Good morning, Fort Lauderdale

The storm has since broken up into a steady light rain, but this was the view from the hotel room at 8:45 a.m.:

So here’s an abrupt wake-up call: As I was putting this story together on the bus to the rink, the overhead compartment above my seat became inundated and poured about half a cup of rainwater directly onto my keyboard. This is a sturdy computer, though, no doubt strengthened from years of abuse on planes, trains, buses and the deep freeze of the Staples Center press box, so it handled the dousing like a champ. There were no shocks, no screen distortions. If anything, the computer nobly protected me from a dreaded case of Wet Blogger Leg.

Before the Kings’ 11:30 a.m. morning skate I’ll have sound from the Panthers’ room, which should include a chat with two-time Stanley Cup winner Willie Mitchell. Sunrise, Florida is as far away from Port McNeill, British Columbia as you can get while playing in the National Hockey League, but from all indications, Mitchell is enjoying the South Florida lifestyle as he looks to captain the Cats back into the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season and only the second time since 1999-00. The Panthers have won three playoff series in their existence, all of which came in their 1996 Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final, where they were defeated in four games by the Colorado Avalanche.

If you don’t get 10/10 in this quiz, I will feel I have failed you: Is this quote from Joe Biden or L.A. Kings coach Darryl Sutter? (via Washington Post)