Kings biggest threat in the West?

[theMajor]

Goaltending stats are often reflective of team play.

to an extent, yes, but it doesnt paint the entire picture. last season Quick was winning 1-0, 2-1 games when our offense couldnt buy a goal...we were ranked 30th in goal scoring if my memory is correct. now the Kings are ranked 8th in the scoring department and averaging nearly 3 goals a game (which should be enough for our goalies) but Quick is still struggling...meanwhile Bernie is doing just fine.
the only game JB struggled in was his first start against Anaheim

how can you explain the team is playing poorly in front of Bernier when he only has one real loss? i dont count the loss to SJ because he came in when LA was already down

 

[Herby]

Last year was such a remarkable run, you will probably never see anything like that again, I can't think of a single player who played below their talent level, with the possible exception of Voynov, who was a rookie in his first post season.

If the Kings make another run, I think it will be much more of a grind, and Sutter will need to do his best coaching job ever.

- Mitchell is gone for the year
- Greene will be back, but likely rusty and not 100%
- Quick, Richards, Martinez, Scuderi and Penner who all played key roles in the playoffs have had poor seasons

The Kings will need Slava and Muzzin to continue putting up points from the blue line, the 3rd line needs to keep playing as fantastic as they have all season, they will need Brown and Doughty to raise their games to last springs levels and they especially need Quick and Richards to either get healthy and/or wake up.

The good news is there isn't an elite team that is worlds better than anyone, Chicago, Anaheim, Minnesota, Vancouver and St. Louis all have big questions marks as well.

 

[RonSwanson*]

No fear Vancouver since Kesler is out and now replaced with Roy. And we replaced a hole with Regher.

Kesler will be back in a week or so.

 

[RonSwanson*]

I'll grant you Quick isn't playing his best, but we REALLY need to hold the defense and forwards somewhat accountable here as well ...

While we are limiting the Shots against ... The Kings aren't playing quite the same smothering defense they did last year, and are very sloppy at times with the puck.

We rank DEAD LAST WORST 30th in Blocked shots this year. We were 5th BEST during the Play-Offs !

We're 29th in Takeaways (stripping the puck) this year. We were 4th BEST during the Play-Offs !
We're 7th WORST in Giveaways (turn-overs) this year, means we're playing sloppy too often.

Our Penalty Kill has dropped to 11th this year, we were 4th BEST last year, and 2nd BEST in the Play-Offs.

You can't rest ALL of that on the shoulders of QUICK. The loss of Mitchell and Greene has meant a rough learning curve for our younger D men, and increased pressure and wear and tear on guys like Doughty and Scuderi, and those stats above reflect all of that.

We also played more games than most teams, yet were only 5th best out of the playoff teams.

 

[fuzzerson]

First off let me start by saying I don't think the Kings fear facing any team in the playoffs but I was wondering who do you think the biggest threat to the Kings to see in the playoffs would be?

Who would you least like to see and why?

Chicago?
Ducks?
Canucks?
Blues?
Wild?
Redwings?
Sharks?

Themselves. If they play there playoff style, get more Quick like goaltending, the biggest threat is themselves.

 

[Muzzinga]

In terms of who i least want to play

Chicago
SJ
The Rest

 

[DeeMeck]

The Kings showed that in the playoffs last year thet they can put the hammer down and put a team away.

I will be interested to see in how they handle REAL adversity.They may have created some themselves by not wanting to go back to St. Louis, and maybe some in game 6 of the finals. It was all manufactured though.

I wanna see how they respond when they are down 3-2 in a series and have to go on the road.

 

[Rorschach]

Kesler will be back in a week or so.

Then that will be like tumbleweed Kesler, not real Kesler...kind of like how we don't expect Greene to be 100% when he comes back.

 

[TheSentinel]

The Kings showed that in the playoffs last year thet they can put the hammer down and put a team away.

I will be interested to see in how they handle REAL adversity.They may have created some themselves by not wanting to go back to St. Louis, and maybe some in game 6 of the finals. It was all manufactured though.

I wanna see how they respond when they are down 3-2 in a series and have to go on the road.

I hope you mean it would be interesting to see but i would rather be up in that situation.

 

[Ron*]

Jeremy Roenick said it in numerous interviews

Yeah, well he was right, the team that got the closest was New Jersey with only two wins and that's only because the puck went off Slava Voynov half the time.

 

[etherialone]

I too am one of the biggest threats to the Kings playoff success.

I am a perfect 0 and 7 in Kings playoff games (if you include the season opener where they raised the cup banner) over the years.

Not just at the Staples Center, if I go to a playoff game anywhere in the country that the Kings can count on losing. I won't go to any more even though I get tickets all the time.

Just like these last playoffs I am going to stay away whenever possible.

