A Chat with Eddie Garcia of the Puck Podcast posted by Jeff Ponder

Sometimes the best way to learn about a sport is by talking with one of its biggest fans.

Eddie Garcia is a California-native who has followed the Los Angeles Kings for as long as he likes to remember.  He started a podcast with his long-time friend Doug Stolhand after reading a story in a local LA newspaper about a few average Joe's that started their own successful baseball podcast.  Eddie approached his friend about the story, and they sought advice from the baseball podcasters.  3 ½ years later, Eddie and Doug are the only hockey podcast featured on FoxSports.com, and the Puck Podcast has followers from all over the world, making it the number one rated hockey podcast on iTunes.  Eddie had a few minutes to go over his thoughts over the success of his show with me, along with a few thoughts about growing up in LA as a hockey fan and rumblings from around the league. 

He had to know that he could not get by without talking about his co-host though.  Eddie explained that Doug Stolhand, who also works for Fox Sports in the marketing department, is truly as cynical as his listeners think he is.

“Doug is very cynical.  I'm not as quite as dry and cynical as he is, but I think that its a good mix for the show.”

Eddie also revealed his reason for becoming such a big hockey fan.  No surprise coming from a California boy.

“It was Wayne Gretzky,” Garcia boasted, “Even people in California who don't know anything about hockey knew who Wayne Gretzky was.”
Continue reading "A Chat with Eddie Garcia of the Puck Podcast"

Welcome Back LA Kings Fans! posted by Brandon Bernstein

Welcome Back everybody.

Pre-Season will be getting underway next month and I know everyone is excited to see the new additions to their favorite teams, upgrades to the arenas, and empty their wallets for DirecTV Center Ice or to go to the game, but in all, we are excited, so lets get down to business.

First of all, Congratulations to the Penguins for their great Stanley Cup Victory, it was a great series and the Penguins do deserve it, even though Crosby whined the whole time.

Now Let's get into LA KINGS TALK!!!

Let me get everybody refreshed here on all the  trades, free agent signings, and maneuvers the Kings made this year.

First of All, Lets give a big round of applause for the Kings Staff making good off season moves this year. We are now the proud owners and fans of two great Hockey Players. Rob Scuderi, #1 defenseman for the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins will be joining us this season, as well as All-Star Forward Ryan Smyth. So needless to say we had a pretty good offseason. We also resigned Jack Johnson and Teddy Purcell, so we are keeping with the Royal Reign, just adding some new bright and great faces that will hopefully take us into the playoffs this year.

I would love to get to know my fans of this blog, so please feel free to write me any comments about the blog, as well as about you, and why you like the LA Kings or just hockey in general.

I would write more but I am currently out of town and computer time is limited, cause I gotta pay to use the Internet at the hotel, but thanks for taking a look at the blog, and I will write more soon.

Pronger Trade Rumor Ridiculous posted by Jeff Ponder

It was reported Friday that Chris Pronger found a new home in the town of Los Angeles.  The unconfirmed reports said that Pronger was sent to the Kings for up-and-coming defenseman Jack Johnson and a fifth-round pick.  The LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks quickly shot down the report.  Kings GM Dean Lombardi was asked via e-mail, and he quickly responded with the simplest of replies:  “No.”

The allegations of this deal seemed bogus from the start.  First of all, it is rare that a team would let that information leak before trading is allowed by the NHL.  The Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins were still yet to play a decisive Game 7 of their Stanley Cup Final series, meaning that all 30 teams were not permitted to begin trading players. 

On a pure team standpoint, this is a bad trade for Los Angeles to begin with.  Chris Pronger will be celebrating his 35th birthday this October, while Jack Johnson just turned a young 22 in January.  Los Angeles cannot be thinking that they are in any position to make a Stanley Cup run in the next few years.  Why would they go and get immediate help from a veteran defenseman rather than let a young defensive stalwart develop to make a strong run with his team in the future? 

The Kings have also made it evident that they are holding onto their money as much as possible.  They are currently the last team in spent salary, being over $14 million under the NHL salary cap.  Johnson currently is raking in $2.2 million and is eligible for restricted free-agent status after the 2009-10 campaign. While he will most likely be receiving a raise, Pronger's $6.3 million price tag is still pretty steep for a team looking to save money.  The Kings are likely holding onto their money to lock up players such as defenseman Drew Doughty, star forward Anze Kopitar and goaltender Jonathan Bernier.
Continue reading "Pronger Trade Rumor Ridiculous"

Inbound link contest winner announced! posted by Earn Money Blogging

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

The whole purpose of this contest was to get our bloggers networking with other webmasters and to start to build up their inbound links which will help their traffic.  Even a few links can help you with the search engines as they will see you as more of an authority on your topic the more inbound links you have.

