Jesse Cohen joins to talk Kings season so far, Brandt Clarke’s STRONG start & Adrian Kempe’s status

Jesse Cohen joins to talk Kings season so far, Brandt Clarke’s STRONG start & Adrian Kempe’s status

We have a conversation with Jesse Cohen, what he’s up to now in his coverage of the Kings, his thoughts on the team through four games, and his conversation with Brandt Clark. All that and more on this edition of Locked On LA Kings. You are Locked on Kings. Your daily podcast on the Los Angeles Kings, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Hey Kings fans, welcome to Locked on LA Kings, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Thanks for making Locked on LA Kings your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and you can win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. I’m Eddie Garcia, your host of Locked on LA Kings. Worked in sports media for the past 30 years. also one of the co-hosts of Locked on NHL Game Night, a nightly recap of the night in the NHL and of course a passionate LA Kings fan for over 30 years. We are happy to be joined once again by Jesse Cohen. He is the host of the official podcast of the Los Angeles Kings, the All the Kings Men podcast. You can follow him on X and Twitter, Kingsmen podcast. Hey Jesse, welcome back to the show. Thanks for joining us. Thanks Eddie. I appreciate it. wanted to start off by letting everyone know what your current situation is in your coverage of the Kings. Um, you’re no longer doing Kings Talk, which I’m sure a lot of people know you from, but you are still doing the All the Kings Men podcast. Uh, so obviously you are covering the Kings, but in a different way than you have in recent years. Maybe you could just kind of update everyone on on what’s going on now. Sure. Um, I am no longer employed by the LA Kings. Um, but I will be continuing to do all the Kings Men uh in tandem with the LA Kings. So, if you’re subscribed or if you are used to finding it wherever you’re used to finding it, you can still do that. Um, I’m still working with the Kings, just not for the Kings. Um, and I will be covering the team on my own uh at the royal.com for those of you who remember the royal half. Uh I am not the person who is the royal half but I will be uh I will be operating the website the royal half and uh it will have a similar tone but probably not the exact same style if that makes any sense. All right, very good. And I do want to get into your conversation on the All the Kings Men podcast with Brand Clark in a little bit. Um but I do want to ask you also about your health. I’m sure most people know you’ve been going through a cancer battle and I certainly respect your privacy. Um, but if you want to kind of update on sure anything you want to say about that, feel free. For those who recognize me, you can tell my hair is starting to grow back, which I’m very happy about. Um, I finished chemotherapy in early August, I think it was. And in September, I received a PET scan and the results were positive, but uh, the results were good. Sorry, positive and negative in medical terms can be very confusing. Uh, the results were good. So, for now, I’m fine. Um, as long as symptoms don’t return and the numbers don’t go wonky, I live my life. So, for now, I’ve I’ve been very lucky and very fortunate and a huge thank you to everybody who’s uh sent me well wishes and and rooted me on because it was a it was a tough year. Very good. Good to hear it. Um, as for obviously the reason you’re here talking about the uh the LA Kings, uh it has been an interesting four games uh to start this uh season. Um, not a great home opener, thrilling comeback in Vegas, solid performance, but no points in Winnipeg, and then a terrible start, big comeback and a shootout loss to Minnesota. It’s kind of been all over the place. Yeah. Uh, just your kind of general thoughts on what we’ve seen so far. Well, this is going to seem like a copout, but um, it’s too early to tell, right? They could be 0 and four. They could be two and two. And if they were two and two, then everybody sort of doesn’t have anything to complain about. Um, I mean, you can get into the granular details if you want, but two and two is fine. 0 and four is disastrous. They’re one two and one. Um, both games that they have points in, they had to overcome multi multi-goal deficits. So if you want to take the perspective that mistakes have been made and the team is struggling, no one’s going to talk you out of it. And if you want to take the position that the team is talented enough and they’ve played well enough that there’s reason for optimism and hope, no one’s going to talk you out of it. The reality is they start eight of 11 games on the road. Um they’re one two- one. They have two home games coming up, Pittsburgh and Carolina, and then they’re back on the road. So, it’s four games is way too small a sample size, but there’s evidence to suggest whatever whatever disposition you have, positive or negative, there’s there’s