black eye is stopping me from scoring...pffft...)

The Kings were riding some huge momentum from a win against the predators Tuesday night....IN Nashville! So we finally beat a team that has OWNED us the past two seasons. Yet Vancouver posed another significant challenge as a potential first-round play-off opponent for the Kings. And the Canucks had none other than Team Canada's gold medal goalie Roberto Luongo in their weapons arsenal. French-Canadian goalies are legend...so it was nice the Kings had one of their very own to do battle against "Uncle Lou." That man is Jonathan Bernier.



Since his first appearance against Anaheim in London, England 2 years ago, Bernier has been hailed as the future of Kings goaltending. When he got sent down to the kings AHL affiliate Manchester Monarchs, he pouted for the better part of a season. Mentally, he clearly wasn't ready, so the Kings decision that he needed more "seasoning" in the minors was the right one. But with our backup goalie Erik Ersberg out with a strained back, Berns got his chance and proved himself, both in Nashville and with another solid performance in net tonight.

All due credit to Brown and Bernier aside, this was an incredible team win. Drew got his 40th and 41st assists of the season, Frolov, Kopitar, Williams, Handzus and Stoll all contributed goals, and the entire team just collectively fired on all cylinders. Make no mistake folks....the Kings are play-off bound for the first time in a long time. And they're pretty darn happy about it.


(Hey Dewey, I'm feeling a goal tonight! Set me up, would ya?)

The fans have sensed something special happening as well, and the signs are coming out. There's even a Facebook group circulating with a Kings "I Believe" campaign movement. I joined, so of course I had to contribute my own sign to go with Nadine's "We Believe" banner.



Of course, there were other exceptional signs as well. My friends Scott and Shawna Rousseau gave a little shout-out to Sean O'Donnell's standing as points master of the stay-at-home defencemen.



And Rachel Craig-Parker and Jen Wells brought out the sports psychology motivation.



And then there was this poor guy....



Great sign fella! Sorry we had to shell your goalie and ruin your night.

And in a sure sign that spring is officially here, more and more players are skating warm-ups sans helmet. Last week it was Alexander Frolov. This time, Matt Greene was showing off his hot blonde locks.





And if all that wasn't enough reason to celebrate, it was Ryan Smyth Bobble-Head night. And there was plenty of Smytty to go around.



So if everything falls into place in the next couple of days with wins and losses by other teams, the Kings can be in a position to clinch a play-off spot at our next game. So if you don't already have them, get tickets for Saturday nights Kings vs Ducks showdown. Something tells me it's gonna be a memorable night!

Do you believe? I do!!!! GO KINGS GO!

Kings vs Stars: March Meltdown

They say March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb. Apparently the Kings have adopted this as a playing philosophy, losing their 3rd straight game 4-1 tonight against our Division and Conference rival, the Dallas Stars. And for a team that is supposedly playoff bound, this is NOT good news.

When you get body language and expressions like this DURING THE WARM UP, you know you're in for a rough night.





In spite of doing his best Matt Greene impression with an ugly cut below his left eye, Captain Dustin Brown just couldn't seem to rally the troops. Our power play stunk, we keep accidentally putting goals in our own net, and we couldn't stay out of the penalty box. The zebras only added to our problems, but if we haven't learned by now never to expect good on-ice officials, I don't know what it will take since they've been awful all season.

The worst news of the night was our drop to 7th place in the Conference standings, with Colorado is right behind us in 8th, only 1 point away. And on top of that, we've got two more tough games on the road in Nashville and Minnesota before we close the book on the month of March. Greener, if you're reading, we need you back. The sooner, the better.


(Jay here sums up how we all felt tonight)

There were a couple of bright spots tonight. Our lone goal was one, I guess. And it was nice seeing former King Brandon Segal get stonewalled by Quickie on a breakaway. But the brightest of bright spots happened during warm-ups, when Alexander Frolov skated with his helmet OFF!



Holy cow! I forget just how handsome Fro is sometimes. Although the superstitious fan in me wonders if this little change in routine messed up our mojo tonight. Or maybe the real reason for the loss is Nadine not bringing her "We Believe" sign and sitting up in the Lexus Club with John the whole game!



Kopi missed seeing you down in 114, Denie! And Willy was looking for you too....




(Fro + Willy = Too much hotness in one photo!)

The Kings next home game is....April Fools Day. Let's not read too much into that and simply hope that April is a better month here in Hockeywood.

GO KINGS GO!

Kings vs Islanders: A Step In The Right Direction

One phrase ran through my head the entire walk to Staples tonight - "do or die." We win, or our season is screwed. If we lose, it will suck even more because it's the Islanders. Our record against the East has been impeccable this year. This isn't an afternoon game. And the Isles are a rebuilding team, hanging out at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. So If we can't even beat these guys, what does that say about our team?

Luckily I didn't have to go there, because the Kings won 1-0. Brad Richardson, our 4th line workhorse whose scrappy play has moved him up the depth chart several times this year, got the lone goal. Well done Richie! Our poor captain Dustin Brown, on the other hand, is going to have a huge headache tomorrow after getting his noggin checked squarely through the glass. Check out the aftermath of the hit!



YIKES! At least he's OK.

I'm still not without my worries since we looked like we were skating in mud most of the night and the Isles did not provide much of a challenge. In fairness, the Kings did a better job with puck possession, and Quickie is looking more like himself in goal every day, but we still need to be better. Nashville is still breathing right down our necks, but we're sitting in 5th place in the Western Conference. We dodged a bullet, and we live to fight another day.

Now let's talk cute boys. There was one noticeable stand-out for "Opposing Team Hottie of the Night," and we'll get to him in a second. But there were also some other interesting players with various features warranting attention, so I have a short "Best of..." list, somewhat like the "Senior Superlatives" you might remember from high school. So here we go.

Best Eyes: Martin Biron. I didn't get the greatest picture, but he caught my eye as he skated past, and he has the most intense, blue eyed stare ever.



Best Matt Greene-Like Battle Scar: Trent Hunter. This guy just looks made to stop a puck with his face.



Best Flow: Matt Moulson (a former King, I might add.) And I thought I had big hair. Mark Streit was a close second in this category.



Most Popular and Best Smile: Tim Jackman. I gotta give him credit. It took him four tries to flip a puck over the glass to this little kid standing next to me, but he hung in there. And he clearly had fun doing it.



But my "Opposing Team Hottie of the Night" is none other than 2009 #1 draft pick John Tavares.



Patrick O'Sullivan protege, former London Knight, and all around good guy. And he plays hockey pretty well too. Although he also broke a lot of sticks tonight. Not quite sure what's up with that.

The Kings next challenge is a major one - The Colorado Avalanche, who sit 1 point and 2 spots behind us in the conference standings. Let's hope the mud gets cleaned off the ice by then.

GO KINGS GO!

Kings vs Blackhawks: This Just Feels Wrong

Have you ever had one of those days when everything just feels a little...off? And even worse, you can't pinpoint why so you can fix it? The Kings and I have a lot in common right now in this department.

Take me, for instance. Ever since I discovered the tire pressure light on in my car, things just seem different. I put air in all the tires. None of them are noticeably losing air pressure. Everything looks in order. But that nagging little light makes me question how ever bump feels, how ever turn gets maneuvered. The car feels a little more loosey-goosey than normal. Is it really happening, or is it just me thinking it? I can't explain it, but IT JUST FEELS WRONG.

The Kings are in a similar situation right now. Same guys in the line-up. No injuries (at least that anyone is willing to report). Same coaches. No system changes. And yet, nothing feels right. Everything is half a step off, one pass away, one lost rebound chance here or there. And while mistakes happened before and the outcomes were still OK, now we're losing games. And positions in the conference standings.

I'm not even going to recount the mess that became tonight's loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. It's too depressing and it really doesn't matter why it happened. It just matters that it did, and right now IT JUST FEELS WRONG.

Lucky for a me, a trip to the dealer and a quick diagnosis will tell me if there really is a problem with my car or if it's all in my head. But a hockey team isn't a car, which leaves the Kings without a certain diagnosis. Hopefully they can figure it out soon, because right now it feels like our play-off dream is slowly slipping away...and IT JUST FEELS WRONG.

