A month into the season, and things were looking fabulous for the Kings. Tops in the division in points and goals (switching on a daily basis with the very hot San Jose Sharks). A power play unit that actually scored goals, (thanks in no small part to the addition of Frantisek Kaberle on the point). Then, in one fell swoop, the Kings lost two of their top skaters from the first line; Luc Robitaille and Jozef Stumpel. They played their first game without these players on Saturday, November 6, losing to the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 5-3.

Obviously the size of the Flyers dominated the Kings on the ice. The speed and power of the Kings's number one and number two lines were diminished by the Flyers's ability to clog the neutral zone. The biggest loss to the Kings by the injuries to Robitaille and Stumpel is on the power play unit. Coach Murray has his work cut out for him in trying to fix the hole created by this en-masse loss.

On the bright side, props definitely go out to Coach Andy "Sarge" Murray for putting together a team representing Los Angeles that the fans can finally be proud of. The Kings owned the month of October! Sarge formed lines and stuck with them, win or lose. Sarge has maintained a Number One goaltender, a first I believe, given the Kings's tradition of being ambivalent about their goaltenders. All resemblances to the old "Larry Robinson Kings" have disappeared, and a confident, faster paced, and more exciting team has replaced them and are winning games in style.