L.A. Kings Drop Purple from Unis

The glory days are officially gone. The L.A. Kings ditched the yellow years ago but held on a little bit to the purple which once dominated their jerseys.

Back in the days of Marcel Dionne the team sported yellow and purple as their color, just like their NBA friends the L.A. Lakers.

Then around the time Wayne Gretzky came to town the team went black and silver. Over the years the team has played around with some different combos but the purple usually popped up.

Now that’s over as the team announced that the new uniforms for the squad will officially ditch the color. Purple is gone now and we can all weep silently a bit…

Personally, I think they should bring back these handsome devils:

Beginning this season the Los Angeles Kings will officially make the following changes as it pertains to team colors and uniforms, the team announced today:

The Kings’ official team colors change to black, silver and white.
The Kings’ primary home uniform switches to the black-silver-and-white uniform the club has worn as an alternate jersey the last two seasons.
The Kings will wear a newly-created white version of this jersey for all road games this season.

Said Kings President, Business Operations Luc Robitaille: “There was an overwhelming sentiment from our fans and from our players that has led us to this change. Our fans really like the late 80s and early 90s era Kings uniforms which are very similar to this uniform. As a player, the colors give you an attitude and an edge. Dean Lombardi and I talked a lot about it with the players and they love it. We feel our fans believe in it as well.”

The Kings’ new road jersey — will be publically worn by Kings players for the first time on Sunday, September 11, at STAPLES Center during LA Kings Hockey Fest ’11 presented by Pizza Hut.

The Kings’ primary home jersey — which prominently features “LA” on the jersey crest, has not been altered and will now be worn for most Kings home games – also reflects the club’s primary logo going forward. The black-silver-and-white uniform is also the sweater Kings players wore during home games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the last two seasons, and a silver stripe has been added to the player’s pants.

As part of the switch, the Kings’ former primary mark, a Crown featuring the color purple, now becomes the club’s alternate logo with one change – the Crown is now black and silver and features no purple. The Kings will wear these jerseys (unaltered from a year ago) for select home games.

New Kings merchandise reflecting these changes and more will be available for sale at the Team LA Store at STAPLES Center as part of the day-long Hockey Fest event. Also it will be sold exclusively at the store the following week through Sept. 18.
[via L.A. Kings]

Stanley Cup Fall Down, Go Boom. Gets Dented

They could make a sitcom about the Stanley Cup as it tours the world with the players that won it that year. Seriously. Some crazy stuff happens to one of sports most prestigious pieces of hardware.

The latest incident, right up there with the Piggy Band and Brad Marchand’s cereal bowl, is a bit more memorable because it was an accident.  No hookers or midgets or farm animals here. 

Bruins forward Michael Ryder’s day with the Cup could have gone better.  After placing the Cup on a table at a St. John’s, Newfoundland, hotel something bad happened.  Blame it on the wind, or just bad carpentry, but the table gave way and the Cup fell to the ground.  And got a dent.

Now Ryder has two marks on the cup.  I’m sure the Cup has its fair share of dings but this might be the first time we’ve seen it happen on tape.

Hockey Fans Brave Out Hurricane Irene with Street Hockey Game

As Hurricane Irene headed up the East Coast you might expect people to take safety indoors. But as the storm system let up when it hit New York City, it just gave people a reason to play hockey.

Wait…what?

Several people joined up in Times Square to play a little street hockey. Hockey fans aren’t scared of Hurricanes!

How To Tell If You’re Watching Canadian Sportscentre

On a windy day you need to think quick.  Thankfully, the crew of the Canadian SportsCenter, or as they say SportsCentre (*sigh*), can just read into their bags and grab a handful of hockey pucks.

I mean, c’mon… doesn’t everyone carry a bag of hockey pucks around with them? Take a closer look at the screen cap above and you’ll notice that the black pucks come in rather handy.
[via]

Breakfast with Stanley

Each year I get older I come to realize that I won’t be getting that call from an NHL needing my talents after watching a YouTube video of my beer league. That means unless I win the lottery and buy a team I won’t be getting to plan to do anything fun with my day with the Cup.

Each player on the Boston Bruins gets a scheduled day with the Stanley Cup and over the years players have found interesting ways to enjoy their special day. Brad Marchand of the Bruins found a relaxing way to do what we all really want to do with the Cup. Toss in some cereal and watch cartoons. [via]

Corn Maze Features Tim Thomas and Stanley Cup

Welcome to Sherman Farms, a nice and cozy corn maze in East Conway, New Hampshire. The owners decided to get into the hockey spirit and celebrate the nearby Boston Bruins for their Stanley Cup win in style.

