February 25: Monday morning links

So there’s kind of a big game at Staples Center tonight, and Helene Elliott relies on the never-shy Drew Doughty for an excellent quote. “To see [the Ducks] up there, a team in our division, a team that I think all of us in here feel for sure that we’re a better team than them, that kind of makes us frustrated and not happy with the way our season’s gone so far,” Doughty said. Said Bruce Boudreau: “They’re as good a test as you’re going to find in this game today.”
LA Times: There’s a lot at stake when the Kings play host to the Ducks on Monday

Elliott Teaford references Philosopher Teemu’s Ketchup Bottle Theory in previewing tonight’s game between a pair of teams that have taken different paths to arrive at center ice for a 7:35 pm faceoff.
Daily News: Kings finding their scoring touch, while Ducks offense continues to sizzle as rivals meet Monday night

Quisp, on a tip from a reader, re-examines the league’s tiebreaking procedures and notices that the Kings are 4-2-2 (now 5-2-2) in games that have no bearing on teams tied in the standings. This is due to an odd number of games between L.A. and all teams other than San Jose and Anaheim. Of course, the first tiebreaker in mid-season is the fewer number of games played. After that, it’s the greater number of regulation and overtime (non-shootout) wins. The third tiebreaker, per ESPN: “The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any “odd” games, shall be used to determine the standing.” The fourth tiebreaker is goal differential. So – that win over Colorado on Saturday? It would have no bearing on the tiebreaking procedure were the Kings and Avalanche to finish tied in the standings and with the same amount of regulation wins. This is likely to become a hot topic over the final week of the season.
Mc Sorley’s Stick: Tie-breaker weirdness: Kings are 4-2-2 in games that DON’T COUNT

Gann Matsuda has a video of Ian Laperriere’s Legend’s Day presentation and a frightening reminder of the severity of head injuries: Laperriere, who has also dealt with a damaged nerve, still has blurry vision in one eye and headaches. “But is it from the concussion? Is it from my eye? Is it from being stressed? I don’t know. Who knows? They [doctors] don’t even know,” he said Saturday.
Frozen Royalty: Former LA Kings Grinder Ian Laperriere Still Dealing With Health Issues Three Years Later

Robert P. hands out grades and analyzes the stats from Saturday’s win over Colorado. Again, he does an excellent job gauging zone entries and tallying each line’s scoring chances for and against.
Jewels from the Crown: Kings vs. Avalanche; Game Grades and Stat Analysis

Niesy has previously targeted 57 points as the threshold of playoff entry and identifies a 17-10-5 record to get L.A. to that spot. Of this week’s opponents, Anaheim and Vancouver surely appear to be playoff teams. Consider Wednesday’s game against Detroit, a team that has currently played three more games than the Kings and leads them by three points in the standings, a major four-point swing-game.
Playoff watch: Kings climb the standings with two thirds of the season left

Megalodon wins Post of the Day. Read this, and then go and try the wraparound move that works 100% of the time. And give all of the current and former BOC writers a follow on Twitter.
Battle of California: Ron Barr previews Ducks vs. Kings

Bobby Scribe has ideas for this site. I like one or two of the ideas. Other than that, I’m not entirely sure what to make of this and would like to open this up for a discussion. I’m trying not to sound dismissive here – and I hope Bobby doesn’t take this the wrong way – but I value the opinions of regular readers and commenters on this site more than I value the opinions of someone who says “I really don’t go to Insider as much as I used to.” Obviously, I’m a proponent of conversation and an open means of communication. What additional content and topics would you, the regular reader and commenter, like to see on this site? What would you like to see omitted? As for a regular schedule, I’m trying to get news links out on either Monday or Tuesday. Frascast – depending on the game schedule – goes up on Tuesday or Wednesday. Game previews will always go up on the afternoon of game days, and there’s still certainly room to add some personality to these previews. I would love to have more regular features to use on Thursdays and Fridays. There will be more Quick Hits segments and more video. Once the Kings visit cities for the second time this season, the “Behold” series will be replaced by interior arena photographs and team and market-specific shots that depict each building’s unique environment. The Al MacInnis statue in St. Louis. The cannon in Columbus. I appreciate Bobby’s candor and surely think there is room for this site to evolve. After three and a half weeks on the job, I’m still in the process of finding a rhythm (it’s a bit more of a challenge at home, where I spend 90 minutes on the 110 freeway each day), using what I think works and discarding what I can tell doesn’t. Your comments and suggestions will go a long way towards developing that cadence. As always, thank you for reading and commenting.
Surly & Scribe’s Stanley Cup Champion L.A. Kings Hockey News: An Open Letter to the New Insider, Jon Rosen

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