 

[TheSentinel]

Yeah, well he was right, the team that got the closest was New Jersey with only two wins and that's only because the puck went off Slava Voynov half the time.

I had to laugh the first time that happened this season. And then when Quick caught it off him i swear i could see the look of...JQ: 'seriously'
vv: 'I know right?"

 

[damacles1156]

I too am one of the biggest threats to the Kings playoff success.

I am a perfect 0 and 7 in Kings playoff games (if you include the season opener where they raised the cup banner) over the years.

Not just at the Staples Center, if I go to a playoff game anywhere in the country that the Kings can count on losing. I won't go to any more even though I get tickets all the time.

Just like these last playoffs I am going to stay away whenever possible.

Ouch.....

 

[HolyShot*]

Biggest threat to us is Van. They'll want revenge and they have a very underrated team this year. Every other team is a threat.

 

[kilowatt]

I'll grant you Quick isn't playing his best, but we REALLY need to hold the defense and forwards somewhat accountable here as well ...

While we are limiting the Shots against ... The Kings aren't playing quite the same smothering defense they did last year, and are very sloppy at times with the puck.

We rank DEAD LAST WORST 30th in Blocked shots this year. We were 5th BEST during the Play-Offs !

We're 29th in Takeaways (stripping the puck) this year. We were 4th BEST during the Play-Offs !
We're 7th WORST in Giveaways (turn-overs) this year, means we're playing sloppy too often.

Our Penalty Kill has dropped to 11th this year, we were 4th BEST last year, and 2nd BEST in the Play-Offs.

You can't rest ALL of that on the shoulders of QUICK. The loss of Mitchell and Greene has meant a rough learning curve for our younger D men, and increased pressure and wear and tear on guys like Doughty and Scuderi, and those stats above reflect all of that.

I've got an even more interesting statistic for you - last year during the regular season, the Kings were dead last in blocked shots as well. Guess who was second-last? The New Jersey Devils. How about this year, you ask? Kings and Devils, once again. Hopefully we meet them again in the finals!

 

[DeeMeck]

I hope you mean it would be interesting to see but i would rather be up in that situation.

Of course we would rather be up, but I don't think the Kings are going to have another mostly adversity-free Cup run.

 

[TheSentinel]

Stupid target on our back.

 

[KingsFan7824]

With that one Cup finally out of the way, I can just sit back and actually enjoy the playoffs for what they are now.

3-0 in all 4 series isn't going to happen again. 10-0 on the road before a loss isn't going to happen again. It was a crazy run, and it will always exist. It's not likely they repeat, and it's not likely they even get back to the finals.

There's no super team that can't be beat. Every team has a hole or two on the roster. It's the teams that find a way to work around their weaknesses that win.

There's no team that the Kings can't beat in a 7 game series if they show up physically, emotionally, and mentally. Doesn't mean they'll win the series, and it doesn't even mean they would win a game in any given series. They can win any series though. What else can you ask for?

 

[MSRinkRat]

With that one Cup finally out of the way, I can just sit back and actually enjoy the playoffs for what they are now.

3-0 in all 4 series isn't going to happen again. 10-0 on the road before a loss isn't going to happen again. It was a crazy run, and it will always exist. It's not likely they repeat, and it's not likely they even get back to the finals.

There's no super team that can't be beat. Every team has a hole or two on the roster. It's the teams that find a way to work around their weaknesses that win.

There's no team that the Kings can't beat in a 7 game series if they show up physically, emotionally, and mentally. Doesn't mean they'll win the series, and it doesn't even mean they would win a game in any given series. They can win any series though. What else can you ask for?

Uhh you do know that the Kings are built for a deep playoff run, not for regular season play. This team is built better than any team out there right now for the finals, goal tending struggles aside of course.

 

[kilowatt]

Uhh you do know that the Kings are built for a deep playoff run, not for regular season play. This team is built better than any team out there right now for the finals, goal tending struggles aside of course.

Doesn't really matter. Chicago, Anaheim, and Detroit have all won the cup post-lockout, and the Canucks were one game away. That's four out of seven playoff teams that are also built for the playoffs. The Sharks, Wild, and Blues are the least of our concern, which is very concerning.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Uhh you do know that the Kings are built for a deep playoff run, not for regular season play. This team is built better than any team out there right now for the finals, goal tending struggles aside of course.

The last team to win two in a row was the Wings in 97 and 98. Before that, then Penguins in 91 and 92. Before that, the in his prime Gretzky led Oilers. Winning two in a row happens less and less as time has gone on, for a number of reasons.

I'm not saying the Kings can't win it again this year, it's just not likely that they do. The time between Detroit repeating in 1998 and the Kings winning in 2012, is the longest stretch of time that a team hasn't won back to back Cups in NHL history. Even getting back to the finals doesn't happen all that often, although it has happened a couple times from 98 to 12.