Hear Davis Drewiske on ESPN Radio 1230 (Bakersfield) today at 5 p.m. with host Jake Stevens and the "There It Is!" show. ESPN Radio 1230 is part of the Kings Radio Network.

They will watch Kings practice, followed by floor hockey and lunch provided by Rubios. These children, part of the American Heart Association’s Alliance for Healthier Generation program, are being rewarded for their healthy eating and active lifestyle.

The LA Kings are proud Go Healthy Champions of the empowerMe movement and collaboratively work with the American Heart Association at a grassroots level to provide kids with a hockey experience at local schools and youth organizations.

As part of the American Heart Association’s Alliance for Healthier Generation program, the empowerMe movement inspires young people in the United States to develop lifelong, healthy habits. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. Together, they have joined forces to fight one of our nation’s leading health threats – childhood obesity.

I heard some faint rumblings this week that the Los Angeles Kings weren't terribly satisfied with Jonathan Quick's past few games, and when I saw Erik Ersberg get the start Wednesday night at Carolina, well, my spider senses tingled. Turns out, my spider senses were wrong. "No, there's no goalie thing going on," Kings head coach Terry Murray told ESPN.com. "Quick is my No. 1 goaltender. He had played 12 in a row and 16 of 17. I saw a couple of areas in his game in his last start in Chicago that just needed some practice time. I'm going to start him against Atlanta [on Friday]." Quick's .898 save percentage entering Friday night's game had him down to 36th among NHL goalies. As Murray put it, given the West Coast travel and the schedule the Kings have, quality practice time is hard to come by. So he decided to sit Quick on Wednesday and give him a few days of specific practice time with goalie coach Bill Ranford.

When a player is traded, especially a young player who is allegedly part of your “core”… there’s a REASON. Maybe its drinking too much and closing out the bars in Manhattan Beach? Maybe it’s the charming personality that rubs off on the other players in the locker room? Is it coincidence that when Patrick was traded to the Oilers on March 4th, they were in the playoffs (8th), and then they missed them? I find it interesting that "Sully" would say “Nobody cared about hockey in L.A.” See, when you have the Lakers winning year after year after year after year and they’ve built and established a winning culture, the people and celebrities of Los Angeles care. They REALLY care. Did you even bother to familiarize yourself with some of the former Kings players? They did care when some guy that was traded from Edmonton came to play here. They cared a lot.

The Los Angeles Kings have started the 2009-10 season on a mission. Currently they sit in fourth place in the Western Conference with a record of 11-6-2 (24 points). At the 2008-09 season's trade deadline, Kings GM Dean Lombardi made a move that set the stage for the team's revival, acquiring oft-injured winger Justin Williams from the Carolina Hurricanes in a three-way-trade of sorts that included the Hurricanes and Oilers. Lombardi made the acquisition in the hopes that the two-time 30-goal scorer might return to his prior form. And then, during the offseason, Lombardi sent Kyle Quincey and Tom Priessing to the Colorado Avalanche in return for gritty winger Ryan Smyth. Lombardi and Kings coach Terry Murray felt that Smyth would fit in perfectly with the system developed in LA under Murray... little did anyone know that this would provide the finishing touches for one of the best top lines in the NHL.

The difficulty of playing hockey in Los Angeles is that the city is fraught with distractions but not fraught with hockey. Most of the distractions are well-documented: the beaches, the sun, Heather Thomas. But recently the Los Angeles Kings had to deal with a new one when the NHL expelled the team's coach, Pat Quinn. That created a burst of media attention the likes of which the long-neglected Kings have rarely seen. Finding themselves in the midst of the turmoil were Kings rookies Luc Robitaille and Jim Carson, who have been waging an intramural competition for Rookie of the Year honors. Despite the commotion, they remained unfazed, and each played a major role in helping the Kings score two wins and a tie and go undefeated for the week. The success of Robitaille, 20, and Carson, at 18 the youngest player in the league, has been particularly gratifying to their mentor, Kings center Marcel Dionne. The second-leading scorer in NHL history, Dionne took the youngsters under his wing (in fact, Robitaille is his left wing) as soon as they arrived in town. It has proved to be a particularly profitable arrangement for the Kings and their once punchless offense: Robitaille leads all NHL rookies in scoring, and Carson ranks second.

