The jersey is in the Kings' classic black, white, and gray with some key notable features:
A purple-and-gold neckline with five diamonds, representing the era when the club wore purple and gold, and also the five decades the team has been in the league.
Two black stripes on the arms representing the Stanley Cups L.A. won in 2012 and 2014.
Gold border around the crest, symbolizing the Golden Anniversary.
"As we continue toward the start of the hockey season, our 50th Anniversary, sharing this jersey for the first time is a real thrill for us," Kings president of business operations Luc Robitaille said in a release. "We put a lot of thought, time, and effort into the design and we are very proud of the final product."
Those looking to nab a jersey of their own will have to act fast, as there will only be 5,000 available.
The Ottawa Senators legend officially became a Canadian citizen Tuesday, along with 101 other new Canadians, at a ceremony at the World Cup of Hockey's Fan Village.
I asked Daniel Alfredsson how he'll spend his 1st dollar as a Canadian citizen. "New pants," he laughed. "I just tore the pocket on these."
The Pittsburgh Penguins forward went under the knife in July to mend a hand injury he suffered in his team's opening-round playoff series against the New York Rangers, and things appear to be healing nicely.
Kessel was on hand for the Penguins' golf tournament on Tuesday (which he did not play in), where he promised he would be ready to go opening night, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette.
Though he should be available for the team's season opener on Oct. 13 against the Washington Capitals, Kessel claims he likely won't be ready for training camp.
Btw, he's not watching the World Cup of Hockey, he said.
In his first season with the Penguins, the 28-year-old was a force in his squad's playoff run, posting a team-leading 10 goals and 22 points en route to his first Stanley Cup win.
theScore is previewing each team leading up to the 2016-17 season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins return largely intact after winning the Stanley Cup. And this time Mike Sullivan's behind the bench for 82 games.
After a slow start, Pittsburgh finished second in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the NHL with 104 points. Its 2.90 goals per game ranked third, it's 2.40 goals against ranked sixth, and its 84.4 percent success rate on the penalty kill ranked fifth. The only area Pittsburgh needs to improve, surprisingly enough, is on the power play. Go figure.
Here's what the Penguins' lineup looks like ahead of Oct. 13, when they'll raise a Cup banner with the Washington Capitals watching.
Forwards
LW
C
RW
Conor Sheary
Sidney Crosby
Patric Hornqvist
Carl Hagelin
Nick Bonino
Phil Kessel
Chris Kunitz
Evgeni Malkin
Bryan Rust
Tom Kuhnhackl
Matt Cullen
Eric Fehr
Kevin Porter
Oskar Sundqvist
Scott Wilson
Dominik Simon
No changes to the 12 forwards. It's possible Chris Kunitz ends up on the top line, but Conor Sheary impressed in the playoffs.
Daniel Sprong, meanwhile, is out until at least January or February after having shoulder surgery, which is why he's not listed above.
Defense
LD
RD
Brian Dumoulin
Kris Letang
Olli Maatta
Trevor Daley
Ian Cole
Justin Schultz
Derrick Pouliot
Steve Oleksy
Brian Dumoulin averaged 21:31 per game in the playoffs. His contributions weren't talked about enough.
Trevor Daley had six assists in 29 games while averaging 14:46 in ice time with the Chicago Blackhawks before being traded to Pittsburgh. He had six goals and 16 assists in 53 games and played 20:27 a night with the Penguins.
Derrick Pouliot could make things interesting in camp, especially considering Justin Schultz didn't have the confidence of the coaching staff in the spring.
ANA| ARI | BOS | BUF | CGY CAR | CHI | COL | CBS | DAL DET | EDM | FLA | LA | MIN MTL | NSH | NJD | NYI | NYR PHI | PIT | OTT | STL | SJ TB | TOR | VAN | WSH | WIN
TSN's Darren Dreger chimes in as well, tweeting that Ekblad feels better Tuesday. The "sense is (Ekblad) will probably stay with Team North America, but will not play if there is any risk," Dreger writes.
North America's next game is Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET against Sweden.
Just over five minutes into the first period of North America's round-robin match with Russia, Connor McDavid and Pavel Datsyuk battle for a puck along the right wall.
The 19-year-old McDavid is just a year removed from being the NHL's No. 1 overall draft choice. The 38-year-old Datsyuk has been a top-three centerman in the NHL for the better part of a decade.
