VIDEO: Goalie Fight with LA Kings prospect JF Berube

We probably should have known it was bound to happen, as Kings goaltending prospect JF Berube used to have UFC champion Georges St-Pierre prominently featured on one of his masks. And while it wasn't an MMA fight, it did look like a preview for tonight's WWE Royal Rumble, when a fantastic brawl broke out during last night's Bakersfield Condors and Ontario Reign game.

The video below is about as wild as you'll ever see, with multiple fights, players interjecting into ongoing fights and even the goalies getting involved. As the saying goes, you have to see it to believe it...

Berube sent over a text this morning to explain things - "(Bryan) Pitton was kind of holding guys all over the ice and when he went to center ice we looked at each other and he kinda gave me the 'let's go' look, so I went."

As for why he took the mask off first - "I thought he would make it fair if I would take my mask off, but I guess not. I couldn't throw too many punches though because I was more focused on getting his mask off."

Then, to show what a gamer he really is, the final comment - "It was fun though I enjoyed it!"

For the record, Ontario defeated Bakersfield 5-1. However, if you're looking ahead to a possible rematch, the two teams won't play each other the remainder of the season. That was the final contest of their ten-game season series, with the Reign winning nine straight after dropping the first game on opening night.

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NHL12 All-Star Game Results: Westgarth vs The Mayor

Earlier today we posted the results of the NHL 12 simulations using the All Star teams selected by Dustin Penner and Jack Johnson. If you missed it, Team Johnson defeated Team Mayor 8-5. In the other contest, the Pennermaniacs went down in overtime, 5-4.

Now, we have the results of the third and final game using the rosters put together from the mock draft with LA Kings tough guy Kevin Westgarth. Here's how things went down...

Westy's Warriors				Hoven's Hitters
Jonathan Toews		F		Alex Ovechkin
Pavel Datsyuk		F		Phil Kessel
Steven Stamkos		F		Claude Giroux
Shea Weber		D		Dion Phaneuf
Brian Campbell		D		Keith Yandle
Brian Elliott		G		Tim Thomas

Stats from NHL 12 game simulation:

Period	1	2	3	Total
Westy’s Warriors	2	1	2	5
Hoven’s Hitters	1	3	3	7

Scoring Summary

NHL12: The Mayor vs Penner and Johnson - results are in

In an article the other day, where we did mock All-Star Game drafts with several of the Kings, Dustin Penner wanted to know if the teams selected were going to be loaded into NHL12 to see who would win. Although that wasn't part of the plan, a longtime MayorsManor reader emailed to let us know he in fact did it. So, the results are available - with scoring summaries, goalie stats, video highlights and even the three-star selections...

First up, here's how things went in the game vs. Jack Johnson:

Team Johnson				Team Mayor
Pavel Datsyuk		F		Steven Stamkos
Patrick Kane		F		John Tavares
Phil Kessel		F		Claude Giroux
Ryan Suter		D		Kimmo Timonen
Dion Phaneuf		D		Shea Weber
Tim Thomas		G		Henrik Lundqvist

Period	1	2	3	OT	Total
Team Johnson	1	5	2	0	8
Team Mayor	3	1	1	0	5

Scoring Summary

VIDEO: Quick beats Howard, gets interviewed by Lundqvist

Jonathan Quick is the Kings' lone representative at this weekend's NHL All-Star Game - and the team's first goalie to receive such an honor in thirty years. As part of tonight's Skills Competition, Quick first participated in the 'fastest skater' challenge, opposing Jimmy Howard from the Detroit Red Wings. Take a look...

Here are some other video highlights from throughout the evening:

- What the race looked like from Howard's helmet cam, click here.

- Later, Quick was in net for the 'elimination shootout' - an event he was most likely much more comfortable competing in. He stopped shots by Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators and this one by Toronto's Joffrey Lupul.  The only guy to beat him was the Flyers (and former LA prospect) Kimmo Timonen (video link).

- At some point during all the fun, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist took a few minutes to try and interview Quick (video link).

- Before things even got started, Quick chatted with the NHL Network's EJ Hradek - click this link to see why he was in the dressing room so early today and what he forgot about prior to landing in Ottawa.

The actual All-Star game is tomorrow afternoon. Quick, Lundqvist and Brian Elliot of the St. Louis Blues will share the goaltending responsibilities for Team Alfredsson, with each playing one period. No word yet on which segment will be assigned to Quick.

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VIDEO: Behind the scenes with Jon Quick at ASG Media Day

Was it really this bad when the All-Star Game was held in Los Angeles back in 2002? Is it because the event was held in 'hockey crazed' Canada? Or has the whole thing just turned into a nutty media thing, ala the Super Bowl? Watch as Kings goalie Jonathan Quick attempts to answer some - interesting? - questions...

Thanks to Kings Vision for supplying the video content.

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VIDEO: Kings players try moving from athletes to celebrities

After watching the video below you'll understand why it doesn't need much of an introduction. Just sit back and enjoy as Drew Doughty, Matt Greene, Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards try to move from athletes to big-time celebrities. You should be warned though - when it's over, you'll surely be humming 'wristshot, slapshot, backhand, goal' for the rest of the day.

The Fame Makers with the Los Angeles Kings from Anze Kopitar

Great work by the Fame Makers at funnyordie.com.

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Kings prospect Kevin Gravel emerging from the shadows

Kevin Gravel (photo: B Hemmelgarn)

When you're taken in the fifth round of the NHL Draft, not many hockey fans know you're name. Even the most diehard puckheads have only a cursory knowledge of guys selected outside of the first - maybe second - round. For every Brayden Schenn, there's at least a dozen more like Jeff Shevalier, Peter Hogan and Greg Hogeboom.

Yet, players like Jamie Benn, Rob Scuderi and Ryan Miller have all gone from being fifth round selections to solid pro players. So, chalk it up to being late bloomers or maybe even scouts missing out on what they had to offer, who knows.

Therefore, it's not surprising that Kings prospect Kevin Gravel has long since moved past the Draft of 2010, all while seeing his stock continue to rise. Currently a sophomore at St. Cloud State University, he also has recently returned from a trip to the World Junior Championships.

Last summer, he penned an article here on MayorsManor and he's back today to fill us in on what's been going on over the last month or so.

After surviving the final roster cuts for Team USA in late December - a process that he describes as "pretty nerve racking, just sitting there wondering if your name was going to appear" - Gravel and company kicked things off with a bang, downing Finland 11-3 in their first game.

"Our confidence was really high at that point," Gravel shared. "Obviously, we were expecting to win that game. But, any time you can put up 11 goals on a team, you're going to be feeling pretty good about yourself."

VIDEO: Jonathan Quick interview at All-Star Game Draft

Below is a short video with goalie Jonathan Quick after being selected with the third pick by Team Alfredsson at the NHL All-Star Game Fantasy Draft. After watching him answer some questions from the media, be sure to click the link under the player to see a special message he taped just for LA Kings fans.

Brief message from Quick after day one of his NHL All Star experience - play here.

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POLL: Which NHL forward would you take first at ASG?

If you've been following along here on MayorsManor this week, you've read the mini-mock drafts by Daniel Alfredsson, Jack Johnson, Dustin Penner and Kevin Westgarth. Now it's your turn. If you were one of the captains at this year's NHL All Star Game, who would you take with your first selection at tonight's All Star Fantasy Draft?

We'll assume in an offensive oriented game like the one to be played this Sunday, you're not about to waste your first pick on a goalie or even a defenseman. So, listed below are ten of the best forwards that will be available. You can select from the names provided or use any of these 14 guys as a write in vote: Jamie Benn, Logan Couture, Jordan Eberle, Marian Gaborik, Scott Hartnell, Marian Hossa, Phil Kessel, Milan Michalek, James Neal, Jason Pominville, Henrik Sedin, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza or John Tavares.


Voting closes at 5pm PST today.

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ASG 2012: Johnson, Westgarth, Penner take on The Mayor

Later tonight, Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara will draft their All-Star teams from a group of 38 NHL players, live on TV. After watching the inaugural event last season, it definitely put a unique twist on things. No other sport does such a thing. And for a change, that's a good thing for the NHL.

By now, you've probably already read the mock draft we did with Alfredsson earlier this week. Here, we turn to a few of the Kings players.

First up, Jack Johnson. The rules in drafting our teams were simple. Jonathan Quick was ineligible and we alternated selections, with Johnson getting the first pick. Here's how it went down...

Team Johnson				Team Mayor
Pavel Datsyuk		F		Steven Stamkos
Patrick Kane		F		John Tavares
Phil Kessel		F		Claude Giroux
Ryan Suter		D		Kimmo Timonen
Dion Phaneuf		D		Shea Weber
Tim Thomas		G		Henrik Lundqvist

Next up was Dustin Penner, who apparently wanted to sneak in as many of his former Ducks teammates as possible...