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I can't end a blog post about hockey on such a sour note, so let's talk about HOT MEN! That will cheer me up!

The Blackhawks squad gave me plenty of great choices. Sadly, Bret Sopel is not one of them.



Although it certainly is comforting to know that some things never change...he still looks as greasy as he did when he played for the Kings.

The Sopel mess aside, after examining all the other fine choices out there, it came down to two, and believe me, the final choice was tough. Rachel, I'm sorry, but Marian Hossa just doesn't make my list. And since he didn't skate much on my side of the ice during warm-ups, I didn't even get a usable photo. Oh, well.

My "Close But Not My Winner" hottie choice is Patrick Sharpe.



Canadian, 6' 1", 28 years old, left wing, associate captain. In short....ALL GOOD!

But one guy had just a little more awesome sauce for me, and that was Duncan Keith.



Granted, without the helmet off, the hair needs work. But I've got a huge soft spot for him because he's a defenceman, also an associate captain, and most importantly played HUGE minutes for Team Canada paired up with my Drewster. And any guy that teams up well with my favorite player wins by default. Plus the media voted him the #2 Star in last night's game, and that had to count for something. So Duncan, welcome to the "Opposing Team Hottie of the Night" club. See me before you leave LA and we'll do a little hair consultation...

The Kings get their next chance to turn this slide around (and stay in the play-off hunt) on Saturday, when they face John Tavares and the visiting New York Islanders. I just hope the doctor finds a diagnosis, and a cure, by then.

GO KINGS GO!

Kings vs Habs: Hopefully This Isn't A Trend

It's hard to believe tonight was my first game back at Staples Center in 3 weeks. A lot has changed in that time, and all for the good.



Prior to tonight's game, the Kings sat in 6th position in the league standings, assured of a play-off spot and contending for home ice advantage in the first round of the play-offs. I paid the deposit to secure my play-off seats. We grabbed two veteran players at the trade deadline on March 3rd, so this game was also the official "Welcome to the Kings" party for forwards Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin. And our proud Olympians return to home ice, including gold medal winner and Kings golden boy Drew Doughty.

The only black mark on the past two weeks was our loss Thursday night to the Nashville Predators - a tough to play team that has been like kryptonite for our guys this year. We came close in the end but just couldn't get it done. So it was time to finally get everyone back home, in a regular game day schedule, and get everyone back to their old selves.

Or maybe not. Things started off bad, with the sizable Montreal contingent cheering "Go Habs Go" during the Kings opening promotional video, followed by a Habs goal on the first shift only 22 seconds in. OK boys, time to wake up! These guys do not need to be any happier than they already are!



It took the rest of the period, but Kings magic man Anze Kopitar tied it with his 30th goal at 18:16. And Rich Clune, recalled from Manchester, made his physical presence known by scrapping with the Habs Ryan O'Bryne, who at 6' 5" looked at least a head taller than Cluner. I like his spunk - he can stay!

Things didn't get any better in the 2nd, when Kings goalie Jon Quick got beat by a clean shot from Dominic Moore. We looked dead on arrival from that point on - just no energy at all, and the Habs never looked back. In the 3rd, they scored on the opening shift AGAIN (it took 36 seconds this time), and even though Kings newcomer Fredrik Modin scored in the 3rd to make it 3-2, the Habs had all the momentum. After Quick got pulled, the Habs finished it with an empty netter to defeat the Kings 4-2. The loss dropped the Kings one spot to 7th place in the league, and 5th in the conference - still solid play-off position, but no home ice.

The bottom line - every game is critical, and no one gets an "off night." No one. And here are a few more thoughts I'd like to share with Coach Murray:

• This is our 2nd loss in a row where we pulled the goalie while only 1 goal down. Maybe let's try scoring with 5 guys and avoid those heart-breaking empty-netters, shall we? Losing by one goal just sounds so much more encouraging than losing by two.

• PLEASE stop putting Randy Jones in on the power play. Until he can prove he can hold down the blue line better, at least.

