It has been a calm few days in the Kings world, although there are a few things to touch on here and there.
The Kings are diving into the meat of the Grammy Awards road trip.
They took a tough loss to the Bruins on Saturday, and will have to face off against the difficult Washington Capitals tonight. It gets no easier as the team will head to Florida and Tampa Bay and finally finish up against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
With a poor road record on the season, and a need to basically get points in two thirds of the remaining 33 games, the Kings can't afford to slip. Especially since they have one of the hardest schedules in the league down the stretch.
The Kings did get a bit of a fun added bonus to the trip yesterday though. Both the Kings and the LA Galaxy made their trip to visit with President Obama at the White House. As usual, the ceremony was short and sweet with Obama making at least one crack about the Kings knocking off his native Chicago Blackhawks.
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) February 2, 2015One interesting note, Mike Richards was not in attendance. If you are thinking it's because he is Manchester and they perhaps had a game or something, think again. The Monarchs had a day off from games, and even Jeff Schultz flew in to attend the ceremony since he was on the playoff roster. Word was he "Politely declined" attending the ceremony. On one hand you can kind of see his point. It's a fresh wound, he might be embarrassed to be around his teammates at this point, who knows. On the other hands it is the White House and it is a chance that few have. Not only could he have visited once, but twice. Who can say that?
As far as other Mike Richards news goes, he appears to be in good spirits in the minors and had a good interview with friend of the blog and Mayor's Manor reporter Andy Tonge.
Seems like Richards is taking it in stride but the decision ultimately blind sided him.
Between periods of the Monarchs games he seemed fairly low key.
"I'm here, whatever the situation it is, I am a hockey player and I play wherever I am told to play." Mike Richards between periods
— Jason Lewis (@SirJDL) January 31, 2015and contrary to what was popularly reported,Leafs GM Dave Nonis was not at the Monarchs game to watch Mike Richards specifically.
Yes, he was there, but according to Pierre LeBrun this was a trip that Nonis had planned weeks prior. Yes, weeks before the Mike Richards demotion.
Leafs GM Dave Nonis is taking in AHL game in Manchester tonight but it was a trip planned a while back, just FYI.
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) January 30, 2015So if Nonis had this trip scheduled to scout Mike Richards, he is either a wizard or is getting advanced scouting advice from Miss Cleo. If either of those notions are true than it makes his job as the Leafs GM even more questionable.
The other things that Richards will be absent from is the Epix Stadium series premier which will be on tonight on NHL.com and Epix.com. You can sign up for an Epix account for free to watch the series on their website. There was some grumbling about the quality of the Caps-Hawks one, and comparing it to HBO, but I felt it was well done and should give people an insight to the mystique that is the Kings low-key locker room. The show will go on at 10/9 Central. Who is ready to see some behind the scenes Kings stuff?
Oh, and it is only a month before we get to see the beauties in action:
And word is creeping out that the Sharks have officially changed their look for the Stadium Series game following Katy Perry's Super Bowl halftime show:
At long last, the San Jose Left Sharks are a thing. http://t.co/ji6pGoZ6ye #katyperry #leftshark #sb49 #content #help pic.twitter.com/9lHc9M90IK
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) February 3, 2015Some more detailed blogs will be upcoming, including Jonathan Quick's hot cold play and a look at some of the Kings prospects.
For now, get ready to take in the Caps and Alex Ovechkin. They are 4-4-2 in their last 10 and are currently in 8th place out east. Both teams would love to walk away with two points here so it should be an inspired game. Or at least you would hope.
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