Los Angeles Kings Gameday: Columbus Rowboat

Hooray! The Kings are back in L.A., so you don't need row all the way out to stupid Ohio to see them play. Go get Los Angeles Kings tickets.

Jack Johnson makes his triumphant return to the Staples Center in the second meeting between the Jackets and the Kings. The Kings won in a fairly sloppy game, 4-2, a little while back, but Columbus apparently has turned up the intensity. I mean, they had to to beat the Sharks 6-2. Anyways, Mr. Johnson did a brief interview with not Rich Hammond over at the Kings Insider blog and doesn't act like a Columbus Cumberbun. It seems he holds no ill will towards the Kings for exiling him to the worst team in the league in the one of the worst cities, all while Los Angeles went on to, oh, win the Stanley Cup.

Johnson also expects little reception because people already forgot about him. Now, Jack Johnson may be a lot of things (outstanding shutdown defenseman is not one of them), but he certainly realizes that yes, nobody seems to remember him at all outside of his -90 he carried while in L.A. and The Royal Half for making a bunch of JMFJ shirts. I expect at the very most one of those gigantic cardboard head cutouts of Johnson, though for him that's actual size.

As for the Kings, their blueline is messy as a Columbus Curveball. Alec Martinez goes down with an injury, which means probably more Jake Muzzin. Willie Mitchell is still being the little tease that he is, so it looks like more of Keaton Ellerby with Drew Doughty for the time being. Ellerby seems to be doing okay, but there's one caveat...He is related to the Columbus Side Car, Shane Doan. While one can't chose family, one can murder them (right, John List?). Ball is in your court, Keaton. Don't be a Columbus Cupholder, win me over.

Prediction: You'll all wonder why I didn't go with the Columbus Crabcake.