Los Angeles Kings (groan) vs. Buffalo Sabres (12-12-1, 13th in East)

7:30 PST, FSN West

When I read the headline, "Report: Crawford Ordered Attack on Moore," I was confused; why would Crawford want to kill Steve Moore? Isn't ending his career enough? Then I realized it was talking about the hit 2 years ago that Todd Bertuzzi laid on Moore and I was excited; maybe Crawford will get fired because of it! Then I realized that article only said, "Crawford pointed to Moore's name and number on a board in the Canucks' locker room during the second intermission of that game and said "... [Moore] must pay the price." Really? That's it? He didn't tell Bertuzzi to jump on top of him and drive his neck into the ice? He didn't even tell Bertuzzi individually that he had to hurt Moore? He said Moore had to pay the price. That doesn't sound like much.

Look, I don't particularly like Marc Crawford, but let's not act like he's somehow culpable in this whole thing. I'm sure 1,000 coaches have said those exact words 1,000 times and nothing has ever come of it. He saw his best player get injured by some 4th-line scrub and told his team to respond to it; that one player responded irresponsibly isn't his fault. Hell, if nobody had responded to it the very same media that is stringing him up would have lambasted the club as soft and unwilling to defend their teammate. You know why it was Todd Bertuzzi and not some 4th-liner on the Vancouver Canucks at the time that attacked Moore? Because Todd Bertuzzi is an asshole. That's basically it. He was an asshole who jumped Moore from behind and then an accident happened. I'm not trying to explain away the incident, and I hope I don't sound like I'm making Moore out to be the bad guy, but let's call it what it was: an accident. Let's not try to make this some sort of racketeering case.

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Hooray, Scott Niedermayer is back! I know I should probably be upset, seeing as how he is really good and plays for our biggest rival and all, but I don't care. I love Scott Niedermayer. He's definitely one of the most entertaining hockey players I've ever seen and I'm looking forward to watching him play. The league needs as many Scott Niedermayer's it can get. (Not so many Rob's though; his head has an odd shape.)

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Prediction: Kings lose, 4-2, and yet the people of Buffalo still manage to whine about something. (Seriously, expecting either Drury or Briere to accept fair market value, let alone a fucking discount, to stay in Buffalo is ludicrously insane. I'd rather go over Niagara Falls in a barrel than live in Buffalo.)