ANAHEIM, Calif. Matt Slauson Colts Jersey . -- Sitting in another jubilant dressing room deep inside another dazed road arena, Anze Kopitar simply stopped trying to explain the Los Angeles Kings big-game brilliance. In nearly every tight playoff spot over the last three years, his Kings have emerged and advanced -- even when they end the career of hockey icon Teemu Selanne along the way. Kopitar knows the Kings tenacity cant be easily defined, and its almost impossible to capture. But it has taken them all the way back to the Western Conference finals after they finished off the rival Anaheim Ducks in grand style, 6-2 in Game 7 on Friday night. "Its hard to say what it is, but its all in this room," said Kopitar, the Kings leading scorer. "We dont look outside too much. We believe in this room. We knew this would have to be our best game of the series, and it was." Justin Williams, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards scored in an overwhelming first period. The Kings advanced to their third straight conference finals by improving to a jaw-dropping 6-0 when facing elimination this spring. Los Angeles has won two seven-game series as it heads to Chicago for Game 1 on Sunday. Kopitar, Marian Gaborik and Tanner Pearson also scored, and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves to help the Kings claim the first post-season Freeway Faceoff series with back-to-back wins over their top-seeded Southern California rivals. "Were built for the playoffs, for sure," Kings defenceman Drew Doughty said. "We struggled during the regular season. I dont know the reason why, but were always ready for when it really counts." The Kings added to their 7-1 record in elimination games over the past two years, showing the remarkable poise that has led to eight playoff series victories in three seasons. They earned a rematch with the Blackhawks, who eliminated them in five games last spring. The 2012 Stanley Cup champions led 5-0 late in the second period in Anaheim, never allowing the Ducks to get going in their own building. Los Angeles shredded rookie goalie John Gibson for four goals in the first 22:02, and the Ducks lost a Game 7 for the second straight year. "Really tough emotions right now," said captain Ryan Getzlaf, who scored one goal in the series. "They came out and played the way they can play. They know what theyre doing in these situations." The defeat likely ended the career of the 43-year-old Selanne, who intends to retire. Both teams paid tribute to the Finnish Flash after he took the final shift, eventually waving a melancholy goodbye to his Anaheim fans. "Its got to be a lot of happiness later, but it is hard right now," Selanne said. "It was going to be ending in a great celebration or a big disappointment, and we didnt get the win." Kings fans chants of "This is our house!" echoed through Honda Center, where the Ducks were one of the NHLs best home teams during the best regular season in franchise history. The Kings got stellar performances from their best big-game players. Quick improved to 3-0 in Game 7s. Williams kicked off the first-period onslaught with his sixth goal in six career trips to Game 7. Williams also has six assists in those deciding games. "Im proud of my numbers in Game 7, but the one Im most proud of is 6-0," Williams said. Gaborik scored six goals in the series four games in Anaheim, giving him an NHL-best nine goals in his first post-season with the Kings. Gaborik, Williams and Richards are unbeaten in six career trips to Game 7; Carter improved to 4-0. The 20-year-old Gibson was overmatched, yielding four goals on 18 shots before getting pulled for Jonas Hiller, the dependable veteran benched twice by coach Bruce Boudreau in the seasons final weeks. Boudreau dropped to 1-5 in his six career trips to Game 7s with Washington and Anaheim, losing all five times at home. "The first period was like men against boys, quite frankly," Boudreau said. "They were bigger, stronger, more determined. Everything we said we didnt want to do, we did." Corey Perry scored early in the third period, but also missed a penalty shot and got denied on a second-period breakaway on his 29th birthday. Kyle Palmieri scored late in the second period. The game was an unsightly farewell to Selanne, whose 21-season NHL career began in Winnipeg in 1992 and included parts of 15 seasons in Anaheim. He scored 684 regular-season goals, but had just two goals in 12 playoff games this spring. "It will be great memories I will live with for the rest of my life," Selanne said. "I would never have expected to have this kind of career. I am very thankful for that." Game 7 also might have been a finale for Saku Koivu. The 39-year-old Finnish centre said hell wait several weeks before deciding whether hell retire after 18 NHL seasons. NOTES: The Kings again played without injured veteran defencemen Willie Mitchell, who missed his eighth straight game, and Robyn Regehr (sixth straight). ... Los Angeles is the 17th team in NHL history to win a Game 7 twice in the same post-season run. The New York Rangers also have done it this spring. ... The visiting team has won five of the six Game 7s in the current playoffs. Ryan Grant Colts Jersey . -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over. Kemoko Turay Colts Jersey .The surgery was performed by Dr. William Meyers at the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia.Letestu had three goals and two assists in nine games before being injured in late October.The 29-year-old has 54 goals and 65 assists in 273 career NHL games, including 39 goals and 51 assists in 188 games with the Blue Jackets. http://www.coltsofficialstore.us/authentic-matt-slauson-colts-jersey/ .A. remained bitter for Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers on the long flight back home to New York.The NFL has reached a $765 million settlement with its retired players over concussion-related lawsuits. There were over 220 lawsuits filed by 4500 players, including Tony Dorsett, Eric Dickerson, Mark Rypien, Tony Mandarich, Art Monk, Jim McMahon and Jamal Lewis, as well as the estate of the late Junior Seau. Make no mistake – these lawsuits fundamentally changed the sports landscape and the sports discussion as it relates to player safety across all sports. Lets look at some of the key takeaways from the settlement. Werent these lawsuits just about players complaining about risks they knew about? No. More please. The key allegation raised by the players was that the NFL concealed information. The players argued that the NFL knew of the long-term neurological impact of headshots and didnt share their findings and information with the players. Players