The Hockey Thread

[Toe]

I'm not 100% on that, but it is probably true. This team had an awful start because they couldn't score first, and I can't really remember any big comebacks.

[SeanDMan]

We hear this every year, though.

"Sure, Toronto was brutal when it really mattered. But I think that their performance in meaningless games late in the season really says a lot about the direction we're going next season."

All of a sudden you trade your first round draft pick for Rob Schremp and you're back playing around in the basement again.

[DMN in the House]

So, I haven't gotten to watch any King's games, and the hockey standings system has always kinda eluded me.

LA sits in 7th with 90 pts. Does that mean we'll FINALLY get back to the playoffs?

[SeanDMan]

It's not set in stone yet, but it looks good. If someone is selling advance playoff tickets on the cheap, might be a good investment.

The one thing that concerns me about the Kings it the WHYDFML dynamic. The Kings are 4-4-2 over their last ten, which puts them behind Detroit (8-1-1), Colorado (5-4-1), and Calgary (5-5-0) in terms of recent play. If they continue to slip, Calgary could sneak into spot 8. But more than likely the standings you see now are the playoff bound teams.

Which makes a lot of interesting matchups in the west.

San Jose - Colorado

Chicago - Los Angeles

Vancouver - Detroit

Phoenix - Nashville

Don't count on second round playoff tickets though DMN, that's more of a longshot.

[DMN in the House]

IIRC, the last time we made the playoffs, we had a nice surprising underdog run.

I'd be happy to just be back for now, and keep building. I've been a casual fan for a long time (hell, I remember the Miracle on Manchester), and it hasn't always been pretty, but LA is one of the few 'Sun Belt' teams that has really worked out.

[SeanDMan]

You recall wrong: bounced in 7 games by Colorado.

[DMN in the House]

Scratch that, I was thinking of the '93 run to the Cup Finals, which, IIRC, included the 'Miracle on Manchester II'.

[SeanDMan]

Right, I remember that (that was just when I was starting to get into hockey myself), but that's not really recent nor the last time you made the playoffs. Also, it was hardly an underdog run. That would be like calling the massive Sidney Crosby Hype Train To Glory™ from last year as a cinderella story.

[DMN in the House]

No, no. I was correcting myself, because the original 'Miracle on Manchester' was a playoff series in 1982, when the Kings beat a heavily favored Oilers team. That was before I was born. The second 'Miracle on Manchester' was a single game in the '93 Cup Finals, IIRC.

The playof run I was thinking of was one of our last few runs, and I think it involved beating the Avalanche and taking a good run at the Red Wings.

[SeanDMan]

*Beating the Red Wings and taking a good run at the Avalanche.

I was pissed off at the Canucks that year so I didn't watch those playoffs, but yeah, if you'd have beaten the Avs that would have been a shocker. That team was loaded.

[DMN in the House]

I knew it was one of the two. That was the year with the 'Stunner at Staples' or whatever they tried to call it.

And I'm STILL wrong about the '93 Cup Finals, which is notable for being about as close as a 4-1 series can be (3OT games sandwiched between matching 4-1 games), and the 'McSorely Curse' (one of my all-time favorite Kings, right behind Luc). Its the last time a Canadian team won the Cup (so says wiki).

I really need to get back into hockey. I used to follow it a lot closer. Its not like the Kings are a bad franchise or anthing. They have history, and are a big reason for a lot of the more southern teams being around.

[SeanDMan]

Being a Kings fan is hard because they have a team that on paper should be winning division titles, but because of a number of factors (shitty goalies/paper thin ligaments) they always tend to struggle.

[DMN in the House]

Yeah. I'm kinda used to that, though. Out of all my favorite teams (Raiders, Lakers, Dodgers, Kings, and UCLA) only the Lakers fail to disappoint me on a regular basis.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Being a Kings fan is hard because they have a team that on paper should be winning division titles, but because of a number of factors (shitty goalies/paper thin ligaments) they always tend to struggle.

Speaking of which, somebody tell me - is Jonathan Quick the answer? Have LA found a genuine starter in him or not? And where does that leave Jonathan Bernier?

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

From what I've seen of Quick he's a legitimate starter, but not somebody who can win playoff series by himself.

[SeanDMan]

Being a Kings fan is hard because they have a team that on paper should be winning division titles, but because of a number of factors (shitty goalies/paper thin ligaments) they always tend to struggle.

Speaking of which, somebody tell me - is Jonathan Quick the answer? Have LA found a genuine starter in him or not? And where does that leave Jonathan Bernier?

Bernier has been pretty ludicrous in his NHL games this year too. You can't really have too many stud goaltenders; it's certainly better than not having any.

By the way:

[Plubby]

This is a stunning and unbelievable choke job....

[Gabriel]

This is a stunning and unbelievable choke job....

Uh oh Colorado... here comes the Lames!

Friday's game should be a hard fought contest, and I think it's going to decide the 8th playoff spot... so hopefully Calgary comes out with a better effort than tonight, and Colorado continues to choke more than Sasha Grey over a two hour movie.

[Plubby]

Things would have been so much easier had you just continued to suck like you have been.

[Gabriel]

Things would have been so much easier had you just continued to suck like you have been.

The Flames haven't really been playing all that great lately. Kiprusoff, as he has all season, has stood on his head to keep us in the hunt. The team isn't going so well, and it's bad enough that they were being booed during a 0-0 first period tonight.

Kipper can't do it on his own, so the rest of the team is going to have to show up for 60 minutes a game from now on too. Well, to be fair, Rene Bourque has been on fire since he came back from injury. So, the two of them have been carrying this team.