Luc Robitaille is scheduled to be a special guest today on AM 570 KLAC at 12:30 p.m. PT and he participates in that station's day-long Radiothon with the goal of raising $100,000 for the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Anze Kopitar is scheduled to be the guest of the Tony Bruno show tonight, Thursday, at 9:30 p.m. PT. Hear the show locally on AM 570 KLAC and around the nation on Fox Sports Radio.

Palos Verdes High School's student-ran "Live From 205" campus TV newscast recently visited a Kings game at STAPLES Center. They followed the following report for their show: http://www.livefrom205.com/index.php -- click on the 11-6-09 show

When Dustin Brown joined the Kings, he was not one of the players that you would think ahead and label as captain material. As loud as he was and is on the ice, he was just as quiet and introspective off the ice. Like many young players, he had many more things to worry about than thinking ahead about the day he would become captain of the team. He was selected the captain before last season, and at the time, many people -- including myself -- were not sure if he had the type of personality that players usually have to handle that responsibility. At a prospect camp during the summer of 2008, he took a big step when he was asked to address a group of young prospects. He made everyone feel comfortable because he shared his feelings and experiences of when he was one of the new guys on the block -- how he was shy and rarely felt comfortable taking a leadership position with the team because he was not a polished communicator and usually got extremely nervous and uncomfortable when he had to address teammates or the media. But he let everyone know that he had grown out of that and that he wanted them to understand that if they were uncomfortable, it was only normal and not to think about it too much.

Luc Robitaille, who on Monday was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, is scheduled to appear on The Jay Leno Show tomorrow, Thursday, on NBC. The show begins at 10 p.m.

For the second time this season, the Los Angeles Kings will head out on the road for a road trip of at least five games. As we look ahead to this week’s action, the Kings began the trip on Monday with a 4-1 loss at Chicago. So now the Kings hope to get things back on track as they travel through the southeast. TUESDAY NOVEMBER 10 KINGS practice in Raleigh – Anze Kopitar scored his league leading 14th goal of the season, and begins play Tuesday as the league leader in points with 28. The team should be spenfing part of Tuesday reviewing and working on the power play, which is just one for their last 15 opportunities.

MANCHESTER – The smooth skating is over. Now it's time to see how the Manchester Monarchs respond to a rough patch. The Monarchs will host Hartford tonight at 7 p.m. at Verizon Wireless Arena. Manchester (9-3-2) has dropped three straight games, though it did register points in two of them in an overtime loss at Hartford and shootout loss at Worcester. Most recently, the Monarchs fell to Hershey, 4-1, at home on Saturday night. "I think a game like that is a great learning tool for our guys," said Monarchs head coach Mark Morris. "How we rebound is very important to us."

This is On the Fly's third (perhaps annual) Stealth List: a group of five people -- or in this case, three people and two pairs -- you hardly know but who make their teams or the game better. (Once again, I strongly suggest the you curb the urge to click away and pay a modicum of attention. The last two No. 1s on the list were Hakan Andersson, the Red Wings' European scouting director who helped draft most of Team Sweden for self-proclaimed Hockey Town, and the estimable Patrick Sharp, the Chicago Blackhawks forward who plays center and the wing well enough to have earned an invitation for Team Canada's Olympic orientation camp last August. Can you say possible 13th forward?

With Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille, Steve Yzerman and Lou Lamoriello being inducted into the 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame, Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun were on hand for the proceedings Monday in Toronto. Here, they catalog the best sights and sounds of the evening -- and offer some of their own thoughts.

On the day they were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, former Red Wings Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille looked back on how a young Russian and an old Russian helped forge their hockey legends.

Get rid of the instigator rule. Bring in no-touch icing. Reduce equipment size. Know who's on the ice. Bring back respect. They didn't always agree, but the five inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame had no shortage of ideas on how to curtail the sport's latest scourge – shots to the head, especially when the victim is in a vulnerable position.

When it comes to naming names for Canada's 2010 men's Olympic hockey team, executive director Steve Yzerman has become a master at keeping his thoughts to himself. There are many good reasons for this, not the least of which is that much can change between now and Dec. 31, when Canada will officially unveil its 23-man roster. It can change again before the actual puck drop on Feb. 16, against Norway, as a result of injuries.

Brett Hull downplayed the skill that allowed him to score 741 career goals in the NHL during his Hall of Fame career. When he was reminded of being the 117th overall pick in the 1984 NHL entry draft (Calgary's sixth choice), Hull was asked what made him into the player he became. "I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world," he said Monday. "I have no idea what happened. I just made sure I had fun."

