LA KINGS OUTSIDER 2.0

Los Angeles: Upset City? Despite the Canucks capturing their second consecutive President’s Trophy; they play in the worst division in the NHL.  The Northwest Division is the only division in hockey featuring one playoff team.  With Daniel Sedin unlikely to play Game 1, the Canucks potent offense doesn’t look nearly as impressive.  Canucks fans will turn to the final nine games of the season in which Vancouver went 8-1 without Daniel to prove that they’ve got enough depth.  I’d argue that eight of those nine games came against non-playoff opponents.  The only playoff opponent? A 1-0 victory over Los Angeles where Luongo stood on his head and stopped 40 shots. Make no mistake about it: the Kings offense has struggled to score all season long up until the last month of the season.  The Kings believe they have a real shot to upset Vancouver.  And they should be confident that they’ve got a chance to take down the top team in the regular season. The K...

Doughty could win or lose this series for the Kings. Most Kings fans would immediately give the advantage to Los Angeles here.  The Kings allowed 2.07 goals per game, 2 nd best in the league but Vancouver wasn’t far behind allowing 2.22 goals, 5 th best. Both teams  showcase two of the brightest young blueliners in the NHL.  The Kings are led by 22-year old Drew Doughty, who burst onto the scene as one of Canada's best defenseman in the 2010 Olympics.  The past two seasons have been filled with inconsistencies and a contract dispute but make no mistake he's still been the Kings most valuable blueliner.  With the departure of Christian Ehrhoff to Buffalo via free agency, 25-year-old Swede Alexander Edler made sure the Canucks didn’t miss a beat and had by far the most productive season of his young career. The Kings and Canucks bluelines are built differently.  The Kings have three puck-moving defenseman featuring Doughty, Slava Voynov, and Alec Mart...

The Kings can score now. Each team relies on their top-line to lead the way offensively.  The line of Kopitar-Brown-Williams were the Kings' top three point producers this season.  Vancouver's top line of the Sedins and Burrows also led the way for the Canucks.  Both lines have produced at a similar pace this season.  L.A.'s top trio has combined for 69 goals while Vancouver's has combined for 72 goals.  Both lines led their respective teams during their four regular season matchups this season.  For Los Angeles, Anze Kopitar (goal, 3 assists) and Justin Williams (2 goals, 1 assist) led the way.  Vancouver was led by the NHL’s favorite Swedish twins, Daniel (goal, 3 assists) and Henrik Sedin (2 assists).  The Kings offensive struggles have been well-documented.  They were shutout a league-high 10 times this season.  With that said, the Kings have only been shutout once since the acquisition of Jeff Carter (vs. Vancouver 1-0).  ...

Jonathan Quick: Vezina Worthy The Kings choked again!  Ryan Clowe stole the Pacific Division from us!  Jonathan Quick can’t win the big game!  Forget all that… On March 1 st , the Kings were sitting in 10 th place with a 29-23-12 record after winning only five of fourteen games in the month of February but after the acquisition of Jeff Carter; Los Angeles has gone 13-5-3. The Canucks, winners of back-to-back Presidents’ Trophy are looking to make back-to-back Stanley Cup appearances after falling to Boston in the Finals a year ago.  Much has been made of their regular season success in recent years but Vancouver is still in search of that elusive first Stanley Cup. This teams split four regular season games by a total of one goal.  Two games were decided by a goal and another by a shootout .  Goaltending in the series will be huge. GOALTENDING Both Jonathan and Quick and Roberto Luongo have had Vezina-worthy campaigns.  Quick’s numbers have ...

My 2010-11 Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings With the season starting tomorrow; it's prediction time...   EASTERN CONFERENCE The Capitals and Devils are head and shoulders above the rest.  The Penguins added some nice pieces to their blueline but forcing Sidney Crosby to spend another season playing with Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz on his wings should be against league policy.  If Philly can acquire a proven goaltender like Tim Thomas or Tomas Vokoun; they should be recognized as legit contenders as well.

Check out CBC's Hockey Night In Canada panel discuss whether or not Henrik Sedin's 3rd Period goal should have counted.  Mike Murphy comes on in the final two minutes to explain what he saw. Leave it to Kelly Hrudey to defend the call...haha I thought the Kings got a huge break with the call and won the game. Bring on Game Four!

Simmer Is A Key To Victory   The Kings will take the series in six games.  And here's why... Both teams are more similar than any fan north of the border would ever be willing to admit. Both teams' forwards have great depth.  Both teams' defense have deficiencies.  Both teams' starting goaltenders have huge question marks entering the series. Neither teams' penalty kill has been very good this season while both teams' power play has been superb.  I could give you all the numbers but Hammer's taken care of it already . So how do they stack up... FORWARDS: Advantage- Canucks CANUCKS : The Canucks possess alot of depth in their forward core; led by Art Ross Award winner Henrik Sedin, who led the NHL in scoring with 112 points.  Henrik and his twin brother Daniel pose the biggest offensive threat to the Kings.  Vancouver's first-line of the Sedins and Alexander Burrows combined for 93 goals this season.  But the Canucks are much deeper than their...

Bobby Lu Did Alot of This Eight Goals?!  I'm speechless! The Kings came to play.  Henrik Sedin was lost without his twin brah.  And the Kings capitalized on their chances with a little help from Bobby Lu. Jonathan Bernier played well enough for the victory (although the two goals shortside were  a bit disappointing). Roberto Luongo was bad.  In his defence, he was probably five goals bad.  Not eight.  A few pucks actually bounced the Kings way and they took advantage overwhelming the Canucks. Dustin Brown fed off all the support and love I gave him in my last blog post; Netting his second career hat trick; capping off a four point night for the Kings captain. And the Kings 5-on-3 PP!  Did anyone see how they set it up?  No more UMBRELLA!  Overload.  Overload!  Overload!  I saw good movement and some nice backdoor chances created.  Didn't score but it looked alot better than before.  I'm pretty sure Terry Mu...