The Mighty Panthers, winners of 58 games last year, losers of only 18, with a total record of 58-18-6, roared into the playoffs and then promptly won a series, after which they died. Meanwhile, the Kings went about their business methodically, dismantling opponents with their defense and not even having to resort to wildcard status. By many accounts, the Kings exceeded expectations in even making the playoffs, despite that they went out after a round.
Just because a roster of 25 doesn’t pencil out to be a good hockey team doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go to their games. And not for mercy or pity, but because you never know what’s going to happen. Fans of the Ducks should have learned this lesson by now, but it was reinforced on the back of the antics of Trevor Zegras, with the Toronto Maple Leafs looking on.
For years, the LA Kings have been a team that has had spectacular goaltending. The thing is, they were also a team that didn’t need spectacular goaltending (if such a thing exists) because they’ve always played solid team defense. Now, suddenly, the goaltending is looking a bit suspicious, if you go purely by the numbers.
The good news for the Kings is that former prospect Gabe Vilardi has emerged as a front-line scorer. The bad news is that they’re having a tough time keeping the puck out of their own net. Brian Kennedy takes a look at the early-season travails of the Kings and Ducks in his latest feature.
Wait. This is all backwards. With the season just underway, the LA Kings started in a 0-2 hole. Most people had them as a good candidate to build on last year’s playoff berth and strong showing. The Anaheim Ducks, who almost always get off to a dreadfully slow start,...
The Anaheim Ducks will be featured 14 times on US national TV this upcoming season. Several other teams are tied at that number, and only Minnesota and the Rangers have more national games, at 15. The Ducks didn’t make the playoffs last year, and by most accounts, won’t do so again this season. So why all the attention?
The LA Kings knew they were going to make the playoffs last season, even though most other people thought they would not. They proved naysayers wrong, and took on Edmonton in round one. They bowed out, but not before seven games had been contested.
“As I mentioned, the hurt in the locker room was deep team-wise, but it was very deep for Brownie. It’s very rare in this sporting world—forget about hockey—sporting world that one individual spends that many years, wins championships, and finishes the night...
It had to happen sometime. Jonathan Quick had won all four game sevens he had played in up until Saturday night. That might have predicted a cinch clinch against Edmonton, who in that scenario would be stonewalled by his prowess and fail to score on lots of good...
Someone had to lose, and really who lost with the Kings going down to defeat on Thursday night? Not the fans of the game, who get a game seven. That Kings’ fans would probably rather not enjoy that distinction is perhaps to be considered. But look at it this...
If you hadn’t noticed, let me point something out to you: in English, verbs have become nouns. Case in point: “to ask” is something one does. That’s what verbs are—actions. But “an ask” is now somehow a noun—that is, a thing. And that’s what LA tried to respond...
Friday night in LA, the two big guns of Edmonton cranked it up, got their team off to a fast start, and watched while mid-tier players took over the show and cruised to an 8-2 victory. After the game, the Kings, to a player, were saying what their coach had likely ...
The LA Kings had debuted ten players to the playoffs by the time the puck dropped for their Friday evening contest at home versus the Oilers. Before the game was over, “make that eleven” was the lament. Why? Because Jonathan Quick got yanked after allowing four...
After one period of play on Wednesday night, it appeared that the LA Kings might just reprise their victory of Game 1 and go home to Cali on Friday night with a 2-0 series lead. This on the strength of two near goals early and hard physical play throughout ...
The first night of the NHL playoffs a la 2022 was marked with high-scoring knockout games. 5-0, 5-1, 4-0. If you could have picked which one would the the mighty Oilers versus the much-injured Kings, you would have taken the first of those. Edmonton's favor. Well,...
What would you do if you made enough money to retire in your mid-30s? Most people successful enough to do that don’t just golf. They’re too competitive for a life of leisure. If they’ve built one business, they build another one. With athletes, it’s a little bit...
The LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks finished their “Freeway Faceoff” series on Saturday night with the Kings playing to solidify their likely playoff berth and the Ducks trying to hold on and end the season respectably. Mostly, the Anaheim effort was worthy, though they...
The full line from which I’ve excerpted my title is, “Unresting death, a whole day nearer now,” from a Philip Larkin poem (“Aubade”), and I cite it as a reminder: we’ve lost Guy Lafleur, at 70 too young to go. And his death portends our own, though mostly we don’t...
Jonathan Quick was back in net Thursday as the Kings extended their efforts to make the playoffs in the Western Conference. This on the heels of an amazing performance in their last game, Tuesday versus Anaheim. It was a game that I described as featuring perhaps...
The LA Kings needed their game in Anaheim Tuesday night. Desperately. Especially since the potential spot-stealer of their playoff berth, Vegas, had lost their game on Monday versus, of all teams, the non-playoff New Jersey Devils. Thus the Kings entered Tuesday’s...
Jonathan Quick found himself starting in the LA Kings’ net for the third game in a row on Saturday night, despite having been pulled against Colorado in a 9-3 loss on Wednesday. The Kings had no room for fooling around, as they came into the game sitting third in the...
The Anaheim Ducks have bent to the curve on the incident on Friday night when Jay Beagle beat the stuffing out of Troy Terry after Trevor Zegras started a scrum by poking at the goalie’s pad when he covered a puck with Anaheim ahead by a handful of goals. Witness the...
A Stanley Cup and two Olympic gold medals. World Junior Gold. Over 1000 points and 1150 games. The captaincy of a team that has looked to him for leadership since 2010. Being picked 19th overall in the 2003 amateur draft. With these attributes, there’s no doubt Ryan...
Of late, the LA Kings have just kept winning. With a victory on Monday night versus Calgary, in fact, they would be but a point behind the Flames for the Division lead. They would do so only if they could overcome an early deficit. Calgary scored with just ten seconds...
The Anaheim Ducks kicked some a$$ on Friday night, winning 5-0 in Colorado. They also got their a$$es kicked in a late (approx. five minutes left) scrum where Trevor Zegras took a bad cross check and Troy Terry came in in his defense and got whipped by Jay Beagle. Why...
On the night when Cam Fowler played his 800th game, all with the Ducks, and Trevor Zegras was immortalized in bobblehead form, it might have been hoped that the Anaheim squad could muster a spirited effort. That they did, but the results did not follow, though...
You’ll read the box score and say it simply—“Yeah, the Ducks lost. Dallas is better.” Dallas IS better, but that’s not the story of their game with Anaheim in California on Tuesday night. Sure, it was a 3-2 game, but far more exciting than that. Not that it had ...
Back in 1986, the New York Islanders grabbed a centerman in the 5th round. He was the 104th pick in the draft. Few probably thought he’d be in the NHL for 1000 games. And Todd McLellan wasn’t. His playing career, in fact, lasted just five games. He has a perfect...
Sam Carrick gets a pair--of goals, Wednesday, to go along with his pair of fights on Monday night. He featured in many plays throughout the night. But this game was also about what the Ducks got, and didn't get, as of Monday 12pm local time, trade deadline...
If you wander down the right hallway in Honda Center, home of the Ducks, sometime soon, you might see a man looking suspiciously like the General Manager pushing hard on a cupboard door, trying to close it. Pat Verbeek is still not likely to be able to shut in...