TORONTO - As respectful members of the British Commonwealth, the folks who ran Maple Leaf Gardens years ago hung a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II from the rafters. It came down in the late 1960s when Harold Ballard, part-owner of the NHL's Maple Leafs and their arena, wanted to add more seats. "She doesn't pay me; I pay her," he said. "Besides, what the hell position can a queen play?"

As the 2009 Hall of Fame inductions are upon us, I am moved to write of a special inductee. Congratulations of course to Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman, Brian Leetch, and GM extraordinaire Lou Lamoriello, as all are well deserving of this honor, but the most unlikely of all has to be Luc Robitaille. Nicknamed "Lucky", Robitaille was a 9th round pick (171st overall) of the Los Angeles Kings in 1984. Despite his noticeable lack of speed, Luc captured the Calder trophy as Rookie of the year by scoring 45 goals in the 1986-87 season and never looked back. “Lucky” Luc always seemed to be in the right place at the right time when it came to scoring goals.

TORONTO - Wayne Gretzky decided to put his friends ahead of any lingering awkwardness with the NHL. The Great One has been keeping a low profile since stepping down as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, but turned up for the Hockey Hall of Fame's induction ceremony on Monday night. It's one of the showcase events on the league's calendar and Gretzky thought it was important to come out in support of inductees Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille and builder Lou Lamoriello - five men he knows well. "It's a great honour for them," Gretzky told a large scrum of reporters at the Hall. "Obviously outstanding hockey players, they're all champions, and they're all really great guys. The Hockey Hall of Fame, one of the great things about that your friends and family are there, grandparents, ex-teammates. I played with most of those guys, other than Stevie, and we played in a World Cup together.

TORONTO - Wayne Gretzky decided to put his friends ahead of any lingering awkwardness with the NHL. The Great One has been keeping a low profile since stepping down as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, but turned up for the Hockey Hall of Fame's induction ceremony on Monday night. It's one of the showcase events on the league's calendar and Gretzky thought it was important to come out in support of inductees Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille and builder Lou Lamoriello - five men he knows well. "It's a great honour for them," Gretzky told a large scrum of reporters at the Hall. "Obviously outstanding hockey players, they're all champions, and they're all really great guys. The Hockey Hall of Fame, one of the great things about that your friends and family are there, grandparents, ex-teammates. I played with most of those guys, other than Stevie, and we played in a World Cup together.

They came to call him "Lucky", but Luc Robitaille was only so in a happy-go-lucky sort of way. Seemingly always smiling and in a good mood, Robitaille's demeanor belied a serious sense of purpose when it came to improving as a hockey player. He came into the NHL as an awkward-skating scoring phenom from the QMJHL. I remember his first couple of training camps with the L.A. Kings where he was slender of build and coltish on his skates. When he showed up for camp as a rookie in 1986, he was bigger and his stride was much stronger. All of a sudden, his offensive instincts, soft hands and determination to get to the net were applicable at the NHL level.

Scott Parse stood between Dustin Brown and Sean O’Donnell on the blue line and stared holes into his skates. Back-and-forth they went, in place, the mesmerizing whirl — swish, swish, swish, swish — providing a cocoon of concentration for the Los Angeles Kings rookie as the walls and the glass and the world rattled and shook inside the United Center Monday night.

TORONTO -- Wayne Gretzky handled his appearance Monday night at the Hockey Hall of Fame with the same deftness with which he handled the puck during his legendary career. There was much speculation that Gretzky would not make an appearance during Monday's ceremony because of the complex issues surrounding the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes.

The statue in front of Staples Center rightly is of Wayne Gretzky. But that special spot in every Kings' fans heart? That could only belong to Luc Robitaille. The left winger who couldn't skate, wasn't fast and always seemed to play second fiddle to a brighter star, officially became a Hall of Famer on Monday to complete one of the more improbable success stories the National Hockey League has ever witnessed.

Before I get back to the Hall of Fame inductees and what they had to say at the news conference hours before the ceremony, I’d like to mention the winners of the Elmer Ferguson award for excellence in hockey writing and the Foster Hewitt award for excellence in broadcasting. The writing winner was Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, whose sense of humor has never deserted him through some dark times covering the Penguins or, more recently, the good times. He covered Luc Robitaille during the season Robitaille played for the Penguins, and had glowing praise for him. “Luc’s career was a testimony to focusing on what you can do instead of what others tell you that you can’t do,” he said.

