Los Angeles Kings

05.29.2014 Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Hockey, In The Zone Series, Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, NHL, On The Surface

A Real Life Bottlegate!

Look at the bottom left of the photo

I’m taking recent events in the NHL as a sign from God that I’m on the right track. My first hockey novel, On the Surface, features a former Blackhawk who is traded to the San Diego Barracudas because of an incident with a fan involving a water bottle.

Now, keep that in mind as I tell you that this spring, the water bottle has been the weapon of choice for NHL players.

Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks sprayed water into the glove of one of “My Guys”, Jeff Carter.

Shawn Thornton of the Boston Bruins sprayed the visor of Montreal Canadien PK Subban.

And finally Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers gave Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby a little mid-game shower.

It’s like an epidemic. It’s harmless really. It doesn’t hurt anyone (except wimps, as you’ll see below). It’s just annoying. However, so far the hydro-taunting has been player vs. player. A few days ago, that changed.

Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks got fed up with a heckler–JUST LIKE IN MY BOOK–and sprayed water into the face of the heckler–JUST LIKE IN MY BOOK!

Well, that last part isn’t quite accurate. The back cover copy, over which I had only minimal input, says Tim threw the water bottle at a fan. In reality, I never fully describe what Tim Hollander does to the fan with his water bottle.

But still!

What are the chances that real life incidents almost completely mirror what I wrote a year ago? Like I said, I take it as a sign from God that my time has come and I’m on the right track. I also bask in the knowledge that what I wrote is utterly believable and possible in the real NHL.

It feels pretty damn good.

The LA fan (yes, he was rooting for LA. ) claims his eyes were irritated by the saliva backwash–from the type of bottle that squirts from a spout. He’s filed a police report. What do you think about that? Feel free to comment.

Photo credit: Paul Sakuma, AP

05.27.2014 Eye Candy, Fangirl, Hockey, Justin Williams, Los Angeles Kings, My Guys

My Guys – Justin Williams #14

I never forget Justin William’s jersey number (#14) because I associate it with Valentine’s Day, and I love this guy. He’s handsome. He’s approachable. He’s a family man. He’s honest and intense. He’s everything I want my fictional hockey heroes to be.

He also has a reputation now for being a clutch player, coming through when it’s do or die, especially Game 7s.

For you non-sports fans, in order to win the Stanley Cup, you must win several “best of seven” series. Sometimes a series doesn’t go seven games. Sometimes a team will “sweep” the other team 4 games to zero. If you end up playing a Game 7, that means both teams have won three games and it’s all on the line for everyone. For some reason, Justin Williams always pulls something extra out of himself during Game 7s, so much so that the press have deemed him “Mr. Game 7.”

So, check him out.

Here he is clean-shaven and super sexy. (I think it’s one of Newton’s Laws that the sexy factor of all men increases 200% if they’re wearing a suit.)

The Kings are up against the current Stanley Cup Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, right now. The Kings have won three games. The Hawks have won one. Heh heh.

Go Kings.

02.11.2014 Fangirl, Fans, Geekiness, Hockey, LA Kings, Los Angeles Kings

Meeting the Kings

The other day I got to meet Willie Mitchell and Slava Voynov, both defensemen for the Los Angeles Kings. It was a blast. They were signing autographs at the Staples store in Burbank, about a 20 minute drive for me. (For those of you who don’t know, the Kings play in the Staples Center. The Kings aren’t just choosing an office supply store as the ideal place to sign autographs.)

The balloons indicate the signing area

I can imagine how strange we all looked to the regular shoppers.

It was fun to meet other fans and wallow in our geekiness. It’s almost like having a secret identity and being allowed to shed the disguise for a couple of hours. In “private”, I am a rabid LA Kings fan who owns a card containing a swatch from a Justin William’s game-worn jersey. It is encased in plastic. It is a source of both pride and embarrassment. But at a fan event like the autograph session, I am among my peers. It is refreshing and exciting.

The rules of this signing: we could have one signature per player, we could take a photograph but would have to stay in front of the table.

Bummer. My son, who accompanied me, put his longboard and hat back in the car so that I could get my jersey signed by Slava and Willie. I love that boy so much. He knew how important it was to me to have the advent calendar I’d made signed by players.

I got really nervous as the line moved forward after an hour of waiting. The Ice Crew girls liked my calendar. Slava signed first. I said hi. He said hi. That was the extent of our conversation. Maybe I should have learned a Russian greeting for the occasion. Good idea for next time.

Willie signed the back of the calendar and then asked to see it flipped around, because he didn’t get a good look at it. I told him what it was and he really liked it. Bailey, the Kings mascot, gave it a thumbs-up. (I had him sign it too. Bailey is terrific.) By then the woman in charge was giving us the evil eye even though it was Willie who had chosen to hold up the line. (Back off, bitch! LOL)

Here’s what my jersey looks like now. (King, Nolan, Muzzin, Voynov, Mitchell)

And here’s the front of the advent calendar.

01.11.2014 Fangirl, Hockey, LA Kings, Los Angeles Kings

A Brief TV “Appearance”

The LA Kings have a show this season on Fox Sports West called Kings Weekly. It’s a fluffy show focusing on a lot of the off-ice activities the Kings are involved in, like charity events, the Father/Son Road Trip–stuff like that. Recently they started a feature called Fan Takeover. Twitter fans request a certain player be interviewed. Then, once the player is chosen, fans tweet questions.

This week, the player was Mike Richards. Love this guy. So down to earth. I submitted a couple of questions and one of them made it! “Does Arnold ever go to practice or on road trips with you?”

I was so excited, my scream freaked out my son who thought I’d cut myself in the kitchen.

What was Mike’s answer? Arnold has not been to the rink in a long time. He didn’t say whether he’d gone on a road trip, but went on and on about how nice it was to have his dog with him here in California rather than with his parents.

Here’s a picture of Mike and Arnold. So cute together.

Photo credit: Me and Mike Richards