FROM LA KINGS INSIDER:

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2 FROM LA KINGS INSIDER: August 23, :38 PM By: Lindsay Czarnecki 50 th Season Details, Legends Nights Honorees Released The National Hockey League officially granted the Los Angeles Kings franchise on February 9, 1966 as the NHL expanded from its Original Six to 12 teams. The Kings officially kicked-off their 50th Anniversary celebration on February 9, 2016 when the club played in Boston. That same night the Kings unveiled their 50th Anniversary Logo. The Kings continue celebrating their 50th Anniversary during the upcoming season. Among the highlights: -The Kings will host a special 50th Anniversary Season Opening Weekend in October. One of the highlights of the Kings regular season home opener presented by McDonald s on October 14 will be a reunion of the original Kings. The evening will also feature a number of surprise special guests and the Kings will wear their original Vintage Gold uniforms for the only time this season. -The 50th Anniversary Season Opening Weekend concludes when the Kings serve as a presenting sponsor and lead honoree of the Children s Hospital Los Angeles Gala on October 15. That evening will be a highlight of the Kings plans in the community this year along with the Forever 50 community legacy program. -The Legends Night Series presented by McDonald s will return. The players to be honored this year are Ziggy Palffy (December 31), Tomas Sandstrom (January 7) and Jari Kurri (January 14). -In addition to the Legends Night Series, throughout the season the Kings will host five additional 50th Anniversary Heritage Nights recognizing several former All-Stars over five Saturday home games October 22, November 5, November 19, November 26 and December 10. The specific alumni to be honored are Rogie Vachon (November 19) just days after his induction in to the Hall of Fame. In addition, former Kings All-Star Butch Goring (1980) will drop the pregame puck on November 23. The Kings will also host Larry Robinson (an All-Star with the Kings in 1992), Steve Duchesne (1989 and 1990), Mike Murphy (1980) and Jaroslav Modry (2002) for pregame ceremonies with dates to be announced later. -The Kings will unveil a special 50th Anniversary jersey during the club s Meet The Players event on September 20. The Kings will wear the jersey for all Saturday home games beginning October 22. The limited edition Anniversary jersey along with exclusive 50th Anniversary commemorative product will be on display and available for purchase on September 20th at Team LA Store at STAPLES Center and on-line at teamlastore.com. Items included will be Center Ice Product, New Era Collectable Hats, Coins, Pins and more. Also, a special 50th Anniversary patch will be on the Kings on ice jerseys starting in the preseason. Early in in the season the Kings will add a special 2017 NHL All-Star Game patch to their uniforms as well. Starting this season all of the Kings official on ice authentic game used equipment will now be available for purchase at Team LA Store and online. The game used store will be launched early in the season. -Another highlight of the season will be the unveiling of a new storied Kings monument that will exist amongst the other legendary statues outside STAPLES Center. This monument made of bronze, granite and glass will serve to commemorate 50 years of Kings hockey. The exact

3 public unveil date will be announced early in the season. -The Kings will also soon announce major community-based initiatives in six Los Angelesarea locations: Long Beach, Woodland Hills, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, Valencia and downtown Los Angeles. -The 50th Anniversary Celebration will conclude with the 2017 NHL All-Star Game at STAPLES Center. The game on January 29 is the highlight of All-Star Weekend (January 28-29) and features the popular NHL All-Star Skills Competition and NHL Fan Fair. August 23, :47 PM By: Lindsay Czarnecki Reign To Face Bakersfield In Outdoor Classic On Jan. 7 The Ontario Reign are taking their game outdoors. The Reign will face the Bakersfield Condors in an outdoor game on Jan. 7, The game, which will officially be called the Three- Way Chevrolet Condorstown Outdoor Classic presented by Mission Bank, will take place at Bakersfield College s Memorial Stadium. Memorial Stadium is home to the school s football team and seats 19,000. I think it s exciting for the sport in this part of the world, said Reign president Darren Abbott via phone on Tuesday. We re happy to work the Condors and I think it s going to be fun for both sides. This is the first time since their AHL move west that the Reign have been part of an outdoor game. The Condors took part in one last season, the first of its kind in California for the league, hosted by the Stockton Heat. AHL fans throughout California proved last year that they are dedicated and passionate about our sport, AHL President and CEO David Andrews said in a press release. This event will be a great celebration of hockey in a unique atmosphere, and we look forward in sharing the excitement with all of Condorstown in January. This will be the ninth outdoor game in AHL history and the game will be the concluding event in an 18- day Winterfest. For more information on Winterfest and the game, click here. The game will start at 6 p.m.