Some high praise for Hall of Fame inductee Luc Robitaille came Monday from the highest of all sources: Wayne Gretzky. Fabforum Gretzky, limping after having a knee scoped to repair an injury he suffered while playing tennis, played with Robitaille in Los Angeles and again in New York and said he enjoyed both stints. "I've known Luc since he was 17, with the Hull Olympiques," Gretzky said. "I’ve said this before, with Rocket Richard, Mike Bossy, Guy Lafleur and Mario Lemieux, there’s nobody who wanted to score more desperately than Luc Roitaille. He made himself a hall of famer."

Whoever wrote the script summarizing Luc Robitaille's career for the highlight film that accompanied his hockey Hall of Fame induction Monday got it wrong. "All Luc Robitaille did was score goals," the narrator intoned, but that wasn't true. Robitaille scored a lot of goals -- 668 of them. And 1,394 points, the most ever by a left wing in NHL history. But that's no more a description of Robitaille than calling Wayne Gretzky a hockey player. Robitaille was the heart of the Kings through good times and bad, for 14 of his 19 NHL seasons. From the day they drafted him as a throwaway, ninth-round pick in 1984 until he retired 3 1/2 years ago, he personified everything good about this game and the undying power of hope backed by tireless effort.

God, do I love hockey. Even on one of the worst days a hockey player can have, when you’re getting sent down and flying away from the NHL, it’s not a bad job to have. We get to play a kid’s game for a living. Granted, I know I did not feel this way on the flight home and this perspective comes weeks after being sent down and getting back to playing here in the American League. When you’re told you have a meeting on the day before the season some pretty loud warning bells start ringing and you know where you’re going.

In a salary cap system, it’s hard to imagine there’ll be another NHL team as powerful as the 2002 Detroit Red Wings. There are as many as 10 players from that group that could one day be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame — not to mention coach Scotty Bowman, who was inducted back in 1991. The official number will swell to four on Monday night when Steve Yzerman, Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull officially join Igor Larionov in the Hall. The former teammates all marvel at the special season they spent together.

I’ve always admired people who were gifted with the quality of leadership, and when leadership and raw athletic ability are found together in one person, it’s a rare combination to be sure. I think that one of the things that I appreciate most about Luc is that not only does he possess this combination, but that it is manifested in him in a unique way. Luc brings a contagious passion to the rink every day and to everything he does. I found that being around that kind of passion and desire made the game even more enjoyable for me and challenged me to give to my full capacity. — Former Kings tough guy Stu Grimson

With the Kings embarking on a five-game road trip beginning Monday at Chicago, Coach Terry Murray had one immediate area of business to settle. He cancelled the skating portion of Sunday's practice and opted for the team just to conduct off-ice workouts. Aside from the noon flight today to Chicago, Murray pointed to the Kings' 3-1 loss Saturday to the Nashville Predators as evidence that the team was "lacking in energy" and needed some rest.

Luc Robitaille, Steve Yzerman, Brian Leetch, Brett Hull and New Jersey Devils executive Lou Lamoriello appeared at an informal fan forum at the Hockey Hall of Fame today, a relaxed moment before they plunge into the pomp and circumstance that will accompany their induction Monday. They answered a wide variety of questions from the audience and shared their thoughts on being honored. I’ll have more on Robitaille’s journey later at www.latimes.com/sports, but here are some tidbits from this afternoon’s session with the classy class of 2009.

Luc Robitaille started to thank his mother, Madeleine, and father, Claude, early in his hockey Hall of Fame acceptance speech, then paused as he looked out into the audience. Fabforum "Don't cry, dad," he said, seeing tears roll down Claude's face. "You're going to make me cry." Luc didn't cry, but his heartfelt acceptance speech Monday night did stir emotions.

From Toronto Luc Robitaille was never the fastest skater or most purely gifted player on the ice at any level he played. For a while, he wasn't even the most prolific scorer. "It's funny he got 600 and some-odd goals in the NHL. It surprises me because he used to be a passer," said his father, Claude.

He goes by the handle of "Lucky Luc" and it isn't hard to see why. Luc Robitaille continues to be blessed by things he couldn't see coming. Robitaille, 43, former Hull Olympique of the QMJHL, is being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame today along with fellow players Steve Yzerman, Brian Leetch, Brett Hull and builder Lou Lamoriello. Even now, Luc can hardly believe his luck.

