The Los Angeles Kings have signed star center Anze Kopitar to a seven-year $47.6 million contact extension that will carry into the 2015-16 season, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced Saturday morning. (Kopitar has one remaining year on his current contract). "This is really exciting and a little overwhelming to be honest," Kopitar said Saturday morning in San Jose (where the Kings open their 2008-09 season at 7PM). "I am happy to be apart of......

The Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks just completed a home-and-home series with the Ducks taking away the victories in both of the pre-season contests. On Tuesday, Chris Kunitz score the game-winner in a shootout for a 2-1 win and last night Chris Pronger scored the game-winner at 3:04 into overtime for a 3-2 Ducks decision. We were at Staples Center on Tuesday and captured some photos on a brand spankin' new Canon EOS......

Los Angeles Kings fans ventured into the desert to celebrate the annual pre-season ritual known as Frozen Fury where their beloved Kings faced off against the Colorado Avalanche at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night. The atmosphere at these games is always insane because nobody has to drive home, giving fans all the more reason to get completely wasted. The Avalanche jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage, but the Kings responded with......

Oscar Moller scored during a power play goal-mouth scramble with 1:17 remaining to give the Los Angeles Kings a 6-4 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night in the opening day of their pre-season competition. Meanwhile, in Kansas City, the other half of the Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, putting the Kings in first place. But don't get too used to it since this is a rebuilding season, and the Kings are on......

There's a new hockey player in town. He's 6' 1, 219 pounds, 18 years old and from Canada. Meet defenseman Drew Doughty, who was the Los Angeles Kings' 1st round choice and 2nd overall in the 2008 NHL draft. Today, Doughty was found at the Los Angeles Kings Prospects Development Camp that started today. The camp is from July 8-18 at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo. The camp is open to the public,......

With one season left in his contract, the Kings announced that they fired coach Marc Crawford. "We appreciate Marc's commitment the two seasons he has been here," Dean Lombardi, the team's president and general manager, said in a statement. "However, we believe that in evaluating where we are at and, more importantly, where we are going as an organization, we feel this coaching change was the right decision to make," he said. "We wish Marc......

With one week to go in the regular season, your Los Angeles Kings find themselves in last place in the NHL. With three games left, the Kings are two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have also played one less game. Kings, your pathetic fate is in your own gloved hands. Go out there and give it your all. Make us proud… Lose those last three games! That’s right. Lose! There’s no pride in......

Photo by Tom Andrews via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr 45-year-old murder suspect Hovik "John" Mankyan, who engaged police in a lengthy standoff on Good Friday in Palmdale, is reportedly "clinging to life" in the hospital. Mankyan, who is wanted for a 2004 North Hollywood homicide "ingested poison and severed arteries" prior to surrendering. Honors on Ice: The Anaheim Ducks will honor SWAT officer Randal Simmons, who died in the line of duty,......

#3 UCLA 77, #7 Stanford 67, OT - The Bruins clinched their third consecutive Pac-10 hoops crown with their victory over the Farm. It looked bleak for awhile, but they managed to come from behind. More from Jimmy later this morning. USC 93, Cal 89, OT - This game was tough for fans to watch. That's because it wasn't televised. And because USC blew a huge lead. It worked out OK in the end. We're......

Lakers 106, Bobcats 97 - The Lakers are 4-1 since acquiring Pau Gasol, playing a little cat-and-mouse last night in Charlotte. After allowing the Bobcats to cut a 13 point lead to 3, Kobe put it away in the closing minutes. He had 31 points, his third game in a row over the 30 mark. Gasol contributed 26 despite a cold ... The Lakers wrap up an impressive road trip tomorrow in Minnesota. Pre-Gasol and......

LA readings and book signings around town for January 28th - Februar 3rd including Judith Freeman, Ron Jeremy, Tamara Jenkins, Mary McNamara, Sam Jones and Tom Dolby....

Kings 8, Sabres 2 - Halfway through, it looked suspiciously like an SEC football score. Los Angeles was up 7-0 midway through the second period and coasted the rest of the way, making life easy on goalie Jonathan Quick. Due to injuries, Quick was making his first appearance in the NHL. For those keeping score at home, the Kings have tried more goalies this season than they had goals against the Sabres. Only in LA......

Days after making up with rapper Kanye West, legendary daredevil Evel Knievel has landed himself in the news once again, not for making an improbable stunt landing, but for doing something one day all of us regular folks are going to do. He died today in his home state of Florida at the age of 69. The AP is reporting:Knievel's death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for......

After years of pressure from stats geeks thoughtful mathematicians, the NBA has started keeping a new official statistic — the old plus/minus. It’s a simple idea that hockey has used for decades: How much does a team outscore its opponent (or get outscored) when a specific player is on the floor. It’s pretty simple. Off the top of your head, who leads the Lakers in this new stat (if averaged per game)? Kobe Bryant?......

But first - Kobe vetoed a trade! Baseball in the Coliseum - Just after it was announced that the Red Sox will open the exhibition season against Oakland in Japan, the Dodgers confirmed that the defending World Champs would play three games against the Blue Crew. The cool part? One of the games will be in the Coliseum as part of the Dodger's 50th anniversary in Los Angeles. Yes, it can be configured that way......

