Invisiblecow’s Blog

As I type this I am 33,000 feet in the air on my way back to South Florida. This weekend will be one I will never forget as a Hockey fan and a Gamer. I was nervous coming to Los Angeles because this was my first time being in the west. The flight to Los Angeles was nice, easy, bumpy, and very long. As soon as I got to LA I took the shuttle to my hotel. On my way to the hotel I passed by the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Staples Center, and the rest of downtown Los Angeles. I was finally getting excited. I made it to the City of Angels!!

I got to the hotel at 2 pm (West Coast Time) and my stomach was angry at me because I barely ate on the way to the west. I guess I owed it a good lunch so I went to Denny’s. It was almost time to head to the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles for the Opening Ceremonies of Hockey Fest 09 so I went back to the hotel to get ready; I got the camera ready as well as the video camera, put on the SFX-360 shirt and walked to Nokia Theater. It took 10 minutes to get there from the hotel. Wishire Grand was the hotel I stayed at and it was very nice. I had no problems and the service was great.

So there I was at the Nokia Theater ready for Hockey Fest 09. I still had some butterflies about being here because I was in Kings Territory and not Panther Land. For the first time in my life I am looking at a hockey team I don’t know much about. All I know are the basics; Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, and the Miracle in Manchester. Luc and Wayne are my two favorite players of All Time though so I thought I could get by.

5:30 pm finally hit the clock and they were letting people come into Nokia Theater for Hockey Fest. I was pretty confused when I felt like I was back at an airport security gate but after they check me I came into the best view any man or hockey fan can get; the wonderful ladies who work for the LA Kings. Yea I had to get a picture with all of them. If I didn’t I would not think of myself as a man ever again.

Into the theater I went for the start of Hockey Fest. I was looking for a seat and I started wandering around wondering where what is and, without realizing it, walked by Luc Robitaille. When I turned back around because I got kicked out, am not VIP, I walked passed him again and my mind finally clicked. OMG its Luc Robitaille! Since he is the Co-President of the Kings and he looked very busy I was not able to say hi. I hope to meet him one day personally and get a chance to chat with him but until then, Hockey Fest began!!

Jay, the PA Announcer for the LA Kings provided the introductions and some silly fun before the real show began. I didn’t have the best seat so I did my best to take pictures and record some video while I was there. After the small introductions of the guys and gals who will provide entertainment for the fans as well as support for the Kings, they played a special video pretty much showing the history of the Los Angeles Kings. I was able to record it with my video camera and as soon as am able to post it I will put it up.

Once the video finished they introduced one by one the greatest players on the L.A Kings. Then the prospects and followed by the2009-2010 Los Angeles Kings hockey team. I had goose bumps just looking on the stage because you had history in the room and with talent that is soon to walk their footsteps. It is honestly a moment in my life I will never forget.

Before the end of the ceremonies the Kings Care Foundation donated a check of $500,000, the largest donation ever made by the foundation, to the Blood Donor Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

While players and staff were signing autographs for fans and even taking photos the stage was getting set for a special performance by Eddie Kowalczyk. I was also lucky enough to get a picture with Daryl Evans. As I left the Nokia Theater I realized that this weekend was very special even though I didn’t go into L.A as a King fan, after the Opening Ceremonies, I felt like I became one.

I woke up on Saturday at 7:30 am and man was I excited. Not only because I was going back to Hockey Fest but also because I was going to get my hands on NHL 10. I did not know who was going to be running the booth but the only person I knew that was going to be there was EA Sports Community Manager Alain Quinto.

I was so happy in the morning I stopped by Starbucks to get some coffee and off I went Hockey Fest. As soon as I got to Hockey Fest I saw teams playing hockey and with no skates, just shoes. I am guessing this was the LA Street Hockey area. I began taking pictures only to see my memory on my camera was full. Only then did I realize I forgot my memory card in my computer when I was uploading the night before. I was hoping I would get to Hockey Fest early but that all changed and I had to walk back to the hotel.

My morning was not over though. When I got to the hotel and got to my room I found out one more thing; I forgot my hotel key in the room. This is rare of me to be this clumsy because am normally always prepared for anything. So I had to go to the front desk to get my key, get my memory card, and off to Hockey Fest….Again. Not a great way to start my day but I knew it couldn’t be like this all day, and man was I right.

I got to Hockey Fest right before it opened and took some pictures of the Staples Center, Nokia Theater, LA Convention Center, and the big fat tent that was built on top of the parking garage. This tent was where I would spend most of my day.

Walking into the nice air conditioned tent I saw the skills area, vendors, and the goalie challenge. Then I made it to my main destination, NHL 10. I was one of the first people there, thank god, and I was greeted very nicely by Luke, Mark, and Associate Producer of NHL 10 Andy Agostini. I thought to myself “I know you from the video blogs!” and the little gamer fan in me exploded. I kept it together though and spoke to Andy about the game. I was not in media mode because I wanted to get to know him but I was happy to know that I will be doing an interview with Andy about NHL 10 hopefully before release.