Tim Thomas, the studly goalie who owned the Canucks in the playoffs, has had his likeness mowed into the corn field and turned into a maze.

Now you and your kids can wander around the maze and get lost in the Stanley Cup.  Be warned.  The Canucks couldn’t figure him out in the playoffs so you might not be able to figure him out as a corn maze.

The maze is open from Sept. 17-Oct. 30. [via NESN Sports]

Unbelievable Shoot Goal at NHL R&D Camp

Andreas Athanasiou of the London Knights got a little bit creative with this shootout goal at an R&D Camp. He slips the puck between his legs before getting it in the air to slap it in. Impressive.

The skill to do this is something that I sadly lack so not only am I jealous but also a bit in awe.

And here’s another angle from behind the net.

Jeremy Roenick Stars In Swingers Video Game Hockey Scene

Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn helped create an iconic hockey scene in their indie hit ‘Swingers‘ way, way, way back in 1996. It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long since the movie came out or that the L.A. Kings and Wayne Gretzky dominated the hockey world.

That also means there were lots of mullets! Man, I miss those old days with Barry Melrose and Luc Robitaille’s sweet locks swaying on the TV.

Barry Melrose's Sweet Hair

The guys at Hugging Harold Reynolds got/made this updated video about that famous hockey scene frmo “Swingers” featuring the great EA Sports video game NHL ’93. And of course, they get to make Wayne Gretzky’s head bleed.  But the joy of the video is the appearance of NHL great Jeremy Roenick in the clip.

Now Jeremy Roenick stars in his 2nd most awesome video this month.  Back in the day, EA’s NHL ’93 was the premier video game as hockey was very popular.  Roenick at the time on the Chicago Blackhawks and probably spent some time trying to make Gretzky’s head bleed himself.

Here’s both the original and new video. NSFW language below.

A remake of the classic NHL video game scene from the movie Swingers. Jeremy joins Bernie and Pizzi from FoxSports.com and FuelTV’s Cubed.

Wimpiest Hockey Fight Ever!

Usually when you think of hockey fights you think of two bruising goons swinging fists of steel back and forth until there is only a pool of bloody pulp left on the ice.

What you don’t think about is Richards Simmons and Michael Jackson in a slap fight.

I mean, after last week’s Ukraine fight anything is going to be a let down. But this one is just insulting to hockey fans.

Over in the Russian KHL league we are treated to an embarrassing fight, if you want to call it that. In old Soviet Russia these two would be shipped to Siberia to learn how to be men. The country has gone soft thanks to Gorby and instead just gives them some fighting penalties.

I think the refs just broke it up because they felt embarrassed for the girls.

The guys in white is Dmitry Ryabykin from Avangard Omsk. His opponent is Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk newcomer Evgeni Lapenkov. Thanks to Slava Malamud of Sport-Express for the info.

11-year-old makes amazing hockey shot for $50,000 but won’t get paid?

Between periods of a charity hockey game, fans could buy a ten dollar raffle ticket for the chance to win $50,000.  To win all you had to do is shoot the puck from mid-ice into a small hole in the goal some 89 feet away.

“A hockey puck is three inches wide and an inch high,” says Vinar, the organizer of the charity game. “The odds are like making a hole-in-one.”

Yet that didn’t stop 11-year old Nate Smith from making the shot.  What might end up costing the kid the grand prize of 50 grand is the fact his twin brothers name, Nick,  was called by organizers to make the shot and wasn’t available.  No one really knew until the family fessed up to event organizers and it may end up costing the kids the prize.

“I just lined up and yeah…made it,” says Nate. “I was pretty stunned.”

Nate and Nick’s dad came forward Friday and told event organizers that it was the other brother that made the shot. He told KARE 11 simply, “that’s the right thing to do.”

That Nate-for-Nick swap may mean they forfeit the cash prize, but either way the amazing sports memory has been made. [via KARE 11]

So now the issue is being reviewed by the insurance companies. Kinda sucks. For 50 Grand I would have kept my mouth shut. I mean, c’mon….they’re twins. Would anyone really know or care? We’ll find out in a few weeks when the prize is determined.

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