4 FROM LAKINGS.COM August 25, :34 AM LA Kings Celebrating 50th Anniversary During Season Heritage Program to be front-and-center as Kings announce Legends Night participants The NHL officially granted the Los Angeles Kings franchise on February 9, 1966 as the NHL expanded from its Original Six to 12 teams. The Kings officially kicked-off their 50th Anniversary celebration on February 9, 2016 when the club played in Boston. That same night the Kings unveiled their 50th Anniversary Logo. The Kings continue celebrating their 50th Anniversary during the upcoming season. Among the highlights: The Kings will host a special 50th Anniversary Season Opening Weekend in October. One of the highlights of the Kings regular season home opener presented by McDonald s on October 14 will be a reunion of the original Kings. The evening will also feature a number of surprise special guests and the Kings will wear their original Vintage Gold uniforms for the only time this season. The 50th Anniversary Season Opening Weekend concludes when the Kings serve as a presenting sponsor and lead honoree of the Children s Hospital Los Angeles Gala on October 15. That evening will be a highlight of the Kings plans in the community this year along with the Forever 50 community legacy program. The Legends Night Series presented by McDonald s will return. The players to be honored this year are Ziggy Palffy (December 31), Tomas Sandstrom (January 7) and Jari Kurri (January 14). In addition to the Legends Night Series, throughout the season the Kings will host five additional 50th Anniversary Heritage Nights recognizing several former All-Stars over five Saturday home games -- October 22, November 5, November 19, November 26 and December 10. The specific alumni to be honored are Rogie Vachon (November 19) just days after his induction in to the Hall of Fame. In addition, former Kings All-Star Butch Goring (1980) will drop the pregame puck on November 23. The Kings will also host Larry Robinson (an All-Star with the Kings in 1992), Steve Duchesne (1989 and 1990), Mike Murphy (1980) andjaroslav Modry (2002) for pregame ceremonies with dates to be announced later. The Kings will unveil a special 50th Anniversary jersey during the club s Meet The Players event on September 20. The Kings will wear the jersey for all Saturday home games beginning October 22. The limited edition Anniversary jersey along with exclusive 50th Anniversary commemorative product will be on display and available for purchase on September 20th at Team LA Store at STAPLES Center and on-line at teamlastore.com. Items included will be Center Ice Product, New Era Collectable Hats, Coins, Pins and more. Also, a special 50th Anniversary patch will be on the Kings on ice jerseys starting in the preseason. Early in in the season the Kings will add a special 2017 NHL All-Star Game patch to their uniforms as well. Starting this season all of the Kings official on ice authentic game used equipment will now be available for purchase at Team LA Store and online. The game used store will be launched early in the season. Another highlight of the season will be the unveiling of a new storied Kings monument that will exist amongst the other legendary statues outside STAPLES Center. This monument made of

