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Page 8 October 12, 2017
Los Angeles Kings Set to
Regain Their Hockey Throne
By Adam Serrao
It was only three years ago that the Los
Angeles Kings hoisted the Stanley Cup above
their heads and brought the trophy back home
to the city of Los Angeles. It was just one
season ago, however, that the Kings had the
same playoff expectations, yet missed the
out on the postseason with a 39-35-8 record.
Missing the playoffs for the second time in
three seasons will certainly take its toll on a
team and its front office. That’s why this year’s
new-look Kings hope to regain success with
both a new general manager and a new head
coach at the helm.
While on the ice, the roster may still look
somewhat familiar. the biggest changes to
a team that has been devoid of postseason
success lately come behind the bench and
in the front office. In an effort to gain more
prolific leadership, Los Angeles fired both
general manager Dean Lombardi and head
coach Darryl Sutter. While those two names
can certainly be given credit as the craftsmen of
both the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup victories,
the Kings will now turn to Rob Blake and
ex-assistant coach John Stevens to fill their
respective capacities and lead Los Angeles
back to greatness.
The front office may be different, but the
team skating around on the ice will feature
many of the same faces that brought home
championship victories to Los Angeles not
long ago. A team that struggled to score goals
just last year should benefit from refreshed and
rejuvenated play from both Anze Kopitar and
Drew Doughty, who both spent time playing
in the World Cup one year ago. Also, Jonathan
Quick should be over the injuries that caused
him to miss so much time last year, allowing
the former All-Star and Conn Smythe Trophy
winner to regain form. Add in what should be
a great defensive effort this year coming from
players like Derek Forbort, Paul LaDue and
Kevin Gravel, and the Kings should have a
team that is ready to make some noise in the
Pacific Division.
Not only are the Kings poised to make noise,
but with the emergence of a fresh face behind
the bench, they are also ready to gain a bit
more offensive freedom on the ice. Kopitar,
for one, is excited about the possibilities that
a new head coach can bring. “It’s not a new
face, but a new philosophy comes in,” Kopitar
explains. “There’s definitely a breath of fresh
air. I think everything’s a little bit more upbeat.
Everything’s a little looser, but loose in a good
way.” Doughty was quick to second those
thoughts. “It’s just a new feeling around the
team, and it feels good,” he said. “We want
to become the team that we were two years
ago, three years ago, probably even four years
ago. It’s not just going to happen because we
made these changes. We’re going to have to
work our butts off and we have to make this
team get there.”
That mindset and attitude shared by both
Kopitar and Doughty is infectious and should
not only spread to the entire team, but also lead
to increased effort on both sides of the ice.
With a better attitude and increased effort, it
shouldn’t be hard for a talented Kings team to
easily improve upon seasons of the past. Even
still, questions remain for a Los Angeles team
opening up the season with four rookies on
the roster while looking for its first postseason
victory since grabbing the Cup in 2014.
Among those questions is the health of the
aforementioned Quick. The goaltender has
proven to be injury-prone and when he’s out
of the net, the Kings tend to suffer. Though
the addition of four rookies should bring speed
to a team that is in desperate need of it, the
inexperience that comes along with their time
on the ice has the opportunity to prove lethal
at times. The Kings did very little to improve
their roster in the offseason. While the team
is still poised to only get better, it would
be somewhat of a surprise if Los Angeles
regains form enough to surpass the likes of
the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames and
Edmonton Oilers, to name a few.
If the first game of the season said anything,
it’s that the Kings are certainly on their way
toward achieving success. Los Angeles had
lost three straight openers before shutting out
the Philadelphia Flyers by a final score of 2-0
last Thursday night at Staples Center to start
the new season. What’s even more important
than the victory itself is that in the win, the
Kings exhibited the same opportunistic play
on offense and scrappy play on defense that
won the team their last Stanley Cup trophy.
Los Angeles’ season opener was clearly only
one of many more games to come in a long
NHL season. The first impression of this
year’s L.A. Kings, though, tells us that they
will be much closer to the championship
team of the 2014 Finals than to that of
the one that missed the playoffs last year.
– Aserrao6@yahoo.com •