Award winning Los Angeles based sports journalist covering major events around the world since 1973. Please check out my new book and audio vault. Follow me on Twitter & Instagram (@tedsobelsports).
The Kings are halfway to defending their first Stanley Cup championship but before anyone can get too excited, they now have to find a way to defeat the President’s Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks starting tomorrow afternoon at the Madhouse on Madison.
One of the most candid of all the Kings players is veteran defenseman Rob Scuderi who’s one of my favorites in all of sports to interview because he actually speaks his mind as opposed to the many who just give you something to give you something (if you know what I mean?).
Many thanks to the Kings P.R. staff for having Rob call me in studio today at KFWB to get his thoughts on the eve of the Western Conference finals. I think you’ll get some real insight as to where this group stands before their toughest test yet during this post season.
Granato (far right) with coach Bylsma and Crosby (photo courtesy cbc.ca)
Tony Granato spent 7 years wearing the L.A. Kings sweater and that’s when I got to know the man who’s since gone on to become an elite NHL coach now as an assistant to another former So-Cal resident Dan Bylsma with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens have reached the Eastern Conference finals which starts tomorrow night on home ice against the Boston Bruins.
This is the first time since 1945 that the previous 4 Stanley Cup winners are the final four teams in the playoffs and that’s among the many topics that Tony and I go over. We also discuss his good fortune of playing with Wayne Gretzky and then coaching Sidney Crosby, and of course how his Penguins shape up as they get ready for the big bad Bruins.
Thanks to a game 7 overtime win by the Blackhawks over the Redwings last night, the Kings know that they’ll be heading for Chicago to start the NHL Western Conference final series on Saturday. And after their first practice before that series today in El Segundo, Kings goalie coach Bill Ranford called me to discuss what lies ahead after a much longer first two rounds for his guys than last year’s run to the Stanley Cup.
Of course it helps that Ranford is coaching the hottest goalie on the planet right now in Jonathan Quick but the Kings will also be facing an under-rated netminder in Chicago’s Corey Crawford. So may the best man win…but with plenty of help from their stars who haven’t always been each club’s best players throughout this post season and we’ll soon find out if that changes for either side.
Bill Ranford with Ted Sobel on the upcoming series:
Aaaaaaaaaaah…game 7’s! That’s what pro sports are all about and it was another classic one at Staples Center as the Kings got 2 second period goals from Justin Williams while goalie Jonathan Quick stopped 25 of 26 shots for a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. And the visitors gave it everything they had and were just not as fortunate and/or opportunistic as the Kings to advance to the Western Conference final which will either begin with Detroit in L.A. on Friday or the Kings opening in Chicago on Saturday (depending on Wednesday night’s game 7 winner in Chicago).
Williams jams in first goal of the game
Williams can easily be named ‘Mr. Game 7’ as he’s now scored 5 goals with 4 assists in 4 career game 7’s and as he told us afterwards, he could’ve scored a hat trick or even more tonight. As for Quickie, that’s exactly what he was making several acrobatic saves to keep the Kings in a quest for back to back Stanley Cups.
The Kings have now won 14 straight on home ice (7 of those in these playoffs) and of course would love to stay at home against the Redwings, but whomever they face next they certainly are battle-tested for whatever comes their way.
Kopitar enjoys Williams 2nd goal of the second period-the eventual game winner
The following are my sounds of the postgame from the Kings locker room and one of my themes of questioning was that after all of this tough grind to get here, they are only halfway to their ultimate goal…
Mattingly thinking only about ‘baseball moves’ from the dugout
The Dodgers started today with an extremely disappointing 20-27 record and in last place in the N.L. West 6 full games behind the co-first place D-Backs, Rockies and hated Giants. And their 7-14 record this month is on track for the worst May in L.A Dodgers history (11-17). But through all of this frustration and turmoil after very high expectations (about as high as their major league highest payroll) Dodger manager Don Mattingly continues to plug along as usual with an even keel that Coach John Wooden (one of Don’s Indiana homeboys) would be proud of.
The Dodgers were a positive group today coming off a nice 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals and with their ace Clayton Kershaw on the mound trying to lead them to their 4th series win in the last 5. But all is hardly as rosey as Mattingly would like it to be in his clubhouse considering the usual injuries and day to day junk that he has to deal with. And that’s besides the constant asking about his job status by us media-types something that I brought up again (in my first Dodger game in a few weeks) along with questions about Matt Kemp (who got the day off after getting benched last night in a Mattingly late game double-switch), Andre Ethier’s regular attitude issues, and just trying to get through this rocky stretch that includes the suddenly hot Angels the next 4 games.
The following is our entire chat (about 25 minutes worth) with Mattingly during his daily pregame exercise in the Dodgers dugout:
If you haven’t learned more about where Mattingly is coming after all the questions we got in today, then you just didn’t listen very carefully. Thanks for stopping by either way.
Your 1972 Lakers Championship squad (Flynn 2nd from the left) at our Team To Win charity event.
He was known as ‘Instant Point’ as dubbed by the late great Chick Hearn, Flynn Robinson lost his battle with cancer yesterday at the age of 72 in Los Angeles. And how ironic that it was his only season in L.A. 1972 where Robinson won his only NBA title which was the first in Los Angeles Lakers history.
That was the team that won 33 straight games, that was the team that saw one of the greatest Lakers of them all Elgin Baylor retire just 8 games into the season. But for Flynn Robinson (as you’ll hear in our sitdown chat) he was most excited because he got to play for this storied franchise and in this special city.
Flynn had played in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Milwaukee before coming to the Lakers and getting a chance to be the 6th man that helped catapult them into one of the greatest teams in NBA history. When the Lakers needed a hoop off the bench, he was ready to shoot at any moment. He was a give me the damned ball type of player…and I mean that in a good way. If there was a 3-point play in those days he would’ve been more than just a 1-time all-star.
with Flynn and his special coach Bill Sharman
I was saddened to learn of his death yesterday when I received an e-mail from the Lakers. It was just this past December when we had a nice long chat on the night that I got to co-host the Team to Win charity event (with Bill Walton) for the 40th anniversary of the Lakers first championship. Before I turned on the recorder Flynn and I enjoyed a nice exchange when he invited me to join him this summer at a fishing charity event for kids that he regularly held in Long Beach (if I recall correctly) and I gave him my number to reach me. Recently I was wondering why I hadn’t heard from him. He told me that he’d been battling some form of cancer but was doing ok. But I guess that’s what got him.
Flynn Robinson had an engaging personality and smile and all the guys loved him. RIP Flynn, I just wish we could’ve spent more time together.
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