ample evidence on both sides of the coin. Yeah, that’s a that’s a that’s a good way of putting it. Um, I I certainly would say it’s been difficult to kind of recognize uh this team as the LA Kings uh with all the goals that have been allowed, but of course there’s been a lot of penalties taken as well, so that certainly goes along with it. Um, I I I said on a recent show that I I think the issues the Kings have are fixable. Um, of course, you could always argue everything’s ne could be fixable. You just got to do what’s necessary to fix it. But, uh, has there been anything that you would say that’s a red flag or as you said, it’s just kind of too soon to really we got to see more. We need more information. Yeah, there’s tons to be clear, there’s tons of red flags. Like, taking all those penalties is not great. Um, getting behind in games by two or more goals in three out of the four games is not great. Um, the free agent signings not performing the way that you might expect them to is not great. Having said that, I think last year they went one and four to start the season with two overtime losses, that’s not all that different from what we’re looking at right now. Um, so you know, the red flags are not the same thing as as insurmountable problems. So, and the team I mean, listen, my real take on it is this. The team is talented enough to erase those deficits, right? If the team stunk, then you don’t have that comeback against Vegas. If the team stunk and had no heart, you don’t get the comeback against Minnesota. Once you reach overtime, coin flip, whatever is going to happen. You know, they were fortunate enough to get two wins against Vegas. They only got one against Minnesota. Um the question is just why are you getting behind in games that early? And in Minnesota, you can say, “Yeah, it was the penalty kill.” And you know, it’s too many penalties. But that wasn’t the case in Vegas, I don’t think. I barely remember now. Um, but you know, it’s new players, new general managers. Like, sometimes it takes teams a while. Now, the question is, can the Kings turn it around like they did last season. I mean, last season, what were they? They they had Yeah, it was one and three after four games, then they won two in a row, then they lost one, then they won two in a row. You know, it wasn’t until late in the season that they put together some serious win streaks. And can they do it again? I mean, I don’t see why not, but it’s really hard on October 14th to say, “Oh, they definitely will.” So, I don’t know. We saw some lineup changes uh in the last game, which were interesting. Um, you know, as we’ve obviously mentioned, it’s early and you want to see how things kind of shake out. I I think I was a little surprised at making changes at this point. Um, the timing of it was a little little bit surprising maybe. Um, is that does that kind of lend itself to I don’t know if desperation is the right word, but the situation that Jim Hiller finds himself in as uh a coach who um at least from a fan perspective is is uh on the hot seat. Whether you know whether that’s the reality of it, you know, this point, I don’t know. But uh do you read anything to that at all that Yeah, absolutely. No, I absolutely do. Listen, um, you know, Anderson and Dowy have been a pair for I don’t know how many years, five years now, something like that. Um, I wouldn’t have expected that anything would have broken them up just because my tendency is to believe tren in trends until they change, right? You know, I left my house this morning. Everything on, you know, social media and the news told me it was going to rain and I was just like, it’s not going to rain. It’s Southern California. Well, I got caught in the rain wearing sandals with no umbrella because I’m an idiot and I just believe trends will continue until I see otherwise. So, the fact that they switched up the D pairs in game four, yeah, that’s that’s noticeable. Um, it’s not a mystery. CC and Dan have been on the ice for I think five goals against as a pair, something like that. Um, Anderson and Dowy, I think it was four or five also. So yeah, those two pairs have not been great and it’s why they, you know, were down. I mean, arguably, it’s why I’m sure there’s a lot more to it. But yeah, so the fact that the coach had to go against um the the quote unquote plan or expectations is noticeable. The fact that Arma is on the second line in game four and Lefari is on line four or excuse me, Ar is on line two and Lefar is on line four. Yeah, it’s noticeable. And I think it was your show. I think it was a fan feedback show that somebody asked. You said no, but then you defined the situation that he was in. And I remember thinking that’s a short leash. That’s like the definition of a short leash. I mean, they’re eight of 11 on the road to start. And I think the number that I was throwing out was like like if after the first 25 games they’re 18 and seven, then everything’s fine. But if they’re seven and 18, well, everything’s not fine. And I mean, I hate to toss out cliches, but you can’t make the playoffs in October, but you can miss them, right? So, yeah, if things if things don’t go well, then, you know, it it’s just becomes easier for things to continue not going well. So, you have to get them going right as quickly as possible. And we saw in Minnesota the the pair of Dumalan and Dowy and CC and Anderson. Those pairs performed much better than the the pairs had performed in the three games three games prior. Again, insanely small sample sizes. There’s nothing to be taken away from it. And I don’t expect that we’ll see those pairs over the course of the season, but at least for now, I guess that’s what we’ll be what we’ll be looking at. All right, we’re just getting started with Jesse Cohen. Want to get into his recent conversation with Kings defenseman Brandt Clark. We will do that next here on Locked and Elite Kings, your team every day. Most people can’t name their financial accounts or even where the what they’re worth, whether it’s a 401k, properties, or investments. 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That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with a code locked on NHL. We are continuing with Jesse Cohen. He is the host of the All the Kings Men podcast. And uh Jesse, you had a very cool conversation with uh Kings young defenseman Brandt Clark. highly recommend people check that out on the All the Kings Men podcast. Um, I was hopeful and excited about seeing Brandt Clark’s growth this season, especially with all due respect to Drew Dowy. We haven’t really seen a defenseman like him uh on the Kings for a while. We saw the big goal against Vegas. He had that amazing overtime move against Minnesota to draw the penalty and give the Kings a great chance to win on the power play. Um, all by the way, playing a pretty solid defensible uh defensive responsible game. Um, what are your thoughts on on what we’ve seen from Brandt Clark so far? Has he been the King’s best player so far this season? I mean, I asked that very question somewhat tongue and cheek on Twitter. Um, I think it was in the Vegas game. I don’t know if he’s been the best player because I think Adrien Kemp has been incredible. Um, but yeah, Brandt Clark appears to be playing an incredibly confident game, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. He’s an incredibly confident guy. Um, yeah, he’s playing I mean, he’s playing great. My the stat that I’m most fascinated by right now, and I understand that it’s comes with some caveats, but he’s not been on the ice for a single goal against yet. Um, it’s only four games. It won’t last forever. Nobody I’m pretty sure nobody’s ever gone an entire season without being on the ice for a goal against but it’ll come eventually but for now and you know listen he doesn’t kill penalties so that’s part of it I get it but he’s played a fair share of even strength minutes and you know he hasn’t been scored on yet so he’s playing really well. Uh again hope people will check out the conversation you had with him. Uh he certainly seems like a guy just based on you talking to him. Very pleasant. Seems like a just like a nice good guy, but we do see a different side of him on the ice. He can be a little nasty. Yeah. Uh he can do some things that you’re like, “Wow, that you know, it’s not going to ingratiate him to uh the opponents, although of course he why should he do that? We’re competing against them.” But you know what I’m saying? Uh he can be a bit of a nasty player that has an edge to him. He listen, I like Brandon Clark a lot. Um I’ve spoken to him a number of times. Um he is he’s a work in progress, right? As everybody is when they’re his age, right? What is he 22? I think. Um I’m not the same person I was when I was 22. I doubt you are were the same person that you were when you were 22. like uh so he’s figuring it out and he’s figuring it out in an industry that asks a lot of kids, right? Like you’re brought into this industry when you’re 18 and you’re put alongside guys who are adults with children and, you know, mortgages and multi-million dollar contracts. And then on top of that, you have to make decisions about how you want to negotiate, you know, not only your financial self, but your competitive self, right? when he goes out on the ice and he runs his mouth or not runs his mouth but you know gets chirpy with his opponents, right? That makes an impression and that impression can have an impact on how he plays and how much time he gets and whether or not guys are targeting him in the future. So, he’s figuring it out. Um, one of the things that I’ve always liked about Brandt Clark particularly is that he’s not arrogant. He’s confident and it’s a really fine line between the two, but he’s totally aware of what he’s capable of. He’s totally aware of what he can do and he wants to do more and that’s confidently ambitious but not, you know, it’s not obnoxious, it’s not arrogant, it’s not rude, it’s not entitled. Um, it’s fun. I mean, that’s why it’s easy to root for the kid because he’s just self-aware of his own abilities and confident and and wants to do more and and has committed himself to improving in the areas where the organization has told him that he needs to improve upon. Now, some people think that, you know, maybe you shouldn’t put as much emphasis on shortcomings as strengths, and I totally understand that perspective, but Brandt Clark understands, you know, which side of the the bread the butter goes on, and he’s trying his hardest. It’s been a bit of a mixed bag with the new guys. We haven’t seen Cory Perry yet. We you’ve talked about mentioned Dumlin and CeCe. Um Joel Arma I think has been uh maybe a little bit better than I thought he was. He’s getting a little bit more of a role than I than I thought he was. And yeah, Anton Forsberg is, you know, one star fine, but uh I I do want to mention Andre Kuseno. He doesn’t he doesn’t get lumped in with the new guys because we saw him a little bit last year. But I I’m really excited about seeing a full season of him. Not just in terms of power play, but that’s part of it, but what he can do on that Kopitar line. He’s such a fun player to watch. Uh I’m I’m I’m really interested to see what kind of impact he could have with that full season with the Kings this year. Yeah, I’m not going to lie. I am a bit stunned that all three of those players, Kuzno, Kopitar, and Kempe, um have as many points as they do early in the season. Um generally speaking, I don’t much care how many points individuals get. Like, you know, every now and then someone will say, “Well, I predict this many points for this player and that many points for that player.” And I just sort of shrug and go like, okay, well, I don’t really doesn’t really matter to me as long as the only points I care about are the points the team gets at the end of the season. But what are we four games in and I think Kempe has five points and Kouseno has three points and I don’t know what Kopitar has off the top of my head, but four. He’s got four. Okay, so there you go then. That that just means that through four games your top line’s producing. Um, and Kuzco had that goal and he’s looked good on the power play. And I was concerned isn’t the right word. I was curious if that chemistry would carry over because like you said it’s a we saw him a little bit last year but it was la that’s last year and it was a totally different situation and you know the team was what the team was and they brought him in at the trade deadline so there was pressure but also kind of like desperation probably isn’t the right word but when you acquire a guy at the trade deadline that you know the guy the guy coming in knows there’s a reason for it right you’re not going to get a guy at the trade deadline and then be like well that didn’t work after two games and then bench him, right? You’ve brought him in because you think that what he brings is important. So, there’s an the implication that you are going to trust and rely on him. It’s a new season. It’s not the trade deadline. We’ve gone through training camp. So, it’s like, all right, well, are the top three lines going to stay the same? Are they going to produce the way they did last year? And at least so far, the top line has been producing. The second line, for the most part, has been producing. And, you know, they just got to stop taking penalties. All right. So, we’ve got three forwards on the top line, all with the initials AK. It’s screaming for something, right? Is it the A the A line or special K? It’s not. Why isn’t it? Why? I This Listen, this is just a personal thing. I don’t want to be rude about it or whatever. I think line nicknames are wildly overrated. And I think the conventions that we use to come up with the names are hack and boring, and I’m over it. the the obvious the obvious nickname for that line, the joke that everybody has made, including members of my family, is to look at their last initial and the fact that there’s three of them and to go, “Oh, we can’t do it’s like, all right, then there’s like, okay, and I’m we’re not going to do that.” No, no, no. I do. But everybody, but I mean like I mean, not everybody, but but a number of people have stumbled onto that and gone like, “Oh, you know, collar tug.” It’s like, “All right, haha.” So then the flip side of that is, you know, oh, AAA and then trying to sort of crowbar aaa joke. And I’m I’m just it’s the copitar line. That’s for me it’s the copitar line. Um, let’s give it more than 40 games before we start uh insisting there’s now if there is a nickname that presents itself that is like interesting, then I’m I’m more interested. But first of all, Akquil Thomas, uh, Arthur Calv, Alex Turkot have all had opportunities to play alongside an Kopitar and Adrien Kempe. So, it’s like the whole AAA line phenomenon is not some sort of new novel concept that nobody stumbled onto before. Um, tons of guys in the league whose first name started with the letter A. Um, yeah, I don’t it’s not for me, let’s put it that way. Uh, more with Jesse Con coming up, including getting his thoughts on the Adrien Kempe contract situation. We’ll do that next year on Lock Kings, your team every day. The NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’t miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets to bet across the app. I love using FanDuel because it fits however I like to bet. player props, building a same game parlay, or even jumping in live as the action unfolds. It makes every game more exciting. Whether you’re watching your team or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup, it’s quick, easy, and the best way to add a little more energy to your Sunday. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fuel.com to place your first $5 bet. We are wrapping it up with Jesse Cohen. Follow him on X Twitter, Kingsman Podcast. I’m going to ask him about a couple of his recent posts on social media in a moment. Oh boy. But Adrien Kempe, um, the latest reports are they’re not close. There was a report that they’re taking a break from negotiations. I know how well that always worked out for me when a girl told me I want to take a break. Um, I was optimistic about this getting done, but I’m certainly worrying until it does get done because I guess that’s me. But, uh, what are your thoughts on kind of where things are now? And are you optimistic that this will eventually get done? Um, I’m going to go backwards. I’m not optimistic that it’s going to get done, but not because I’m pessimistic about it, just because I don’t dwell in optimism. This just not how I’m just not how I’m wired. Um, if it happens, it’ll happen. If it doesn’t, it won’t. I don’t know Adrien Kempe personally and I don’t know his agent and I don’t know Ken Holland or anybody else on the King’s side who’s involved in the negotiations so I got no idea. Um I do know this. I don’t believe I don’t believe rumors. Um, I see the tweets, you know, the, you know, whether it’s the fourth period or Elliot Freriedman or whoever, and they’re saying, you know, the club wants nine and a half and the agent wants 11 and a half, and I just go, okay, well, the agent can want the moon and the club can want a grain of rice, and ultimately it’ll be somewhere in between. And I’m not there, and I don’t know. So, I don’t know. recent history isn’t on the side of optimism because we’ve had players enter the season with no contract and the club has been very public about wanting to bring them back and the players have been very public about wanting to come back and yet Vlatislav Gaverov is a New York Ranger and Matt Roy is a Washington capital I think um yep so you know we know what happens um I yeah I don’t I For for me, the larger issue is that it’s not just Adrien Kempe. Kopitar, Kemp, and Kuseno all have contracts that end at the end of the season. Cory Perry’s contract is up at the end of the season. Brand Clark needs a new contract at the end of the season. Drew Dowy’s contract ends the summer after this summer. Um, if Biffield replaces Kopitar, who replaces Biffield? Like, there’s a lot of questions out there. And if I were Adrien Kemp’s agent, I would be I think I’d be suggesting don’t sign until the last possible minute. The problem with that is if you get hurt, you could seriously hinder your bargaining options. So, I don’t know. I’ve never been a professional athlete in line to make, you know, double digit millions of dollars. So, I don’t know. I I don’t know which way guys want to lean. But no, I’m not I’m not optimistic, but only because life is complicated. I’m I I’m not like convinced it won’t happen. I’m just not convinced it will. If it happens, it happens. Andre Kopitar, um final season for him as he’s on the march here to be the the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. I continue to be uh reminded of the passage of time and how quickly it goes by. I remember vividly. Oh, this kid from Slovenia, let’s see what he turns into. And now it’s 20 years later and it’s it’s the end here. But uh I just want to give you a chance to share anything you wanted about the career of an Gopitar. Well, listen, I’m fond of pointing out that I’m perfectly capable of being wrong. And when an Kopitar was in training camp, I think it was 2006 or five, whatever year it was, I thought Patrick OS Sullivan was going to be better than him. So, shows what I know about anything. Uh but I was convinced. I was like, “Oh, yeah. This Patrick O Sullivan kid is the nails. That Andre Kovitar kid, yeah, he’s pretty good, but like we’ll see. Um, so who knows? Andre Kobitar. Um, yeah, he’s incredible. I mean, the number that I just keep coming back to is the number of times that he’s won the Stanley Cup. And Joe Sack won the cup twice. Mike Madano won it once. I think Steve Eisermanman won it three times. Wayne Gretzky won it four times. Mario Lemieux won it twice. So you take the career of Andre Kopitar, you know, he’s not going to score as