Check out Luc Robitaille in an exclusive interview tonight from Toronto with Ron MacLean as part of Hockey Night in Canada's coverage tonight, Saturday, on CBC. It will also will be replayed on the NHL Network.

The interview also features Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman and Brian Leetch.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Back on April 3, 1995, the night that all-time Los Angeles Kings great Dave Taylor had his jersey number 18 retired by the club, this reporter wrote that he was the King of Kings, earning that right above other all-time Kings’ greats such as Marcel Dionne, Rogie Vachon and Wayne Gretzky. “No Kings’ player had ever measured up to Taylor when it came to heart, the desire to excel and win and the ability and willingness to go into the corners and sacrifice his body for his team,” I wrote. “No other Kings’ player has ever come close to Taylor as far as leadership—on the ice and off—is concerned, [and] no Kings’ player has ever matched his relentless work ethic, his dedication to his team, the game of hockey and his community.”

After the Kings began the season with a four-for-11 effort in penalty kills in their first three games, defenseman Sean O'Donnell thought the team's unit was, as he put it, "behind the 8-ball." The picture looks much different now. "We were in decent position, but we just weren't mentally there," O'Donnell said after practice Friday in El Segundo. "We were in the right position, but our stick wasn't on the ice, or our stick was here instead of being here. Just little tweaks, and I think we've done a good job with attention to detail."

These days, the air smells different in the Los Angeles Kings’ dressing room at Staples Center. Over the summer, the “Event Level” corridor and most of the dressing rooms at Staples Center were renovated. Included in the renovations was the Kings dressing room which has a much more clean, modern look to it. The renovations include wood-like paneling, new carpet, a four-speaker stereo system, a mini-theatre where the players and coaches can watch and analyze video, and more.

Looking at the schedule before this season started, fans could have been forgiven for assuming that the only reason to buy a ticket to see the Kings and Penguins November 5th would be to watch the great ones - Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin - perform. It would be, for the two, the first time since 2006 that they had appeared in the arena. That night, Malkin scored two goals, including the game winner in overtime, and Crosby had three assists.

Southern California represents a big change for Rob Scuderi. "I think Pittsburgh was the farthest west I'd ever been for any amount of time," the former Penguins defenseman said this week. But Southern California has not changed him as a hockey player. Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011272-61.stm#ixzz0W8eTEQS5

Dean Lombardi was the guest this morning, Friday, on the Hockey Central Radio Show heard on Rogers Sportsnet TV and Toronto's Sports Radio THE FAN 590. You can hear the interview on Fan590.com.

Anze Kopitar is scheduled to be the guest on the PMS radio show Friday, on AM 570 KLAC at 3:30 p.m. They will discuss last night's win against Pittsburgh, tomorrow's game against Nashville at 1 p.m. and his participation in the Kings Community Corner ticket program. Kopitar on AM 570

Penguins center Sidney Crosby and Kings defenseman Jack Johnson have been close friends since their days together at Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Minnesota, where they played prep hockey. Crosby and Johnson were the first and third overall picks at the 2005 entry draft, and they remain close -- though Crosby said it's not easy to keep up given that Thursday was only their second NHL game against one another. "Text messaging is great for that," he said.

LOS ANGELES — Prudently, Kings coach Terry Murray insisted beforehand that Thursday’s game with Pittsburgh was not “a measuring-stick game.” To his credit, he stuck to that attitude after the fact, even when it would have been easy to crow that his team’s 5-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champions was the kind of win that can define a season and, perhaps, redefine a team that needs to be known for something other than endless rebuilding.

Los Angeles scores four in a thrilling third period to end the Penguins' seven-game road winning streak. They do little things right and turn them into big things. As much as Kings Coach Terry Murray had insisted his team's game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday would not measure anything, it could become a pivotal moment in a season that is crystallizing into something very, very interesting.

Kings defenseman Davis Drewiske is scheduled to appear on The Hockey News Radio Show at 12:45 pm PT. The show on XM Home Ice airs live from 12-1 pm PT.

Luc Robitaille is scheduled to be the featured guest on The Challenge on Sunday, November 8, on KNBC-TV/Ch. 4. The show, which is hosted by Fred Roggin, begins after the Football Night in America NFL contest concludes (at approximately 8:30 p.m.).