To learn more about marketing your blog check out this post: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html#my_faq_2971

Marija's blog can be found here.  If you're a Knicks fan, check it out: http://www.newyorkknicksnews.com/marijak

The original post announcing the contest can be found here: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/bloggers/weblog/2984.html

And if you're not already signed up with Google AdSense and making money from your blog, check out our Revenue Share FAQ page: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html

The Direction of the Kings... posted by Nick Chapin

Coming out of the lockout there was hope.  The Kings made a big splash and acquired Pavol Demitra.  They made a couple of low-key signings in an attempt to patch up the goaltending in acquiring Mathieu Garon from the Montreal Canadiens, and then acquiring Jason LaBarbera from the Rangers.  Garon was long thought to be a potential starter stuck behind Jose Theodore in Montreal and Jason LaBarbera had absolutely shredded the AHL.  Hope.

A good start confirmed these hopes.  In fact, until a rough game in Buffalo, there didn't appear to be a serious flaw with the team.  Lubomir Visnovsky had turned into one of the elite offensive defensemen in the game.  Alex Frolov, Craig Conroy, and Pavol Demitra formed one of the best top lines in the league for a period of time.  The Kings were riding high.   Mathieu Garon and Jason Labarbera each turned in solid stints as the team's #1 goaltender (Labarbera was one of the best goalies in the league in October before cooling off and being sidelined due to various issues).  After that tumultuous evening in Buffalo, though, things changed.  The Kings tumbled wildly out of control from the top of the conference.  By April they were fighting for their playoff lives with very slim hopes.  They missed the playoffs completely.

The off-season brought change.  Head Coach Andy Murray was fired before the season could finish, and General Manager Dave Taylor was fired to begin the off-season.  Shortly thereafter, Dean Lombardi was brought in as his replacement.  He signed Marc Crawford to be the Kings' new head coach.  He then acquired Dan Cloutier -- a former 30 game winner -- from the Canucks for a nominal fee.  He traded Pavol Demitra to the Wild for a draft pick and high-end prospect Patrick O'Sullivan.  He traded Eric Belanger and Tim Gleason to the Hurricanes for super-prospect Jack Johnson and old Oleg Tverdovsky.  The future appeared to be bright, but it's still proved to be a bumpy road.

Inbound link contest - Win $100! posted by Earn Money Blogging

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

We're going to impose some restrictions on the types of links you can get so please see below for the full list of links that do NOT count.

To get started simply go to Google and find other websites and blog that are about the sports and teams that you write about. Email the website owner and ask them for a link by explaining that you think your blog would be a good resource for their readers. Or offer to write a guest post for them with your by-line and URL at the bottom of the article. Or offer to exchange links with them by writing a quick write up of their site and a reciprocal link back to them. Some webmasters will be happy to add you to their blog roll even if you don't give them a link back (which is ideal) but some may want you to link back to them - you can easily do this with a quick blog entry on your blog about their website.

To learn more about inbound links and marketing your blog in general check out this post:

Kings Negative Outlook posted by Sean Leahy

With the upcoming NHL season quickly approaching it seems impossible for a Los Angeles Kings fan to stay positive. At this point, what  we have to look foreword to is:raised ticket prices, a roster full of 20 year old's with little to no experience, and still a vacancy in the head coaching position. The worst part is; when I nervously proclaim that I'm a Kings fan, in a social situation, I am almost always relieved, yet shocked that most people who hear me don't even know who the Los Angeles Kings are. A friend will ask with a puzzled look on his face "I thought you were a Lakers fan", thinking I meant the Sacramento Kings. Hockey fans in general are really loyal, but anyone who still calls themselves a Kings fan should be proud. You've stuck with a cellar team, a perennial loser for however long that you have, sure there were some ups; Gretzky, Robitaille, maybe Palffy, and for those of you who haven't been with the club for a while you could now say Kopitar. But for the majority of my time as a fan its been downs. Now this, right now is the climax the turning point, all of those negatives could be positives. The 20 year old's have a lot of upside, if coached right, instead of a roster full of no experience we might have a roster full of stars in their mid 20's. The whole in our coaching staff is an opportunity. Marc Crawford never fit, this is our chance to finally get the right guy. Now this last one is a bit of a stretch.....if we pay more for tickets, the club will have more money to go out and sign big name free agents. Now I'm not saying this year the Continue reading "Kings Negative Outlook"

