Thx Bud Podcast

The Kings played two great games, taking full advantage of weaker teams the way they should have. With one week left in the NHL's regular season, we start to examine which players have been awesome in 2014-15 and look ahead to whether the Kings will be part of the postseason.

A 3-2-0 record on their latest road trip means the Kings absolutely need to win most of their last six games. The week wasn't without highlights, though. Nick Shore scored his first NHL goal, Anze Kopitar hit 60 points, and Tyler Toffoli did what he does best when shorthanded. Also, some top prospects in this year's draft compare themselves to Kings players!

He's baaaaaack. Mike Richards returns from the AHL, and the Kings promptly win a game. (These two things may not actually be related.) Andrej Sekera scores his first as a King, Anze Kopitar makes dominance look easy, and Tyler Toffoli reaches his terrible twos.

Ending the week with a loss that put the Kings back outside of the playoff picture seemed to sour what was really a fine week. The Kings are only a couple points away from jumping back into the Pacific Division's top three. Highlights last week included: a new Kopitar is born! Brayden McNabb's growing confidence! Oh, and Tyler Toffoli scored 20 goals and is a Pokemon.

Not a perfect week from the Kings, but they earned a majority of possible points. Diane and Chanelle praise the biggest producers and lament the week's lows. Plus, Pearson and Martinez have starting doing light skating, Darryl Sutter drops some knowledge, and learning which Kings skater could be an emergency goaltender.

After an amazing 8-game win streak, the Kings have gone a little cold. Three straight losses puts them outside of the playoff picture again, but the week wasn't without its highlights. Lombardi re-signed depth players and then traded for defenseman Andrej Sekera!

Winning seven games in a row doesn't make us feel too cocky just yet, but it's been on hell of a ride. Diane and Chanelle bask in that successful feeling, dig into what's most devastating about first star of the week Jonathan Quick, and discuss how important depth scoring is in the push to the playoffs.

Awwwww, yeah, the Kings have gotten back to wining lately. Chanelle and Diane are also excited about Tyler Toffoli's first NHL hat trick, love on Trevor Lewis setting a new goals record for himself, and give some praise to Dwight King's career-best streak. Plus, trade rumors involving LA trying to get Andrej Sekera.

The Kings have one of the worst records in the Western Conference. Chanelle and Diane do everything they can to mostly not talk about that, including focusing on the struggles of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the drama surrounding the Winnipeg Jets.

A regular season win versus Chicago felt so good to see, but the Kings still can't put together a win streak. Instead of focusing on that too much, we decide to look into Mike Richards' future, foretelling how he'll make his return to Los Angeles as an unexpected champion.

It turns out that the LA Kings couldn't overcome their usual winter slump. Chanelle and Diane sound off on some frustrations. The good news is that Anze Kopitar is still everything we could ever want in a hockey player. Plus, Nick Shore makes his NHL debut, Rob Blake's jersey retirement gives fans emotions, and by the way, people are still talking about trading Mike Richards.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Of course, Chanelle and Diane mean Kings players being selected for the 2015 All-Star Game and then somehow getting hurt one-by-one. Plus, Martin Jones earns his 7th career shutout, meaning the Kings have actually won another game instead of losing in overtime! Huzzah.

Happy new year! It's been two weeks, but Chanelle and Diane are back to revel in the always inexplicable regular season on-ice shenanigans from the LA Kings. Despite outplaying everyone these days, they're still not putting together a win streak. And what the hell was that 7-6 game against Nashville? Whoa.

The JAM line? The 100 line? No matter what people want to call them, Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik, and Anze Kopitar have been on fire the last few days. Chanelle and Diane bask in Kopitar's return to glory, laugh at Martin Brodeur, and then celebrate another Sutter anniversary.

Though the Kings haven't been getting the results that they want lately, Chanelle and Diane dig into the details and cherish the positive trends. Justin Williams is playing like he wants to re-sign, Jake Muzzin keeps hopes high, and finally, finally rooting hard for Trevor Lewis is paying off in some numbers.

The Kings are hitting the road and looking good doing it. Chanelle and Diane bask in the Kings' underlying numbers moving on up plus reflect on awesome efforts by Martin Jones, Dustin Brown, and Mike Richards last week. There's also always time to make fun of the San Jose Sharks.

Not the best Kings week on ice and not the worst, but Chanelle and Diane try to pick out all the most promising parts. Also, who cares about in-game rules changes when the NHL could be focusing on fun things like getting players a team-wide intercom system?

**CORRECTION: We accidentally call Filip Forsberg, and he's definitely not. Sorry, rookie!** ESPN rankings are finally out! An almost surprising number of Kings get recognition. Also, despite a 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday, the Kings seem to finally be finding a groove and turning around their possession performance.

The LA Kings' play continues to be up and down, but at least this week brought goals from Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, Trevor Lewis, and another shorty for Tyler Toffoli. That guy can't be stopped! Chanelle and Diane also give props to Jarret Stoll against the Ducks' and question Wayne Gretzky saying Kopitar is third best in the league. Plus, some brief updates on Slava Voynov.

Is it panic time yet? Chanelle and Diane debate whether it's time to start thinking about making roster changes, get into the importance of Mike Richards' candy addiction, how to make ads on jerseys work, discuss NHL team surprises so far, and revisit Bernier vs Quick.