The Current Conundrum Of The Los Angeles Kings

“The Regular Season Doesn’t Matter”

The Kings come across as the most bipolar championship winning team that I now I have ever witnessed. As soon as you think they are done, or have nothing left they come back in surprising fashion to

overcome the odds and logic to pull out a victory. As soon as it looks like they forgot how to compete or even how to complete a pass, with pure grit and stubborn determination, these Kings fight to the bitter end and get the job done. To be honest, this is exactly the type of team most sports fans would love and fight to have, though I do admit it is not for the faint of heart.

“Oh I wish my team could do what the Kings have done,” said my life long Montreal Canadiens loving brother-in-law. “Who cares about the regular season anyway, it’s all about the playoffs and winning the Cup!”

Very true I agreed but here’s the problem. How long before the inconsistencies of the Kings performance in the regular season balances out and starts to bite them from behind? One would assume that playing with fire like that would eventually catch up with them, right?. How many times can this Los Angeles Kings team continue to lose points to the teams that are behind them in the standings? (like they just did against the Buffalo Sabres). As a result the Los Angeles Kings are currently out of a playoff spot. Why can’t they even secure home ice advantage? (which ironically they did in the 2013 playoffs, but they didn’t win the Cup that year) As of today, The Kings road record (The Kings, sometimes were called the Roadwarriors for their frightening success away from home) is a dismal 3-5 and 4. Like the regular seasons of 2011-12 and 2013-14 (aka The Cup years), plus a decrease in puck possession analytics, none of these stats are encouraging.

I’ve always heard the old cliché that some teams are just made for the playoffs. I always thought that saying was odd because shouldn’t the goal of every team be to make the playoffs and attempt to win the Cup? As a long time (and suffering) Los Angeles Kings fan, I have been taught, trained and brainwashed with the idea that Murphy’s law will always apply to this team. Getting swept by the Calgary Flames after the King’s eliminated the Cup Champion (and former team of the Great One Wayne Gretzky) Edmonton Oilers in 7 games in ’89? Marty McSorley’s illegal stick in game 2 of the 1993 Stanley Cup finals? (Yeah that one still stings). 2 straight years of losing game 7 to the (admiringly more powerful) Colorado Avalanche in 2001 and 2002? I’m not even mentioning the many, MANY years the Kings would not even make the playoffs to begin with.

But should this era (which I’m sure will be looked back on as the Golden Years) be thought of as different? Do the old ways of thinking no longer apply to today’s Los Angeles Kings? The answer is yes. As coach Daryl Sutter has said on many post game conferences, “The past don’t matter” and the regular season is only for “Making the playoffs.”