all-star spectacular

For the second time since the opening of Staples Center, the LA Kings got to host the NHL All-Star Weekend this year, Saturday January 28th and 29th. 

Being me, I of course had to be there for both the All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday and the All-Star Game on Sunday. 

Here's a photo essay of the weekend-o-hockey-fun!

Saturday: Fan-Fair and the Skills Competition

Oh, hey Drew Doughty. You look a lot better up there than Crybaby Crosby does ;)

Because it's LA, we of course had an All-Star Weekend Sand Castle  :) 

My favorite All-Stars, for obvious reasons

In honor of the 20th Anniversary of Wayne's World, a pop-up Stan Mikita's All-Star Cafe was set up in front of the Fan Fair. They gave away free donuts (that tasted like Krispy Kreme) and hosted autograph sessions and player/celebrity panels every few hours. 

We just happened to arrive at the All-Star Cafe in time to catch the Great One (aka Wayne Gretzky) on a panel with Brett Hull and David Boreanez, talking about the All-Star Celebrity Shootout game Saturday afternoon they were all participating in. (Wayne was not as grumpy as he looks in this photo, I swear.)

We also caught Hall of Fame hotties Mike Modano and Chris Chelios signing autographs. (And I was super-annoyed when some lady who just showed up for the free donuts asked me who they were!)

The NHL Fan Fair had food, kids stuff, autograph lines I wasn't going to wait in, collectibles and a really cool display of all the NHL Awards. Here are the awards with LA Kings on them (minus the Stanley Cup.. you had to reserve time to see that up close).

The Norris Trophy for Best Defensemen, won by Rob Blake in 1998 (photo on right) 

and Drew Doughty last season.

The Selke Trophy for Best Defensive Forward, won by Anze Kopitar last season.

The Conn Smythe Trophy, for NHL Playoff MVP, won by Jonathan Quick in 2012 

and Justin Williams in 2014.

The Veznia Trophy, for Best Goaltender, never won by a King (yet... Jonathan Quick has been nominated twice). But I include it here because, seeing it close up, I noticed that is has a goalie net in the middle of it, which I think is pretty cool :)

The Jennings Trophy, given to the goaltender with the fewest goals against, 

won by Jonathan Quick in 2014

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, for the player exhibiting the best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct, won by Wayne Gretzky multiple times, and Anze Kopitar last season.

Inside of Staples Center decked out (see the walls below the restaurant) for the weekend with logos from all the teams and the names of the four divisions competing.

The pre-Skills Competition intros.

Jeff Carter (#77) and Drew Doughty (the 2nd #8), being from the host team LA Kings, were the last players introduced before the four fan-voted Captains.

Sunday: All-Star Game

Dreeeeew and Carts during warmups.

Prior to the game, the members of the "NHL 100" (who had been introduced in a ceremony Friday night) all walked onto the ice and were introduced one by one. This was probably the coolest moment of the weekend...seeing that caliber of talent all in one place at the same time, in their jerseys. #chills

The current All-Stars went down that line as they were introduced (they skated out from under that triangle thingy), shaking hands with each historic player. Then, after the anthems, the members of the 100, all dropped a puck to a current All-Star to start the game, performing the largest, most talented puck-drop in NHL history!

The final score of "Round 1" which sent my Pacific team to the Final Round against the Metropolitan division, who ended up beating them 4-3 (cuz they were coached by Gretzky ;p).

downtown adventure day

Last Saturday turned into one of my favorite kinds of days... wandering around downtown exploring! My friend James' sister Karen was in town from Austin to watch her favorite hockey team, the Boston Bruins, lose to my LA Kings. So along with Daryl, we set off downtown with the 7:30pm puck drop as our only scheduled activity.

Stop #1 was at my second favorite place to hang out downtown (after Staples Center, of course), the amazingly delicious foodie paradise on the corner of 7th and Grand, Bottega Louie. It was 1pm and the weekend, so the brunch menu was still in effect, and we took full advantage!

Daryl and Karen had Bloody Mary's, I had a Bellini.
Dessert was the caramel butterscotch parfait on the lower right, with a salted chocolate macaroon.
We also, of course, made Karen try the famous portebello mushroom fries! (Sorry, no photo. They were gone too fast ;)

Our brunch meals were (clockwise from top left): My lemon ricotta pancakes, Karen's smoked salmon benedict, James' salmon millefeuille with soft boiled egg on the side and Daryl's lobster hash.

