Support LA Kings coverage - Jewels from the Crown

As best I can tell, some version of Jewels from the Crown, or at least some predecessor of it, started in 2007. The domain name was registered in late 2009, and things took off from there. The site saw the Los Angeles Kings fanbase through some extraordinarily lean times, as well as two Stanley Cups.

I came on board in 2016 as a writer, writing game previews and prospect reports and weird joke posts about Dean Lombardi. In 2018, I took over the site as Managing Editor, helping steer the ship through such turmoil as "the Willie Desjardins era" and "oops we're bad now".

In 2020, SB Nation/Vox Media decided to take California-based sports sites out of the hands of independent contractors, effectively ending my tenure at the helm of the site. You'll be shocked to know that whatever plans they had to keep the site running using a collection of writers who aren't Kings fans, who aren't invested in the good, bad, and ugly of this team, didn't work, and Jewels from the Crown has been largely dormant since then.

In 2023, SB Nation/Vox Media announced that they were eliminating nearly all NHL team sites (in addition to many other sites throughout the rest of the sports world). The company has agreed to transfer the sites to the people whose blood, sweat, and tears have kept them running, and that's where all of us come in.

I'm pleased to share that Vox is giving me back Jewels from the Crown, to relaunch. It's always frustrated me to watch the site sitting there, dormant, without being able to do anything about it. This is a thrilling time for Kings fans, with a playoff spot all but assured and young prospects improving by the day to help throw open those Cup contender doors for years to come. This is the perfect time for our voice to be heard again.

Covering hockey on an independent basis has always been a labor of love, but a site transition like this costs money. Hosting fees must be paid up front, and no one should have to work for free. (In full disclosure, I was the only paid contractor at JFTC when it was under Vox's control. I don't want that to be the case going forward.)

My goals with this fundraiser are to cover at least the initial year of hosting costs ($25/month = $300/year). Additional funds will be used to pay any contributors for their work, including any web design or graphic design work, as well as any other administrative costs associated with the transition.

I was so pleased by the support and interest generated on Twitter when I brought up the idea of a re-launch. If you've enjoyed Jewels from the Crown in the past, or if you're looking for a new community of Kings fans, please consider chipping in whatever you can spare. If you can't, we still appreciate you participating in the community, and hope you will pass this along to any other Kings fans or people who want to support independent media. Thank you!

Consider donating the jersey number of your favorite player! Anze Kopitar is amazing, but Quinton Byfield or Rasmus Kupari are very helpful as well. And Wayne Gretzky is just, as always, the greatest.