Kings Aim For The 500 Mark in '08 posted by Cori Vallembois

The Los Angeles Kings started 2008 off with a bang when they dominated Chicago by a score of 9-2 on New Year's Day in front of a home crowd at Staples Center.  Since then, the Kings have fallen to Columbus and Calgary in two close contests that could have ended in either team's favor.  Hopefully the Kings can capitalize tonight on a tired Nashville team who lost to the Anaheim Ducks just last night and pull out their second win of 2008.

Still lingering at the bottom of the league's standings, the Kings can't afford any more losses or injuries at this point in their year.  With Cammalleri still out due to a rib injury, the Kings hope Ladislav Nagy can continue his hot streak.  Nagy has racked up 10 points in his last 6 games (4-6) and had an especially impressive showing in the Kings' most recent victory versus Chicago when he recorded his third career hat trick along with two assists for his second career five-point game.

All I want for Christmas is a win... posted by Cori Vallembois

Hopefully Los Angeles Kings players and coaches all got what they wanted for Christmas.  And hopefully the satisfaction of receiving what they asked for will inspire them to give Kings fans what they've been asking for - a WIN.  The boys will have a chance to snap their 7 (yes, SEVEN) game losing streak tomorrow when they face the San Jose Sharks on home ice at Staples Center.

A question on everyone's mind is whether Dustin Brown, who leads the team with 16 goals, will suit up for Wednesday's match up, or if his shoulder strain will keep him in the locker room for the third straight game.  If Brown does not play, the Kings will look to players such as Michael Cammalleri and Patrick O'Sullivan to provide some much needed offense.

Cammalleri started the season dangling at the top of the NHL's goal scoring list, but has struggled to find net recently.  He was credited for the Kings' lone goal on Friday when they faced the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, but hadn't scored in his previous seven games.  I'm sure Kings head coach Marc Crawford, and Kings fans alike, would be ecstatic to see Cammy finish where he left off and start lighting the lamp once per game again.

Despite being stuck in a defensive role at the start of the 2007-2008 season, O'Sullivan has been pleading his case as to why he should be seen as an offensive threat as well.  In the month of December Sully has tallied 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists), including a short handed goal in the Kings' last game against Nashville.  He is a solid penalty killer, and a decent option for the recently struggling power play unit, as well.

Los Angeles Kings @ Columbus Blue Jackets (12/21/07) posted by Matthew R. Hastings

The Los Angeles Kings gave us hockey fans yet another lackluster performance, one almost not even worth writing about!  They faced-off with the Columbus Blue Jackets in Ohio earlier tonight.

It actually wasn't all bad at first, The Kings got on the board in the first period with a Power-play goal from Michael Cammalerri, his 15th of the season.  Assisted by two potential all stars this season in Anze Kopitar and Captain Rob Blake.  The Kings made it out of the 1st period with a 1-0 lead. 

In the second period the Kings continued to do a good job of keeping the Blue Jackets off the board and staying out of the penalty box.  Then with less than three minutes left in the 2nd period the Blue Jackets got a controversial goal to tie it 1-1.  It appeared King's goalie Jason LaBarbera had the puck covered under his pad waiting for a whistle, when Blue Jacket's forward, Novotny hit LaBarbera's pad causing the puck to slide past him into the net.  Was the ref slow on blowing his whistle?  The Kings bench sure thought so, but anyhow the 2nd period ended in a 1-1 tie. 

The Blue Jackets came out fast and put the puck on net early in the 3rd.  Nicklas Zherdev of Columbus got a bounce and just 37 seconds into the 3rd period the Blue Jackets were in the lead for the first time in the game 2-1.  In the final 19 minutes of the period the Kings managed to put 10 shots on Blue Jacket's backup goalie Fredrik Norrena.  Norrena would stay strong and hang on to get the 2 points and win for the Blue Jackets.

Sharks building momentum against Quick's LA Kings (Yahoo! Sports)

[read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Sharks tie series with 2-1 win over Kings (Yahoo! Sports)

[read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

LA Kings return home between road playoff games (Yahoo! Sports)

[read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

LA Kings return home between road playoff games (Yahoo!Sports)

[read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Logan Couture emerges as leader on Sharks (Yahoo! Sports)

[read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports