RICH HAMMOND

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.
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Double whammy

The Kings aren't going to the playoffs, and they might have taken Colorado out of the picture too. Marek Svatos, who got tangled with Jon Klemm in Saturday's game, has been diagnosed with a torn ACL. Ryan Smyth, who slammed head-first into the padded partition after a check from Jack Johnson, is out indefinitely with a concussion. Colorado went into Monday with a tenuous hold on eighth place in the Western Conference.

Keep the questions coming...I'll start answering them tonight or early tomorrow morning.

21 Comments

brianguy said:

I guess that's what happens when you don't take Blake off our hands...

anyway, I predicted in an earlier rant against Colorado their deals wouldn't really help them much. hope they enjoyed their win

Anonymous said:

Sucks for Colorado. I have no love for them, but I hate to see a team not make the playoffs because of injuries.

diehrdkingsfan38 Author Profile Page said:

Wow, that really does suck. Reminds me of the Kings when they usually choke while in a playoff spot. I mean come on we had it a few years back, than a late season collapse and we miss the playoff by 4-6 points or so. And we had to deal with lots of injuries as well! Colorado has been dealing with injuries all year and this isn't something new to them. They still have Sakic Stastny and Hejduk. A Great Defense and a Mediocre Goalie. They still have contributing guys with Forsberg, the Swedish Monster. I still think they get in.

Moondoggie said:

Nice check JMFJ....

goaly32 said:

J"WTF"J finally does something, too bad anywhere else on the rink Smyth bounces off the boards and nothing happens to him. This was a case of "wrong place at the wrong time" for him, not a nice hit by Johnson.

Paul said:

I never wish for any players to get hurt, so I hope those guys get back in action....next year.

I ALWAYS cheer for the Avs to miss the playoffs, so if that ends up being the case, I won't be losing any sleep. Time for Floppa to be another FLOP! ;)

ryan oliver said:

I despise Ryan Smyth more then any other player in the league. Hope he is out for the year. Glad he is not paralyzed.

Gord said:

There was an interview on sportsnet a minute ago with Jarome Iginla, and on the bulletin board in the background was a sign that said:

"Need a goalie? Call Rob @ 534 5061"

Any takers?

Luis said:

Sucks for the Avs...wait a minute, Smyth took out LaBarbera for awhile. Doesn't suck so bad after all. Nice hit Johnson

Milestone1 said:

Do you think Cloutier or Ersberg will get the start vs St. Louis?

Mitchrock said:

I'm a little late to the dance, albeit with that said, the fact is that the Lanche kinda deserve it. Remember when Chris Simon of the Lanche took out Deader? How bout when the wife and I went to Colorado and had beer thrown at us? And everyone remembers Ryan Smyths days in Calgary when he continually cheap shotted everyone. Hate to see guys get hurt and I would never wish injury on anyone, but since they already got injured well I'm sorta happy about it. - Mitch

Anonymous said:

I guess karma does come back to get you, hey Ryan Smyth? Remember when you jabbed at Lababs' ribs and put us out of contention in early december? Right back at ya bud!

Sybil227 said:

Wasn't it Smyth who took his stick to the midsection of LaBarbera earlier this year, injuring our goaltender? I have no sympathy for the guy.

KingFan4ever said:

Dammit! Svatos is on my NHL fantasy league team!!

Anonymous said:

Smyth can go die in a fire, but that sucks to hear about Svatos.

nykingfan said:

Awww what a shame......
Revenge is sweet.
2 for the price of 1....next time Smythe should keep his stick out of Barbs ribcage.

brianguy said:

Mitchrock is right. but he means Edmonton... Smyth never played for Calgary. NYI got him from the Oil at the deadline last year, then he bolted to the "Lanche"

Anonymous said:

I blame Mitchrock...

chuck said:

What comes around goes around. I bet there are a lot of goalies around the league silently thanking JMFJ. Smyth is notorious for standing the crease and whacking away at the puck and anything else in the crease. It is part of game, to an extent, but he has gone beyond.

Reminds me of when Domi took out Ulf Samuelsson with a cheap shot, not that JMFJ's was cheap at all. Word had it that other players in the league started a collection to help pay for Domi's fine because it was vengence for all the other players that were cheap shotted by Ulf.

How much would you have paid for Craig Muni's head back in the day when he took out several King's players knees. I'd of given $50.

anthony said:

Here Here Chuck.
Couldn't have said it better myself.

PolarBearOne said:

Sucks to be them.

I hope they choke it away.

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