As the Los Angeles Kings' rising stars shine, their impact is felt not just in California, but across the NHL.
Between a stoic Swede and a young Canadian hailed to be the “next Anze Kopitar”, Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield are hitting their strides at the exact right time for the Los Angeles Kings. Both first round draft picks (Kempe 29th overall in 2014; Byfield 2nd overall in 2020), the two forwards have become critical components to a Kings team trying its best to not only make the p...
From Jewels From The Crown
| over 1 year ago
| 2 reads
Game Preview
The Arizona Coyotes’ road trip continues with a trip to the Northwest. The Coyotes will play a back-to-back, with a match against the Seattle Kraken tonight and a trip to Vancouver tomorrow.
The Coyotes have all of the momentum going into tonight’s game. They followed up a comeback win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday with a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Saturday’s game featured another strong period for the Yotes. Both teams had lit th...
From Five For Howling
| over 1 year ago
| 4 reads
Game Preview
The Arizona Coyotes must feel good about themselves as they head out on the road. The Yotes have all the momentum as they head out on their final road trip, starting with a matinee matchup against the San Jose Sharks today.
The Coyotes ended their previous seven-game homestand with one of the most impressive comebacks in franchise history. After giving up four unanswered goals in the second period, it looked like the Vegas Golden Knights were just 20 minutes away f...
From Five For Howling
| over 1 year ago
| 1 read
Akil Thomas, drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 2018 draft, made his NHL debut this week. The forward has seen limited ice time so far, but made a big impact in his time against the Sharks.
Thomas’s first NHL goal, and first career point, came at 11:13 in the first period. Thomas and PL Dubois came down the ice together, with Thomas using other players as a screen to find the back of the net. His goal also stands as the game-winner, a feat which he has accomplishe...
From Jewels From The Crown
| over 1 year ago
| 2 reads
Game Preview
The Arizona Coyotes’ homestand ends tonight with a match against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Coyotes fell 2-1 to the Vancouver Canucks in their last game and are running out of chances to put on a show for the home crowd this season.
While the game may not have ended the way the Coyotes would have hoped, it wasn’t a complete loss. The Canucks are one of the top teams in the NHL this season, and the Coyotes did a good job of keeping the game close.
That isn’t to sa...
From Five For Howling
| over 1 year ago
| 3 reads
Chics - and wins - dig the long ball.
The post How Important Are “Productive Outs”, Really? appeared first on Off The Bench .
From Off The Bench
| over 1 year ago
| 1 read
When I visited Winter Weekend at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. back in January, several fans I talked to said different versions of the same thing: the Boston Red Sox need to stop acting like a small market team. Since that weekend, the walls have been closing in on management. It’s not just the […]
The post Boston Red Sox Offseason Grade appeared first on Off The Bench .
From Off The Bench
| over 1 year ago
| 1 read
The Anaheim Ducks may boast the most consistent elite goalie play in NHL history. With the trade deadline past, multiple contending teams have a clear hole in net, and almost none of them filled it. Whether you want to look at how Carolina is an extremely well rounded team except goaltending, how the LA Kings haven’t won a playoff series since prime Johnathan Quick graced them, or how the Devils quite literally took themselves out of playoff contention by not addressing goaltending. Goalies ma...
From Anaheim Calling
| almost 2 years ago
| 2 reads
December brought with it its usual slate of chilly challenges and the team often struggled to rise to the occasion. With 20 games left, can they do it?
Mar 7, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala (22, center) celebrates a goal with center Phillip Danault (24) and defenseman Matt Roy (3) during the overtime against the Ottawa Senators at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
February was frosty to the Los Angeles Kings ...
From Jewels From The Crown
| almost 2 years ago
| 2 reads
Coming off an eighth consecutive losing season, plus the loss of Shohei Ohtani to free agency, the Los Angeles Angels have become an afterthought in Major League Baseball. They’re projected to win 78 games by FanGraphs, which would be a ninth straight season finishing with a losing record and a tenth straight season without making […]
The post The Mike Trout WAR Watch appeared first on Off The Bench .
From Off The Bench
| almost 2 years ago
| 2 reads
It’s silly season right now with the trade deadline little over a week away. In that spirit I have decided to write a beautiful work of science-fiction in which I am handed the reigns of this franchise for the time between now and the March 8 deadline. I have, as all good and benevolent overlords do, tried to be reasonable in terms of what the trades look like on balance. I am sure that every fan of the teams involved will say that I’m a moron and a fool who has suffered some kind of head trau...
From Anaheim Calling
| almost 2 years ago
| 1 read
So, the Anaheim Ducks just got pants’d on live TV with hockey night in Canada 9-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In what can only be seen as the bottoming out of this season so far, we saw the variance between two ends of the hockey spectrum in almost every way.
At one end, the Toronto Maple Leafs. A team between 2007 – 2016 that had been consistently at the bottom of the Northeast/Atlantic Division, now reaping the rewards of their full rebuild. A team with high draft picks demanding high c...
From Anaheim Calling
| almost 2 years ago
| 2 reads
Penn State is currently tied for the best start in program history with a 7-0 overall record, matching the starts set by the 1974 and 2023 teams. PSU returns to action next weekend, Feb. 23-25, at the Liberty Softball Classic, with games scheduled against Saint Francis, host-Liberty, a pair of contests against Morgan State and … Continue reading "Week Two Softball News"
From Big Yellow Balls
| almost 2 years ago
| 0 reads
I like YouTube. I was tested for ADHD, twice actually, as a kid at the behest of one of my elementary schools because I had a bit of a habit of checking out mentally multiple times throughout the day. One test came back inconclusive and another came back as negative. That was over 20 years ago at this point but I still wonder sometimes if maybe I just got lucky or something on those tests. I mean, I can’t focus for shit.
