Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Lord Stanley Goes Hollywood

The NHL Stanley Cup playoffs concluded last night with the LA Kings beating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in game six. The Kings won the series 4-2; the only series where they lost more than one game in these playoffs. The Kings only lost 4 games total in the playoffs (3 at home). They defeated the top three seeds in the Western Conference and were the best team in hockey this post season.

That said, you also need breaks to go your way and this post season the Kings got breaks when they needed them. Whether it was killing of a 5 on 3 power play, or a missed call (and there were several of those), things broke the Kings way. I'm not saying that the breaks gave them the cup. I truly believe they were the best team in hockey. However, they really didn't face adversity in these playoffs and that also helped them.

Yes, I'm a little disgruntled because of my support for the Phoenix Coyotes who play in the same division as the Kings and were eliminated by them in the Western Conference finals. There were definitely some times in that series where the breaks seemed to go all in favor of LA. But that is life. Things don't always go the way you want and in the end the better team won the series.

 So, congratulations LA! You're team beat the best teams in the West and delivered in the finals. Celebrate this victory, it's a great thing for your franchise. I hope that you will share this with your team legends (especially Marcel Dionne who was one of my favorite players). By the way, next year you won't get the chance to win the cup again. You see Captain Coyote (Shane Doan) and crew are going to take you out in both the regular season and, if you're lucky enough, in the playoffs. Just saying.