Over the weekend the LA Kings kicked off their 2009-10 season with interactive events and face-to-face time among fans at the first ever Hockey Fest in LA. The three-day event featured players old and new signing autographs and doing Q and A sessions with fans while they all got a chance to get interactive with mini-arenas set up to test shooting, accuracy, and one-on-one skills. We got the invite to come and debut the full version of NHL 10 and also set up a draw for fans who won games to earn a shot at going up versus one the Kings players themselves.

The four lucky fans selected were Ethan Berge, 17, who went up against Jack Johnson; Justin Price, 19, who took on netminder Jonathan Quick; Richard Aho, from Anaheim, was paired up with Davis Drewiske; and Alex Leggett, 12, who took on one of his favorite players from the team, last year’s rookie sensation, Drew Doughty.

Berge may have thought he had the upper hand going into his match with Johnson as following my brief pre-game interview with him, Johnson stated that he’d not played the game though claimed his brother had a copy and that he was familiar with the series. He even asked if there was a way to use the classic controls to “give himself a fighting chance” against Berge who agreed to play with the older controls.

Unfortunately for Berge, Johnson may have been playing possum as he ended up shutting out the Kings fan 6-0 and even scoring a hat-trick with his own player in game…one of those being of the short-handed version! It was the oldest trick in the book as he snookered his way FTW. “What can I say? It must be beginners luck,” he said with a sheepish grin.

On the other side of the bench was Jonathan Quick who chose the West All-Stars while Price took the East. Quick also hinted that he needed all the help he could get. This time, however, this King did as Price went out to a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period leaving Quick to wonder if playing outside the crease was as much fun as his familiar spot between the pipes. “I usually leave the play-making and scoring to the other guys,” he joked.

The two would exchange goals in the following two periods before Price closed it out with a pair for a 6-2 win. The biggest celebrations though came when Quick scored his goals as well as when he virtually dropped Price with a heavy punch when things got a little rough in the All-Star Game between the two.

While these games were going on, Drew Doughty and Davis Drewiske were warming up a few consoles over and getting a few quick tips from Producer Andy Agostini.

Drewiske started his game a little slowly as Richard’s tough defence kept the King shotless until late in the 2nd period. “He’s playing pretty tight and I’m picking my spots,” he said with a smile though it seemed he was getting a little outplayed by Aho. On his third shot late in the third period, he would slip one by Aho’s goalie and send the game into overtime.

There would be no scoring in the extra five minutes, and in fact, they would need a few extra shootout rounds before Drewiske went on a breakaway and neatly spun one into the top corner FTW.

The surprise of the event was the gaming skills of Drew Doughty. I know yesterday I said that at times it’s not about winning and it’s about being in the game…well, not this time. All four of these guys had that winner’s intensity in their eyes when they played and it was most evident with Doughty who showed no mercy going up against 12-year-old Legget. Ok, maybe he showed a little bit of mercy as the youngster had a hard time finding the back of the net, showing a bit of nerves sitting next to one of his favorite players.

“Drew’s pretty good at this game,” he said with a smile that never left his face despite losing 2-0 to Doughty. “I just can’t believe I had a chance to play with him and get everyone’s autograph and talk to them. It was pretty awesome!”

“Who’s next?” asked Doughty after chatting and signing an autograph for Alex. In stepped Producer Andy Agostini. Needless to say, the crowd began to put their money on one of the makers of the game but after Doughty went up 2-0 in this game as well, it became obvious that he not only had the skills on the real ice, but he had them on the virtual one as well. By the end of the tilt, Doughty would win 3-0 and post two shutouts back-to-back, leaving Agostini to claim he was a little star-struck as well going up against Doughty. Is it possible that he may have left a lasting impression on the stats-guru and may possibly up the sophomore’s overall game ranking? Time will tell with future roster updates, right Andy?

I asked the defenceman what he thought of NHL 10 following his second win, “I really like the new features. I played a little of the game last year and it flows really well.” I wanted to see him go off against Jack Johnson but he had already left to sign autographs a booth or two away. I guess I’ll just have to send them a copy and find out who wins between the two when they play on the road.

FTW, I’ll put my money on Drew.

Huge thanks go out to Rick Kim of XboxPulse.com and Rudy Colon of SFX-360.com who provided some of the pictures in this blog. Check out some of their photos and coverage of LA Kings Fest here: Photos - Rick Kim and Blog - Rudy Colon