With one week to go in the regular season, your Los Angeles Kings find themselves in last place in the NHL. With three games left, the Kings are two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have also played one less game. Kings, your pathetic fate is in your own gloved hands. Go out there and give it your all. Make us proud… Lose those last three games! That’s right. Lose! There’s no pride in......

Photo by Tom Andrews via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr 45-year-old murder suspect Hovik "John" Mankyan, who engaged police in a lengthy standoff on Good Friday in Palmdale, is reportedly "clinging to life" in the hospital. Mankyan, who is wanted for a 2004 North Hollywood homicide "ingested poison and severed arteries" prior to surrendering. Honors on Ice: The Anaheim Ducks will honor SWAT officer Randal Simmons, who died in the line of duty,......

#3 UCLA 77, #7 Stanford 67, OT - The Bruins clinched their third consecutive Pac-10 hoops crown with their victory over the Farm. It looked bleak for awhile, but they managed to come from behind. More from Jimmy later this morning. USC 93, Cal 89, OT - This game was tough for fans to watch. That's because it wasn't televised. And because USC blew a huge lead. It worked out OK in the end. We're......

Lakers 106, Bobcats 97 - The Lakers are 4-1 since acquiring Pau Gasol, playing a little cat-and-mouse last night in Charlotte. After allowing the Bobcats to cut a 13 point lead to 3, Kobe put it away in the closing minutes. He had 31 points, his third game in a row over the 30 mark. Gasol contributed 26 despite a cold ... The Lakers wrap up an impressive road trip tomorrow in Minnesota. Pre-Gasol and......

LA readings and book signings around town for January 28th - Februar 3rd including Judith Freeman, Ron Jeremy, Tamara Jenkins, Mary McNamara, Sam Jones and Tom Dolby....

Kings 8, Sabres 2 - Halfway through, it looked suspiciously like an SEC football score. Los Angeles was up 7-0 midway through the second period and coasted the rest of the way, making life easy on goalie Jonathan Quick. Due to injuries, Quick was making his first appearance in the NHL. For those keeping score at home, the Kings have tried more goalies this season than they had goals against the Sabres. Only in LA......

Days after making up with rapper Kanye West, legendary daredevil Evel Knievel has landed himself in the news once again, not for making an improbable stunt landing, but for doing something one day all of us regular folks are going to do. He died today in his home state of Florida at the age of 69. The AP is reporting:Knievel's death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for......

After years of pressure from stats geeks thoughtful mathematicians, the NBA has started keeping a new official statistic — the old plus/minus. It’s a simple idea that hockey has used for decades: How much does a team outscore its opponent (or get outscored) when a specific player is on the floor. It’s pretty simple. Off the top of your head, who leads the Lakers in this new stat (if averaged per game)? Kobe Bryant?......

But first - Kobe vetoed a trade! Baseball in the Coliseum - Just after it was announced that the Red Sox will open the exhibition season against Oakland in Japan, the Dodgers confirmed that the defending World Champs would play three games against the Blue Crew. The cool part? One of the games will be in the Coliseum as part of the Dodger's 50th anniversary in Los Angeles. Yes, it can be configured that way......

Sports Illustrated busted with a sweet and comprehensive look at current-day NHL goalies and their colorful helmets. Sadly our local boys did not fare very well in comparison with some of the monsters that emboss a few of the masks, like the one above of Marty Turco of the Dallas Stars. They weren't embarrassingly bad, like some, but they're pretty near the bottom of the barrel. The Kings' Jason LaBarbera seems to have Metallica......

After stumbling out of the gate, your Los Angeles Kings have won 4 in a row, and suddenly find themselves back to .500 with a not-too embarrassing record of 6-6. A lot of credit for the recent surge goes to the solid play of goalie Jason LaBarbera. People in LA might not have noticed, but the good folks who run the NHL have, and consequently, today they named LaBarbera as the league’s #1 star......

A mere eleven games into the season, the Kings have accomplished two feats they have not been able to muster since the 2005-06 season: Beat the Dallas Stars. Win three in a row. A 2-1 victory tonight was enough to do both. The feats don't amount to much, but they are worth noting for a team that has had its share of (very) hard times in the rebuilding process that commenced last year. Furthermore,......

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the first game in LA Kings history. Your Los Angeles Kings celebrated by losing 4-1 to the Detroit Red Wings. Though if you live in LA and are reading this, you’re probably a Detroit fan anyway. Seriously, were there any Kings fans at the game last night? The Kings loss was its fifth in a row after winning the season opener against the Ducks in London. The lone......

Your Los Angeles Kings head into Dallas tonight to face a team that beat them in eight out of eight meetings last year. The Dallas Stars are off to a slow start, but they have a strong core to build on, and should be fine. The Kings on the other hand… Since winning the first game (against the Ducks in London), the Kings looked more like their true selves in a flat rematch against......

If you're a local sports fan, hopefully you had Columbus Day (International Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People, whatever) off to nurse a wicked hangover. In fact, maybe you should take tonight off from Sports Center, too. It's Leif Erikson day. Honest. Even George W. Bush knows that (and don't worry, he's probably not working today, either). Maybe it wasn't the worst, but it was up there. T.J. Simers hit the nail on the......

