Don’t Bash Ash

Last night in a fight, the Penguins’ Arron Asham KO’d the Capitals’ Jay Beagle.  The fight started when Beagle was mixing it up with Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang, and Asham came to his teammates’ aid.  Asham caught Beagle on the jaw with two straight rights, and Beagle went down.  As he was lead to the penalty box, Asham signaled “he’s out” and a “go to sleep” motion, in which many fans considered taunting.

Video can be seen here.

After he realized Beagle was hurt, Asham gave him a stick tap from the penalty box.  Asham said that he was pumped up and tried to get the crowd as well as his team going.  He also added that he thought the “stuff afterward was uncalled for” and he takes full responsibility for it.

Who Do You Love to Hate?

It’s a simple enough question to answer. Each of us, as hockey fans has that one team, be it a division rival, a perennial playoff adversary, or otherwise, that just makes the blood boil. We steam and try not to throw things at our televisions when they win (especially against our teams) and cheer emphatically when they lose – especially in embarrassing fashion.  Just admit it, you’ve got one too!

For me as a Kings’ fan, the answer has always been pretty easy. As a kid watching in the late 80s and early 90s when the Kings were part of the Smythe Division, I hated the Flames and Oilers. They were division rivals and in those days, you had actual divisional playoffs (I miss that!) that had the top 4 teams from each division (there were but 2 in each conference) facing each other for two rounds for the right to get to the Conference Finals. The Oilers were a powerhouse and it seemed like the Kings and Oilers played in the first round for a consecutive decade, and it seemed like the Oilers always killed us. That was part of what made the Miracle On Manchester such a big deal. When the Kings traded for Gretzky in 1988, they promptly beat the Oilers in round one of the 89 playoffs, then got trounced by the Flames in the Division Final. The following year the Kings upset the defending champion Flames in round one on Mike Krushelnyski’s triple-OT goal, one of the most memorable goals in Kings’ history, then went on to lose, again, to the Oilers.

Bleeps And Bloops: Offseason Notes And Thoughts

Here are some tidbits from around the NHL

Kris Draper (PHOTO: Getty Images)

– Kris Draper announced his retirement from the NHL. He is a 4 time Stanley Cup winner (1997, 1998, 2002, 2008. All with Detroit), as well as a 2004 Frank J. Selke Trophy winner. He totaled 364 points in his 19 year NHL career that spanned 1157 games. Also has 2 world junior gold, 1 world cup gold, 1 world championship gold and silver to his name with Team Canada. Congrats to him on a great career, and all the best to him in retirement!

– Nikolai Khabibulin is heading to the slammer after deciding to not appeal his 2010 DUI conviction. The lesson, being on injured reserve for a sore back, not the time to get wasted. On the bright side, 15 days is plenty of time  for him to start a prison yoga gang.

– Penguins signed Right Winger Jason Williams. A very good, underrated signing. He seems to always pop up when you need a goal, just don’t count on him all the time. He’s like Alex Kovalev…. without the huge price tag, stickhandling ability, and attitude.  

2011 CSH Awards

We all know who the best players have been the best in the NHL in the 2010-11 season, but who have been some of the worst?  Years ago, I created some “awards” in my old sim league (DCHL), as a semi roast to certain players, GMs and teams.  I took some of these awards,  and created some brand new ones.

First, we start with the Trigger Happy Award, which goes to the GM who has pulled off the most trades in the last year (for the purpose of a starting point, I used 2010’s regular season end to this regular season’s end).  With 18 counted trades, including acquiring (and trading) Dennis Wideman, Dale Tallon of the Florida Panthers is our 2011 winner.  The other GM award, the aptly named You Suck Award goes to Ottawa’s Bryan Murray.  Last summer, Murray signed Sergei Gonchar for 3 years and $16 million, and the 37 year old played like he was 57.  The team plummeted to last place and Murray started the firesale, trying to get what he could for many players.  Some of his deals were to rectify mistakes he had made in the summer, and in previous seasons.  All this, while Daniel Alfredsson remained on the team and his value continued to drop.

Moving on to some statistical awards, the winner of the Broad Street Bully Award goes to Islander Zenon Kenopka, who blew away the field in the penalty minute department, finishing with 307.  Kenopka is the first player to break the 300 PIM barrier since Dan Carcillo in 2007-08.   The Greg Millen Trophy for allowing the most goals in the regular season goes to the Colorado Avalanche.  The team allowed a whopping 287 goals, the most since the 06-07 Flyers.  On the topic of goalies, our Red Light Award for worst goalie of the year (minimum of 20 games) is Rick DiPietro.  DiPietro “lead” the league with a 3.44 GAA, had the second worst save percentage at 88.6% and finished with a record of 8-14-4.

The Bettman Trophy for Villain of the Year was no surprise.  Suspended for 21 games this season within two separate incidents, including missing the entire first round of the playoffs, Matt Cooke easily wins the award.

Why I Love the Kings

This is a series where the Crimespree writers will write why they love their favorite team.

Wayne Gretzky. I was only one year old when Gretzky was traded to Los Angeles, but he is easily a player that I can attribute to my love for hockey and the Kings. I can also thank my uncles for getting me into the game. Watching playoff games in the garage of my grandparents house is one of the things I remember best. 1993 was the closest to the Stanley Cup the Kings have been and as a six-year-old, all I knew was that I loved this team and I wanted them to be Champions. I never attended a live game until preseason in 2005. It was against the “Mighty” Ducks. Going to a live game made me love the sport even more, and I became even more of a crazy puckhead.

When Luc Robitaille became President of Buisness Operations in 2007, he brought the fans closer to the team. Hockey Fest became an annual event that got us an inside look of the organization, letting fans interact with Kings Management, Players and Alumni. It’s definitely an event that makes you feel like you are a part of the team.

The rivalry with the Anaheim Ducks makes going to Kings vs Ducks games interesting. The fans don’t like each other in the least bit, and its usually a “who can cheer louder in the other teams house” battle, with the occasional fight. It’s bound to happen sooner or later when you get these two fan-bases together. The rivalry was named the Freeway Face-Off in the 2007-08 season, with the loser of the season series donating to the winning teams charity. Every season, Kings fans travel to Anaheim for the “Duck Roast,” making the Ducks arena sound like a Kings home game. I have yet to participate in the Duck Roast, but it’s definitely on my list.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Present day Kings. A few changes in Kings Management with a new head coach and assistant coach (Terry Murray and John Stevens) and the man with the plan, Dean Lombardi, the eight year playoff drought came to an end in the 2009-10 season. It looked like the Kings rebuilding stage was finally coming to an end. I was lucky enough to go to the first home playoff game at Staples Center last season, and I have never felt so much energy and excitement. The building was so loud you couldn’t hear the goal horn. It’s something I hope to experience many more times in the upcoming years. Players like Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty give hope to the organization and its fans. Drew Doughty is coming off of a successful sophomore season, winning Olympic Gold, gaining playoff experience and being a Norris Trophy finalist. All at 20 years old. The young team is exciting to watch and they are giving us a reason to cheer again.

Drew Doughty

I love this team more than I can possibly explain, and I hope to see them lift many Stanley Cups.