So I’ve been sitting here for a while now trying to figure out what I want to do with this weekly feature about the Los Angeles Kings hockey team. As has been the case on a lot of Mondays this season, the success and failures of the Kings and other hockey teams in their division feels like a rather meaningless thing to be talking about, given what else has transpired around it. I thought about pushing this back at least a day, but I decided against it for a couple of reasons.
First of all, yes, the details released today during Slava Voynov’s court case are horrifying and any decent person should be outraged. If you haven’t seen them, Los Angeles Times reporter Nathan Fenno was basically live-tweeting the hearing today. Before I give you that link, please note that his account is extremely graphic and is likely to be triggering to many people (and at the very least, extremely upsetting to almost everyone). With that said, here’s his Twitter account should you still want to read it.
It’s truly horrifying stuff. But here’s the thing: if anything released today honestly surprised you, it likely says that you need to reevaluate how you personally react to stories of domestic violence. It should not take terrible, horrendous details for you to empathize with a victim. The simple details of “Slava Voynov’s wife was taken to the hospital for injuries she likely suffered at the hands of her husband” should have been enough to have you equally horrified. If you’re holding victims to an extremely high burden of proof, you’re doing them a huge disservice. And if you can’t find it in you to condemn domestic violence and those who perpetuate it without such details, your priorities are extremely skewed.
“Free Slava” was a real thing that a bunch of Kings fans did, for months. For months they worried more about his cap hit being on LA’s books than the well-being of a young woman who was viciously beaten. If some of them felt awful today, that’s great (and, honestly, well-deserved) but it’s only helpful if they reevaluate the way they treat victims of domestic violence going forward. And of course, there’s still a vocal minority who refuse to back off a foolhardy “innocent until proven guilty” position, and those people should absolutely be condemned.
But it’s not enough just to be outraged on a day like today. It goes without saying that most people will be upset by the kind of details we got today out of the Voynov case. Ultimately, that kind of outrage and anger is not particularly helpful. Coming onto Twitter on a day like today and joining a chorus that condemns the obviously horrific is easy and really not doing much of anything. It’s far more important to support victims of domestic violence even when there aren’t horrifying details, and to talk about this stuff all the time, not just on designated “let’s all be outraged about one specific incident” days.
If you really want to help make a difference, there’s a lot you can do. I’ll single out some very specific examples:
1) Support Hockey Fights DV, either with a pledge to donate (for example, I’m donating $1 per Anze Kopitar & Marian Gaborik point at the end of the season) to a local charity such as a shelter, or at least by signal boosting and helping to spread the word (tweet with the hashtag #hockeyfightsdv either way). If you are able to donate, talk about it throughout the season. Every time your chosen player scores a point, say that’s another dollar for #hockeyfightsdv. You get the idea.
2) Support people, especially women, who talk about this stuff all the time, not just on days where everyone agrees it’s relevant. Langluy has put together an excellent list on Twitter of women who are engaged with these issues and working hard to promote social change. Follow these women. Retweet them (signal boost).
3) Related to the above, when prominent people (usually men) of hockey twitter try to shut them down by labeling them “outrage hobbyists” or tweeting at them with .@ replies designed to get their thousands of followers to harass them in their mentions, speak up with your own voice and say this isn’t okay. Unfollow the people who do this, no matter how funny or entertaining you find their Twitter feeds. Taking followers away from them deprives them of an audience, and thus some of their power.
4) Remember how you felt today when the disgusting details came out. Keep that feeling in your gut and carry it with you going forward, so the next time you hear a headline of “(Person X) is accused of domestic violence”, you’ll react this way from the start, not just once you’ve heard all the gross details. Realize that the vast, vast, VAST majority of domestic violence cases do not involve anyone being wrongly accused, and save your empathy for the victim.
5) Be mindful that victims of domestic violence are everywhere. Do not publicly tweet out disgusting details or retweet them into people’s timelines. Link to them instead with clear trigger warnings. This is almost literally the least you can do, and yet a stunning number of people claiming to be outraged today failed to do it. Please stop forcing victims to relive their abuse.
