I love the Kings

I don't hate Crosby, for the most part. I do like that you can see that I've turned my ThinkLight on to find the PrtSc button.

Kings 5, Pittsburgh 2

When the whole crowd stood up with a minute left and LA up by 3, I realized just how long it's been since Kings fans have had a team this exciting. 1993 was a long, long time ago. The Potvin/Palffy teams of the early 2000's weren't this entertaining.

Notes:

• Anze Kopitar is a superstar. His vision is incredible, he's huge, and he finishes better than anyone in the NHL. Anyone.
• Bailey. Best mascot in sports.
  
• Dustin Brown gets a lot of flak for not scoring enough, but anyone who saw his pass to Jarret Stoll to give the Kings a 3-2 lead knows why he gets his ice time. Gorgeous.
• As recently as last season, the Kings were never in games where they had only scored one goal through two periods. With a capable goalie, lots of things change in a hurry. It also helps when you have the NHL's leading point scorer.
• Trading Frolov would be a huge mistake. His ability to hold onto the puck is unrivaled on the team, and I don't think that can be replaced. Oh yeah, he's also been the Kings' top scorer for a couple seasons.
  
• Jon Quick's nose is about a quarter inch from the center wire on his cage. I guess he gets better vision out of it that way, but goodness, cages bend all the time, particularly against guys with real shots. At the same time, I don't think Quick makes nearly as many saves with his mask as I do.

BAILEY. Respect the lion.

If the Kings don't make the playoffs this season, it will be a colossal disappointment. They're as good as anyone in the NHL right now, and while the Williams/Kopi/Smyth line is bound to cool off, there's no reason to expect the team to fade down the stretch when they've got solid goaltending and three lines that have some scoring touch.


Miscellany:

• On an unrelated note, the Angels re-signed Bobby Abreu for two years with an option for a third. The contract is 2 years at 9 million per, which I think is a fair deal, and also one that I believe spells the end of Vlad's time as an Angel. We'll see you in Cooperstown, Vladdy.
• Tomorrow is the most important Northeastern hockey home game of the season from a fan's perspective. Beat the candy canes.
• I've owned this ThinkPad X41 since the summer before college, about 4.5 years ago. I just bought a replacement AC adapter ($7, eBay) and a replacement battery ($40, eBay). That's it. This thing is a tank. And what a keyboard.
  

Dallas, Denver, Boston, Washington, Pittsburgh, Houston, and Los Angeles

Let's just call this post "Around the country."

Dallas/Denver

Jordan makes a fair point: I haven't talked about Dallas point guard Jose Juan Barea. With all due respect, though, he hasn't done much this series until...yesterday. In the Mavericks season-saving 119-117 win, Jose went 5-8 for 10 points while playing almost 16 minutes with a +7 rating. The plus/minus stat in basketball is even worse than hockey's, but the Dallas players with at least a +5 rating are these: Dirk (+12), Jason Kidd (+5), and Jason Terry (+10). Not bad company, if you pretend Terry is actually, well, good.

Jose has played between 15 and 20 minutes for most games in the series, even getting a start in game three, but he hasn't taken more than 5 shots until last night. For those of you who remember JJB from his Northeastern days, he's definitely a rhythm shooter, and his best games as a Husky came when he took lots of shots. Missing the free throws, though, is unacceptable.

Dallas is probably done in 5, but I'd like to see Jose manage a double-double as he did several times during the season.


Washington/Pittsburgh

A great series already, the Caps evened it up to force a decisive game 7 with a 5-4 OT win in Pittsburgh. I've been rooting for Washington mostly because I find Sidney Crosby to be edging on Brett Favre drama queen status, but you really can't complain about the level of play from either side. Plus, the Penguins are currently utilizing Brad Thiessen as a practice goalie, and Joe Vitale is in the playoffs with the Baby Pens (0-0-0 with 12 PIM...ouch), so Pittsburgh isn't really an organization I can root against.

And no, Thiessen has not updated his blog.


Houston/Los Angeles

At some point in every fan's life, often as frequently as once a season, one becomes disappointed when the realization is made that the players don't care half as much as the fans. For the Lakers, they've been pulling this act all year, but game 4 was the worst. It was extremely clear that they don't give a shit, and it took about 5 minutes for me to realize they thought they didn't have to try to win. If this team could, just once, play 48 minutes with the effort to match their talent, they would win by 60 points.

But they won't.

I fully expect them to win this series, but there's no way they win another without realizing that talent only gets you so far.

Luke Walton should see 0 minutes of playing time and come off the bench after Adam Morrison. Josh Powell should take his minutes. Walton sucks. Seriously. He's a turnover machine who can't shoot, also known as the guy in street clothes on every other team.


Boston/Los Angeles

Another Angels/Red Sox series...already. The last time they played, the Angels miraculously took 2 of 3 despite playing some truly awful baseball. They're improving. Boston, somehow, is improving despite losing a couple SP's and infielders. Youkilis and Pedrioa are probably out for tonight's Weaver/Masterson matchup.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Weaver. He's kept his walks down, but his flyball tendency means he's always prone to the long ball, particularly against a team as proficient at hitting them as the Red Sox. That said, if Weaver pitches as well as he has already this season, I see a W tonight and a likely W in the series.

The Angels are a half game out of first place. Seattle has really, really screwed up, and it couldn't have happened to a better fanbase.