Monarchs notes
The Monarchs finished the regular season with a 1-0 overtime loss to Providence. Yutaka Fukufuji took the loss but saved 29 of 30 shots. In his second game, Brian Boyle did not record a point and had two shots on goal. The Monarchs, the top seed in the Atlantic Division, will open the playoffs with a seven-game series aginst Worcest. Game 1 is Wednesday at Manchester.
In addition, Jason LaBarbera has won the Harry ``Hap'' Holmes Memorial Award this season for lowest goals-against average. This is the second time in three seasons that LaBarbera has won the award.

Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at 

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