Kings Gameday: This is Frustrating

LA Kings (egads!) @ Nashville Predators (35-28-8, 9th in West)

5:00 PST, 1150 AM

It gets really frustrating when the Frolov-Armstrong-Cammy is dominating out there (I think they've been our best line the past 2 weeks), and then Brown-Kopitar-O'Sullivan goes out there and has like 3 good scoring chances in one shift, and you think, "Hey, we're kicking ass, how could we possibly be in last pl-" and then you get the Ivanans-Ellis-Giuliano line and it feels like someone is kicking the idea of hockey in the groin. It offends me as a Kings fan, a fan of the NHL, and a fan of the sport of hockey in general that that line could possibly see one second of ice time. I know Dean Lombardi wants Brian Boyle, Ted Purcell, Lauri Tukonen, and Matt Moulson to come together as a group or some gay shit like that, but he should know that he's killing me.

You know what I actually said during the last game? "Man, I'd rather see John Zeiler out there." That's terrifying.

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Jonathan Bernier won QMJHL defensive player of the week, going 2-1 with a 1.34 GAA and a .955 SV%. He's playing on a very young team in Lewiston, Maine (and people say he was upset that he got sent back to Juniors) but he's been playing excellent hockey lately. We haven't forgotten about you, Jonathan.

Another Junior player that's been playing excellent hockey is Bud Holloway. He's playing with Thomas Hickey on the Seattle Thunderbirds and has 77 points in 67 games. Holloway has the reputation for being a good all-around player but one who lacks the scoring touch needed to play in the NHL. If he can prove his new found ability isn't a fluke, I can see him becoming a solid contributor on 1 of the bottom 2 lines. Plus, if he makes it we can play him with Oscar Moller and Ted Purcell and have a "Guys with old man names" line. In fact, they can pair up with Tom (Hickey) and Jack (Johnson) on defense. We'd be George Carlin's favorite team!

***

It didn't go well the last 2 times the Kings played the Nashville Predators. First, Mike Cammalleri did something to his ribs and missed 19 games; then, the Kings lost 7-0. Hopefully they can reverse the bad karma and pull out a win tonight. The Kings aren't going to make the playoffs or anything, but if we can stand as a fan base and say to another: "Haha, you missed the playoffs because you didn't beat us," well, then I think we can chalk this season up as a success.

To get you psyched up, here's grade-A fuckhead Jordin Tootoo picking a fight with a Buffalo Sabre before getting blown up by Steve Bernier:



Haha.

Prediction: Kings lose, 5-4. The top 2 lines end up +4 while the bottom lines finish -5.