Luke Botteron handles Product Marketing and Mark Schootman is the Content Manager ended up being very cool guys. Just hanging around talking hockey, games, and some NHL 10 made me feel like part of the group. They gave me some tips about the game, which I won’t share with you, which I used against other players or the CPU. Nothing big, hardcore players may easily figure them out but for now I will hold my edge. My first game on NHL 10, the non demo version, was the Florida Panthers vs. the Colorado Avalanche. Guess who my team was; I ended up winning 3-1.

As different fans started making their way to the NHL 10 area I decided to go look around to see what else was here. There was no line so I went straight to the skills area to see how good I was when it came to handling a puck. I tried out the Breakaway Challenge which required you to shoot the puck to the lighted part of the board as soon as you see it. It was pretty hard but out of five shots I hit three. The Accuracy Challenge which put four targets on the goal that you had to hit. Just like the ones the players shoot at in the All-Star game Skills Competition. Last but not least, my favorite one, the Hardest Shot Challenge. You get five chances to hit the puck as hard as you can and the speed monitor will tell you how fast your shot is. I didn’t notice the machine until my 2nd to last shot but the lady said my last shot was the fastest; which was 52 mph. I went to this spot a few times and was able to improve my shot to 54 mph. Not too bad for someone who doesn’t have much experience.

The next area I went too showed off all the trophies in the NHL but the only one missing was the Stanley Cup. Pittsburgh was not done with it, those hogs. I went ahead and took a picture of each trophy and then went back to the NHL 10 booth. I did not want to go in line to get autographs because the lines were long and I had some people to take pictures of playing NHL 10.

I went ahead and took some pictures of the fans and asked them what they thought about the game and I got a lot of positive feedback from everyone. From the hardcore, casual, and even the first time players of the franchise gave it good praise. If you read my story you saw the video interview I posted and that is pretty much what I was told by everyone. Thanks to David and Phil again for letting me interview them.

While I was taking pictures I met Robbrick, that’s his gamertag, and played him in a game. Just like me, he was a big fan of the game as well as a big Kings fan and we went at it. It ended up being a very close game and he won the game 1-0. I have much respect for him and I look forward to playing him again when NHL 10 comes out September 15th.

After he left I played another game against another the CPU and then someone was looking at me and said hi. I looked up and said hi only to realize it was Alain. I dropped the control and went to him and was just finally happy to meet him. We were talking a little trash on twitter before the weekend so we had a score to settle in NHL 10 before the day ended. He was getting ready to do an interview with fans and cover the event for EA so I had to sit back and watch a few times but after that I was able to talk with him and see how he was doing.

We went to lunch at the ESPN Zone Restaurant because they were giving away free meals to everyone who was at Hockey Fest. We both enjoyed a nice turkey sandwich with water, a cookie, chips, and an apple. It was really nice hanging out with Alain and when we got back to Hockey Fest he interviewed me about how I felt about NHL 10. I was nervous in the interview so am not sure if they will post it up but if they do I will post the link.

As we were waiting for 2:15 pm to come by, which was the time the raffle was going to be, I took some more pictures and talked with Andy, Mark, and Luke when they weren’t busy. Then I saw Alain playing a young kid in NHL 10. The kid was losing and didn’t want to play anymore so he handed me the remote and right there, it was time to show my skills in NHL 10. I was not nervous at all because talking with Alain made me so comfortable it was like playing any friend. At the same time though we have been talking trash on twitter and knew it was time to back it up.

He gave me home ice in which I choose my home team the Florida Panthers while Alain choose his team the Vancouver Canucks. The game was intense and fierce. There were plenty of hits and shots that rang the post as well as desperate goalie saves and then Alain went up 1-0 off a good shot that went five- hole. I was not able to get a good shot off but I was using the board play feature a lot. I worked the offensive zone when I could and took shots from the point. I was able to score a goal in the last ten minutes of the third period off a shot from the point by Keith Ballard to tie the game at 1-1. This is where I will stop the story because I want everyone to take a guess at who won. Due to secrecy I will not reveal the winner anyway so you will have to take a guess and never find out. There will be a rematch though and that is all I will say.

After our game it was finally time to find out who the four lucky winners were going to be to get a chance at playing one of four King players. I went ahead and recorded the raffle just so I can use the video camera for something. By the way, the FLIP Mino HD is very comfortable to hold and worth every penny. That is unless you want to do professional video work. After a few absent people, we finally got our four winners; Justin, Ethan, Richard, and Alex got the chance to play one of the four L.A Kings.