6) Similarly, stop signal boosting denialists and other troublesome people by retweeting them. While I understand the impulse to mock or deride them, engage them one-on-one if you have to. Spreading their hateful message to a wider audience helps literally no one.
If you have any suggestions you’d like to share, feel free to put them in the comments. Please do not use the comments to debate Voynov’s guilt, how this will affect the hockey team or their public image, or share today’s horrifying details. This is not just a request, it is a demand, as I will moderate any comments that do any of the above. I appreciate your understanding.
Today will be another “just the stats” version of TWIK. As mentioned earlier, hockey analysis seems incredibly silly right now.
This Week in Games
(here’s all the games involving the Pacific Division from this past week. we’ll talk about the LA Kings’ games in great detail, while the rest will mostly just be scores, unless there’s something that really stood out about them. you’ll also get links to Eric’s awesome recaps which will expand on everything I’m saying in much greater detail if you missed any of them.)
Monday, December 8th
No games involving Pacific Division teams.
Tuesday, December 9th
-Buffalo Sabres 1, Los Angeles Kings 0: (recap) (gamethread)
-Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Calgary Flames 1
-Montreal Canadiens 3, Vancouver Canucks 1
–San Jose Sharks 5, Edmonton Oilers 2
Wednesday, December 10th
–Anaheim Ducks 2, Edmonton Oilers 1
Thursday, December 11th
-Buffalo Sabres 4, Calgary Flames 3
–Los Angeles Kings 5, Ottawa Senators 3: (recap) (gamethread)
-Nashville Predators 5, Arizona Coyotes 1
–San Jose Sharks 2, Minnesota Wild 1
Friday, December 12th
-Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Calgary Flames 1
-Montreal Canadiens 6, Los Angeles Kings 2: (recap) (gamethread)
–Anaheim Ducks 4, Edmonton Oilers 2
Saturday, December 13th
–Anaheim Ducks 4, Winnipeg Jets 1
-Minnesota Wild 4, Arizona Coyotes 3 (SO)
-New York Rangers 5, Vancouver Canucks 1
–San Jose Sharks 2, Nashville Predators 0
Sunday, December 14th
-Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Los Angeles Kings 3 (SO): (recap) (gamethread)
-Chicago Blackhawks 2, Calgary Flames 1
-New York Rangers 2, Edmonton Oilers 0
This Week in Standings
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Points | ROW | GF | GA | Diff | Home | Away | Last Week | 5v5 CF% |
| 1. Anaheim | 32 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 47 | 17 | 95 | 83 | +12 | 10-3-3 | 11-3-2 | 3-0-0 | 49.7% |
| 2. Vancouver | 30 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 38 | 16 | 89 | 86 | +3 | 7-4-1 | 11-6-1 | 0-2-0 | 50.7% |
| 3. San Jose | 32 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 38 | 15 | 90 | 82 | +8 | 8-4-2 | 9-7-2 | 3-0-0 | 52.0% |
| 4. Los Angeles | 31 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 36 | 14 | 82 | 73 | +9 | 11-4-1 | 4-6-5 | 1-2-1 | 53.3% |
| 5. Calgary | 32 | 17 | 13 | 2 | 36 | 14 | 95 | 85 | +10 | 8-4-2 | 9-9-0 | 0-4-0 | 44.8% |
| 6. Arizona | 30 | 10 | 16 | 4 | 24 | 8 | 70 | 99 | -29 | 4-8-3 | 6-8-1 | 0-1-1 | 48.7% |
| 7. Edmonton | 31 | 7 | 19 | 5 | 19 | 7 | 65 | 104 | -39 | 5-11-1 | 2-8-4 | 0-4-0 | 50.9% |
This Week in #fancystats
(all stats are total attempts, not percentages. thanks to extra skater war-on-ice. note that they decided to remove the “close” situation as stat nerds everywhere have decided it actually isn’t all that important, but will be adding score-adjusted stats soon, which will be great and I’ll work them into this feature when they do. anyway….)
