Columbus

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

The season will end Sunday and so will the voting period for the NHL's major trophies. Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Assn. vote for most trophies; the Jack Adams (Coach of the Year) is selected by the NHL Broadcasters' Assn., and the Vezina (best goaltender) is chosen by NHL general managers. The Times doesn't allow its writers to vote. The envelopes, please… Hart (MVP) Winner: Jonathan Toews, Chicago. Runners-up: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh; John Tavares, New York Islanders.

COLUMBUS, N.M. - From a small hill at a state park here, the border town of Palomas, Mexico, can be made out through the desert haze. It lies four miles to the south, but the corruption that roils Palomas and the rest of Northern Mexico may as well be a block away. Last year, black sedans and hatchbacks loaded with federal agents poured into Columbus, a town of 2,000 people, arresting the mayor, the police chief, a city trustee and nine others. They have all pleaded guilty in a gun-smuggling operation that sold about 100 firearms, mostly assault rifles, to Mexican drug cartels.

Film director Chris Columbus shared a secret Saturday about the recent kids' novel he co-wrote: It's the "thematic sequel to 'The Goonies.' " "House of Secrets," written with young adult author Ned Vizzini, also is the first book in a planned trilogy. And its two writers, who appeared at the L.A. Times Festival of Books on Saturday, said they're already at work on the second installment. Times staff writer Rebecca Keegan held a public interview with Columbus (director of "The Goonies," "Mrs.

When: 4 PST. Where: Nationwide Arena. On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 1150. Records: Kings 31-23-12, Blue Jackets 21-38-7. Record vs. Blue Jackets: 2-1. Update: It is bound to be a rough reception for former Blue Jackets forward Jeff Carter of the Kings, who spent a short but eventful time in Columbus, mostly injured and mostly unhappy. Carter was traded to the Kings for defenseman Jack Johnson and a conditional first-round draft pick on Feb. 23. Carter, who has scored twice for the Kings in five games, had 15 goals and 25 points for the Blue Jackets in 39 games.

Columbus, Ohio, was named for the famed explorer. Here's your chance to explore the Ohio capital for $208 round-trip, plus taxes and fees, from LAX on Delta. There is no minimum stay. You can travel any day of the week through November. (Seasonal nonstop service is offered on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays beginning in March.) Info: Delta Airlines , (800) 221-1212 Source: Airfarewatchdog.com

The Ducks are just five games away from the playoffs. A three-game losing streak with a four-game trip to Canada starting Friday does not qualify as momentum. Wednesday, the playoff-motivated Columbus Blue Jackets beat the playoff-qualified Ducks, 3-2, in overtime at Honda Center, heightening the home team's angst over how prepared it is for the postseason. BOX SCORE: Columbus 3, Ducks 2 (OT) "We're not playing complete," Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said.

— This wasn't as big a crash-and-burn exercise as after the last time the Ducks beat the Chicago Blackhawks earlier in March. At least Anaheim salvaged a point from an often spotty showing Sunday at Nationwide Arena as the resurgent Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Ducks, 2-1, in overtime. Center Mark Letestu, who set up the Blue Jackets' first goal, scored the winner with one minute left in overtime, beating goalie Jonas Hiller stick side with a shot from the left circle. Granted, it was going to be tough to come back to reality after Friday's energizing win, one with a playoff-like atmosphere, by the Ducks at Chicago.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It was too much. Too much of Oklahoma guard Aaryn Ellenberg, who seemed able to pop free from anywhere. Too much of senior forward Joanna McFarland, who was willing and able to push and shove with the bigger UCLA Bruins. And too much of Oklahoma's loud confidence, combined with too little of what the Bruins had done well so often - defend and rebound. UCLA, seeded third in the Oklahoma City Regional, was upset by sixth-seeded Oklahoma, 85-72, Monday night at St. John Arena.

No. 3 UCLA (25-7) vs. No. 14 Stetson (24-8) Saturday, at Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio, 10:30 a.m. PDT (approximate). How they got here: UCLA finished third in the Pac-12 Conference regular season and reached the final of the conference tournament to earn an at-large bid. Stetson earned an automatic bid by winning the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. Last 10 games: UCLA 7-3; Stetson 8-2. Record vs. NCAA tournament teams: UCLA 6-6; Stetson 0-1. Best wins/worst losses: UCLA defeated then-fifth-ranked California, 70-58, in the Pac-12 tournament last week; and Oklahoma, 86-80, in Norman earlier this season.

It couldn't be better. That's how UCLA women's basketball Coach Cori Close described what happened Monday after the NCAA women's college basketball tournament draw was revealed. The Bruins (25-7) received a No. 3 seeding, which is the best they have ever received. They will play their first game, against 14th-seeded Stetson (24-8), and, if they win, their second game against either sixth-seeded Oklahoma or 11th-seeded Central Michigan, at what is a neutral site, in Columbus, Ohio.

Chivas USA tonight VS. COLUMBUS When: 7:30. Where : Home Depot Center. On the air: None. Records: Season opener. Record vs. Crew (2012): 0-1. Update: Chivas USA begins a new era with one certainty: It can't be any worse than the old era. The team failed to win any of its final 14 games last season, when its average home attendance fell to a league and franchise low of 13,056. So new ownership cleaned house, remade the roster and handed the team over to former Mexican League coach Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, who guided Chivas through an unbeaten preseason.

What the future holds for Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf is uncertain. So the future might as well be now. The Ducks stars and pending free agents each scored in Monday's 3-2 victory over Columbus at Honda Center to give the home team its fifth straight victory and ninth in 10 games this month. "We knew it'd be a tough test. It's not easy to come off the road like that and play at home two days later," Perry said after flicking in a third-period goal that served as the decisive margin.

Bruce Boudreau knows a letdown game when he sees one, so even though the Ducks coach is enthused about his team's recent road brilliance, he's going to take a hard line in Monday's home date against last-place Columbus. "Let's not take the brakes off now," Boudreau said Sunday of his message to the team that after Monday won't play again until Feb. 24 at home. "There's no way we have a right to take any team lightly. ... My job is to not let us look forward to those days off, the time with family.