WOO HOO!!! Kings in Stanley Cup Finals!!!

Kings win 4 to 3 in overtime!  The Cup BABY!!!!  Four more wins!!!  I WANT THE CUP!!!!

Check out the game winning goal by Dustin Penner below.

Video Link:

(Western Conference Champions trophy: Clarence S. Campbell Bowl)

 Don't touch that trophy, Brownie.  That's not the hardware we want.

(pic via Instagram @lakingshockey)

(Pic via twitter @MayorNHL)

(Pic via twitter @LAKINGSINSIDER)

Below is the schedule for the Finals!  All times are eastern time.

WED, MAY 30, 2012	8 pm	LOS ANGELES KINGS AT EASTERN CHAMPION
SAT, JUNE 2, 2012	8 pm	LOS ANGELES KINGS AT EASTERN CHAMPION
MON, JUNE 4, 2012	8 pm	EASTERN CHAMPION AT LOS ANGELES KINGS
WED, JUNE 6, 2012	8 pm	EASTERN CHAMPION AT LOS ANGELES KINGS
*SAT, JUNE 9, 2012	8 pm	LOS ANGELES KINGS AT EASTERN CHAMPION
*MON, JUNE 11, 2012	8 pm	EASTERN CHAMPION AT LOS ANGELES KINGS
*WED, JUNE 13, 2012	8 pm	LOS ANGELES KINGS AT EASTERN CHAMPION
*if necessary

Game 5 Tonight! Go Kings Go!!

The Kings couldn't close it out on Sunday, so they'll get another chance tonight at 6PM to win the Western Conference Finals.  The Phoenix Coyotes showed some character and grit in Game 4.  They skated fast, checked hard and were more efficient with the puck.  The Kings, on the other hand, were out of sorts.  They looked uncertain on the ice and slower to react to the tough forechecking displayed by Phoenix.  As I read on one message board, (this is to paraphrase) the Coyotes played like the Kings, and the Kings could not keep up.  Our saving grace is that they had plenty of chances to score, but they couldn't slam home the biscuit. 

I suspect that we will get much of the same tonight.  That is, we will see both the Kings and Coyotes forechecking hard while being overall pest on the ice.  And as always, special teams will likely determine who wins.  Will the Kings score on the power play?  Can Phoenix fight through our penalty kill to score again?  Who knows?  What appears likely is that this may very well be the most exciting game we see yet in these playoffs, and I strain to predict a final tally.  But let's say, for argument sake, that I put something down on paper.   I predict a 1 to 0 score at the end of the evening with the Kings winning it overtime on a goal by defenseman Rob Scuderi half way through the period.  (BTW, Scuderi is one of only three Kings regulars yet to score in these playoffs)

Go Kings Go!!!!!

To get you in the mood enjoy the below fan-made Kings video.

Video Link:

Blog Kiosk: 5/22/2012

Topps recently release some preview pics of a new Baseball product called Five Star.  It is a high-end set ($400 to $500 per pack), and will come out on October 31st.  Check out Beckett for more pics and information.

• True to the Blue spent this past Saturday getting Orel Hershiser's autograph at Frank & Sons.
• The 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft is just around the corner.  It will be held from June 4th to the 6th, and the Dodgers representatives on hand will be Tommy Lasorda and Ron Cey. Via Ken Gurnick MLB.com.  The Dodgers have the 18th and 51st overall picks in the first round.
• Jaime Jarrin T-shirt and tribute night will be on June 11th.  Check out the commemorative shirt below.  See more information here.

• I like the commemorative Memorial Day Dodger caps, via Vin Scully is My Homeboy.
• Fangraphs takes a look at "The Dee Gordon Experience."

To say Dee Gordon was overhyped this preseason would be an understatement. Everywhere you looked someone was predicting him to steal 40+ bases. Our man Eno Sarris even made a bold prediction that he would steal 60 bases without hitting a single home run. He looks to be wrong on both accounts. Gordon had an average positional draft position of 10th on Mock Draft Central. The Rotographs consensus rankings had him 7th. What has he done to repay those brave enough to make such predictions? Become one of the worst everyday players in the game.

• Dodger Dugout has a rundown on a recent interview Don Mattingly gave to FoxSports' Barfly, here.
• This could be a fun night.  June 16th with be Baseball Prospectus Night at the Angels game in Anaheim.  Go here for details.  It will include a a private "meet and greet" with special guests and Baseball Prospectus personalities 2 hours prior to game time (including Sam Miller, Geoff Young, John Perrotto, Stephani Bee, Jason Wojciechowski, former Dodgers GM Dan Evans, MLBDepthCharts.com Jason  Martinez ).  Having Dan Evans there makes this worthwhile for any Dodgers fan.
• I know you've been waiting for this.  Check out Maxim's 2012 Hot 100, here.
• With all of the mistakes the local media has made recently when covering the LA Kings the organization thought it might be helpful to put together a Kings Infographic to help them out.  Check it out here.  It's a gas!
• Darth vs. Batman, via Depressed Darth.
• The New York Times writes about the life and hobby of Jefferson R. Burdick.  He is considered the father of  the modern card collecting hobby.

“A Card Collection is a magic carpet that takes you away from work-a-day cares to havens of relaxing quietude where you can relive the pleasures and adventures of a past day — brought to life in vivid picture and prose,” Burdick wrote in the introduction to the 1960 edition of the American Card Catalog, which he first published under a different title in 1939. 

Collection: Roger Craig GOTG

Here is another card from my Dodgers certified autographed card collection.  This is a 2001 Fleer "Greats of the Game" card of former Brooklyn Dodgers hurler Roger Craig.

Never mind that he use to coach the hated San Francisco Giants back when I was a younger man.  Instead, let's remember him as the pitcher who started a couple of World Series games for the Dodgers.  He won Game 5 in the 1955 Series while posting a Dodgers career record of 187 wins to 103 loses.  Craig is famously known for being a master Jedi with the split-finger fastball, and spent much of his professional coaching/managerial career teaching the pitch.