AGRI Biz

On the first night of the 2010 NHL Draft, the Los Angeles Kings bucked expectations (well, at least my expectations) and traded up with Florida to snag Derek Forbort, a 6-foot-4 defenseman from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. And for all the stories about the players coming out of Southern California (Emerson Etem and Beau Bennett), Dean Lombardi decided to grab what many draftniks say was ...

Game 5 Canucks 7, Kings 2 The Kings have now experienced the wide range of emotions that the playoffs bring. The soaring feeling of winning in overtime from Game 2. The feeling of invincibility of completely dominating Game 3. And now the crushing feeling of being blown out in Game 5. The Kings played their worst game of the Stanley Cup quarterfinals against Vancouver, and now face elimination ...

Game 4 Canucks 6, Kings 4 Kings winger Alexander Frolov was skating in on a breakaway pass from Dustin Brown. In net was the Canucks' beleaguered captain, Roberto Luongo. Already touched for two power-play goals, the result of this breakaway could very easily determine the outcome of, not only Game 4, by the series. In short, Luongo needed to come up big. Luongo stopped Frolov's shot, and ...

Game 3: Kings 5, Canucks 3 Imagine the viewpoint from the player's standpoint for a moment. You can feel the roar, before you even push your way through the double castle doors. You skate out to AC/DC's Back in Black to a raucous arena filled with fans wearing all black and waving white towels, bellowing with the pent-up intensity of six failed seasons. Staples is not normally known ...

Game 2: Kings 3, Canucks 2 (overtime) The Kings responded to their Game One overtime loss to the Canucks by showing they have a flair for the dramatic. After being down two goals in a lackluster first period, the Kings battled back to tie the game, then push it to overtime, where Anze Kopitar scored to send the teams back to L.A. with the series all knotted up. ...

Game 1: Canucks 3, Kings 2 (OT) The Kings took the Canucks to the limit and back Thursday in Game One of the Stanley Cup playoffs. And even though they found themselves on the losing side of the game, the club didn't seem that worried about it. After all, the young Kings haven't been in the league long enough to actually feel the mounting pressure of ...

Game 66: Blackhawks 3, Kings 2 (OT) Some might see an overtime loss—I see progression. I had said in the last game recap that I now expect the Kings to beat the bad teams. But I should've also said I expect them to be able to play with anyone. And Wednesday's game certainly supports that opinion. Chicago has ascended toward the top of the NHL this season. ...

Game 63: Predators 4, Kings 2 Don't look now, but the Predators are making noise down in Nashville. And it sounds more like Old Time Hockey than the Grand Ole Opry. For some reason, the Kings don't play the Predators particularly well. They have lost five games in a row to the Preds, reaching back into last season. But that was before the Kings really started ...

Game 39: Wild 4, Kings 3 Could this be the harbinger of things to come? The Kings struggled heading into the Christmas holiday, and still look out of sync in the last two games. But Monday's loss to the Wild was more disheartening than Saturday's 3-2 loss to Phoenix . It was also the first game without Justin Williams, who is out 12 weeks with his broken ...

Game 38: Coyotes 3, Kings 2 Wow, that could've gone better. The Kings returned to the ice after gorging themselves on holiday ham and figgy pudding to play the resurgent Phoenix Coyotes. You know, those same Phoenix Coyotes who were all stressed out about their ownership situation, until the Ice Edge Holdings investment group stepped up to the plate and made a play to ...