Anyways, I like YouTube, as I said. One of my favorite things to do ...
From Anaheim Calling
| almost 2 years ago
| 0 reads
2024 Opening Week Softball Season Happenings Here’s a few opening week highlights. Florida State’s season got off to a rough start when Charlotte gained its biggest win in program history after defeating Florida State during day one of the JoAnne Graf Classic. The 49ers were able to escape Tallahassee with an come from behind upset … Continue reading "2024 College Softball Opening Week"
From Big Yellow Balls
| almost 2 years ago
| 0 reads
Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Preparations continue in Tampa Bay Following Wednesday’s victory in a two hour battle with CF Montreal, the Five Stripes pick up where they left off against their preseason hosts, the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
The second closed-door friendly in a row is also the last of the preseason slate to be live streamed, and will be the last glimpse we can get of the Atlanta United squad until the season kicks off in Columbus on February 24th. Giorgo...
From Dirty South Soccer
| almost 2 years ago
| 3 reads
Photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISI Photos/Getty Images
A few choice matches here for fans wanting to catch the young talent in person MLS Next Pro dropped the full 2024 league schedule Thursday, revealing the matchups for Atlanta United 2’s second Next Pro season. Gaffer Steve Cooke remains at the helm with the Two Spikes, alongside a smorgasbord of young - and new - talent.
The MLS Next Pro season kicks off March 15th and will continue the same format of penalties at the end of every regula...
From Dirty South Soccer
| almost 2 years ago
| 0 reads
Julie Bennett-USA TODAY Sports
What’s the fan outlook towards Atlanta United going into the season? We want to hear from you. Preseason is in full swing for Atlanta United, and as players get accustomed to one another and shake off rust, we begin to set high expectations for the regular season. And while the staff at Dirty South Soccer have already shared our Atlanta United outlooks going into the 2024 season (which you can find here, by the way: https://www.dirtysouthsoccer.com/2024/1/16...
From Dirty South Soccer
| almost 2 years ago
| 4 reads
Jordan Godfree-USA TODAY Sports
Atlanta United embarks on new stretch of preseason in Florida The Five Stripes’ preseason adventure has taken them west, east, and now south to Tampa, Florida where they will remain for the next two friendlies on the docket, the first of which kicks off this afternoon against a team happier than almost any other to be in the Sunshine State, CF Montreal.
Atlanta’s first MLS opponent of preseason will also be their first to be played behind closed doors, bu...
From Dirty South Soccer
| almost 2 years ago
| 2 reads
Bogdan Bogdanovic in Atlanta United’s new, unreleased away kit | X/@ATLHawks
Bogdan Bogdanovic and Clint Capela don new, unreleased shirt in pregame Leaks don’t normally come as clear as this.
The Atlanta Hawks put out two pregame posts on X prior to their game against the Los Angeles Clippers tonight of player arrival at State Farm Arena with some extremely noticeable fashion choices— the new and still unreleased 2024/2025 away kit for Atlanta United .
Closing out the homestand i...
From Dirty South Soccer
| almost 2 years ago
| 0 reads
Good Morning Anaheim,
With the All Star break in full swing (yes it is going on, and no I haven’t been watching), it seems like a good time to go through pieces of the Ducks roster and see how each player has been. And with the current outlook of the roster and the trade deadline looming large, the best scale to rate these players seems to be in the ilk of buying and selling. So treating the current Ducks players like stocks, let’s go over who we should buy, sell, hold or dump comin...
From Anaheim Calling
| almost 2 years ago
| 0 reads
Jay Bendlin/Atlanta United
A little bit of spice in the preseason While the preseason is a terrible time to put tons of stock into the analysis of how a soccer team will actually play real matches, there are still gems of info that can be gleaned from watching a team as it ramps up towards the first league game.
Atlanta United played Memphis 901 to a 1-1 draw on Saturday out in Athens, in a game that was rife with hard tackles, cards, dust-ups, and everything one would expect from a mid...
From Dirty South Soccer
| almost 2 years ago
| 3 reads
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Atlanta gets the news it’s been waiting for. Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will play host to one of the 2 semifinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on July 15, 2026, soccer’s governing body announced during a televised event on Sunday.
Atlanta learned it’d be a World Cup host city in June 2022, the biggest event yet for a region that has found itself squarely on the world football map. On top of U.S. Soccer moving its headquarters to the Atlanta area, M...
From Dirty South Soccer
| almost 2 years ago
| 0 reads
Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Five Stripes in the Classic City With preseason now well underway, Atlanta United ’s focus shifts to their second friendly match of the year in their second ever visit to Athens, Georgia as they take on Memphis 901 FC of the second division USL Championship.
A sold out crowd at the 1,700 seat Turner Soccer Complex sees a rematch of last year’s U.S. Open Cup Third Round meeting that saw Memphis advance after extra time in Kenn...
From Dirty South Soccer
| almost 2 years ago
| 5 reads
The 2024 Preseason ACC Coaches Poll and All-ACC Softball Team is voted on by the league’s head coaches. Duke will host the 2024 ACC Softball Championship from Wednesday, May 8, to Saturday, May 11, at Duke Softball Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
From Big Yellow Balls
| almost 2 years ago
| 0 reads