How the West was won: LA Kings 2011-12 timeline

"Careful, Dustin, this rug is awfully slippery. We wouldn't want you to fall so easily."

Last night, the Los Angeles Kings beat the Phoenix Coyotes in overtime to clinch the Western Conference and advance to the franchise's second Stanley Cup Final.  This is good news for us Twitter maniacs, as this means the LA Kings' Twitter account will be busy through the Finals.  So how did this Kings run to the Finals come to be?


June 23rd: Flyers GM Paul Holmgren promises Kings GM Dean Lombardi that trading for Mike Richards would help him land the Richards he really wanted to sign.

June 24th: Mike Richards sends Jeff Carter a sympathy card postmarked Columbus, Ohio.

July 2nd: Brad Richards signs with the Rangers, to nobody's surprise.  Except a very frustrated Dean Lombardi.

July 3rd: Lombardi calls Gary Bettman to see if the NHL has rejected Ilya Kovalchuk's second contract with the Devils yet.

October 7th: The Kings open their season in Sweden (yes, the NHL used to do that...) against the New York Rangers.  Hmm...

October 13th: The Kings play their first game in North America, against the New Jersey Devils.  Hmm...

Behind the scenes of Rick Nash trade negotiations

As you probably know by now, the Columbus Blue Jackets are trying to trade all of their good players.  Yes, Rick Nash is on the trade block.  Between the Rangers, Sharks, Maple Leafs and Kings, there's been plenty of speculation as to where Rick Nash will end up.  Of course, no matter hard General Managers try to hide these matters from the public, bloggers like me always find a way to find out what really is[n't] happening.  Take a look.


February 23rd, 3:47 PM: Kings GM Dean Lombardi calls Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson.

Lombardi: Mr. Howson, I'd like to acquire Rick Nash.

Howson: Rick...who?

Lombardi: Nash.  He's your team's captain.

Howson: Oh, yeah, sorry, I've been meaning to watch a Jackets game this season.  It just hasn't happened yet.

Lombardi: Every now and then, I do, but only if I actually want to watch lots of goals scored.

Howson: Hey, listen, the phone's ringing.  It's Brian Burke.

Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke calls Howson.