• Still not sure about putting new guy Halpern centering 2 rookies on the 4th line. I know he's a tenured guy, but he's still learning our systems, and I think Clune and Parse need a little more direction out there.

Now let's talk hot men. Had former King Michael Cammalleri been in the line-up, I would have had to give him a shout-out on Nadine's behalf, since she loves the short guys, and Cammy is 5' 9" IN skates. Luckily, there we other perfectly nice choices, since I am not a Cammalleri fan.

My official "Opposing Hottie of the Night" is #44 - Defenceman Roman Hamrlik.



I don't think any explanation is really required here, do you?

Although I also have to give an honorable mention to #20 - Defenceman Ryan O'Bryne, who at 6'5" makes me wish Kevin Westgarth was being recalled from Manchester. A girl can dream, right?



And last but certainly not least, BIG UPS to Nadine and her hubby John for working the information table for the California Condors before the game!



The Condors actually got to go meet the players before the game. My Kings are super guys! Even more excited to see more of these great kids at the big Skate-a-Thon tomorrow!

A Night With The Reign and My Darling

For the uninitiated sports fan that wants to start enjoying hockey without blowing the cost of a NHL ticket, there is nothing better than minor league hockey. Los Angeles is lucky to have it, in the form of the ECHL's Ontario Reign. And thanks to Jen having her own hockey game, I got to use her ticket and check out a Reign game with Brianna.



First a little background. The East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) is a professional hockey league with teams across North America. It works as one of the feeder leagues for the NHL, like a rough equivalent of Double A baseball. The American Hockey League (AHL) is like Triple A baseball - those are the players one step away from getting the call up to the "The Show." So the Reign is the ECHL affiliate for the Los Angeles Kings. Make sense?

Citizens Bank Arena, where the Reign play, is quite nice, and the parking is free. So for a mere $18 you can get this view, which would cost you roughly 5 times more at an NHL game.



And since we were there on a giveaway night, we even got a free blanket. You just can't beat this deal!



I didn't know most of the Reign players, but Brianna and Jen come to quite a few games, so she was able to help me know who to watch for. Bri's favorite player is #21 - forward Greg Hogeboom, who I nicknamed Boomer. It's up there with the best player nicknames of all time, in my humble opinion.



Sitting behind the bench at a minor league game has one significant difference from the NHL - the players never seem to sit down. Either they don't get all that tired or they're just so anxious to get out there they have ants in their pants.





Personally, I think it's the latter, because they certainly skate fast enough. Although I must say, watching a minor league game will make you understand pretty quickly why NHL defencemen take so long to develop, because NO ONE in the minors plays defence. Even the defencemen! It's basically one end rush after another. As soon as somebody gets the puck, they're skating as fast as they can to try to put it in the net. Because you gotta show your skills to get the NHL scouts to notice.

Like the NHL, the Reign have mascots - they actually have two! Blaze the Dragon and Jordan the Dark Night actually had a "dance off" on the ice, which was hilarious. Blaze has some serious break dancing skills, kind of like a particular Kings employee I know. Coincidence? I think not!



Minor league hockey also has much better contests than the NHL. "Chuck-a-Puck" has got to be the most hilarious mess I've ever seen. You buy numbered pucks for $1, then throw them on the ice and try to hit one of two targets - the helmet in the center of the ice, or one of those green astro-turf circles.



I think the entire arena was down in the lower bowl seats just launching those pucks onto the ice. People were having a blast. And all I could think watching this was how long it would take to clean up the mess. Looks like someone thought of a creative use for the nets!



The Reign won the game, which was a super end to a fun evening. But the best thing about the game was #1 Star of the Night - goalie Curtis Darling.



Oh, the things you could do with that. I can't imagine what this poor guy goes through in the locker room. "Darling, could you get the hell out of my way next time and quit stick handling the puck?" "How about stopping the puck next time, Darling?" And my favorite, "Could you toss me my cup, Darling?" Then again, he's a good looking guy, so I'm sure there are plenty of girls running around the arena screaming "Darling," and he probably doesn't care much.

The ECHL games are mostly on weekends, so if you find yourself sitting at home bored on a Saturday night, check out the Ontario Reign. And give a shout out to my Darling while you're there.