on and on, to the beat of our noisy hearts

since the los angeles kings are affectionately known as “flyers west” and the flyers are no longer in the playoffs, i’m covering the kings for flyers faithful for the duration of their playoff run. i thought that kings fans may be interested in my different pieces, so here they are:

journey to cup finals is a team effort (5/24)

kings in familiar territory (5/21)

carter comes alive (5/17)

when mike richards got traded to the kings, i’m sure there were plenty of doubters out in LA. kings fans had internet rumors to base their opinions on, and the opinions of those hockey fans who focused more on richards’ “extracurriculars” - most of which weren’t even accurate. his injuries prevented fans from seeing all of the things he could do, how talented he was, and how smart of a hockey player he was. but there were numerous flashes of greatness, and now, in the playoffs, he’s the mike richards flyers fans - well, some of us - know and love. his leadership, his smarts, his skills, they’re all prevalent in this series. los angeles is getting to see the real mike richards. i miss the hell out of him, but i’m thrilled he’s doing so well out there, and i hope the kings fans are enjoying the ride.

“Sutter alluded to Richards’ quiet leadership when he said, “I’m sure a lot of it is natural. The game is such that leadership is defined a lot of times by star players or (being in the) public eye or popular players or guys that are well-spoken. 

“But at the end of the day, it’s about actual performance in big situations. That’s really how it’s always measured. Everything else is just sort of smoke.”