5 bronze, granite and glass will serve to commemorate 50 years of Kings hockey. The exact public unveil date will be announced early in the season. The Kings will also soon announce major community-based initiatives in six Los Angeles-area locations: Long Beach, Woodland Hills, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, Valencia and downtown Los Angeles. The 50th Anniversary Celebration will conclude with the 2017 NHL All-Star Game at STAPLES Center. The game on January 29 is the highlight of All-Star Weekend (January 28-29) and features the popular NHL All-Star Skills Competition and NHL Fan Fair. August 24, :42 PM By: Deborah Lew 50 Kings Mathieu Schneider Mathieu Schneider played 1289 games in the National Hockey League, divided amongst 10 different teams 11 if you count the Montreal Canadiens twice. After living in one third of the NHL cities it might be hard-pressed for someone to develop any kind of roots or emotional connection to any one particular city. But 16 years after Schneider signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings he sits outside at a Starbucks in El Segundo, reminiscing about his time in a Kings jersey. He chooses a seat in the sun, hoping to soak up as many SoCal rays as he can before leaving his second home to return to work in Toronto, Canada. Before deciding to come to LA during the summer of 2000, Schneider knew little about the Kings. Born and raised in the New York/New Jersey area, he had played in the East his entire career up until that point, with the exception of his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, while they were still in the Western Conference. Very rarely did he travel to the west coast, but Schneider hadn t made the playoffs in four years, and being on a good team was important to him. Schneider knew fellow Kings defenseman, Rob Blake, from their summer training group, and Blake, along with Luc Robitaille, were instrumental in bringing Schneider to LA. Schneider was also friends with Brian Smolinski, whom he had played with on Team USA in a previous World Cup tournament. His transition to Los Angeles was smooth and seamless, partially due to the fact that he and his wife lived with Smolinski and his wife for the first two months, while the Schneiders home was being completed. Both their wives were pregnant at the same time and to this day, remain very good friends. The culture out here is laid-back in itself. You go to the rink and the fans are crazy, it s a great place to play, then you leave and you re on the beach, says Schneider about his first impressions. It was nice because all the guys live really close to each other. You could tell they were close right from the beginning. There were a number of guys who made a lasting impression on Schneider from his tenure with the Kings, goalie Jamie Storr being one of them. Schneider describes Storr as incredibly nice person, but just off his rocker. One of Schneider s earliest memories of Storr came during their first exhibition game together, played in Bakersfield.

6 Nobody had warned me about him, and the trainer sat me right next to him, Schneider says about Storr, whom he knew a little bit from summer training. I was never a superstitious guy, but goalies are generally very superstitious, Jamie, in particular, was very superstitious, Schneider continues. I go get my coffee, I m starting to get ready, and Storsy is laying on the ground with his legs up on the bench I d never seen this before and he s visualizing making saves. His eyes are closed and he s kind of talking to himself, his hands are moving all over the place. I kind of stare at him, and I m drinking my coffee, and I looked around, and I think it was Glen Murray and a couple of the other guys are pointing at me, they were waiting to see what my reaction was, and they just started dying when they saw me, Schneider recalls fondly. I knew better than to bother a goalie during his routine, but later on as the year went on, I was always in the middle of his routine like hey, Storsy, what do you do when it goes 5-hole? You re not closing up the 5-hole? We busted him a lot, but it was all in good fun. He s a piece of work, no question about it. Storr wasn t the only one to make an impression on Schneider in Los Angeles. Stu Grimson was an incredible teammate. He didn t play an awful lot of minutes, but he was the first one at the rink on gameday, says Schneider. I want to say he was a black belt in karate or judo some of his stretching routines he could get his leg up over the stall when he was kicking. He used to spend more time preparing for a game than any 10 guys I know. Grimson, who earned a law degree and practiced law for a period of time after his playing days were over, is currently a color analyst for the Nashville Predators. He had this line all the time who s having more fun than the Los Angeles Kings? He was constantly keeping the dressing room loose, keeping guys honest, and at the same time was probably one of the toughest guys that ever played the game, he was just a great teammate, a real character, says Schneider about Grimson. As Schneider enjoys his afternoon coffee, the memories of his days as a King keep coming back. I d be remiss if I didn t mention Jere Karalahti. He was an incredible talent, but just a goof-off off the ice. We were having our rooking meal in Carolina one year, and Jere gets up on his chair, and starts yelling I shoot as hard as Rob Blake, I skate as fast as Rob Blake, but I don t make anywhere near the money! Schneider laughs as he remembers the scene with teammates shouting and encouraging Karalahti s outburst. NHL.COM August 26, 2016 Best World Cup shutdown D-man ranked by NHL.com Drew Doughty of Team Canada, Victor Hedman of Team Sweden, Zdeno Chara of Team Europe all in mix As preparations for the World Cup of Hockey 2016 hit high gear leading up to the start of the tournament on Sept. 17 in Toronto, NHL.com looks at how the teams stand. Seven writers who will cover the two-week event at Air Canada Centre were asked to rank the teams from 1-8 in various categories. Today, we look at which team has the best shutdown defenseman.