Sabres 1, Kings 0
Corsi: Kings 70-Sabres 23 (overall), Kings 57-Sabres 18 (5v5), Kings 40-Sabres 17 (5v5 tied)
Fenwick: Kings 45-Sabres 17 (overall), Kings 37-Sabres 14 (5v5), Kings 26-Sabres 13 (5v5 tied)
LA Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Martinez (+25), Doughty (+19), Regehr (+17). Worst: Greene (-3), King (+5), Brown/Richards/Nolan (tied, +6)
BUF Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Deslauriers (-2), Benoit/Kaleta (tied, -4). Worst: Ristolainen (-22), Flynn (-21), Zadorov (-20)
Kings 5, Senators 3
Corsi: Senators 68-Kings 65 (overall), Kings 52-Senators 52 (5v5), Senators 22-Kings 14 (5v5 tied)
Fenwick: Kings 49-Senators 47 (overall), Kings 39-Senators 34 (5v5), Senators 16-Kings 9 (5v5 tied)
LA Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Regehr (+8), Toffoli/Martinez (tied, +4). Worst: Doughty (-6), Kopitar/Muzzin/King (tied, -5)
OTT Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Greening (+12), Ceci/Cowen (tied, +9). Worst: Karlsson (-12), Smith (-7), Condra (-5)
Canadiens 6, Kings 2
Corsi: Kings 92-Canadiens 41 (overall), Kings 61-Canadiens 36 (5v5), Canadiens 6-Kings 5 (5v5 tied)
Fenwick: Kings 60-Canadiens 30 (overall), Kings 37-Canadiens 27 (5v5), Kings 4-Canadiens 4 (5v5 tied)
LA Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Muzzin (+21), Doughty (+20), Lewis (+16). Worst: Richards/Toffoli/Pearson (tied, -1)
MTL Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Bournival (+3), Andrighetto (+1), Weise/Subban (-3). Worst: Emelin (-15), Desharnais (-14), Prust (-13)
Maple Leafs 4, Kings 3 (SO)
Corsi: Kings 80-Maple Leafs 57 (overall), Kings 62-Maple Leafs 38 (5v5), Kings 21-Maple Leafs 16 (5v5 tied)
Fenwick: Kings 56-Maple Leafs 41 (overall), Kings 45-Maple Leafs 27 (5v5), Kings 16-Maple Leafs 12 (5v5 tied)
LA Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Stoll (+15), Williams/Gaborik (tied, +12). Worst: Kopitar/Pearson (tied, even), Richards (+1)
TOR Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Winnik (+2), Holland (+1), Santorelli (-1). Worst: Bozak (-17), Van Riemsdyk (-16), Kessel (-15)
Next Week in the Pacific
(this is exactly what it sounds like: the next week’s schedule for all 7 Pacific Division teams. all times are pacific because, um, duh.)
| Team | 12/15 | 12/16 | 12/17 | 12/18 | 12/19 | 12/20 | 12/21 |
| LA | – | @STL (5:00) | – | vs.STL (7:30) | – | vs.ARI (1:00) | – |
| ANA | – | @TOR (4:30) | – | @MTL (4:30) | @OTT (4:30) | – | – |
| VAN | – | – | vs.DAL (7:00) | – | – | vs.CGY (7:00) | – |
| SJ | – | – | vs.EDM (7:30) | – | vs.STL (7:30) | – | |
| CGY | – | vs.NYR (6:00) | – | – | vs.DAL (6:00) | @VAN (7:00) | – |
| ARI | – | vs.EDM (6:00) | – | – | – | @LA (1:00) | – |
| EDM | – | @ARI (6:00) | – | @SJ (7:30) | – | – | vs.DAL (3:00) |
That’s all I’ve got for you today folks. Be good to each other.