After brunch, we were walking back to my car to put stuff (ie: my Bottega Louie sugar cookies and raspberry beinget, which I had for breakfast on Sunday) away, when we spotted R2D2 and some storm troopers. Now, I've seen a live cow wandering the streets of downtown, but seeing an actual celebrity like R2D2 had to be investigated! Turns out, they were there to promote the 24th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (aka FIDM), which is a block from my go-to DTLA parking lot. The exhibit was free, so we wandered in and saw all the costumes nominated for Oscars this year, plus the wanna-be's (Jem and the Holograms anyone?). It was a welcome surprise on our Downtown Adventure Day!

The Force Awakens costumes, official exhibit greeter R2D2 and a combo land cruiser/back to the future prop car (it had a flux capacitor inside, along with a mini-BB8). Check out the cool "Kenobi 2016" bumper sticker and the "Yoda" "fish" :)

My fave movie surprise of the year, Brooklyn, Academy Award Winner Mad Max: Fury Road, and the Cinderella princess dress

After the stop at the car, we wandered to LA Live. Karen wanted to check out the Grammy Museum (which -- tip! -- only costs $10 with your AAA card). They had exhibits on Otis Redding (4th floor), The Supremes (3rd floor) and a Bob Dylan photography exhibit (2nd floor). But my favorite thing on the 2nd floor was found in the hallway on the way to the restroom... framed photos of Adele and the Foo Fighters. Apparently 2011 was an excellent year for the only two music acts I've listened to on the iPod in my car for the last four months (with the exception of an experimental week, which I'll be blogging about here soon ;)

After the Grammy Museum, we hit up Rosa Mexicana for their famous pomegranate margaritas, guac and a mini-dinner.

Then it was time for Karen and I -- well our hockey teams -- to go into battle. Luckily, the good guys prevailed so Karen got a ride home ;)

luuuuuuuc the statuuuuuuue

If you know me, you know I love hockey. You also probably know that I love the LA Kings. And the reason I first went to a Kings game (circa 1988) and fell in love with hockey was a cute French Canadian named Luc Robitaille (who I'd seen playing at a celebrity softball game at USC that I originally went to in order to drool over long-haired rocker boys from '80s hair bands... but I digress.)

Turns out, that cute Luc Robitaille was also a pretty good hockey player. Like the top-scoring-left-wing-in-NHL-history kind of good. 

And over the years -- after I learned about hockey from listening to Bob Miller call games on TV, and eventually became a season ticket holder -- I watched him score his 500th goal on January 7, 1999 at the Great Western Forum. I watched him leave the team (for the second time) to win the Stanley Cup (for the first time) with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002. And once he returned home to LA, I was there for his final home game on April 15, 2006, chanting "Luuuuuuuuuuc" as he skated a final lap around Staples Center ice before he retired from the NHL. 

In January 2007, I sat through quite possibly the longest jersey retirement ceremony ever as his #20 was raised to the rafters of Staples Center. And on June 11, 2012, I cried as I watched him raise the Stanley Cup over his head as a King when the Kings won it for the first time, with Luc serving as President of Business Operations for the team. 

So I was, of course, standing outside Staples Center in Star Plaza on March 7, 2015, when Luuuuuuc was immortalized in bronze, as only the second LA hockey player to be honored with a statue outside the arena. His statue is in the front of the plaza, and unlike most of the others (Wayne Gretzky, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Chick Hearn, Oscar de La Hoya) his statue is in color, with him wearing a white classic Kings jersey, his stick raised over his head and a smile on his face in a celebratory goal-scoring pose. 

Wayne Gretzky showed up to speak in his honor. Mario Lemieux, his Pittsburgh Penguin teammate, also came to the ceremony. Quite possibly the two greatest hockey players ever, were there to honor Luc. That's how respected he his. His Kings teammate and current front-office co-worker Rob Blake spoke. So did Lakers great Jerry West. And Kings fans showed up an hour before game time to watch it all happen. 

