Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Kings Gameday: Who Needs Kopitar?


Los Angeles Kings (22-32-10, 15th in West) vs. Nashville Predators (43-18-4, 1st in West)


The Kings are riding some what of a hot streak (for them, anyway), gaining points in 10 in their last 11 games, including a victory against the Ducks on Thursday. Coach Marc Crawford confused the Ducks by using a line-up system that is best described as a clusterfuck; Raitis Ivanans had a goal and played 11 minutes! Seriously, though, I could not understand what the hell was going on with the lines. I’m pretty sure Visnovsky played 61 minutes. (He had to take 2 minutes to heal a broken ankle bone during overtime.) The whole game was weird: Frolov outskated Scott Neidermayer on the way to a breakaway goal and Dustin Brown actually played better with Kopitar out of the line-up. The Kings are going to be hard-pressed to repeat that performance against a team that actually had the stones to make a move at the deadline, though.


Meanwhile, Nashville went out and got Peter Forsberg, solidifying them as my least favorite team in the NHL. [I mean, at least Anaheim has George Parros’s moustache. (And yes, I use the English spelling of “moustache.” Also, I use brackets.)] There’s Forsberg, who somehow has the reputation as a tough guy even though he sits out games he doesn’t think are important; there’s Martin Erat, who dared try and check Kopitar the last time the Predators played the Kings (Brown had to show him what’s what, below); Jason Arnott, who has a stupid face; Jordin Tootoo, who has a reputation for taking runs at people; and Darcy Hordichuk, who jumped Sean Avery from behind last year because Avery had the nerve to check Paul Kariya.


Oh yeah, Paul Kariya. Oh, how I loathe Paul Kariya. He constantly skates with his head down and yet acts surprised when he gets steamrolled by a guy playing, you know, hockey. The son of a bitch also earned my ire because he screwed over the Ducks. (Even though it was the Ducks, there are some things that are just not done; I mean,at least when Blake left he took a deal that was comparable to the one the Kings offered.) Remember when Scott Stevens elbowed Paul Kariya in the head? That was my screensaver for a while. The only part of that whole exchange I regret is that Kariya eventually got up. I hate you Paul Kariya and I hope you burn in Hell.


Oh yeah, and the Predators have silver on their jerseys. What’s up with that?


My Prediction: At least one Kings fan will mutter, “Who the hell is Shay Stephenson?”


6 comments:

Earl Sleek said...

Fantastic, RK.

Sure Kariya effed over the Mighty Ducks by leaving, but at least he's not still screwing us over by lending us his "services" at $6M per year.

But please, knock the wind out of those Preds tonight. That would be helpful for the meaningful game tomorrow :).

PJ Swenson said...

Erat had a couple of things on his mind. One of them was Dustin Brown's shoulder.

Anonymous said...

So what's up with Preds? How did you guys do?

Oooops... 3:6 I am sorry. :(

Jordi said...

Oh lord this is amazing. Great post. Additionally, I love the use of the much needed u in moustache.

Stevens8204 said...

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Anonymous said...

+1 on old timey spelling, and +1 on hating Paul Kariya, but -1 for making it all Kariya's fault.

The Ducks under previous management (Tavares, etc) were Bastards, not to put too fine a point on it. I challenge any Ducks fan to put up with the crap that Kariya put up with from their boss, and not run as far away from that organization as possible.

This was a group that threatened to fire the $30,000/year secretary if they paid K. the market rate for 1st line franchise players, and who had Disney execs call Kariya and his family at home to pressure him into signing for less money.

I don't know enough about the Ducks management now, but they were a hateful bunch back then, but in ways that weren't always obvious to the public.