It's gonna be a much different year, folks!

I must tell you I'm a Dean Lombardi freak. I seem to from adore to accept almost anything he is, says and does. Mostly relating to NHL clubs he's GMed. But not only, to be honest. I'm fond of him as a leader in the Alpha-dog sort of way. Someone that knows how and where to direct the ruderless ship that the Kings organization became the last couple of seasons.

I'm fond of Lombardi surrounding himself with quality down-to-earth hockey people, which has not always been the case with the former regime. From what I've heard about Dean, he's not afraid to take his time to lend an ear to his advisors before he speaks his mind. That bodes well for the organization who needs to re-learn to fight.

Some changes have already began to take place on the rosters of Los Angeles Kings and Manchester Monarchs. Rosters perhaps void for today of bona fide superstars (though the newly acquired Patrick O'Sullivan as well as Anze Kopitar are arriving big time!) - but full of grit, determination, pride and willingness to sacrifice for the team. There's shift in mentality from indifference as witnessed in tehe latter part of the season to "kick-butt" attitude as the pre-season camp date looms closer and closer.

Speaking of pre-season, I hope to see a lot of promise in 48 hours or less at the Pacific Division Shootout in El Segundo, CA. The cream of the young crop from the Sharks, Coyotes, Ducks and Kings go against one another in round robin challenge. It was very exciting already last year but this time round, we're really poised to see the very future of the franchise. If you're anywhere near my time zone, it's a great reason to stay awake at the wee hours of the morning to hit that F5 button on the leading Kings message boards.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming NHL and AHL season. I believe we're gonna have quite a lot to smile about.

(photo: cnnsi.com)