7 Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings may be the best shutdown defenseman in the World Cup of Hockey 2016, according to an NHL.com panel, but he has some serious competition in the tournament. Doughty, who won the Norris Trophy as the League's best defenseman last season, earned 53 points and five first-place votes from the seven-writer panel. But he was trailed closely by Victor Hedman of Team Sweden, who had 48 points (one first-place vote) and Zdeno Chara of Team Europe, who had 41 points (one first-place vote). For the purposes of this vote, the best shutdown defenseman for each team in the tournament was identified, and he was the only one from that team eligible to be ranked first through eighth by the voters. The list of players included Doughty, Hedman, Chara, Aaron Ekblad of Team North America, Matt Niskanen of Team USA, Alexei Emelin of Team Russia, Rasmus Ristolainen of Team Finland and Roman Polak of Team Czech Republic. "Doughty's performance with the Kings during his NHL career would be enough to make a solid argument that he should be atop this list, but his play in best-on-best international tournaments makes it a lock," said Arpon Basu, managing editor of LNH.com. "Doughty played in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics at age 20 and during the course of the tournament became one of Canada's most important defensemen. At the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Doughty paired with Marc-Edouard Vlasic of the San Jose Sharks to form Canada's top shutdown pairing. His ability to control the game at both ends of the ice allows Doughty to not only contain the opposition's top offensive players, but to do so by forcing them to play defense." This is not a new phenomenon either, according to NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen. "Since the season, Doughty has a SAT percentage, first among defensemen with at least 300 games played," Rosen said. "In the same time span, he is second among defensemen in total minutes played (11,813:46). While the SAT percentage doesn't give a true measure of time of possession, it's a shot-attempts metric that gives an indication that Doughty drives possession better than any other defensemen. By doing so, Doughty is effectively shutting down the opposition's offense." NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin also voted for Doughty. "Doughty had a Corsi-for percentage in 5-on-5 play, which led the NHL, and played for a team that finished with a 2.34 goals-against average, good for third in the League," she said. "He added 51 points this season, but his play was led by his defense, putting him in line as the top shutdown defender in the World Cup of Hockey." Hedman was the top defenseman for the Tampa Bay Lightning during their run to the Eastern Conference Final in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 25-year-old has improved his defensive game each season since he joined the League in Last season, Hedman's SAT% was 56.76, the seventh-highest total in the League and the second-highest in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, it was 50.97, the fourth-highest among defensemen who played into the third round or beyond. "Often matched against the opponent's top line, the 6-foot-6, 223-pound Hedman has proven to be a force at both ends of the ice for the Lightning," NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti said. "He also elevates his play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs while playing heavier minutes, 27:26 per game in the postseason as compared to 23:03 during the season." Chara, the Boston Bruins captain, would have been a front-runner if this argument came four years earlier. But NHL.com columnist Nick Cotsonika believes the 6-foot-9 Slovakian has a chance to be dominant once more,

