Kings are Victorious

Last night, in the first exhibition game of the season, the Kings beat the Ducks, 5-4. Obviously, the Kings don't want this to be their only win against the Ducks, but with the way Kyle Calder played, it probably won't be.

Calder had a pair of goals for the Kings, while Dan Cloutier picked up credit for the win. The Kings got the winning goal from Brian Willsie. Lubomir Visnovsky also added a pair of assists in the game. The Kings have some names popping up already who you may want to consider for your pool team. Cloutier might not be too bad of a pick, because the word on him is that he's healthy.

Jean-Sebastien Aubin came in midway through the second and held the fort through the third period. Also showing up with a +2 rating in the game... rookie defenseman Jack Johnson. Johnson is well on his way to earning a spot on the Kings' roster.

Could the Kings be the real deal this season? The Pacific Division is going to be a tough one to play in this year, but with a lot of the youth the Kings have, they are well on their way to being competitive in the coming year.

On the Ducks side, Bobby Ryan (left) had himself an assist in the new (and boring) Ducks jersey. Jason King, Mike Hoffman, Maxim Kondratiev and Dan Lacouture scored the goals for the Ducks, while Ilya Bryzgalov and Jean-Phillipe Lavasseur manned the crease for the Ducks.

Ryan is the biggest young name in camp for the Ducks and he'll be looked upon to fill the gap left behind by Dustin Penner, who left for the Oilers in the off-season. You'll probably see Ryan's name pop up a few more times in the preseason, as the Ducks really want him to succeed.

The Ducks and Kings will do it all over again on Saturday in Los Angeles. I would wager on seeing a lot more new names on each team's roster.

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NHL, Hockey, Hockey Pool, Preseason, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Kyle Calder, Dan Cloutier