But McDavid brushes off the veteran - he's too strong and too fast for the Russian to slow down - creating a 2-on-1 opportunity where he slides the puck across the ice to Auston Matthews for a tap-in goal to open the scoring.
McDavid's rookie season was derailed by an injury, but in his time on the ice we saw flashes of a player with the potential to be the best in the world - and soon.
Despite missing 37 games, McDavid averaged better than a point-per-game pace and finished third in Calder Trophy voting.
After an offseason of maturation and training, added muscle and increased speed, McDavid appears ready to ascend to the NHL's elite ranks.
He didn't look out of place in NHL action last season as a rookie, even offering a glimpse of the player he could become. Now he's built himself up this offseason into a player opposing teams should fear, seamlessly adjusting his training regimen to the World Cup of Hockey schedule.
"The (tournament) structure doesn't affect my approach at all," McDavid told Sportsnet. "I just started my regular-season training about a month earlier than usual ... I just have to peak a little bit earlier."
McDavid's commitment to improving himself hasn't gone unnoticed by a fellow No. 1 overall selection who's joined him on Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey.
"He's gotten to this point because of his work ethic, his determination and you can see that day in and day out," Matthews said. "There's a reason he's captain of this team. He always does the right thing."
Team Canada forward Steven Stamkos might have a solution to the Americans' lack of offensive output early on in World Cup play.
Stamkos gave his two cents on Monday, suggesting Tampa Bay Lightning teammate Tyler Johnson could be just the kind of player the Americans need.
"He's a great player, he's been a producer in big time moments," Stamkos said, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "You'd think a tournament like this would be the type of stage where he'd excel. But again, that's a question you'll have to ask (Team USA) management."
Johnson last represented his country at the 2014 World Championship, where he put up six goals and nine points in eight games.
As for Stamkos, he probably won't protest too much, as Canada gets set to face the Americans Tuesday night.
North America, yet to face adversity at the World Cup, got a dose of reality when Russia scored four goals on four shots in slightly over six minutes Monday.
"We just turned it into a track meet. It's not what we needed against them," said Connor McDavid. "We kind of opened it up. We let them swing and build speed. We had way too much gap in between our forwards and our defense in the middle there.
"They had all kinds of time coming through the middle and in our defensive zone. That’s not the way to play the Russians.”
Similar styles
Russia and North America have much in common.
North America, full of speed and talent, took on a Russian team that isn't afraid to flaunt it. Ask Evgeny Kuznetsov, who celebrated his goal by posing like a bird.
"It was emotional,” Kuznetsov said, when asked about the animated celebration. "I played 'FIFA' a lot."
To beat the young guns, you have to play like the young guns, and the Russians did what they're known to do to younger North Americans.
Flashback
At the 2011 World Junior Championship, Canada was up 3-0 over Russia after 40 minutes in the gold-medal game. Russia scored five in a row in the third period, three in just under five minutes, to shock Canada 5-3.
Artemi Panarin, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Kuznetsov were all on that team, and they reaffirmed their identities Monday - back off for a second, they’ll pour it on, and you'll pay the price.
Opportunity lost
"They were quicker, they were stronger," said North America head coach Todd McLellan. "They stripped us a number of times. We looked slow, and that's not the way we play. Slow reading, slow reacting, and you know, slow to the scoreboard, I guess. It took us a while."
North America had many chances to either put the game away before Russia's four-goal outburst, or come back in the third period.
McDavid had a breakaway with his team up 1-0, but Sergei Bobrovsky made one of his 43 saves, keeping his team in the game until it awoke from its mid-game slumber.
North America fought back to make it a one-goal game, but couldn't find the equalizer, even on a late 5-on-3 power play.
In the end, the North Americans felt like they let the game get away, and not that they were necessarily bested.
"They're really fast and they’re really skilled up front," Artem Anisimov said. "They're still young and they still make some mistakes, but their speed and their quickness in the offensive zone, they create so many chances."
Creativity, for one night
Both teams made mistakes, and that's expected from squads overflowing with offensive skill. Each tried to counter speed with speed and neither was able to shut things down defensively.
It was old school.
The creativity Pavel Datsyuk said is fading from the NHL was on full display, back for 60 minutes, at least. The defensive, shutdown-hockey fundamentals that are hammered into players was forgotten momentarily, by both teams.
Russia simply made fewer mistakes, and Bobrovsky had the stellar game his team needed with its backs against the wall, needing points to stay alive in the short tourney.
For North America, it's lessons learned. Fly to close to the sun, and you're going to get burned.