like former Bears QB Jim McMahon knew there was some risk associated with playing football. However, he along with about 4500 other retired NFL players, contend that the NFL had better information about the potentially devastating impact of repeated headshots and deliberately concealed this information from NFL players. The players were basically saying this: We knew there was some risk of harm with playing football but not this level of debilitating injury. The NFL, however, knew of the risk and didnt share that with us. So concealment is a really important part of these lawsuits? Yes very important. As important as avoiding picking Alfred Morris in the first round of a PPR fantasy league. Who would have won at trial? Cant say at this point. Everything turns on the evidence presented at trial. To win, the players needed to show that the NFL had key information about the long-term and devastating impact of headshots and didnt share that with the players (so back to concealment). They would have needed a smoking gun so to speak. The NFL had some good arguments defending their position. First, they would have argued that players were aware of the risk associated with playing football and agreed to those risks each time they stepped onto the field. They would have also maintained that they didnt conceal anything. As well, the NFL would have pointed out that no one can say for sure what caused a players dementia, and even if it was caused by repeated headshots while playing football, how much of that damage was sustained outside the NFL in places like college or high school ball. So what caused the dementia and when it was caused become important issues. Theres more. The NFL argued early on that these lawsuits didnt belong in court in the first place, but rather should have gone to arbitration. The collective bargaining agreement provides that issues of player health and safety go to arbitration and not court. On the flip side, the players argued that since this case involved fraud, it properly fell outside of arbitration and within the jurisdiction of the courts. Bottom line is this: both sides faced challenges in this case and thats where we generally see settlement. The NFL is paying out $765 million as part of the settlement? Who wins with this settlement – the players or the league? The NFL did well. While $765 million is a lot of money, it breaks down to about $4 million per team in each of the first 3 years and then another few hundred thousand dollars per team for the next 17 years. The upfront payment of $4 million is by NFL standards a modest sum of money. To put it in perspective, thats what Falcons RB Steven Jackson will make this year. There was the potential a jury could have come back with a big monetary award against thee NFL in the billions of dollars. Quenton Nelson Colts Jersey. This settlement helps the NFL avoid that type of potentially catastrophic award. So $765 million is a big number. Very big. But once disbursed across the leagues 32 teams, it becomes manageable. These lawsuits also generated a lot of negative press for the NFL. There were discussions focused on the death of the league. NFL MVP Adrian Peterson declared he didnt want his kid to play football because the sport was too dangerous. By settling these cases, the NFL can now look to change the conversation about football. Thats really important. Ok – how did the players do? This case was going to settle. It was surprising, though, to see it settle this early. For the players, an early pressure point would have been to force the NFL to produce sensitive documents going back decades. Thats something any business would not want to do, including the NFL. Still, the settlement suggests that the players had concerns with their case. Ultimately, though, this is not a bad deal for the players. Does this settlement mean the NFL is saying they were wrong and liable for this mess? No. The NFL expressly said that they are not admitting liability. Why wouldnt the NFL admit guilt? First – and this is key – they dont want to go on the public record saying they are guilty. If they did, a retired player could sue them and rely on that statement. As you can imagine, an admission of guilt would be a pretty powerful weapon for a plaintiff to use against the NFL. As well, from a PR standpoint, the NFL doesnt want to characterize itself as the villain in all this. Finally, the NFLs position is that they are not responsible. So why admit to something you are not convinced you did. Wait a minute – retired players could still sue despite settlement? Yes. The settlement agreement will bind about 18,000 retired NFL players. Specifically, it applies to every NFL player that is retired at the time the Court rubber stamps the settlement agreement. That could happen in the near future. However, a player has the option to opt-out of the settlement agreement. If a player believes that he can do a lot better filing his own individual lawsuit, he would tell the court and the NFL thanks but no thanks, Im headed to court. Ultimately, the player would sit down with his lawyers and figure out what makes most sense. One more point – the Court has to be satisfied that the settlement is adequate and reasonable before it approves it (thats right – the Court has to approve the agreement). If it concludes the agreement is not fair, it may not approve it. So theres another reason the NFL didnt admit liability – what if the agreement is not approved. Expect the deal to be approved by the court and close to all players agreeing to the terms of settlement. Will we see new lawsuits filed by current players? Those would be tough to win. The focus of the retired player lawsuits was that players were unable to make informed decisions about playing football because the league concealed information about the devastating impact of repeated headshots. Today that information is readily available. So it would be very tough for a current player to argue that he did not have enough information to make an informed decision. Dont see it. So whats next? Wait and see if any other players opt-out of the settlement and head back to court. Does this settlement affect my fantasy lineup? Should I have drafted Lamar Miller? No, your fantasy lineup is unaffected. As for Lamar, he should have a good season as the Dolphins lead back. A-Rod makes me angry. Thats a separate column. Cheap Heat JerseysCheap Bucks JerseysCheap Timberwolves JerseysCheap Pelicans JerseysCheap Knicks JerseysCheap Thunder JerseysCheap Magic JerseysCheap 76ers JerseysCheap Suns JerseysCheap Blazers JerseysCheap Sacramento Kings JerseysCheap Spurs JerseysCheap Raptors JerseysCheap Jazz JerseysCheap Wizards Jerseys ' ' '