many points as Wayne Gretzky or Mark Messier or Joe Sackic probably, but he’s had an incredible career. He’s been an incredible 2-way defenseman. He’s absolutely the second best player taken in his draft class um since Sydney Crosby was first overall that year. And if you know, this is I’m not the first person to to say this. I certainly didn’t think of it, but if his first name was Andy and not Anie, and if he was from, you know, Manitoba or Toronto, uh, and not Slovenia, he’d have probably gone second overall in 2005. And if he had been drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Detroit Red Wings or Montreal Canadiens, you know, he’d be talked about in terms of being one of the greatest players to ever play the game, but he got drafted by the LA Kings. Um, and he wasn’t, you know, Pavle Buret. He was a defensive forward who won faceoffs, killed penalties, and and stopped the other team from scoring, which as far as I’m concerned is the best kind of hockey. Um, so people are like, “Oh, yeah. He’s very, very good.” But no, he’s incredible. He’s great. Well, speaking of the best kind of hockey, uh, you are on X and Twitter, Kingsmen podcast. uh a couple of posts that I wanted to share. Uh the first one is this. It says the solution to the OT shootout quote unquote issue. Yeah. Uh isn’t to expand overtime to 10 minutes or however long the solutions are. Go back to ties or just go to the shootout. Who cares? Followed up by this unpopular but totally correct opinion. Threeon-ree overtime isn’t hockey. It’s hockey flavored ice sport. The way Briars doesn’t make ice cream, they make frozen dairy dessert. I do really like that, by the way. They both can be delicious, but Yeah. No, and to be clear, I love frozen dairy dessert. Like, it’s it’s great, but it’s not ice cream. Yeah. And I get what you’re saying. Um, however, please no to ties. I I I abhore ties. Like I So, obviously, this came up because of the Minnesota game. Yes. Yes. And I certainly acknowledge threeon-ree hockey is definitely much different animal than five on five hockey. Especially when you consider if you win the faceoff, you have got a great chance of winning the game. There was a game the other day, I don’t know if you saw it, Utah Nashville, it it went three minutes of overtime and Nashville never touched the puck. So that the Kings almost didn’t touch the puck against Minnesota, right? It’s okay. Yeah. So, I I I get I get what you’re saying, but uh I just can’t the tie the ties I can’t ever I can’t ever go back to that. I just please no ties. Well, so to be clear, I know they’re never going back to ties. So, if you ever see me if you ever see me bringing it up, please cuz somebody just was just replied to that thread on Twitter and was like, “Come on, man. We’re just kidding. Why are you being so serious?” And I’m like, “Well, I’m well aware that this isn’t a serious conversation. Like I’m not at all taking it seriously. I just think for me personally, I see the debate over whether or not the shootout should exist and whether or not they should go to 10 minutes of threeon-ree. And my attitude is just I I don’t care. As I put at the bottom of that tweet, who cares? And the reason I said who cares is I don’t know off the top of my head the percentage of games that go to threeon-ree or a shootout or overtime, whatever. But what I do know is when you buy your ticket, you don’t know how the game’s going to end. So the argument that like, well, we can’t have games end in a disappointing or boring fashion to me is all due respect to anybody listening, the way a child thinks about the world. You pays your price and you gets your show and you don’t get control over the outcome. And I’d rather watch my team score three goals in the third period and come away with one point against Minnesota than watch them lose in a goofy threeon-ree or overtime but then feel good about it because well at least they got a point like that’s silly and people call it the loser point and I always complain that no it’s not a loser point it’s a bonus point both the game did end in a tie Eddie like tie I hate to break it to you but ties exist when 60 minutes when 60 minutes are over and the score is tied. Both teams get one point. That’s a tie. Then they play a goofy little, you know, side game or or what what’s it called in a video game where you have like a bonus game, whatever it’s called. Um and one extra point is awarded for whoever wins that the mini quest. Um that’s not a winner and a loser. That’s a tie with a coin flip attached to it. All I know is Jesse, if I go to a game Yeah. at the end of that game, I want to either be happy or upset. I want to have some sort of a feeling. And when I go to a game and it’s a tie, I walk out of there saying, “I just wasted three hours of my life and spent money on something that was there was no resolution. So, I need to have a without getting dicey here. I think you’re a little bit older than me, so um apologies if I’m incorrect, but I hate to play