The Fifth Liners

The NHLPA seems to be taking Mike Richards ' dismissal from the LA Kings very seriously. Today they filed a grievance on his behalf contesting the termination. While it is unclear where Richards will be granted a hearing or not, the NHLPA is attempting to speed up the process. Richards had five years and $22 million remaining on his contract before it was terminated in June for what the Kings called "a material breach of contract." The movie itself proved controversial as this occurred only days after he was placed on waivers. The reasons for what caused this termination still remain to be revealed but there were initial whispers about a "border crossing incident!" During his NHL career, Richards has 179 goals and 303 points from 710 regular season games. He won two Stanley cups both with the Kings in 2012 and 2014. Also he was a member of the 2010 Olympic Gold Medal winning Team Canada. As of today Richards remains un-signed, hopefully he will find a new ho...

A brilliant hat-trick from Patrick Kane sealed the Chicago Blackhawks place in the Stanley Cup final against the Boston Bruins with a pulsating 4-3 overtime win over the LA Kings at the United Center last night! After a season which has seem them win many admirers, the Hawks’ superb forward line will get to compete for the ultimate prize!  The Hawks took control in the first period with defenseman Duncan Keith ’s slap shot putting them in front and the lead was quickly doubled when Kane pushed them further ahead, all around the home fans were already getting into party mood!  But the second period would dampen the festive spirit as Dwight King ’s shorthanded goal for LA cut the lead to 2-1 and suddenly it looked like the Kings weren’t keen to have their crown stolen away just yet! After three minutes of the third period, Anze Kopitar scored his first of the series to tie the game and end his barren spell of six scoreless games!  Faith was restored in t...

It's been a busy week, what with the Champion's League final, the Go Karts in Monaco and Daft Punk releasing their new album. Anyway back to hockey. Things are sewn up in the east now, the Penguins will beat  play Boston in the Eastern Conference Final. In the west however, it's a different story with Detroit and LA still fighting it out, touch wood Detroit will make the most of the home ice advantage and win the series. San Jose on the other hand are the little train that never gave up. Despite the Kings dominating game five and shutting out the Sharks, Coach Todd McLellan must have slipped some kangaroo juice into his players' Gatorade cos last night they bounced right back*. I've heard of rushing the goal, but the Kings' initial strategy seemed to be 'rush the penalty box'. Kyle Clifford, Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar all made visits to the box in the first five minutes of play. Presumably Darryl Sutter will rethink this strategy as it al...