Richard was pinned against defensemen Davis Drewiske; Alex faced defensemen Drew Doughty, Justin faced goalie Jonathan Quick, and Ethan played Jack Johnson. After the winners were chosen, Alain brought them to the side to get their thoughts on the game and how they think they will do against the players while J. Quick and J. Johnson got ready for the game. D. Drewiske and Doughty left the area so fans were not all over them but they were nice enough to sign autographs before they left. I was able to get an autograph by both and took a picture with Drewiske as well. Before J. Quick sat down for his game he also signed my hat, Yay!

As the games began I took pictures of the players and their opponents and I have to say Quick was the funniest guy in the group. He did not know much about the game so Alain helped him out a bit. You have to remember he is a goalie, I don’t think he has scored a goal before. During the game J. Quick and Justin got into a fight, a virtual one with the new first person perspective, and J. Quick was actually able to beat Justin. Once he won he celebrated loud and proud it got everyone to laugh and even applaud him. Later in the game Alain decided to do a small interview with Justin and Jonathan to get their thoughts on how they are doing so far. I had some great timing because when Alain was talking with Justin, Jonathan scored his first goal of the game. Not only did he score and celebrate, he actually went to instant reply to see his handy work. It was one of the highlights of the day and I am happy to have been recording at the time.

Jonathan lost to Ethan 6 to 2 but he was a good sport. As for the other game, it was just a pure disaster; and not for the Jack Johnson. I actually thought he lost but Alain quickly let me know that he was the one that actually one between him and Ethan. Jack Johnson shut Ethan out 6-0 but thanks to Jonathan’s craziness, I didn’t notice it. So as of now it was a tie; Fans-1 and Kings-1.

The next round of games was starting and it was Richard, the oldest of the winners picked, against Davis Drewiske; and Alex, the youngest of the winners, against Drew Doughty. We already know a King can play because he shut him out 6-0, so it was time to see who else on the team knew more about the game then we would have expected. Richard and Davis had a long game as it ended up going into overtime tied at one. Overtime was not enough time though as it went into a shoot-out and what a long shoot-out it was. I recorded the rest of the game as well as a little bit of the distraction by the Doughty/Alex game and I hope to have it up soon. Davis was able to finally end the game in the 15th round, am guessing, to beat Richard 2-1.

Doughty though put on a show against Alex even though he said he never played the game. I believe he meant to say he never played NHL 10 but he has played NHL 09. I do not remember the score for that game but I do know Doughty won. In the pictures I took you can see the gamer face of Drew as he played and it was awesome. Just to see another player look like me when I play NHL was awesome in itself. The Kings actually ended up beating their fans three out of four games and I did not see that coming. As Transformers would say, “There is more than meets the eye”.

They were nice enough to stay a little bit and sign autographs for the fans as well as the opponent they faced but before Doughty left, the Associate Producer Andy Agostini challenged Doughty to a game. I will say that there was a lot of goals scored and by one side. I will not say though who it was from. It was cool to see them go at it though; having an actual NHL player who is in the game go up against the person who was a part of creating it was epic in itself.

As the day was coming to a close the tent was starting to get empty. Most of the fans went to go see the Triple Crown Line at the Nokia Theater which Bob Miller hosted. I went ahead and hung out at the skills area again because it felt like a good workout and I wanted to take advantage of the area since I was the only one there.

Before the day ended I played some more NHL 10 and this time Luke challenged me to a game. Luke is, again, handles Product Marketing for EA and sat down with me to play some NHL 10 to kill some time. We ended up having a three game series in which I ended up winning the first game, he destroyed me the second game, and the third game ended up going into overtime. My defense picked a horrible time to slack off as he was able to get the goal to end the game and win the series. I will admit that if you play the game against the computer it is fun but if you play another human, the game gets really intense. It’s still fun but it feels like there is more to brag about. I take my losses like a man. I was happy to at least put up a fight after the horrible second game I played.

At the end of the day I met new friends, got gamer tags, contacts, and finally got to meet the people who are a part of one of my favorite game franchises of all time. To everyone I saw there, it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope to see you again but at the Staples Center for a game. Thank you to Jeremy who handles the media relations for the L.A Kings for inviting SFX-360.com to cover the event and a big thank you to Alain, Andy, Mark, and Luke for being so cool to hang out with and talking hockey and NHL 10 with me. I hope to see you guys again in the near future.

I am a bit sad to be back in Florida but I know that this may be the beginning of more opportunities to come my way. This will be an experience I will never forget and if anyone in Los Angeles is reading, this weekend turned me into an L.A King fan. Good luck to the Kings this season. I hope, just like the Panthers, that you make the play-offs. The fans are just like us and just as hardcore. They were all very cool and dedicated. I love the motto of the season as well: Pride=Passion=Power, I can’t agree with it more.

I look forward to finally get NHL 10 in my hands and spend as much time as possible to play it; at least until NHL 2011 comes around. Just for the heck of it, don’t forget to pick up NHL 10 as it hits stores September 15th. It is a great game and be ready to read because I will have a detailed review of NHL 10 within the few days of its release.

Thank You for reading my first blog, I hope you enjoyed it.