Attempted Season Review

 End of the Year Notes

The Los Angeles Kings had an amazingly successful year.  Last season, I was rarely able to watch an entire game.  I could see what McLellan was trying to do, and largely was supportive of it, but the team just wasn't competitive.  This year, with some notable exceptions, the Kings were competitive for the entire season.  They showed skill, strength, growth, and character while making the playoffs, and taking the heavily favored Edmonton Oilers to a hard fought game seven.  

One of the glaring negatives of this season doesn't even come from the team.  Over the summer, the hockey media, and I mean every single last person that writes or speaks about hockey, decided that the Pacific Conference was not even worth mentioning outside of Edmonton and Las Vegas.  Despite the glaring proof coming as early as November, the Kings were openly dismissed.  Any success they were having was a fluke.  This, of course, is a logical conclusion if one only watches highlights and checks the score sheets.  I would hope that anyone that is paid to write or speak about hockey would know that of all sports, the real stories behind a team are found in the play.  They are found in the little things that don't show up in the highlight reel.  Sadly, the level of professionalism within the hockey media is about the equivalent of a Kardishian's depth of character.  The Kings proved them wrong all season long, right up until their valiant exit from the playoffs.

Injuries were the double edged sword like theme of the season.  Walker, Doughty, Byfield, and Edler left the team early.  Turcotte couldn't get healthy, which is a shame as I had hoped to get a good look at him.  Then right about February/March, the team lost eight starters, including Doughty (season ending injury) in a two week span.  The team had been playing well, and this seemed to be a nightmare.  This catastrphy would have what I would call it a silver lining, but it was far more than that.  The team was forced to give experience to one of the top rated groups of prospects in the NHL.  A few of them shined.  The top two were obviously Sean Durzi and Rasmus Kupari.  Both of these players showed that they were ready to contribute with the consistency required by an NHL club.  Other bright spots that need to become more consistent include: Arthur Kalyiev, Jordan Spence, and Quinton Byfield.  The biggest enigma in this situation was Gabriel Villardi.  His talent is undeniable, however, it still remains to be seen if he can play an NHL quality game.  Sadly, Turcotte never got much of a look due to his own injuries.  With this much young talent though, the future does look bright.

The castoffs were another bright spot for the Kings.  Most teams have a player that was overlooked and makes his way onto the NHL roster, but this team had four.  Not only did they make the roster, but they sufficiently proved that everyone had made a mistake by overlooking them by becoming potent contributors.  The local kid, Trevor Moore, Alex Iaffalo, and Blake Lizotte were all undrafted.  Carl Grundstrom was seen by many to be a filler in a trade to increase cap space.  Each of those players demonstrated their immeasurable heart and the ability to do the things that don't show up on the score sheet, yet are necessary to win.  All four played very well during the regular season, and then came up huge in the playoffs.  Lizotte was even called "the conscience of the team" by McLellan.  I don't know that there is a higher honor.  Teams that win the cup have to have guys like these.  

The Kings are doing something right development wise.  Their players don't seem to stagnate.  They continue to improve.  A prime example is Adrian Kempe.  Kudos to whomever is working with him, and kudos to him for listening and changing his game.  He went from a failed Euro style center that wanted to make everything pretty, to a hard driving winger that was willing to use his power to get to the net, get greasy goals in the hard places, and develop a potent shot that found it's mark much more often than ever before.  Granted, most people that play with Kopi find career stats, but Kempe couldn't have done it without making a change.  For years, there was always a "but" when talking about Kempe.  No longer.  Joining Kempe in the most improved category, albeit less surprisingly so, was Mikey Anderson.  Last year, he was the human turnover.  This year, he showed growth in poise.  He also showed that he was ready for the NHL's pace of play.  He continued his stalwart defensive play and drastically improved his ability to move the puck.  When players that are mostly assured of having a roster spot find the drive to improve, good things will follow.

Danault!  Need I say more?  I feel obligated to do so, but I shouldn't have to.  One of my buddies texted me the other day, "I'm getting a Danault jersey."  No one in Montreal gave a hoot about this guy.  That is one of the key reasons why Montreal hit the skids was his departure.  The Kings knew they were getting a face-off and defensive genius.  What they didn't expect was his offensive production.  Danault became an instant leader through example, and flourished with his linemates, Arvidson and Moore.  He is a character player with enough skill to give other teams top lines headaches.  He is a core piece to this rebuild as is.  If he gets better, that would always be great but not necessary.  

Furthering the trend of bright spots, the four horsemen, the big boys, held their own.  Last season, the entire world was ready to put Jonathan Quick out to pasture.  In fact, I'm sure he was ready to do that much of last season.  No goaltender could have been successful with the team that played in front of Quicky in the 20/21 season.  This year, he proved them wrong.  The team played better in front of him, which allowed him to save their derriers when he needed to.  Mclellan intelligently didn't over work him, and Quick came into the playoffs raring to go.  One word to describe him this year, "Stud".  Doughty, despite the injury riddled season, his first in thirteen years, was still a leader and one of the top defense-men in the league.  Kopi was Mr. Consistency.  He's strong, intelligent, and has great vision.  He isn't as fast as he used to be, but still one of the games great players.  Then there is the indomitable warrior, Dustin Brown.  I don't even know what to say.  He's slowed down, suffered injuries, moved from the first to the third and sometimes fourth line, and still, when crunch time came in the playoffs, he was a leader and came through for this team.   These four not only brought two Stanley Cups to Los Angeles, but are the heart of the current rebuild.  This season would not have been a success without them.

Looking forward to next year is an interesting endeavor.  The youngsters must continue to get better, and I truly believe they will.  I'm looking for breakout seasons, and by this I mean significant year long offensive production combined with adherance to the system and defensive execution, from Byfield, Kupari, and Turcotte and Spence.  If Villardi (or whomever we trade him for) and Kaliyev can become significant contributors as well, then the lazy, i'm too tired to stay up and watch West Coast hockey so called journalists that cover the NHL will have to take notice.  Adding a free agent winger that is an offensive threat with strength and a physical presence is also something to look forward to.  Lastly, but surely not least, the Kings will have to make a decision about Brandt Clarke.  The kid is good, but still very young, and it's all or nothing for him.  He either stays in the O, or comes up to the big club.  I'm looking forward to seeing him play, either this coming season, or the next.  

Edmonton squeaked by this Kings team, which is only going to get better.  When the Western Conference dust settles and the boys are heading to the golf course, general managers are going to be scrambling, because they know that the Kings are coming for them, and everyone (except maybe Colorado) will have to get better to keep up.  

Possible lines:  

TBD, Kopi, Kempe

Arvidson/Iafallo, Danault, Moore

Turcotte, Byfield, Kupari

Lemieux, Lizotte, Kaliyev/Villardi

Anderson, Doughty

Walker, Durzi

Roy, Spence/Clarke