Sports Illustrated busted with a sweet and comprehensive look at current-day NHL goalies and their colorful helmets. Sadly our local boys did not fare very well in comparison with some of the monsters that emboss a few of the masks, like the one above of Marty Turco of the Dallas Stars. They weren't embarrassingly bad, like some, but they're pretty near the bottom of the barrel. The Kings' Jason LaBarbera seems to have Metallica......

After stumbling out of the gate, your Los Angeles Kings have won 4 in a row, and suddenly find themselves back to .500 with a not-too embarrassing record of 6-6. A lot of credit for the recent surge goes to the solid play of goalie Jason LaBarbera. People in LA might not have noticed, but the good folks who run the NHL have, and consequently, today they named LaBarbera as the league’s #1 star......

A mere eleven games into the season, the Kings have accomplished two feats they have not been able to muster since the 2005-06 season: Beat the Dallas Stars. Win three in a row. A 2-1 victory tonight was enough to do both. The feats don't amount to much, but they are worth noting for a team that has had its share of (very) hard times in the rebuilding process that commenced last year. Furthermore,......

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the first game in LA Kings history. Your Los Angeles Kings celebrated by losing 4-1 to the Detroit Red Wings. Though if you live in LA and are reading this, you’re probably a Detroit fan anyway. Seriously, were there any Kings fans at the game last night? The Kings loss was its fifth in a row after winning the season opener against the Ducks in London. The lone......

Your Los Angeles Kings head into Dallas tonight to face a team that beat them in eight out of eight meetings last year. The Dallas Stars are off to a slow start, but they have a strong core to build on, and should be fine. The Kings on the other hand… Since winning the first game (against the Ducks in London), the Kings looked more like their true selves in a flat rematch against......

If you're a local sports fan, hopefully you had Columbus Day (International Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People, whatever) off to nurse a wicked hangover. In fact, maybe you should take tonight off from Sports Center, too. It's Leif Erikson day. Honest. Even George W. Bush knows that (and don't worry, he's probably not working today, either). Maybe it wasn't the worst, but it was up there. T.J. Simers hit the nail on the......

If one of the NHL’s new rule changes included shortening the game from three periods to two, you would be reading a far different post right now. It would be a celebration of the Kings young guns, who scored all three goals against the St. Louis Blues. I would be praising the coming of a new savior, rookie netminder Jonathon Bernier, who played brilliantly. But alas, the game still has three periods, and last......

It's Sex Saturday! That means April Smear is going to post a rant or question about all things sex. Let’s create a dialogue and attempt to understand the sexual underbelly of Los Angeles! I can’t even begin to think of how many times I’ve totally been into a guy and he can’t get the nerve to kiss me. It’s the same thing every time. Meet cute guy, realize connection, talk intimately for a long......

Hello hockey fan(s?).The Anaheim Ducks are fresh off an exciting two game series against the LA Kings in the great city of London, England. Today, they find themselves in Detroit Michigan, another city replete with history and gore, er, I mean lore. Watching Game 1 of the 07-08 NHL Season, made me proud to be a fan of this great sport. I mean, what other professional league can claim they have no idea how to......

Ducks 4, Kings 1 - After Los Angeles shocked Anaheim 4-1 in Saturday's season opener in London (yes, London), the defending champs showed who really is king. Despite 10 goals in two days, British fans were reportedly most excited about a good ol' fashioned hockey fight. Welcome back, NHL. Welcome back. A's 3, Angels 2 - The AL West champion Halos hit a skid when they clinched the pennant, but they saved face in their......

Hello Ducks fans, I'm back to regale you all with my take on the greatest game on earth. When I signed off last time (seemingly for good) the Anaheim Ducks of Los Angeles Anaheim were the glorious winners of Lord Stanley's silver chalice. Fast forward. A lot has changed. Out with Dustin Penner, in with convicted criminal Todd Bertuzzi. Possibly out with Scott Niedermayer, in with Mathieu Schneider. Hopefully out with Teemu Selanne and his......

Rangers 16, Angels 2 - Welcome to opposite day; Cellar dweller Texas plastered playoff-bound LAnaheim and completed a three game sweep. A day after resting several stars, the Angels showed that they're still struggling with injuries. They got a couple runs in thanks to small ball (both were scored on sac flies), but gave up a whopping five home runs. One was hit in the first by Sammy Sosa. (You remember him, even if he......

With a major project concluded, I'm back to regular writing. Hockey is back, too. You can watch a free game downtown tonight. Angels 10, Devil Rays 7 - The last time the Halos played small ball this well, they won a World Series. They could be headed back, with their magic number down to five. The Angels piled up double digits against the Devils without a home run on Monday, the 11th time they've reached......

Do you live downtown? Can you prove it? Then get yourself to Staples Center tomorrow night. The Los Angeles Kings are throwing a party just for you. I’m not sure how the Kings define “party”, but starting at 6:30, the 2007-2008 team will be introduced. AEG President Tim Lieweke and all-time Kings great Luuuuuuuuuuc Robitaille will also be present to tell you all about exhilarating real estate developments and about how exciting this hockey......

The NHL 2007-08 season officially got underway last night with an exhibition game between the Stanley Cup Champion (?!) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and your Los Angeles Kings. Brian Willsie put the Kings ahead with five minutes to go in the game, and the Kings held on to beat the Ducks 5-4. Sure, exhibition games mean nothing, but we’re not going to see a lot of King’s victories this year, so let’s savor the......