Kings News
LAKings.com
Sustaining Success Jon Rosen writes about the way the team has been rebuilt and the recognition, Drew Doughty in particular, that the team now receives off the ice.
Bleacher Report
Drew Doughty Trending Toward Becoming the NHL’s Best Defenseman As if there was any doubt that Doughty is quickly becoming one of the best in the world.
Kings’ Justin Williams Making a Strong Conn Smythe Case with Clutch Play With the media’s love for narratives and “clutchness,” it’s a wonder — to me, anyway — how no one has decided Justin Williams should get the Conn Smythe (though Doughty is still the frontrunner, IMO).
NHL.com
Kings thrive on right mix of analytics, attitude Dean Lombardi’s obsession with culture and winning seems to be paying off as LA is three wins away from another Cup.
Los Angeles defensemen are Kings’ court jesters In case you missed it, Greg Wyshynski wrote about how funny the Kings’ defensemen are. Hey, at least it’s not another narrative.
AEG CEO denies Kings are for sale There’s a conflicting story from the New York Post that claims their “well-placed banker sources” think owner Phil Anschutz is going to sell the team. If you’ll recall, this story broke two years ago the first time the Kings were in the Final.
ESPN.com
Kopitar getting overdue recognition Lots of love for Anze Kopitar in this article.
Rangers News
Stanley Cup Final Ratings were the second highest they’ve been since 1999, though they were down from last year’s Game 1. One interesting thing to note: Buffalo had the second highest number of viewers, beating out LA, Boston and Providence in the top 5.
New York Post
Dan Girardi’s agonizing wait for a chance at redemption The headline is a bit hyperbolic, but the article does talk about the mental aspect of the waiting game. It does nicely wait until three paragraphs in to clear Girardi of blame, though.
New York Times
Soaring, and Souring, in Postseason Spotlight Basically a “Get it together, Rick Nash” piece. And best of all, the author just drops Corsi in there like NBD, everyone talks about it.
Washington Post
How the New York Rangers can even the series against Los Angeles Kings Crash the net and let Martin St. Louis have his way is the gist of it.
Stanley Cup Final – Video
These net cam goals are pretty awesome:
- Benoit Pouliot scores opening goal.
- Carl Hagelin breaks away, gets assist from Slava Voynov.
- Kyle Clifford cuts Rangers’ lead in half with this beauty.
- Henrik Lundqvist makes a great save late in the third.
- Justin Williams gets the OT winner and was mic’d up for it.
Local radio host from hip hop station Power 106 Big Boy bet rapper 50 Cent $10K that the Kings would beat the Rangers for the Cup. He may or may not have been pressured into doing it.
Dan O’Halloran and Wes McCauley are the refs expected to work Game 2 on Saturday. Scouting the Refs has a video of them mic’d up in the 2013 Final.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, Steven Dangle Glynn’s videos on the SCF are amazing. Watch here.
Elsewhere Around the League
San Jose Sharks
Sharks trade Dan Boyle’s negotiating rights to Islanders for a conditional 5th rounder If you haven’t heard, the San Jose Sharks traded Dan Boyle‘s UFA rights to the New York Islanders. But Red Wings‘ beat writer Helene St. James thinks Boyle could end up in Detroit. Because what they really need are more old players who can barely play anymore.
Sam Tageson is a teenager who got to skate out on the ice and participate in warm ups with the Sharks during a regular season game thanks to the Make A Wish Foundation. Upper Deck made him a rookie card that was recently unveiled for fans in the Bay Area. Jason Demers was so inspired, he had to get it autographed. Link to the video here.
Phoenix Coyotes
The Coyotes had a town hall meeting last night with Head Coach Dave Tippett, GM Don Maloney and one of the co-owners. The Coyotes’ website has the video here. It’s 45 minutes but if you have the time, it’s really interesting to listen to, especially to hear what the new ownership group has planned for the team (i.e.: new merch, better food, etc).
NHL.com
Pierre McGuire was a candidate for Penguins‘ GM job but sadly, they have decided to go with Jim Rutherford, according to Bob McKenzie and that makes me sad. Also, to go along with this news, Dan Bylsma lost his job. Our friends over at Pensburgh have the rundown here.
The Score
Is Marc Crawford coming back? He says he’s been in contact with three teams that have a head coaching vacancy.
Rumor has it that Leafs are aggressively shopping everyone except a short list of “core” players. This could actually pan out to be a moderately interesting summer given everything we know about Tim Leiweke and the reputation that precedes Dave Nonis.
Totally Random
This has nothing to do with hockey, but I wanted to include it anyway as a reminder that life exists outside of hockey. And this is super cool: A 93-year-old who parachuted into Normandy on D-Day decided to do it again. Video here.