Wow.
Well. When I arrogantly predicted (in yesterday’s blog), a 3-2 win for the Kings over the Capitals last night at the Staples Center, I thought for sure I’d eat crow. And when I reiterated the prediction to all my colleagues and my brother as we munched caramel apples in the First American Title Co. suite at the Staple Center, I knew it was stupid and the beer was talking…
Then the clock ticked down to 5 minutes with just that score, I’ll admit it I almost felt a sense of satisfaction.
Ok, ok. I totally gloated.
But when the Kings then scored two more, well. My brother looked at me and said;
“Capsize!” to which I responded;
“Kingsized capsize”.
I’ll tell you everything I predicted yesterday in my blog, came true last night. Complacency, lethargy and the Kings completely overwhelmed the Caps. Add injury to that list and well, I could have taken up with a crystal ball.
Stifle it Ersberg
The Kings defense stifled the Captials.
When was the last time you heard that? Or that the Kings stifled anyone? But its true, at the beginning of the third, SOG were 23-9, in favor of the Kings. The Kings dominated offensively and their defense did it all, with Doughty scoring and Ersberg solid when he needed to be.
Ersberg, whom the Kings drafted from The Elitserien- the Swedish Elite League, is the real deal. He kept his cool and his head in the game, even though he took only 3-4 shots in each of the first two periods and never got pressured. I really like this goalie. As I have mentioned before, many goalies will tell you (My brother being one of them) that its often more difficult to stay mentally in the game when your not seeing any action. Ersberg did not disappoint.
Doughty worked hard and played front to back. I like this kid. Solid, team leader. Gonna be big. Poised beyond his 18 years.
Ov, Eight!?!?
The Caps though….wtf to infinity. They looked absolutely terrible.
Washington never really got going, I never saw a bit of the puck possession, smooth passing offense I was expecting from the likes of Ovie, Kozlov and Sergei. Fedorov apparently was there (they interviewed him pre-game on the Jumbotron) but he did not dress. There were no 2-1, or even 2-3 breakaways, no long passes, nothing resembling the sort of play you expect from a Russian line. I never once noticed Backstrom on the ice- except for the pretty assist to Kozlov in the first.
Ovechkin was everywhere and nowhere on the ice. At one point he went off the ice after a forecheck (by him, not against him) looking hurt. I actually think he is hurt.
His passing was absolutely off and at one point in the second, he tried to deke past and through Greene’s legs and ended up turning it over so the Kings could score. It was so pathetic and uncharacteristic that I initially reacted thinking that he got cherry picked.
He was working hard, but no one on that team was working smart. They failed to “Capitalize” on the power play, despite getting a 5 on 3 in the second- during which they barely kept the puck in their own zone.
Both teams looked slow and chippy for most of the game, at times it looked like they were playing in about an inch of gravel…and it wasn’t ice quality.
How do I know? Two things: no weird puck bounces and the Ice Girls, who apparently never disappoint, barely scraped a thing off the ice. There were a couple occasions where they pretended to dump ice scrapings into the big bucket.
Oh Eight!
Like I said, Fedorov was a no show, which was a huge disappointment for me. That disappointment was completely washed away by the fact that …..
Wait for it….
IGOR LARIONOV dropped the ceremonial first puck.
Igor in the Haus
Yes, my Igor, there in the Staples Center being honored for his recent HHOF admittance. I actually couldn’t breathe, I was standing there in the First American Title suite, chatting with people (trying to get all my talking in before the game started) when they stopped the irritating “Blackout/Back in Black” intro the Kings always use to start their games when I heard that familiar voice. I stopped mid-sentence and turned around checking the Jumbotron and they were running a montage on Igor, all the way back to the Red Army days and clips of him talking to Wayne Gretzky at the Olympics(?) and I looked around at my colleagues and gushed excitedly:
“Check the Jumbotron- Best player to ever play the game- Igor Larionov. My all time favorite. Just got admitted to the HHOF”
Someone asked me what the HHOF was, but before I could answer,
My brother said;
“Tine, Igor’s on the Ice.”
I totally flipped. My first completely insane reaction? “How do I get out of this suite and down to the ice?” Then I just sort of sunk down in a front row seat and leaned over the edge of the balcony. Hands over my mouth in astonishment.
I know this will solidify in your heads that I am some sort of crazy “Human Loser” (props to Bruce McCullough), but tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t help it. My friends and colleagues looked at me with bemused astonishment, and I didn’t even have the presence of mind to be embarrassed, I was just so shocked.
I think it was just the shock of seeing No. 8 in the same building, combined with the fact that they were honoring him.
I’m telling you I’m not sure I could ever handle meeting Igor. Certainly not in a surprise circumstance. I totally idolize him. Just never realized it before.
I mean Hollyweird is FILLED with celebrities and they are always in your way, or delaying something or causing chaos. I’m not terribly fond of the celebrity world. I’ve stood in line at the Beverly Hills CVS behind Charlie Sheen (his head is enormous) and merely felt irritation. I’ve costume shopped with David Arquette and thought he was a silly goof, I’ve taunted Britney Spears at the hair salon and I’ve eaten dinner with Beyonce (yea she eats) at a movie wrap party and never once felt star struck or in awe. Certainly neer got emotional or choked up.
Yet there I was, hundreds of yards away, tearing up because Larionov was in the same building as me.
HOMER!
Double Homerism that I turned this blog into a story about Igor Larionov, when its supposed to be about the Kings- Caps game.
You know I can’t help myself. Ok ok- here’s the Wrap, Hollywood style:
I felt bad for Ovie and I really think something is wrong. I mean it can’t all be explained as nerves that his mentor and personal hero was in the Haus, right? It must have sucked to have Igor there and play that badly, AND lose to the Kings. Ohhh-vvvviiee.
Truth is neither team looked fast or smooth, but the Kings dominated for 60 minutes. They went ahead early in the first and never lost the lead. At the 10 minute mark when I thought the Caps would give one last push a go, they were non-existent. Then with a little more than 4 minutes left in the third, the Caps scored their second goal. And to my surprise, the Kings answered by smothering them, hitting two more.
I called the win yesterday, and gave my reasons for it, including the fact that this Kings team might be young, but they are making all the right strides toward someday being a contender, I liked a lot of what I saw and was impressed by the gritty hard work. But the thing that actually touched me the most about this Los Angeles team? How happy they were at the end of the game.
As the buzzer sounded, the entire team leap from the bench and congregated center ice surrounding Ersberg and Doughty, cheering, and celebrating their win as if it were a playoff game. I was so proud of those boys. Got all choked up again..what a homer.
Kings Win 5-2, Igor in the Haus.
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