Though all of a sudden, a select group of Kings from a warm state are making very loud decrees in their run to be crowned hockey's best team.
One of the last places where dominant hockey is thought of is out in the Golden State
Many in the NHL circles are doubting this team. They find that if the Triple Crown line couldn't win it all, there is no way that this team can give LA sport’s heaviest trophy.
Still, these Kings seem capable of winning the NHL’s game of thrones.
Just ask the Vancouver Canucks. A team that finished with the best record in the league and won the Western Conference a year ago looked like mere peasants to hockey's hopeful rulers.
Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler could not do much of anything against his majesty Jonathan Quick. In contrast, the hand of the Kings Dustin Brown carved up Roberto Luongo like a Thanksgiving Turkey.
Five short games later, the Kings had become just the fourth team in NHL history to dethrone a number one seeded team.
Some see that stat as a fluke. There is no way that the same “noble” franchise that could not win a cup with Wayne Gretzky on their side could claim hockey’s coveted crown.
Tell that to the most recent team that the Kings made look like commoners, the Saint Louis Blues.
Between Brian Elliot and Jaroslav Halak, the Blues had hockey’s great wall of goaltending. With left wing Andy McDonald’s 10 playoff points and the Kings’ 29thranked offense in the regular season, the series was the Blues to loose.
And loose they did.
The so called inept offense of the Kings rampaged for 15 goals in a sweep and tore down the goalie wall that served as the Blues foundation.
The man who ranked 399th in the NHL in goals scored this year was the general of the Kings army in this series. Matt Greene put up four of his 62 career points in four games against Saint Louis .
These Kings can feast for a short while, as they wait for the winner of the series between the Nashville Predators and the Coyotes of Phoenix.
Out of nowhere, the west coach has hockey’s both hockeys’ hottest goalie and the third highest goal scorer in the playoffs. Suddenly it is the Kings, not the Lakers with the best chance to bring a championship to Los Angles in 2012.
For the Stanley Cup to reach the walk of fame the Kings need to do the improbable: continue to play at arguably the highest level the franchise has ever played at.
Quick needs to be faster, more alert, and flat out better than either Mike Smith or Pekka Rinne in the West. Brown, the all important Kings hand, needs to continue to put up offensive numbers against everyone: whether it is the Predators, Coyotes, New York Rangers, or whoever gets in their way in the quest for the cup. And coach Darryl Sutter has to continue to be the master strategist.
History does not favor these nobles. The Kings have just now reached the furthest point in the quest they have ever gone, the Western Conference finals.
Yet this LA team seems hungry, focused, and determined to win the whole thing. And if LA keeps playing like they have in the playoffs, there will be championship crowns for these Kings.