8 playing for Team Europe, a collection of players from European countries other than Finland, Sweden, Russia and the Czech Republic. "At age 39, Chara isn't what he used to be, and maybe his legs will have a hard time getting up to speed in September. Then again, he's an offseason workout freak, and maybe he'll be fresh in September, not yet worn down by the NHL season," Cotsonika said. "Playing on the smaller NHL-sized ice in this international competition is an advantage for him, making his immense size more of a factor." VOTING TOTALS TEAM CANADA (Drew Doughty) - 53 points (5 first-place votes) TEAM SWEDEN (Victor Hedman) - 48 points (1 first-place vote) TEAM EUROPE (Zdeno Chara) - 41 points (1 first-place vote) TEAM NORTH AMERICA (Aaron Ekblad) - 35 points TEAM USA (Matt Niskanen) - 32 points TEAM RUSSIA (Alexei Emelin) - 17 points TEAM FINLAND (Rasmus Ristolainen) - 16 points TEAM CZECH REPUBLIC (Roman Polak) - 10 points August 24, 2016 Best World Cup defensive forward ranked by NHL.com Selke winners Patrice Bergeron of Team Canada, Anze Kopitar of Team Europe tie for top spot As preparations for the World Cup of Hockey 2016 hit high gear leading up to the start of the tournament on Sept. 17 in Toronto, NHL.com looks at how the teams stand. Seven writers who will cover the two-week event at Air Canada Centre were asked to rank the teams from 1-8 in various categories. Today, we look at which team has the best defensive forward. International hockey is usually defined by the offensive exploits of the game's best players sharing the same stage. But the tournaments often are won by the team that can best shut down the opponents' top player. For that reason, having an elite defensive forward is key to team's success in a short tournament like the World Cup of Hockey The eight-team competition will be loaded with forwards who understand the importance of playing in their own end. Yet, even with an all-star cast of such players, two stand out above the rest: Team Europe center Anze Kopitar, of the Los Angeles Kings, and Team Canada center Patrice Bergeron, of the Boston Bruins. In a vote of seven NHL.com writers, Kopitar and Bergeron topped the field, each receiving 52 points. Kopitar gets the slight edge because he received four first-place votes, one more than Bergeron. For purposes of the vote, the best defensive forward from each team was identified, and he was the only one from that team eligible to be ranked first through eighth by each voter. The forwards were Kopitar, Bergeron, Pavel Datsyuk (Team Russia), Ryan Kesler (Team USA), Marcus Kruger (Team Sweden),Aleksander Barkov (Team Finland), Sean Couturier (Team North America) and Tomas Plekanec (Team Czech Republic). Kopitar, who finished second in NHL.com's No. 1 center vote for this tournament, will be counted on to do a bit of everything for Team Europe, a first-time entry in the World Cup comprised of European players who are not from Russia, Sweden, Finland or the Czech Republic.

9 "The new Los Angeles Kings captain was recognized for his strong two-way play last season by being voted as the Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's top defensive forward for the first time in his career after being the runner-up the two previous season behind Bergeron," NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti said. "Team Europe will need Kopitar to do it all. He led all NHL forwards in total ice time last season (1,690:12), averaging 20:52 per game, is strong on faceoffs, winning 53.5 percent, and ranked third among forwards in shot-attempts differential." Kopitar unseated Bergeron, who won the Selke the previous two seasons and three of the past four. "Two men in this tournament have won the Selke Trophy three times: Bergeron and Datsyuk," NHL.com columnist Nick Cotsonika said. "Bergeron is the younger of the two at age 31. Still at the height of his powers, he's the one you want on the ice with a one-goal lead in the final minute of the final game of the final." Cotsonika voted Datsyuk second on his ballot, putting Kopitar third. Datsyuk, who will play for SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League this season after an impressive career with the Detroit Red Wings, finished fourth in the vote, three points behind Kesler, who plays for the Anaheim Ducks. Bergeron, one of five forwards who has won the Selke Trophy at least three times since its inception in 1978, also was hampered slightly by the competition within his own team; Canada boasts several forwards who could have been in the mix for this conversation. "Canada might even have the second-best defensive forward in the tournament as well in Jonathan Toewsof the Chicago Blackhawks, but there is little debate on Bergeron's status as the top defensive forward in the world," said Arpon Basu, managing editor of LNH.com. "He's won the Selke Trophy three times in the past five years, finishing as runner-up to Kopitar last season and to Toews in Consistently one of the top faceoff men in the NHL, Bergeron is a difficult opponent in all three zones." VOTING RESULTS TEAM EUROPE (Anze Kopitar) - 52 points (4 first-place votes) TEAM CANADA (Patrice Bergeron) - 52 points (3 first-place votes) TEAM USA (Ryan Kesler) - 39 points TEAM RUSSIA (Pavel Datsyuk) - 34 points TEAM NORTH AMERICA (Sean Couturier) - 20 points TEAM CZECH REPUBLIC (Tomas Plekanec) - 19 points TEAM FINLAND (Aleksander Barkov) - 19 points TEAM SWEDEN (Marcus Kruger) - 15 points FROM YAHOOSPORTS.COM August 25, 2016 By: Sam McCaig Positional rankings: Projecting the NHL's top 25 defensemen in (Note: These rankings are based on players' projected performances in Players are listed at their official NHL position when the rankings were created.)

10 Here s the Yahoo Sports ranking of the top 25 defensemen in the NHL for the season. Let us know what you think in the comments section. 2. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings: Just ask anybody, he s the best defenseman in the league.