NHL Playoffs 2012: Los Angeles Kings Late Bloomers, Ready for Throne

By Derek Kessinger

From looking at their number eight-playoff seeding, the Los Angeles Kings have no business representing the west in the Stanley Cup Finals. Yet the lowest seed in the conference took out the top three seeds in the west in quick fashion, surrendering just two losses through the first three rounds of the playoffs. The Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks, the St. Louis Blues and the Phoenix Coyotes on the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Kings appeared to sneak into the playoffs with the eighth seed, but were actually ousted from the third seed and the Pacific Division title by the Phoenix Coyotes at the very end of the season. Prior to this season, the team has shown signs of blooming and it looked like the Kings were going to take the west by storm. This year, they underachieved for most of the regular season, but turned the heat up entering playoff hockey.

The Kings’ organization put in place the players they needed to succeed in the playoffs. Acquiring Mike Richards and Jeff Carter added both grit and the experience from the Philadelphia Flyers’ recent playoff runs. The trades added pieces while sacrificing the talent of Joe Johnson, but the strategy has ultimately paid off.

Besides these acquisitions, the Kings have primarily built from within. Their top offensive weapons are all homegrown players. The Kings have six players with ten points in the playoffs. Except for Richards and Justin Williams, the other four are from within the franchise. The talents of Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Penner and Drew Doughty have been the staples for the Kings and each has come through in the playoffs. Brown leads the team with 16 points in the playoffs, but will lose out on the Con Smythe most valuable player trophy to the man in the net if the Kings win the Cup.

The netminder, who is the key to the Kings’ success, just keeps getting better. Jonathon Quick has played every second of the playoffs, with a 1.54 goals against average. The 26-year-old has two shutouts and is stopping 95 percent of pucks faced in the playoffs. Great goalies carry teams on their backs through the playoffs. If Los Angeles is going to hoist the cup in two weeks, they’ll need Quick to be the brightest star in Hollywood.

Read More of Derek Kessinger’s www.Rantsports.com posts here.

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