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Helene Elliott

@puckgirl05

Spent 47 years as a sportswriter. Now, writing occasionally on Substack while I figure out what's next.

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01.09.2024
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Latest posts by Helene Elliott @puckgirl05

Preview
Ducks go all-in at the NHL trade deadline, while Kings keep one toe in the water The Ducks boosted their hope for a long playoff run by acquiring accomplished defenseman John Carlson. The Kings, outside a playoff spot, cleared the way for their kids to show what they can do.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

07.03.2026 00:51 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Ducks go all-in at the NHL trade deadline, while Kings keep one toe in the water The Ducks boosted their hope for a long playoff run by acquiring accomplished defenseman John Carlson. The Kings, outside a playoff spot, cleared the way for their kids to show what they can do.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

07.03.2026 00:51 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Looks like more of the same, but with different packaging Kings GM Ken Holland finally acknowledged the obvious: Jim Hiller wasn't an effective coach. Appointing assistant D. J. Smith to finish the season might provide a brief bump but isn't a real solution.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

02.03.2026 00:33 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Looks like more of the same, but with different packaging Kings GM Ken Holland finally acknowledged the obvious: Jim Hiller wasn't an effective coach. Appointing assistant D. J. Smith to finish the season might provide a brief bump but isn't a real solution.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

02.03.2026 00:33 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Kings of nothing After two atrocious losses following the Olympic break, the Kings can't fool themselves--or anyone else. They're a bad team with a bad coach. Let a top-to-bottom housecleaning and rebuild begin.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

27.02.2026 08:50 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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The Kings of nothing After two atrocious losses following the Olympic break, the Kings can't fool themselves--or anyone else. They're a bad team with a bad coach. Let a top-to-bottom housecleaning and rebuild begin.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

27.02.2026 08:50 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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On golden ponds The U.S. men's 2-1 overtime victory over Canada in the gold medal game Sunday completed a U.S. hockey sweep and provided a dramatic finale to the highly entertaining Milano Cortina Olympics.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

22.02.2026 21:13 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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On golden ponds The U.S. men's 2-1 overtime victory over Canada in the gold medal game Sunday completed a U.S. hockey sweep and provided a dramatic finale to the highly entertaining Milano Cortina Olympics.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

22.02.2026 21:13 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Happy Miracle on Ice anniversary!

22.02.2026 13:34 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Correct

20.02.2026 20:34 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The surest of sure things didn't happen at the Olympics Figure skating gold medal favorite Ilia Malinin produced the biggest shock at the Winter Games, melting down in his free skate to finish eighth overall. On that, and other Olympic topics...

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

14.02.2026 02:51 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The surest of sure things didn't happen at the Olympics Figure skating gold medal favorite Ilia Malinin produced the biggest shock at the Winter Games, melting down in his free skate to finish eighth overall. On that, and other Olympic topics...

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

14.02.2026 02:51 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Way to go, Nancy! He wrote condescending garbage that was disguised as β€œexpertise.”

08.02.2026 19:08 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Bread and circuses? The key to the Kings acquiring prolific winger Artemi Panarin is whether coach Jim Hiller lets him play to his strengths or tries to make him a defense-first drone. At least this will be interesting.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

05.02.2026 07:10 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Bread and circuses? The key to the Kings acquiring prolific winger Artemi Panarin is whether coach Jim Hiller lets him play to his strengths or tries to make him a defense-first drone. At least this will be interesting.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

05.02.2026 07:10 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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End of an Ice Age I had a long and wonderful run of covering the Olympics, but the Winter Games will go on without me. I've covered every Winter Olympics since 1980. And I have some memories...

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

02.02.2026 18:11 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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End of an Ice Age I had a long and wonderful run of covering the Olympics, but the Winter Games will go on without me. I've covered every Winter Olympics since 1980. And I have some memories...

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

02.02.2026 18:11 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Girl Scout cookie time!

01.02.2026 01:31 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Lather. Rinse. Repeat. The Kings struggled to score, tied Vegas late in the third period, then lost at home in OT. Coach Jim Hiller again says they played well. Sorry, not well enough. Which also describes how he coaches.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

15.01.2026 08:29 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Lather. Rinse. Repeat. The Kings struggled to score, tied Vegas late in the third period, then lost at home in OT. Coach Jim Hiller again says they played well. Sorry, not well enough. Which also describes how he coaches.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

15.01.2026 08:29 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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On a clear day…

07.01.2026 22:48 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Is the Kings' glass half-empty, or half-full? Well, at least they have a glass. They hit the halfway point of the regular season at 18-14-9 after a gutsy 4-2 victory over Minnesota on Monday. They held a playoff spot in a tight scramble that changes nearly every day.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

06.01.2026 08:45 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Enough is too much. It's time for the Kings to fire coach Jim Hiller. An ugly defensive collapse against Tampa Bay in the third period of a 5-3 loss on Thursday should be the final straw for an unimaginative, out-of-his-depth coach whose team is in a 2-6-2 swoon.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

02.01.2026 05:20 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
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Helene Elliott (@helenelikestowrite) I started to write a long Substack post about the Kings after their decent effort in a 5-2 loss to No. 1-ranked Colorado on Monday and I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it. I couldn’t bear to rep...

A few thoughts on the Kings: substack.com/@helenelikes...

30.12.2025 07:12 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Helene Elliott (@helenelikestowrite) After trading center Phillip Danault to Montreal on Friday for a 2026 second-round draft pick (without retaining any of his salary), Kings general manager Ken Holland said he will continue to monitor ...

substack.com/@helenelikes...

20.12.2025 05:27 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Bad beginning, good ending for Kings' trip After losses at Dallas and Florida, the Kings held on for a 2-1 victory at Tampa on Thursday. It might have to be their blueprint for the rest of their season.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

19.12.2025 07:18 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Bad beginning, good ending for Kings' trip After losses at Dallas and Florida, the Kings held on for a 2-1 victory at Tampa on Thursday. It might have to be their blueprint for the rest of their season.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

19.12.2025 07:18 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Look for the light.

17.12.2025 01:45 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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It's time to make your move, Ken Holland After 31 games--and back-to-back overtime losses to weak foes--the Kings' general manager should realize his team needs help. Their power play and scoring woes continue, and coaching remains an issue.

open.substack.com/pub/heleneel...

14.12.2025 17:21 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Sunny day in SoCal.

09.12.2025 22:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0