Here are some photos :)

Stacia and Luc Robitaille walk the red carpet to the ceremony

 

The Great One

         

Bob Miller's back, Luc's side and the statue under wraps

Rob Blake and Wayne Gretzky in the front row 

The statue is unveiled

View from the front, with (l-r) Mario Lemieux, Luc, Rob Blake, Jerry West, AEG President
Dan Beckerman, Jesse Robitaille, Wayne Gretzky

rob blake's #4 rises to the rafters

Saturday night (January 17, 2015) the LA Kings retired the second of my two, all-time favorite players' numbers.

Rob Blake's #4 will now forever hang in the rafters next to Luc Robitaille's #20, in addition to some other guys you may have heard of named Dave Taylor (#18), Rogie Vachon (#30), Marcel Dionne (#16) and Wayne Gretzky (#99).

Rob's jersey retirement ceremony included 30-ish of Rob's ex-teammates standing by to honor him, with Luc, Kings GM/Rob's current boss Dean Lombardi, current Kings Captain Dustin Brown, and Rob's defensive partner Mattias Norstrom (who flew in from Sweden) speaking about him and his accomplishments both on and off the ice.

People mentioned his records as a defensemen (that Drew Doughty will probably break). They noted he's the only King's defensemen to win the Norris Trophy (Drew will do that eventually too). And they spoke of his Hall of Fame induction last November. But that's all public knowledge.

Dustin Brown, who was beginning his career as Rob's was ending, spoke of how Rob set an example for the younger players like him and Anze Kopitar of how to carry oneself as an NHL player and how to be a leader.

And Luc spoke of how Rob, even when he no longer played for the Kings, paid for Kings season tickets for a family who's three children had muscular dystrophy. The family had attended one game as guests of the Kings, and afterwards while visiting the team in the locker room, the dad told Rob that the game that night was the happiest he'd ever seen his kids. Rob called up the front office the next morning and bought them season tickets that year, and continued to do so every year until, sadly, the kids had all passed away. But that dad -- Luc noted -- was in the crowd Saturday night to see Rob's number go up in the rafters.

That story, my friends, is why I love hockey and hockey players. They are just good guys. And in Rob's case, a good farm boy from Simcoe, Ontario, who made it to the big time, worked hard, developed a booming hipcheck when a shoulder injury made it too painful for him to check the normal way, broke a lot of records, won a Stanley Cup (with the Avs), and stayed humble.

Here's Rob's speech that demonstrates a little of that, and how he feels about his teammates:

The view from Section 205: 

#4 rises to the rafters

Close-up of #4 before being moved over next to #20

things that make me smile

With the appearance of a FedEx tag on my front door, today became my favorite day in September -- Season Ticket Box of Goodies Arrival Day!

Not only did I get another "Luc Robitaille-Authenticated" container of melted ice that the LA Kings won the Stanley Cup on, but I got my discount card and all my tickets, which are awesome!

The Kings went all out on the season ticket books this year! Not only is every player (not just the long-contracted stars) on a ticket (I guess that means no one is getting traded this year :p), but every ticket has a different photo of Stanley Cup Championship happiness on it and the special games have special tickets. 

This is my favorite ticket :) 

(Glad they used a photo of him sticking out his tongue! Haha)   

great day for a parade... the 2014 championship edition

Been a little busy at work since I played hooky on June 16th to go downtown and cheer on my TWO-time Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings, so here's a bunch of the photos I took two weeks ago on an awesome Southern California Monday-Funday :)

Ranger Hater Juanita and Me waiting for the Parade

Jeff Carter (77), Marion Gaborik (12) and Mike Richards (10)

Trevor Lewis (22), Drew Doughty (8) & Alec
Martinez (27) with the Campbell Bowl

Tanner Pearson (70), Tyler Toffoli (73), Martin Jones (31),
Jeff Schultz (55) and Dwigtht King (74)

Jarret Stoll (28), Matt Greene (2), Willie Mitchell (33) and Justin Williams (14)

Conn Smythe Trophy Winner Justin Williams (14)

Jonathan Quick (32), Dustin Brown (23), Anze Kopitar (11) and Lord Stanley's Cup

Jonathan Quick (32), Dustin Brown (23) and Anze Kopitar (11)... with confetti 

KOPI!

QUICKIE! 

The party bus... Alec Martinez (27), Drew Doughty (8) and Trevor Lewis (22)

Team photo with lots of trophies :)