LOS ANGELES — Sorry for the backlog, folks. Since we last chatted the Jets lost 4-2 to the L.A. Kings, dropping their record to 33-33-9 and 1-2-0 on their five-game road trip.
The Jets were awful in the first period on Saturday night, allowing the Kings to jump out to a 3-0 lead, and that’s all they needed at Staples Center.
The team got Sunday off since they have back-to-backs coming up in Anaheim on Monday and in Phoenix on Tuesday, but the brass was still busy. The Jets recalled goalie Michael Hutchinson, and defencemen Ben Chiarot and Zach Redmond.
So now the big question is why Hutchinson is coming back. Is it because Ondrej Pavelec is hurt again? Did Al Montoya get injured during his two periods of work? We’ll find out on Monday morning in Anaheim at the Jets morning skate.
A few more thoughts as well as some pictures from the last few days …
• Monday night’s game will be Teemu Selanne’s last game against the Jets, and there should be a ton of Winnipeg fans in attendance at Honda Center to say goodbye to the Finnish Flash. I’ll talk to him on Monday morning to get his thoughts on the contest.
• Maybe the Jets performed so poorly in the first period on Saturday night because they were spooked by all the seismic activity going on in southern California. A 5.1 earthquake struck the area on Friday night, and then there was a 4.1 shaker on Saturday afternoon. More than a few members of the team admitted to being a little rattled by the rattling. It’s a unique feeling if you haven’t experienced one before.
• In Monday’s paper I examine the struggles of Evander Kane, although it doesn’t appear to be entirely his fault. He’s been playing on a line with players who aren’t at his level when it comes to offensive ability, and that is not helping him. Another aspect of his season I noticed was he hasn’t been the same since injuring his hand in that fight with Eric Brewer on Jan. 7.
• For those of you wondering, my calculations show there’s a chance the Jets could be eliminated from playoff contention as early as Tuesday night in Phoenix. I’ll double check that on Monday.
• That’s enough for now. Here are a few pictures from a busy weekend in SoCal …
Flew Virgin Airlines for the first time. Groovy vibe, baby.
There are a few hockey banners up at Staples Center.
Apparently they play basketball here, too.
Friday night was interesting, to say the least. I was sitting at the bar, and all of a sudden it felt like I was on a waterbed. It was over by the time I realized it was an earthquake, but the booze in the bottles still moved for several more seconds afterwards. It was the biggest quake in L.A. since 2008, so it generated plenty of buzz, even among the locals. There was another quake on Saturday afternoon, and it checked in at 4.1 on the Richter scale.
This is L.A. Live, the area outside Staples Center that features bars, restaurants and hotels. It’s a cool area and great for before and after sporting events. There were Jets fans all over the place.
The Jets were off on Sunday, so the Winnipeg media contingent checked out Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Pier. It’s a very interesting part of the world. Lots of interesting characters.
There is quite a bit of beach for the millions of people in the area to enjoy.
The Winnipeg five rented bikes to make the two-mile journey up to the Santa Monica Pier.