If one of the NHL’s new rule changes included shortening the game from three periods to two, you would be reading a far different post right now. It would be a celebration of the Kings young guns, who scored all three goals against the St. Louis Blues. I would be praising the coming of a new savior, rookie netminder Jonathon Bernier, who played brilliantly. But alas, the game still has three periods, and last......

It's Sex Saturday! That means April Smear is going to post a rant or question about all things sex. Let’s create a dialogue and attempt to understand the sexual underbelly of Los Angeles! I can’t even begin to think of how many times I’ve totally been into a guy and he can’t get the nerve to kiss me. It’s the same thing every time. Meet cute guy, realize connection, talk intimately for a long......

Hello hockey fan(s?).The Anaheim Ducks are fresh off an exciting two game series against the LA Kings in the great city of London, England. Today, they find themselves in Detroit Michigan, another city replete with history and gore, er, I mean lore. Watching Game 1 of the 07-08 NHL Season, made me proud to be a fan of this great sport. I mean, what other professional league can claim they have no idea how to......

Ducks 4, Kings 1 - After Los Angeles shocked Anaheim 4-1 in Saturday's season opener in London (yes, London), the defending champs showed who really is king. Despite 10 goals in two days, British fans were reportedly most excited about a good ol' fashioned hockey fight. Welcome back, NHL. Welcome back. A's 3, Angels 2 - The AL West champion Halos hit a skid when they clinched the pennant, but they saved face in their......

Hello Ducks fans, I'm back to regale you all with my take on the greatest game on earth. When I signed off last time (seemingly for good) the Anaheim Ducks of Los Angeles Anaheim were the glorious winners of Lord Stanley's silver chalice. Fast forward. A lot has changed. Out with Dustin Penner, in with convicted criminal Todd Bertuzzi. Possibly out with Scott Niedermayer, in with Mathieu Schneider. Hopefully out with Teemu Selanne and his......

Rangers 16, Angels 2 - Welcome to opposite day; Cellar dweller Texas plastered playoff-bound LAnaheim and completed a three game sweep. A day after resting several stars, the Angels showed that they're still struggling with injuries. They got a couple runs in thanks to small ball (both were scored on sac flies), but gave up a whopping five home runs. One was hit in the first by Sammy Sosa. (You remember him, even if he......

With a major project concluded, I'm back to regular writing. Hockey is back, too. You can watch a free game downtown tonight. Angels 10, Devil Rays 7 - The last time the Halos played small ball this well, they won a World Series. They could be headed back, with their magic number down to five. The Angels piled up double digits against the Devils without a home run on Monday, the 11th time they've reached......

Do you live downtown? Can you prove it? Then get yourself to Staples Center tomorrow night. The Los Angeles Kings are throwing a party just for you. I’m not sure how the Kings define “party”, but starting at 6:30, the 2007-2008 team will be introduced. AEG President Tim Lieweke and all-time Kings great Luuuuuuuuuuc Robitaille will also be present to tell you all about exhilarating real estate developments and about how exciting this hockey......

The NHL 2007-08 season officially got underway last night with an exhibition game between the Stanley Cup Champion (?!) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and your Los Angeles Kings. Brian Willsie put the Kings ahead with five minutes to go in the game, and the Kings held on to beat the Ducks 5-4. Sure, exhibition games mean nothing, but we’re not going to see a lot of King’s victories this year, so let’s savor the......

I’m writing this from bed, plan on returning to sleep when I’m done and will be too busy cleaning up the residue from my birthday celebration last night to post on dear ole LAist anytime soon, but...in my bleary, horizontal state, I felt moved to write while still basking in the glow of the Old Crow Medicine Show’s concert last night. It’s a miracle I made it at all, having hours before returned from......

Angels 7, A's 6 - Francisco Rodriguez blew a save opportunity despite a three run lead. Fortunately, he was saved by Maicer Izturis' RBI single with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Vladimir Guerrero took the day off and while the Halos generated plenty of offense without him, none of the 15 hits left the park. The team's recent home run slump coincides with Vlad's, who hasn't gone yard in 24 games despite......

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the......

Dodgers 7, Braves 6 - It feels like a good summer in LA. The weather is hot, the Dodgers are in first, three of the Blue Crew are going to the All Star Game, and everybody has the day off for the 4th. Well, almost everybody. The Dodgers will be back in action tonight and hope for some more on-field fireworks. Last night they connected for 13 hits to power home 7 runs. Wilson Betemit......

Angels 9, Cardinals 3 - Ervin Santana needed 115 pitches to get through just 6 innings, and his 3 earned runs over six innings was actually a major improvement over his season ERA. The Halo's offense ensured that none of that mattered, piling up the runs early and often with 18 total hits. They had seven hits and four RBI from just the 1-2 hitters (Chone Figgins and Orlando Cabrera). Blue Jays 1, Dodgers 0......

I've lived in the U.S.A. for more than half my life now, but I still grapple with the issue of cultural identity and a sense of national heritage. This is further complicated by the fact that my people and my motherland suffer from what I see as a lack of culture beyond a handful of longstanding stereotypes that I feel oftentimes at a loss to counter or defend, unless I am taking exception to......