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Are the Kings Back to Reclaim the NHL Throne?


TropicalFruitGirl26

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The Los Angeles Kings seem to be following a blueprint long established by baseball's San Francisco Giants...... good year, off year, good year, off year...and winning a title or two sprinkled in there as they went.

 

Well, after not even qualifying for the post season last year, LA has started out really well this year, and if one looks at the current pattern, last season was their 'off year' so that means, yup, they are poised for a good one this year.

 

How good of a year are we talking about?

Tough to say because it IS so early in the season still, but looking at the current roster and how players are performing, fans HAVE to be excited about the prospect of not only a solid year, but playoffs, and maybe even a deep run, if not a championship year.

 

A few veteran Kings players seem revitalized this year, starting with Jonathan Quick who is quite healthy and playing like he did during his Cup runs.

Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, two other key guys to prior title runs, playing very well too.

Ditto for Drew Doughty.

 

Then you have some other veterans who weren't part of previous Kings title runs, but either seemed to have found themselves again (Mike Cammaleri) or being given a chance to rediscover their NHL game with the team (Brooks Laich).

 

Throw in some players who either were in the minors or just starting out with the Kings a couple seasons ago and you have the makings or perhaps another Kings title run.

 

How good a season these guys will actually have remains to be seen of course, but an 8-1-1 start as of this posting, a very nice 36 goals for (3.6 GPG) and a stingy 19 goals against (1.9 GPG against), along with a decent 15.6% PP and a rock solid 92.3% PK suggest these guys are ready to reclaim championship hardware once again.

 

And other teams in the division aren't doing a whole lot to challenge them at this point either.

The closest pursuers in the standings are the Knights and Canucks. 

Two teams that are playing over their heads and likely will find themselves closer to the bottom than the top when all is said n done.

 

The alleged "real" contenders (Ducks, Oilers, Flames, and yes, I will throw in the Sharks as I think their demise is greatly exaggerated) have lots of work to do to catch up and keep pace with royalty in this still-young season.

 

But from the looks of it, the hard hitting, nasty, stingy, opportunistic Los Angeles Kings team is back to wreak havoc in the Pacific, the West, and even the NHL in general.

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No. 

 

IMHO the Kings are dangerously thin everywhere, losing Carter for the next couple of monthis will not cripple them but will stifle them tremendously, Kempe is off to a tremendous start but has done exactly zero in the last two years at the AHL level and is playing out of his mind and will settle down soon to a so so player. 

 

  No depth on an aging team 50/50 to make the postseason at best. I have been wrong  before but I feel very confident about this. The real teams in that division are the Ducks and Oilers and then probably the Flames.

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On 10/27/2017 at 4:43 PM, yave1964 said:

No. 

 

IMHO the Kings are dangerously thin everywhere, losing Carter for the next couple of monthis will not cripple them but will stifle them tremendously, Kempe is off to a tremendous start but has done exactly zero in the last two years at the AHL level and is playing out of his mind and will settle down soon to a so so player. 

 

  No depth on an aging team 50/50 to make the postseason at best. I have been wrong  before but I feel very confident about this. The real teams in that division are the Ducks and Oilers and then probably the Flames.

 

 

What a win last night! 9 seconds on the clock...

 

 

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5 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

@OccamsRazor

 

That was amazing! The Kings are on a great run to be sure, I just don't believe over the course of a full season they have enough to be relevant but anyone who beats Boston is fine by me, 

 

 

Quick and Rask put on a goaltending clinic last night for sure.

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On 10/27/2017 at 4:43 PM, yave1964 said:

No. 

 

IMHO the Kings are dangerously thin everywhere, losing Carter for the next couple of monthis will not cripple them but will stifle them tremendously, Kempe is off to a tremendous start but has done exactly zero in the last two years at the AHL level and is playing out of his mind and will settle down soon to a so so player. 

 

  No depth on an aging team 50/50 to make the postseason at best. I have been wrong  before but I feel very confident about this. The real teams in that division are the Ducks and Oilers and then probably the Flames.

 

Considering that they are still winning games without Jeff Carter must mean that they as a team are playing with more effort under John Stevens than they did under Suter.  This team is winning with strong play by Quick and the defensive corps led by Doughty while coming up on the winning side with only needing to score a few goals a game.

 

I should have posted in the predictions topic before the season started but I really do think the Kings will represent the West this year in the Stanley Cup Finals.  And John Stevens will earn the Jack Adams Award.

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1 hour ago, hf101 said:

 

Considering that they are still winning games without Jeff Carter must mean that they as a team are playing with more effort under John Stevens than they did under Suter.  This team is winning with strong play by Quick and the defensive corps led by Doughty while coming up on the winning side with only needing to score a few goals a game.

 

I should have posted in the predictions topic before the season started but I really do think the Kings will represent the West this year in the Stanley Cup Finals.  And John Stevens will earn the Jack Adams Award.

 

Rumour has it that Stevens baked a massive cake prior to the season. It was in the shape of a crown, naturally, the tips of which were frosted, of course.

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6 minutes ago, Podein25 said:

 

Rumour has it that Stevens baked a massive cake prior to the season. It was in the shape of a crown, naturally, the tips of which were frosted, of course.

 

That cake was delicious too! 

Double chocolate of course! 

The quote of the night was: 

 

"If you can coach half as well as you can bake, 

and if the players can play half as well as you can frost, 

then the Kings just might have a chance to make the postseason again!" 

 

;) 

 

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 10/27/2017 at 11:03 AM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

How good of a year are we talking about?

 

 

Well i have to say i think the trade helped their chances.

 

 

A blueline with Doughty, Phaneuf, Martinez, Muzzin, Folin, Forbort, Ladue and Gravel is pretty effin deep.

 

And to get rid of Gaborik's deal i say was a good move!

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I like a lot about this trade: going defense rather than offense given 

Kopitar and Brown are back on the productivity saddle, and to complete 

that deal only requires Carter's total return. I like it too in that Dion as 

a defenseman in his 30's may still deliver a couple of his best years, and 

Ottawa covers part of his big annual salary. :kings: :money: :senators: 

 

Hopefully DP can avoid ye-olde PB :hockey-penalty-box-smiley-emoticon: much more. :hockey-referee-smiley-emoticon: That's my 

most immediate concern given how many penalty minutes he racks up. Thank the

hockey gods indeed for Quick; but in such a close competitive West this season, the team 

can ill-afford to cough up excessive power-play opps to the opposition while it's 

trying to stay in the running until it's back to full strength. 

 

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