TED SOBEL SPORTS AUDIO VAULT: Your Inside Access to TOUCHING GREATNESS

The Ducks lost to the Kings 3-1 at Honda Center last night in their final So-Cal preseason game before flying to Finland this morning. On that flight is ‘The Finnish Flash’ Teemu Selanne who scored the Ducks lone goal before he sees his old club Jokrit on Tuesday in Helsinki for the team’s final preseason match before opening their real season with games against the Buffalo Sabres in Helsinki on Oct. 7, and the New York Rangers on Oct. 8 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Selanne is back for a 19th NHL season and how about these career stats: he had 31 goals and 80 points last season, entering this season with 637 goals, the most in the NHL by a Finnish-born player and No.14 all-time. Teemu is 3 goals behind No. 13 Dave Andreychuk, and 9 goals from No. 12 Jaromir Jagr. His 1,340 points are No. 27 on all-time list, but just 54 behind No. 20 Luc Robitaille and 58 away from Jari Kurri, the all-time NHL point-producer among Finnish-born skaters.

The Ducks PR gurus Alex Gilchrist and Steve Hoem get my biggest props of the night, being kind enough to give me special late post-game access to the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer who will have to turn away many of the over 150 interview requests back home (so you see why I really appreciate him giving me a few minutes before the long trip). In our chat, we talked about his newly repaired knee and what he expects to see when going home to Finland. And let’s not forget Selanne’s entire farewell tour this season which will also find him back in Winnipeg on December 17 where his great North American journey all began as the 10th overall selection in the 1988 NHL Draft by the Jets and then scored 76 goals, shattering the NHL rookie record …

Teemu Selanne with Ted Sobel:

Randy Carlyle with Ted Sobel on Selanne’s return to Finland:

Santa Anita’s new Autumn thorobred meet opened yesterday to begin some bigtime racing in Arcadia where it should be this time of year.

Today Blind Luck will make her final tuneup for the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic when she runs in the Lady’s Secret Stakes, one of four Grade 1 races on the day with Breeders’ Cup implications.

The winner of each of the $250,000 races will earn an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 4-5 at Churchill Downs.

Blind Luck, last year’s 3-year-old filly champion, has never finished out of the money in 21 career starts for trainer and co-owner Jerry Hollendorfer.

She comes into the Lady’s Secret with three straight victories under jockey Garrett Gomez, following five consecutive second-place finishes beginning late last year.

In the 1 1-8-mile Goodwood Stakes, Santa Anita Handicap winner Game On Dude and Haskell winner Coil top the nine-horse field. Both are trained by Bob Baffert. Pacific Classic winner Acclamation is entered, but trainer Don Warren has indicated the horse is more likely to run in Sunday’s Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship instead.

In the 1 1-16-mile Norfolk Stakes for 2-year-olds, Drill and Creative Cause head the field. They finished one-two in the Del Mar Futurity earlier this month.

I spoke with track spokesman (how appropriate) Mike Willman on Thursday afternoon and we talked about what’s going on this fall at ‘The Great Race Place’ including it’s new track surface…

Mike Willman with Ted Sobel:

The Kings acquired center Mike Richards from Philadelphia on June 23 and on the last day of September he finally scored his first goal in an L.A. sweater to help his new team win in Anaheim 3-1. And this marks the end of the Kings and Ducks So-Cal portion of their preseason schedules.

I fortunately ran into Richards after tonight’s game as he rode an exercise bike just outside of the Kings locker room. He graciously gave me his time (while huffing and puffing and pedaling) for his thoughts before playing in Europe for the first time and then soon after ending up back in Philly for what will be one emotional return to the City of Brotherly Love.

On July 27, Richards was introduced to the L.A. media for the first time at the Kings El Segundo training site and I recorded interviews with Richie, Kings’ General Manager Dean Lombardi, and centerman Jarret Stoll about #10’s acquisition. Lombardi explained why he wanted Richards so badly to make a multi-player trade, and his strong respect for the Flyers organization and how he would like the Kings to emulate their special family-like atmosphere. Stoll got into how impressed he was with Richards in their first get togethers while assessing the 2011-12 Kings chances of bringing a first Stanley Cup to L.A.

I thought I had somehow erased those chats which is why I never posted them here. But tonight, I ironically found them after Richards scored his initial Kings goal so they are all here now for your listening pleasure-beginning with tonight’s postgame chat with Richie, who missed a late game empty-netter in which he explained was actually a good thing (hopefully)…

Mike Richards with Ted Sobel before heading to Las Vegas/Europe:

Mike Richards with Ted Sobel on his first few days in L.A. recorded July 27, 2011:

Dean Lombardi with Ted Sobel July 27, 2011:

Jarret Stoll with Ted Sobel July 27, 2011:

The Kings signed their holdout defenseman Drew Doughty last night and as I write this, he’s on his way to the Kings training site in El Segundo to take his physical and meet up with assistant coach John Stevens. So who better than Coach Stevens to get the latest on the return of his 21 year old all-star before the Kings play their final local game in Anaheim tonight before skating in Las Vegas on Saturday night and then before the long flight to Europe. It’s a grueling schedule ahead for the Kings, but it’s also the perfect bonding opportunity for the new group heading into the real season.

Stevens (who is another ex-Philly Flyer coach) and I cover all of that and more in our chat including the absolute latest from Kings AKA Flyers West camp…

John Stevens with Ted Sobel:

The news just came in that talk is definitely NOT cheap $$$ as the L.A. Kings have verbally agreed to a new 8 year-56 million dollar contract with 21 year old all-star holdout defenseman Drew Doughty making him the King of Kings (I guess it was worth his wait, eh?).

And I decided not to wait since it’s the perfect time to post my Bob Miller sitdown interview from yesterday right now. We discussed everything about his upcoming 38th season (one of the club’s most promising in years) as the voice of the Kings including Doughty’s holdout and how it could’ve impacted the team? But that’s old news now and tomorrow night (Friday) is the final game at Honda Center for both the Kings and Ducks before they head to Europe without Bob and he’ll explain why if you listen to our chat by paying just a little attention…

Bob Miller with Ted Sobel:

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Cucamonga will not be playing any post-season baseball this year after the A.L. West champion Texas Rangers ended all hopes with a 4-2 win on Monday night at the Big A.

It was my job to wander through the Angels’ post-game locker room and get reactions to the end of their hopes and dreams of getting to the World Series. And to a man, they all were pissed off but with an honest glimmer of hope for next season. Assuming that they bring back their clubhouse leader (and the most media friendly athlete on the planet) Torii Hunter, the Halos will have a great mix of veterans and kids with huge potential that’ll give their fans plenty of hope as a true contender for years to come.

You knew the Angels knew they were in trouble when with Russell Branyon as the tying run at the plate with no outs in the 9th inning, they were promoting 2012 Spring Training on the scoreboard (not a good sign-LITERALLY!).

The following are my chats with manager Mike Scioscia, Hunter, Vernon Wells, Jordan Walden and Hank Conger as reality sunk in that their season would end suddenly on Wednesday night.

Mike Scioscia with Ted Sobel:

Torii Hunter with Ted Sobel:

Vernon Wells with Ted Sobel:

Jordan Walden with Ted Sobel:

Hank Conger with Ted Sobel: