Jewels from the Crown: for Los Angeles Kings fans

Happy Thanksgiving! We're nearly two months into the NHL season, and the Kings' campaign has given new meaning to the term "up-and-down." LA has alternated long winning and losing streaks, lost (and found) key players due to injuries, and taken teams to overtime more often than we'd care for. After all that, where do the Kings stand? Seems like a good time to discuss that.

On the second episode of the year, Eric and Robyn talk about the emergence of Peter Budaj and Nic Dowd, the sustained excellence of Jeff Carter and Alec Martinez, the state of the Pacific Division, the injuries (so many injuries), and the overall outlook 25% of the way through the season. Join us, won't you?

Why would we do a podcast immediately after watching the Kings lose their first game of the season? Why would we immediately want to rehash the injury to Jonathan Quick? Why would we not just go to bed? And why would we let the editor of a Sharks blog be there for all of it?

Because hockey's back, and even when it's terrible, talking about it again is nice. It'll be especially nice for Jake from Fear the Fin, who joins us to talk about tonight's game and the Pacific Division outlook for 2016-17.

What do we do when our team isn't in the playoffs? Trick question! Our team is still very much in the playoffs. They're called the Ontario Reign.

JftC's own Sheng Peng joins the Jewelcast to reflect on a season spent covering the Kings' AHL affiliate and to discuss Ontario's chances at a second straight Calder Cup. Plus, we discuss Darryl Sutter's extension, Milan Lucic, Trevor Lewis, and (if we feel like it) the ongoing Stanley Cup Playoffs.

At 4:00, join your hosts Nick and Andrew for a live look into the mind of men who have lost their hockey team to Summer. We'll discuss our bandwagon choices, the ongoing NHL playoffs, the Kings chances at awards, and a whole lot of nonsense. It's gonna be a fun disaster.

After this afternoon's podcast reviews the Kings-Sharks series, we're back in the evening for a different take on the playoffs. Jake (@jakesundstrom) joins Eric (@ericjftc) for a nightcap, featuring beer and "I told you so"s.

We'll talk about Anaheim's Game 7, which may or may not set the stage for a California showdown, and preview the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the perspective of a bitter Kings fan and a finally-optimistic Sharks fans. We'll also discuss how right we were about that Doughty-Scuderi pair, the hidden danger of the Sharks' depth players, and how Anze Kopitar is still better than Joe Thornton. (OK, there might be some disagreement on that one.)

If you missed the early show, catch the late show.

"If the Sharks beat the Kings, we'll have you on a special episode of the ThorntonCast."

So it was spoken, and so it went down. Derek (@itwasthreezero) joins Nick (@dightkwing) on today's Jewelcast to gloat over the San Jose Sharks' redemption and openly mock Dustin Brown. If you're a Kings fan and wondering why you should listen to this, don't worry, there will be plenty of jokes at the expense of shared enemies in Chicago and Anaheim

In addition, we'll cover some of the offseason storylines for the Kings, including Milan Lucic's UFA situation, Dustin Brown's potential trade value, and how LA intends to fit under the salary cap next season.

It's been a rough series for the Los Angeles Kings, as they've gone up against a well-prepared and extremely motivated San Jose Sharks squad. However, Tanner Pearson's overtime goal has put LA back in the series and given us a respite of two days of "IT WAS 3-0" jokes. Thank goodness.

Jake from Fear the Fin joins us to discuss the series, less than an hour after game's end!

The Kings did everything right, beating the Anaheim Ducks to take control of their destiny in the Pacific Division race. It was all going so well. And then, they blew a 3-0 lead to Winnipeg, lost the division title, and thrust themselves into yet another matchup with San Jose in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now, who knows what will happen?

After reviewing what went wrong last week, we'll talk with Derek, former editor of Fear the Fin and current jaded Sharks fan, to discuss the upcoming first round playoff series. How will Martin Jones perform against his former mentor? Will Drew Doughty outshine Brent Burns? How long can Joe Thornton's beard get? For that matter, how long can Tyler Toffoli's beard get?

We'll discuss this and more on the Jewelcast.

Eric and Nick are back again to talk about the stretch run! The first round is just days away, and two potentially dangerous opponents loom.

We'll discuss an underwhelming two weeks of play from the Kings, some of the crucial roster decisions they will face, and preview a game of massive importance against the Anaheim Ducks. Plus, we'll attempt to decide whether anyone has ever been happier than Tyler Toffoli must have been at Sprinkles today.

The day after our last Jewelcast, the Los Angeles Kings lost to the Edmonton Oilers in their 80th game of the 2014-15 season. They were eliminated from the playoffs two days later.

Now, the Kings are officially qualified for the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, so what better time to get back on the air! We'll talk about the best moments of the season so far, the awards-worthy seasons of Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, and the up-and-down journeys of the newest Kings. Then, stay tuned for our outlook on the playoffs. (HINT: LA might win it all.)

It's good to be back.