the role of your parent, Eddie, but whether or not you’re happy or sad about something actually resides in you. The rest of the world’s got the rest of the world’s got nothing to do with it. It will decide whether I spend money on your product or not going forward. But that’s but that’s the part I disagree with. You’re going to buy a ticket regardless. I actually sat down yesterday and started making a flowchart because I’m a lunatic. And the question was, are you a casual fan or are you a diehard fan? yes or no. And if you pick yes or no, then it breaks off into another question. And the question was, if you’re a diehard fan, will you keep watching regardless of how the points are allocated at the end of the game? And the answer is, of course, yes. Because if you’re a diehard fan, you’re going to watch, right? I’ve been a diehard fan of this sport for decades. They switched from ties to four to three on three to no shootout to shootout. I just keep watching. I don’t care. I’m just going to keep watching. If the answer is no, you wouldn’t keep watching if they changed things, then I would argue you’re not a diehard fan. And I would loop you back to the original question, are you a diehard fan? If you’re a casual fan, would you keep watching based on whether or not there’s a shootout or a tie? And I don’t believe either answer because casual fans watch or they don’t. And and like I said, there’s no guarantee on the outcome. You don’t watch a game because you know how it’s going to end. You watch a game because you either care deeply about one of the two teams playing or because you just want to watch the game. When I watched the Stanley Cup final, I wanted Edmonton to lose, but I didn’t know that they were going to. I’d feel just as disappointed and I’d feel like I wasted just as much time out of my life if Edmonton had won wound up winning the Stanley Cup as if Florida did. But I don’t get to decide and I don’t get to know. That’s the whole point of sports is you don’t know what’s going to happen. If I want to know what’s going to happen, I’ll watch a movie. I agree with that. But and I agree that I would keep watching, but I would be very less satisfied. I would be very less satisfied if I watched the game and it was 33 and I’m like, what did I just spend my time watching? I But okay, so so what just as long as we’re doing this, what’s satisfying about what happened in the Minnesota game? The Kings came back. They scored three goals in the third period. Hallelujah. They didn’t lose. It was looking real bad after one. It was looking like it wasn’t going to happen after two. Somebody called me in the second intermission and was like, “Well, that’s that.” And I was like, “Yeah, I mean, if things go the way they should, they’re going to be one and three and it’s going to be a bummer.” They scored three goals in the third period. Now the game is tied. We go to overtime. Nothing happens in overtime. Now we go to a shootout. The Kings lose in the shootout. So, they get one point. So, we can kind of not call it a loss. But, I’m not satisfied by that. I don’t feel great. I’m I’m more satisfied than I I Well, I I’m more satisfied than I would be if it was a tie. I just there should be no no ties in all of sports. And you know, Eddie, in many ways, you and I are very different people. I Well, that’s okay. That’s why we uh maybe hopefully enjoy having conversations with each other. All right, so uh that will do it for this conversation. Jesse, uh obviously happy about the health update. Best of luck with everything you got going on and uh I’m sure we’ll see you out there at crypto.com Arena very very soon, maybe even on Thursday. And for those of you out there, make sure you check out the All the Kings Men podcast hosted by Jesse Con. Thanks, Jesse. Appreciate this. Fine. Podcasts are curated. Of course. Of course. Thank you for that. All right, for you everydayers, those you listen to watch Lockdown on the Kings every day, our next show will be following the Kings Penguins game on Thursday nights. And of course, we have our fan feedback show at the end of the week as well. If you want to get an email in for that, the email address is locked on [email protected] eddie. Uh you can always leave your comments if you’re watching on YouTube in the comments section. I know you will. And uh stay interactive with the show on social media. X, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok. We’re locked on LA Kings. I’m Eddie Garcia. Thanks for listening and watching Locked on LA Kings, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Have a great rest of your day. We’ll talk to you next time and as always, go Kings go.

We are joined by Jesse Cohen the host of the “All the Kings Men” podcast to discuss the Kings start to the season, Brandt Clarke’s strong play, Adrian Kempe’s contract status and more.
*NOTE: this conversation took place before the Darcy Kuemper/Pheonix Copley news came out.

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