Los Angeles Kings Finish 2011 World Tour In Style

Perhaps the Kings should build a 500 foot wooden Kings Crown and designate an individual to move it around the country, city to city, wherever the team may go. Every time the Kings go into overtime, what jumps out? No, not the Greeks… Not the entire LA Kings team… Not Jarret Stoll… None other than Jack MF Johnson! Before you know it, Jack breaks out of the Crown, the puck is in the back of the net and the Kings are moving on to the next city with two points.

Talk about stepping up your game. This guy is absolutely electric right now! If this is indicative of the type of season Jack is going to have, the names Doughty, Lidstrom and Weber should be a distant second in the minds of Norris voters come seasons end.

Take a quick glance at the Los Angeles Kings’ roster and you’ll see it; this team is for real! If you don’t see it, you’re in denial and/or you’re a fan of one of the rival teams in the NHL. 

After traveling the world over the past two plus weeks, the Kings come home for their “home opener” tonight. The team split two games in the “European Experiment”, came back to North America and had to be completely exhausted and road weary. After four days of team building exercises and visiting military facilities on the east coast, it was time to take on the New Jersey Devils. In a game where the Kings played real hockey for a total of ten minutes, Jonathan Quick still deserved the win. Dude stood on his head for the entire game. Except for a complete meltdown in the defensive zone, the game should have ended 1 – 0 in the Kings’ favor. Alas, it was not to be. So we go to a shootout where ‘he who should not be mentioned’ scored, followed by a Kings miss, followed by our soon-to-be Left Winger making a nice move and putting the puck in the net, followed by another Kings miss. Game over, Devils win the shootout. At that point, I couldn’t help but feel for Jonathan Quick but it was obvious that he won himself the next start versus the Flyers in a game that would see Mike Richards returning to Philadelphia in a Kings uniform for the first time. Two fantastic goals by Justin Williams (ex-Flyer), one of which was assisted by Simon Gagne (ex-Flyer). Two goals by the Flyers and a penalty toward the end of regulation set the stage for a dramatic ending to an intense game. With a few seconds left in the 4 on 3, Mike Richards (ex-Flyer) faked a slapshot, hesitated, then found Jack Johnson who put his stick on the ice for the tap in and the game winner. Kings win!

All of the above brings us to the present. Tonight’s game will be telling in a number of ways. If the Kings can come out and show the home crowd that they can control their emotions, control the pace of the game and show that some of the chemistry that has been promising to sneak its way onto the team is finally coming together, we, as Kings Fans, can take comfort and know that THIS is the team we’ve been waiting for.

Time to get excited folks! It’s Our Turn! Alright Kings Fans, this is my first post in what is sure to be a fulfilling spot with the Rink Royalty team! Kill me on Twitter if you feel you must.